24 hours in Kuala Lumpur

[PaulyB]

Hello. In October we will have literally 24 hours in KL, in transit with MH. I'd appreciate any suggestions of a good place to stay that will allow us to enjoy the city without too much stress. As I understand we will be able to have a short-term visa to leave the airport.
We arrive at about 5pm and leave about 7pm the night after and I am expecting our luggage will be checked through.

Any experiences?
Thanks!

 

[Archipelago]

A bit more info might help for a reply.
What sort of things do you like to do or see?
Are there particular hotel brands you prefer?
Budget? Are you a family group or couple or?

Re the visa, assuming you're Australian, then no visa is necessary, you'll be given a visa exemption to enter Malaysia.

KL has a lot to offer, even for a 24 hour stay. Food, shopping, sightseeing, cultural etc.

Probably look for the Bukit Bintang or KLCC areas to start off with (for hotels) until you have a better idea of what you want to do.

 

[Quickstatus]

Stay near the Pavilion Shopping Mall

There are hotels nearby such as
JW Marriott
Westin

There is a nice classy indoor food court basement of the Pavilion for breakfast
Roam around the shopping mall and then maybe walk over the KLCC.

Will take 1.5 hrs min to get to/from KLIA (KUL airport) depending on time of day.

 

[PaulyB]

A bit more info might help for a reply.
What sort of things do you like to do or see?
Are there particular hotel brands you prefer?
Budget? Are you a family group or couple or?

Re the visa, assuming you're Australian, then no visa is necessary, you'll be given a visa exemption to enter Malaysia.

Thanks for this Archipelago. Yes, we both carry Australian and UK passports and we are flying MA on a married flight with checked-through luggage, so don't expect a big hold-up leaving the airport.

We really aren't that excited about shopping esp having lived in Thailand quite a bit! Given the time to travel to and from the airport to the town center, it feels like we would ideally stay outside the airport, even if it is really close nearby.
Having just flown from Frankfurt (in J) (transiting to Perth) we will probably be happy for a walk outside in the fresh air once we have checked in.

If we were to go further afield, I expect it would be the next day but to be honest, the idea of spending 3 hours sitting in a bus or taxi in such a short available time feels a lot unbalanced!

So - to answer your question - hotels close to the airport and happy to walk and see any little areas near by if such a thing exists. Even a 20-30m taxi trip would be OK.

No preferred hotels and we are just the two of us. Thanks for the Hot Quiz
And Quickstatus, the KLCC certainly is appealing although my wife gets Vertigo! She may not be too keen!!

 

[vetrade]

Last September we had a 23hr transit in KUL and stayed at the Sama Sama Hotel at the airport. Good quality hotel just across the road from the airport, reasonably priced and they provide a free buggy pick-up service to & from the terminal which is ultra convenient with luggage.

KUL is about an hour's travel time to central KL so we thought it was a lot easier to leave our luggage at the hotel. There's nothing much around the area for walking etc., though.

Since you have a 26 hr stop in KUL, I suggest you double check whether your luggage will be checked through because we certainly had to collect ours and then check it in again the next day. I wouldn't expect the fact your MH flights are "married" would affect the luggage situation - rather the fact you are staying more than 24hrs is most relevant

 

[PaulyB]

Since you have a 26 hr stop in KUL, I suggest you double check whether your luggage will be checked through because we certainly had to collect ours and then check it in again the next day.

Ohh - OK - thanks. Will do. And will check the hotel.

 

[jase05]

Stay near the Pavilion Shopping Mall

There are hotels nearby such as
JW Marriott
Westin

There is a nice classy indoor food court basement of the Pavilion for breakfast
Roam around the shopping mall and then maybe walk over the KLCC.

Will take 1.5 hrs min to get to/from KLIA (KUL airport) depending on time of day.

