derpelikan

couldnt find anything cheaper.

but still too expensive, as i can get a 5 star for this price.

i am planning to go to KUL for a weekend, and i will fly on the dates where the hotel is cheap

dp

infoworks

Plus, when the convention centre opened it helped all hotels push rates up by RM100 a night. CP will do rooms for about RM240++ a night. Club floor starts at about 350.

stimpy

I discovered by accident that you get the best rates at this hotel by walking up and asking. They said they lost my reservation, so I asked how much a room would be and the rate they gave me was less than my supposedly cheap web reservation.

So the next time I tried this again and again got a really low rate.

If you are going to KL on holiday, I definitely recommend trying the walk up routine at your favorite hotel. You can book a 6pm cancellable reservation in case you are afraid.

bordeauxboy

Also found that rates have increased dramatically. I was recently working on hotel contracts for KL and found that all the properties were relatively firm compared to 12 months ago. The convention center is definitely a major contributor. Another reason is that KL has seen a dramatic increase in Middle Eastern tourists, which must be related to oil prices since it was already a popular destination.

monahos

They are spending their summer holidays in Malaysia, a stable, safe, and green country where they feel welcome, instead of Lebanon, for reasons not directly related to oil prices...

Black Adder

Good to know! I'll be there in November for a few days to visit an old high school friend, I'll ask her to ring them up and ask for the rates.

Sweet Willie

Seeing as the club is not that special, are there food stalls nearby the property or other cheap/good food offerings ?

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stimpy

Not much in that area. That is why lately I've been staying at the Le Meridien which has lots of really good and really cheap food all around. The Hilton (sister hotel to the LM) is also nice.

timekeeping

Stayed at the Crown Plaza Muitaira a couple of weeks ago for 5 nights. My first time there and found it to be less than perfect.

Had a deluxe room which was quite big but the rain shower didn't work (only the handheld one did). The room itself isn't as clean as it should be with a dead bug lying around for 3 days.

Most locals still know the hotel as the "old hilton" and not the "crowne plaza". My local contact went to the wrong hotel (the Crown Princess or something) to pick me up!

Will try the Hilton or the Meridian next time. For something nearby, I'd try the Shangri-La.

stimpy

Actually the Shangri-La isn't that nice either unless you book a Club room. Same for the Mutiara (the real name of the hotel). I've had some very nice rooms there. But they were all upgrades.

Sweet Willie

thanks, based upon the so-so comments on this CP property, I've switched to the Hilton.

Also big thumbs up on the walk up idea, I'll give that a try when in KUL this Jan '08.^

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stimpy

You'll find lots of small food outlets in and around the train station. The plainer looking, the better. One I thought was good is here. You walk out of the Hilton/LM complex over to the train station. Enter and go down the escalator and just at your left is a little cafeteria-looking place, staffed by two Muslim women. Great food for pennies.

Also make sure you take a short train or taxi ride to Bangsar. That is the new happening place in KL for what I might call "middle class" locals. Lots of interesting clubs, shops and restaurants and not too expensive.

mario33

Mutiara is 5-10min walk from both Bukit Bintang and KLCC, and with a monorail station right infront. True the immediate buildings on both sides are office blocks, but you are only separated from the fringe of Bukit Bintang by 1 office block and a busy road junction.

LeMeridien and Hilton are both located at Sentral (outside the city centre) which is KL's main railway station . Apart from some shops and restaurants at the railway station itself, there is nothing much around unless you walk across the railway station, open air carpark and main road over to Brickfields which is a predominantly indian suburb.

GibSpmuh

I've been to the Crowne Plaza several more times now since my last post and every time I've been happy with my stays. When booking a Deluxe I've been upgraded to a Grand Deluxe, and when booking a Grand Deluxe I've been upgraded to a suite - a very nice upgrade, and certainly above and beyond what's required for PC Platinum.

I was disappointed with the Le Meridien in comparison - the dull grey decor, the awful music playing in the corridors, the cold service, and all for a higher price. I'm not a fan of the KL Sentral area either, unless needing to get too and from the airport at undesirable hours.

If you're looking for cheap eats close to the Crowne Plaza, you can go out the escalator that goes towards the Convention Centre, and then walk up the road towards Jalan P Ramlee - there's plenty of places up behind the nightclub area that are tasty and cheap and only a 5 minute walk or so away.

stimpy

True it's not very far to walk to get some eats, but in KL most of the time it is either pouring rain or horrific humidity (to me) so even a 5 minute walk outside can be unpleasant. And yes the monorail is convenient for both the Mutiara and the LM/Hilton. But at Sentral you can also get commuter trains to lots of other places, like the massive Mid-Valley mall. That way you have no long waits in legendary KL traffic jams.

I'm not saying that the area around the Mutiara is bad, but I personally prefer Sentral these days. And as I said, I like Bangsar a lot. I think it is easier to get to Bangsar from Sentral.