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Literally meaning “muddy estuary” in Malay, Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it’s well-known, has grown from a small sleepy village built on tin mines to a lively metropolis. Bringing together its year-round equatorial climate which is warm and sunny, along with plentiful rainfall, plus its inexpensive five-star hotels, great shopping and even better food, Malaysia puts on an Asian experience like no other.
Possibly the best part about KL is its diversity. It’s a modern Asian capital of silver skyscrapers, city lights and awe-inspiring international hotels, but it retains its history and traditions in its more dated areas, like the back lanes of Chinatown and Little India.
Many of the city’s hotels and conference venues can be found in and around the 40 hectare Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) overlooking the park designed by the late Brazilian landscapist Roberto Burle Marx. The park includes a public wading pool, patterned footpaths, a soft jogging track, a two-acre children’s playground, and a symphony lake with its two musical fountains at the esplanade just outside huge shopping centre, Suria KLCC.
Much of the metropolis is linked by monorail, bus or taxi, yet unlike other major Asian cities, these modes of transportation are not often utilised by the population – not because public transportation is not safe, but because most Malaysians have a vehicle of their own.
KL is considered the cultural melting pot of Malaysia. The city is home to communities of Chinese, Malays, Indians, east Malaysian ethnic groups, Thais, Indonesians, Sikhs and a huge community of expats. And each community offers its own festivals, food, music, art and fashion while influencing each other’s cultures.
With Malaysia celebrating its 50th year of independence in 2007, the federal capital is set to be alive with grand scale festivals, exhibitions of Malaysia’s history, fireworks displays, open-air concerts and other events scheduled throughout the year. With so much happening on KL’s events calendar, planners are in the position to use the lively culture to their advantage as part of their conferences and meetings. Groups might enjoy being awed by the discipline and precision displayed by armies from all over the world as they congregate in Kuala Lumpur for the international tattoo show in September. For three nights, military and police tattoo teams will showcase precision marching and formation.
During December, groups can witness foreign street performers entertaining visitors with circus skills, musical talents, comic acts and juggling skills at the KL International Buskers Festival.
Or for a unique bird’s eye view of Kuala Lumpur, the Eye on Malaysia, a giant ferris wheel, offers a breathtaking 360 degree panorama of Kuala Lumpur. The Eye lets you see up to 20 kilometres of Kuala Lumpur’s spectacular skyline as the ferris wheel revolves to a height of 60 metres.
Getting to Malaysia’s biggest city is no drama. Over 50 airlines call at Kuala Lumpur Intentional Airport (KLIA), and despite the 50 kilometre journey from the airport to the city centre, it takes only 28 minutes travelling via the high-speed KLIA Ekspres, a train which links the airport directly with the KL Sentral transportation hub. Passengers using this service can check their baggage in at the Kuala Lumpur City Air Terminal in KL Sentral. The KLIA airport replaced the former Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport in Subang in 1998, which is now used for chartered flights.
Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Adjoining Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre at KLCC, The Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is a contemporary, new generation hotel offering 571 guest rooms and suites, two restaurants, a sky bar, health club/gym and a spa that is located on the 34th floor rooftop. The hotel has six meeting rooms for small boardroom conferences catering for between four and 12. For more information, phone +603 2332 9888 or visit www.tradershotels.com.
Carcosa Seri Negara
Carcosa Seri Negara is located in its own 16-hectare garden, above the Lake Gardens on the western edge of the city. 45 minutes’ drive from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the century-old building-turned-hotel offers suite-style accommodation, three restaurants, a bar, swimming pools, tennis court, and an on-ground jogging track. The hotel has five main meeting facilities, including the Langkasuka which caters for 60 banquet-style, and the lobby and verandah which can accommodate 2000 cocktail-style. For more information, phone +603 2295 0888 or visit www.carcosa.com.my.
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is located in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). It has two auditoriums, 9710 square metres of exhibition space, a grand ballroom, conference hall, banquet hall and a further 20 meeting rooms. The plenary hall can cater for up to 3000 theatre-style, and the exhibition halls are equipped with motorised lighting grids of nine square metres in size for easy rigging. The convention centre offers a one-day cultural awareness training session for all international conference organisers. There are about 13,000 guest rooms within 10 minutes of the centre. For more information, phone +603 2333 2888 or visit www.klccconventioncentre.com.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Located adjacent to the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, with views overlooking the KLCC Park, Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur offers 643 guest rooms, including 41 suites and 51 appointed apartments. It has several award-winning restaurants and bars, including classic Cantonese cuisine at Lai Po Heen and traditional Japanese fare at Wasabi Bistro. It also has spa and leisure facilities, over 300 original works of art throughout the hotel, plus a rooftop pool area great for a unique dining experience. The hotel’s conference facilities can cater for up to 2400 cocktail style. For more information, phone +603 2380 8888 or visit www.mandarin-oriental.com.