Stayed at the Banyan Tree in November and had wonderful stay. Staff are amazing and riooms fantastic. The hotel has direct access to the Pavilion shopping centre via a covered walkway and hotel guests get discount vouchers and savings at the Pavilion. The hotel has the best skybar in KL IMO.
Grab was dirt cheap in KL to get around but PT stations are close by though. We normally stay at The Traders when in KL but will head back to the Banyan Tree instead next time

 

[Pushka]

Last September we had a 23hr transit in KUL and stayed at the Sama Sama Hotel at the airport. Good quality hotel just across the road from the airport, reasonably priced and they provide a free buggy pick-up service to & from the terminal which is ultra convenient with luggage.

KUL is about an hour's travel time to central KL so we thought it was a lot easier to leave our luggage at the hotel. There's nothing much around the area for walking etc., though.

Since you have a 26 hr stop in KUL, I suggest you double check whether your luggage will be checked through because we certainly had to collect ours and then check it in again the next day. I wouldn't expect the fact your MH flights are "married" would affect the luggage situation - rather the fact you are staying more than 24hrs is most relevant

Thanks for that. We are staying at the Sama Sama in May. Flying in from AMS on KLM and then KL to Adelaide the next night. They were two separate award bookings so didn't want to risk not getting luggage through then rebooked on the same day. Likely won't leave the hotel. It will be after a big holiday.

 

[Archipelago]

If your luggage doesn't get checked through (I agree that the 26 hour connection could be an issue) or you don't have a lot of luggage - then there's always the KL Ekspres high speed train to get to the KL Sentral city centre (28 minutes)

There's Aloft, Hilton and Le Meridien hotels at the city centre end adjacent to the station.

 

[kpro]

My go-to is the Grand Hyatt. However, anywhere between KLCC and Pavilion should be good. There is a covered aerial walkway between KLCC and Pavillion which makes it easy to walk in between the two.

Take the KLIA Ekspres from the Airport, it's a 35 min trip to KL central and will save you considerable time. Pre-COVID you could even check in at KL central station before your return journey to the Airport, though that seems to have not resumed yet.
Would recommend you take a walk around Bukit Bintang during your visit.

You can't really go wrong with any international branded hotels including -

• Grand Hyatt
• Intercontinental
• Pullman
• Novotel
• Marriott
• Shangri-la

 

[Quickstatus]

You could spend some time in the just opened Jamie Oliver at KLIA

 

[PaulyB]

Oh boy! So many choices. We got a great price at Sama-Sama Hotel on QANTAS hotels of all places. Thanks for the input.

 

[exceladdict]

Looking like I might have an overnight at KL, am wondering whether it's worth going through customs or staying at the transit hotel airside? Any experiences?

 

[jase05]

Looking like I might have an overnight at KL, am wondering whether it's worth going through customs or staying at the transit hotel airside? Any experiences?

Nearly always a smooth ride through immigration and I do prefer to head into town but if we have a tight turnaround we will stay at the airport but still clear customs. I’ve never stayed at the airside hotels at KUL so unsure of the quality and ease of them

 

[Quickstatus]

smooth ride through immigration

Yes, I've never had anything other than a smooth transit through immigration.

 

[Pushka]

Looking like I might have an overnight at KL, am wondering whether it's worth going through customs or staying at the transit hotel airside? Any experiences?

Booking.com had excellent prices for us in May at SAMA. Seems I booked a suite with premium lounge access (I'd forgotten what I booked until I checked yesterday ) for $157. Paying an extra for late checkout in early evening.

 

[Duffa]

Just booked the sama sama for $150 a night for 12 hr transit MCT-KUL-MEL in July.
I much prefer stop-overs like this rather than a 24 hr marathon from Europe.
Shower and fresh sheets - unbeatable

 

[AIRwin]

Good news:

Malaysia Airlines to reopen flight check-in and baggage drop facilities at KL Sentral beginning Sept 1

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines is set to reopen its in-town flight check-in and baggage drop facilities at KL Sentral beginning Sept 1.

www.thestar.com.my