I have never been to Kuala Lumpur before so when looking for hotels to stay during a short 3 day business trip I noticed how affordable the rates were. As you know from my posts I (often) like to go with Starwood brands and KUL offers several properties. The Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur has solid reviews and is conveniently located in the city’s business & commercial district. Although it’s more on the mature end, I enjoyed the stay none the less.
Imperial times
I booked directly at SPG and arrived at almost midnight. The lobby is impressive and in the style of how hotels were build 15 years ago. Very bright, marble, high ceilings, glass windows, a fountain with fishes, and several floors looking into the lobby. Also the main all day dining restaurant „Essence“ is located „inside“ the lobby. Check-In was friendly and efficient and I received a club-floor upgrade thanks to being SPG platinum.
The lobby reflects the “Imperial” with desks, sofas, restaurants and bars spanning over several floors.
Although I did not try the all day dining restaurant, it looked very modern and tasteful.
The pool deck on the 5th floor is a nice treat considering you are right in the middle of city.
The club room
What was most impressive for me was the room’s size. While my rooms in many Asian hotels have been on the smaller end, here you get all the space. A short entry hallway leads to the vestibule from which you can enter the bathroom, walk-in closet (!) and the room itself. In the entry hall you’ll find a bar equipped with the usual stuff and two free bottles of still water. What I missed was a coffee machine other than the instant coffee provided.
The main room has a big floor to ceiling window, a very comfortable sweet sleeper double bed, sofa, desk, chairs and loads of storage room. If you overlook the „bamboo“ wood style of the furniture you still see that it has been there for the years but kept in solid shape. The flatscreen TV hanging opposite my bed however is brand new which immediately reminds you of being with an American chain. The walk-in closet offers plenty of hangers (something that I often need to request upon arrival), a big safety box, plenty of drawers and stuff like extra pillows. The bathroom is also quite spacious and although not offering daylight had bathtub, big walk-in-shower, more than enough towels, slippers, bathrobes and again plenty of space in drawers.
The room is really spacious, especially for Asian standards. It’s bright and offers plenty of features.
Bar station in the entrance hall of my room, stocked with complimentary water and many other bells & whistlers.
The bathroom did not disappoint. While it was more on the mature end, it had a tub, walk-in shower and came with good amenities.
I liked waking up to this fantastic view over Kuala Lumpur from my room located on the 32nd floor.
You can tell the housekeeping really tries hard but I noticed some shortcomings such as a layer of dust on the glass shelves in the bathroom, fingerprints on the window or missing toilet paper. Turndown service came at night and provided slippers, fresh towels as well as a fresh bottle of water bedside which was a nice touch.
One of the interesting benefits of the club room was the complimentary laundry service. Up tot wo pieces per day will be fetched by 9am from your room if you request so and returned the same day before 7pm. This was a great convenience and I surprisingly needed it for this trip.
The Sheraton Club Kuala Lumpur
Located in floor 38 is the Sheraton Club. Aside from offering sweeping views over the center of Kuala Lumpur, you can get breakfast, afternoon tea and a cocktail hour there. The breakfast was really comprehensive and featured the usual spread from cereals & croissants, fresh fruit, joghurts, cheeses and ham, sweets and even Sushi. You will also find some hot dishes aside from an made-to-order omelette station. Coffee was good and needless to say drinks from fresh juices over softdrinks, wine and beer were stocked plenty.
Compared to the brekfast, the offering during afternoon tea from 14:00 – 16:00 was rather disappointing. At least when I came there were few canapes left and most were on the sweeter end so that’s nothing I really recommend especially considering you are in the heart of a city with so many options! I never visited the cocktail hour due to work.
Breakfast at the Club Lounge was relaxing and never crowded. The spread was solid and the view plain gorgeous!
During my stay, the Club Lounge was never too crowded and made for a good temporary office.
Continuing from the cleanliness of the room, also the lounge was not 100% spotless. The bookshelves looked nice but also had their layer of dust, on the windowsill I spotted some dead flies and the furniture had a slight (!) worn appearance. Very few tables were located near power outlets so you may find it hard to properly work once your laptop runs low. I also found the background music to be a bit dominant.
What totally made up for that however was the attentive service of the lounge staff. I received table-service during breakfast even for small things like coffee and bringing over an omelette. The staff would also quickly address me by my name. I also took advantage of the in-lounge check-out which had zero waiting time and was very comfortable.
Passport & Palmtree conclusion
My choice to stay at the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur was a good one. At a very competitive rate the hotel offers a thorough experience and even a bit of luxury. The super spacious room was a highlight and the service clearly was way above average, making up for some of the hardware being more on the mature end. Combine that with the unbeatably central location the SIKL offers, you can’t go wrong.
Have you been to Kuala Lumpur? What was your favourite thing to do in the city? Let me know in the comments!
Also, check out my recent review of the Sheraton Grand Dubai.
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