Review: the W Kuala Lumpur hotel

This is our review of the W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I have stayed at a lot of W Hotels recently. Just a few weeks ago I was at the W Amsterdam (review here); the W Kuala Lumpur is my 5th in 12 months and my first W in Asia.

If you’re not familiar with the trendy W brand then I suggest you start with our guide to W Hotels, which gives a bit of history and background to the hotel chain. Fundamentally, however, W Hotels are supposed to be a design-led luxury brand targetting a younger audience than you might find at, say, a St Regis or Ritz Carlton.

In general I do like W Hotels, although they can sometimes overstep the mark from cool to garish with their emphasis on bold colours and bright designs. My favourite W remains the W Ibiza (review here), which I think showcases the brand’s playful nature combined with slightly more sophisticated room design.

Marriott offered us a stay to support my recent trip to Malaysia with Malaysia Airlines. Yesterday I reviewed the Shangri-La Rasa Ria resort in Sabah, Borneo which was totally different in every way.

The hotel website is here.

Where is the W Kuala Lumpur hotel?

Like the majority of international hotels, the W Kuala Lumpur is located in KLCC, the area around the landmark twin Petronas Towers:

It is quite a schlepp form the airport which is over 50km from the city centre – depending on traffic your journey can take upwards of 50 minutes by taxi (or Grab, Asia’s Uber, which I recommend.) Fares are around £20 one-way.

It is a good neighbourhood to be in, although the W is more on the back of the KLCC; that gives it an excellent view of the towers but means it is a slightly further walk from the park than, say, the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur hotel which I reviewed on my last trip.

Check in at the W Kuala Lumpur hotel

I arrived late after my flight from Kotu Kinabulu and was checked in immediately. The lobby is on the eight floor of the hotel, whilst floors 1-7 are the hotel car park. Parking is free if you are a hotel guest, as is standard at most hotels in KL.

My luggage was taken off me on arrival and promptly delivered within thirty seconds of checking into my room, so kudos to that. Nothing is worse that waiting in your room waiting for your luggage to arrive.

Rooms at W Kuala Lumpur

I was given a Spectacular Room, which one category above the entry level Wonderful Room. The only difference, as far as I can see, is the view: Spectacular Rooms get views on the Petronas Towers:

In total the hotel has 150 guest rooms. I was on the 21st floor; the lower 22 floors make up the hotel, with the remaining 33 floors part of the W Residences.

At 42 square metres they are a good size. First up is the wardrobe, which features a luggage rack, clothes rail and safe:

After this is a console table with a typical W mini bar featuring larger ‘mini’ bottles of spirits and other goodies:

and

Tea and coffee making facilities are artfully concealed behind a frosted glass door. You have a Nespresso machine as well as Jing tea bags:

After this you have a bar-stool height desk space:

The room then opens up. As you can see it is very spacious:

The king size bed takes centre stage with a mirrored pixel-inspired artwork above:

There are generous bedside tables on both sides, plus plugs and the electronic room controls, including electronic blinds:

I found the lighting controls to be a bit finicky – I’m not sure how it’s done but they didn’t always behave as intended when I used them. There’s also no master light switch at the room door, which is a bit annoying.

Opposite the bed is a large 43″ TV which can be hidden by closing the sliding mirror door:

In the window you’ll find a chaise longue, coffee table and small armchair:

Thanks to the room’s generous proportions it manages to get a lot in without feeling tight. There’s always loads of space.

The bathroom is to the right of the bed, and features a large bath tub plus separate shower:

A triangular sink is on the right, with two mirrors:

The toilet is at the end and features a sliding door. There is also a mirrored door to the bathroom you can close to shut the whole thing off from the rest of the room.

Toiletries are the standard MOMO W Hotel toiletries. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: these are some of my favourite hotel toiletries (the EDITION’S Le Labo ones also score highly).

By now you may have noticed a running theme: the room is rammed to the teeth with mirrors. There are mirrors on virtually every surface, which may make the photos a little disorienting. It is quite funny just how many there are – at any one time you can see yourself from virtually every angle regardless of where you stand, especially in the bathroom.

Pool, gym and spa at W Kuala Lumpur

The leisure facilities at the W Kuala Lumpur are spread across two floors. The pool and gym are on the 12th floor. Here is the gym:

The outdoor pool is an impressive size and has some great views of the Petronas Towers. It’s a shame it isn’t an infinity pool! It was certainly loved by the many families at the hotel – I don’t think I’ve seen so many children at a W Hotel before.

There is also a covered but open-air pool bar, which hosts club nights once or twice a month:

There is plenty of seating around the pool and pool bar but a real dearth of loungers. There are just six day beds – everything else is a mix of cafe-style chairs. Some more loungers would have been nice.

The spa facilities are on a lower floor, with a big reception with two brass humanoid figures that made me jump when I first saw them!

There are at least 10 treatment rooms as well as two gender-specific ‘sanctuaries’ featuring steam room, sauna, hot tub and shower, changing and toilet facilities. They are great facilities but it’s a shame they’re not on the same floor as the pool so you can go between the two.

I had a lovely exceptional massage by one of the therapists at the hotel (sadly I didn’t catch her name). She was able to find all my areas of tension and worked it right out.

Breakfast and dining at W Kuala Lumpur

There are a couple of restaurants at the W, including Flock, Yen and the Woo bar next to the lobby:

Breakfast is served at Flock, which has a range of seating including out on the balcony with views of the Petronas towers, which I enjoyed. There is quite an extensive buffet:

The cut-your-own hydroponically grown salad leaves are very eye-catching, although possibly more of a gimmick than a practicality:

There’s plenty of choice, from salads:

…. cold cuts, smoked salmon and cheese:

…. plus the usual yoghurts, pastries, cereals etc. When it comes to hot food you also have a huge choice, from traditional Malaysian style dishes such as Nasi Lemak to an egg station.

My favourite was the build-your-own soup station:

Plus congee, dimsum, bao and other bits and bobs. It’s a very good breakfast. I went all in on a savoury breakfast and had the noodle soup and bao:

For dinner, Flock operates an a la carte menu and I tried the scallop sashimi which was fantastic:

…. plus the Sabah lobster curry:

Duck breast:

…. and prawn salad:

As you can see, portions are pretty big. I think the restaurant could benefit from moving towards more of a sharing plate menu with slightly smaller portions – there was so much to try but the quantity of each dish was just a little too much.

Conclusion

The W Kuala Lumpur hotel is a solid option when staying in KLCC. Rooms are bright and spacious, as long as you don’t mind seeing yourself a thousand times in all the mirrors!

I particularly liked the extensive breakfast which has a range of stations where you can get cooked to order Asian and western options including noodle soups, egg dishes and traditional Malaysian options.

Cash rates start at £135 per night in June or from 30,000 points per night. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

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