Nothing less than 5 stars for this 5 star (Mandarin Oriental - Kuala Lumpur)

Member Name: koshkha

Product:	Mandarin Oriental - Kuala Lumpur
Date:	06/10/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's just out of this world

Disadvantages: It's not cheap but it is good value

With all my suggestions seemingly stuck in an approval black hole, I've been casting my memory back to great hotels I've stayed in that are actually listed in the database. As a result of this I got to thinking about one of the finest places I've stayed anywhere in the world - the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is a city of fantastic hotels with exceptional service at great value prices. I've been there on business trips three times and have never had a bad hotel experience (if you can discount nearly losing my laundry when some colleagues 'borrowed' my room and left the do not disturb sign on the door). I always come away completely amazed by how good the service ethic is in the hotel sector and how you get a lot for your money in KL. However, even my high expectations were exceeded on my most recent visit when I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental.

I was in the city for a trade fair back in 2005 and was very glad that the colleague who'd organised the trip had decided that in order to perform well at the fair we really couldn't be expected to stay in a nasty cheap hotel. So she had booked us all into executive club rooms way up on the higher floors of one of the best hotel's in town. I'm not sure how much of the service we had was due to the status of the rooms and how much was standard so keep in mind that not everything might be on offer if you book a more basic room.

We'd flown in overnight and were picked up by a driver and a limo at the airport. It's quite a long trek into town these days since they built the new airport so by the time we arrived we were glad to see the hotel and shocked at just how close it was to the famous Petronas Towers. It really is literally next door. We were greeted at the car by a hostess who took our details and then we were taken through the marble lobby, directly to the lifts and straight up to our rooms. Check in was carried out in the rooms without any need to queue or wait and everything was ridiculousy courteous and pleasant.

My room was gorgeous though sadly I didn't have a view of the Petronas Towers but I could look out over the lake, the KLCC conference centre and the KL aquarium through the floor to ceiling windows. The bed was large and very comfortable with luxurious linens. There was a seating area with table and chairs and a bowl of fruit which was topped up daily with the sort of fruit that needs a bit of judicious googling to identify. I could make coffee if I wanted to, there was a fridge, a good sized work desk and chair and free wi-fi (always a bonus). The bathroom was glorious lots of marble and twinkly lighting with a separate shower and bath and some very nice toiletries.

One of the benefits of our executive room plan was a dry cleaning or laundry allowance. This is not unusual in KL hotels and since it's such a hot and sweaty city, you do tend to get through a lot more clothes than normal. I took full advantage of my allowance each day, even hunting out things in the bottom of my suitcase just to get them pressed or freshened. I've never come home from a trip with less laundry or more clean clothing.

We kicked off the stay with a briefing for all the colleagues working on the trade fair stand and this was held in one of the hotel's meeting rooms and was followed by a Chinese banquet in a nearby room. As a non-meat eater I had plenty of choice but found some of the food a bit over the top. It's hard to say no when you're given soup and don't realise that it's shark's fin and you'd really rather the shark had kept his fin for himself.

One of the best things about our stay was having access to the Executive Club which was beautiful and had fantastic views of the towers. The club was large, filled with comfy armchairs and sofas and offered plenty of free snacks and drinks in the late afternoon and evening as well as breakfast in the mornings. The colleague I was there with doesn't drink so I more or less had to keep up standards by drinking enough for both of us.

We tried out several of the hotel's many restaurants and considering the five-star status of the hotel, I didn't think that the food prices were outrageous. One of my rather traditional 'meat and two veg' colleagues struggled a bit with the sophistication of the menu and was baffled to find there wasn't a single dish she understood on the entire menu. I really enjoyed the international options on offer. We didn't always get the restaurant we wanted because the place was so busy that even as a resident you couldn't guarantee a table and one evening all our food came in the wrong order but everything was dealt with and the free puddings soon calmed any offence caused by getting your starter after your main course.

The hotel has a gym, spa and pool but I'm ashamed to say that sipping cold white wine in the club lounge was all I was fit for most evenings after a day at the trade fair. We had a bit of free time and took advantage of the spectacular shopping centre that's just next to the hotel as well as dropping into the Aquarium which has some beautiful displays including some stunning sea horses. I also dragged my colleague off to the Orchid Gardens which are my favourite place in the city.

I've stayed at the Pan Pacific by the conference centre which no longer exists, the sublime Hilton which is fabulous but not so central but I think that the Mandarin Oriental just pips the Hilton by the thinnest of whiskers.

Summary: Absolutely outstanding.