Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur

100   Recommended
September 7, 2018 by

 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended
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Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur
 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended

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Four Seasons Place, located adjacent to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in the heart of the popular Golden Triangle shopping and business district - you know, a stone's throw from the Petronas Towers  - offers both 209 guest rooms and suites, as well as 27 serviced apartments.  It had its soft opening in early July 2018; consequently, as my stay was just in early August, various facilities, such as the spa and executive lounge, were not yet finished (however, both of those have since been opened).  In other words, some of my criticism might be directed more towards the fact that it was a soft opening, and that there were still some kinks to iron out.  However, one of my pet peeves is having to take more than one elevator to get to the room, and unfortunately, that's one of my problems with this hotel.

My first impression was that I had no idea where the main entrance was.  One of KL's infamously tricky taxi drivers didn't feel like driving so far into the traffic-laden Golden Triangle (well maybe I don't feel like paying you the full fare...), which meant that I was deposited onto the busy Jalan Ampang thoroughfare - the entrance to the six-floor Four Seasons Place mall - and not the main hotel lobby behind it.  Not to mention, once I found the first lobby (the actual lobby with check-in is accessible only by elevator), I accidentally ended up in the service apartments wing, because the signage wasn't adequate.

Once in the appropriate lobby, I enjoyed the very high ceiling, comfortable sofa, and without a doubt, the air conditioning.

One of my contacts from the PR team, Jane, kindly took the time to meet with me, and to offer a tour of the premises.

The ballrooms were spacious and immaculate, and the boardrooms airy, with great views of the urban jungle.  Additionally, although not all of the kitchens/dining areas were operating, we did visit the  Yun House for a contemporary take on Cantonese specialties, as well as the ultra-modern Bar Trigona, which I'll speak about later on in this review.  Other dining areas will include Decadent for sweets, and a small eatery/bar in the pool area; was that ever a tempting pool!  If only I had time to swim...alas, the pool area was definitely one of the highlights of the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (7).

After the tour, Jane and I sat down for lunch in the buffet restaurant CurATE, which also comes with an open kitchen.  Just then, the hotel GM, Tom Roelens, came by to greet us, and Rosemarie Wee, the Director of Communications and Public Relations, joined us for a bite.

I was only expecting to have breakfast at CurATE, so the lunch was a nice and welcome surprise.  Given Malaysia's diverse background as well as the international appeal of Kuala Lumpur, both breakfast and lunch offered a variety of Malay, Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Western dishes, in addition to fresh fruit and a dessert station.

Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (12)

Although I wasn't particularly taken by the Chinese or Japanese selections, I did keep going back for more of the Arabic, Malay, and Indian treats.  This was true for both breakfast and lunch.

After coming back from a long walk around the city, including a brief rainforest amble, it was high time for a drink at the Trigona Bar.  In spite of only being in business for roughly 4-5 weeks at the time, it was bustling, perhaps due in large part to their famed bartender, Ashish Sharma.  The bar was named after a tropical variety of bee; indeed, locally sourced honey plays a starring role in the bar's de facto signature cocktail.

Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (18)

That's nice and all, but what about the room??  As mentioned earlier, it was a city-view room, one of a number of choices that the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur has designed for its guests.

The room was very clean, offered good air conditioning, and had plenty of  space for relaxing and doing work.  The views were excellent, and the staff had another surprise waiting for me on the night table-- a box of macarons.

[caption id="attachment_4302" align="aligncenter" width="640"] City-view room with floor to ceiling windows[/caption]

There was one quirk about the bedroom that eluded me for a few minutes-- how could I open the curtains?  At first, I looked for the chains, then tried pulling them apart.  Bodoh! (stupid)  Refusing to humiliate myself with this silly question for guest reception, I searched around for a bit more until coming across these bedside switches:

[caption id="attachment_4304" align="aligncenter" width="640"] So that's how you open the curtains, and ignore housekeeping...[/caption]

The modern marble bathroom was the size of a previous apartment in Tokyo, and slightly larger than my Hong Kong dorm room.  In other words, it was more than ample.

Both the bed and shower were great, and my only regret is that neither would fit in the overhead bin on my flight home.

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All in all, I had an enjoyable stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur.  Staff were generally willing to help, the room, bar, and pool area were particularly welcoming, and Rosemarie and Jane provided a great introduction to the newish Four Seasons property.  Although there were a few issues here and there - such as inadequate signage, underwhelming food at times, and a non-ground floor lobby - I expect that most of these things will be attended to by the time the hotel is 100% up and running.

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