The 643-room Mandarin Oriental sits squarely in the heart of 21st-century Kuala Lumpur; its neighbors include a shiny shopping complex, a 50-acre sculpted park, an immense scallop-roofed convention center and the gleaming Petronas Towers.
Lounges here are sprinkled with clusters of businesspeople and dignitaries pecking on mobile phones and meeting with their Malaysian counterparts. Anyone seeking a firsthand look at global capitalism and some sparkling city views should consider booking a night or two, but overall, we found this to be less a relaxing stay than a swift trip through a revolving door.
There is certainly much to recommend the Mandarin: a wonderful, light-filled main café; a serene pool area overlooking a soaring skyline; and the usual top-notch spa treatments. Visitors traveling with children will appreciate the fountains and the walkways of the nearby park, the dizzying views from the Petronas Skybridge and the marvelous aquarium in the convention center. In addition to the suited business types, several contented families and tourists were in evidence.
Nevertheless, this place feels much more like business than leisure. We weren't checked in so much as curtly processed, and our Premium City View room was a respectable but somewhat tired corporate suite. The towers filled the windows spectacularly at night, but the room décor could easily have been described as convention-center beige.
We were similarly underwhelmed with the spa facilities, which were roughly equivalent to those of an upscale gym. Of the half-dozen dining options, including a smart, understated sushi bistro and a bustling Cantonese restaurant, we kept returning to the airy, informal environs of Biba's Café, which has an excellent breakfast buffet.
We dutifully endured a drink in the sci-fi Sultan Lounge, and persevered through an unremarkable Dover sole amid the sparkly underwater surroundings of the Pacifica seafood restaurant. The service during our stay was smart and efficient, thanks to plenty of earpieces and hidden microphones.
Overall, the Mandarin Oriental benefits from a singular location but suffers from uneven facilities and tired entry-level rooms (the next time we visit, we'll opt for a club-floor room). We are certainly not averse to large city hotels — the Park Hyatt Shanghai was one of our favorites last year — but thanks to some heavy foot traffic, parts of this 12-year-old property appear already due for a makeover.
Premium City View Room, RM555 ($170); Club Deluxe City Room, RM935 ($225). Jalan Pinang, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.
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