Putra World Trade Centre
The Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) has 35,000 square metres of exhibition space, one plenary hall, two multipurpose halls, 17 meeting rooms, a press conference room and VIP suites. There are three exhibition halls, a large outdoor space to handle tented exhibitions and a foyer area, the Legar Putra. Located in the heart of the city, PWTC plays host to more than 1000 events annually. The centre is equipped with the latest communication facilities, including fibre optics and audiovisual equipment. For more information, phone +603 4043 3999 or visit www.pwtc.com.my/pwtc
 The latest addition to The Westin Kuala Lumpur, the Conference Centre is nestled within the hotel itself on Lower Ground 2. The centre’s ultra-modern Synergy and Strategy rooms are installed with piped-in music and individually controlled air-conditioning and lights. Strategy III, the largest of the Strategy Rooms, is also suitable as a special VIP waiting room with its very own separate entrance for added privacy. An adjoining courtyard makes this an ideal venue for outdoor coffee or themed coffee breaks. In the centre’s foyer, biconic stands that come in unique shapes and sizes make for interesting conversation pieces. The addition of the Conference Centre has increased the hotel’s number of function rooms to a total of 21. The Westin Kuala Lumpur has several special meeting packages available, including the Weekend Residential Meeting Package with overnight accommodation in a Deluxe City View Room. For coffee breaks with a difference, the hotel offers a variety of options, including the colour themes of red, green and yellow, ‘kopitiam’ for local flavours and ‘WestinWORKOUT’ that focuses on health and nutrition. For more information, phone the catering and convention team on +603 2773 8025 or visit www.westin.com/kualalumpur
Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur has significantly expanded its meetings facilities by adding 12 function rooms on its fourth level.
This brand new floor, The Mezzanine at Level 4, is ideal for meetings and events for groups from 10 to 120 people, and has break-out rooms for larger conferences taking place in existing facilities such as the Grand Nirwana Ballroom at the Lower Lobby which caters for 1400 banquet-style. Investing RM5.0 million to meet the growing meetings and conventions sector of Kuala Lumpur, Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur now has 28 function rooms of varying capacity in its meetings suite.
The Mezzanine’s refurbishment programme started in August 2006. Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur’s general manager, Philip Riley, says that the refurbishment of Mezzanine Level will fill a gap in the meetings and conventions space for organisations planning small group meetings as part of their overall conference agenda.
“Our proximity to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre has resulted in our appointment as the official hotel partner for many conferences, among them the recent APLAR Congress (Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology),” he says.
“Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen an increasing need for mid-sized meeting facilities, function rooms that can cater to breakout groups of 10 to 50 people.
“In 2005, we invested RM3.5 million for an escalator connecting the main hotel lobby to Jalan Perak, which shortens the walk to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to a mere five minutes, making Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur more accessible and convenient for our customers.”
The 36-storey hotel is situated amid five acres of landscaped gardens in the KLCC, five minutes’ walk away from the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. A monorail station at the entrance of the hotel ensures quick access to other parts of KL. All of the hotel’s 565 guest rooms and suites underwent a complete refurbishment in 2003. The hotel offers four restaurants, Angsana Spa indoor and outdoor spa facilities, and cocktail lounge.
Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur is InterContinental Hotels Group’s 35th Crowne Plaza hotel in Asia Pacific. For more information, phone +603 2148 2322 or visit www.crowneplaza.com.
Central Market
Located on the fringe of KL’s Chinatown, the Central Market was once the city’s largest wet fresh produce market. It now has an endless assortment of Malaysian knick-knacks, trinkets, handicraft, batik and T-shirts sold in shops and stalls. Street artists produce quick sketches of passers-by and wannabe-musicians croon their favourite songs by the walkways. Just outside Central Market is a riverside amphitheatre often used for traditional dance displays and wayang kulit (shadow puppet). For more information, phone +603 2274 6542.
Aquaria KLCC
Located in the basement levels one and two of the KLCC Convention Centre, Aquaria KLCC is an extremely large and stunning aquarium that houses 5000 varieties of tropical fish. It has a 90-metre long underwater tunnel, various exhibits of flora and fauna, a 10-foot long gigantic Arapamia, a touch pool encounter and multimedia kiosks. Another highlight is the Turtle Conservation program which Aquaria started in collaboration with KUSTEM (Kolej Universiti Sains & Teknologi Malaysia) & The Department of Fisheries in aid and support of the rehabilitation, conservation, research, and education in turtle conservation. For more information, phone +603 2333 1888 or visit www.klaquaria.com.
Cosmo’s World
Located on the upper floors of the giant Berjaya Times Square mall, Cosmo’s World is Malaysia’s largest indoor theme park, and particularly notable for its hair-raising seven-story indoor roller coaster. The park is divided into two sections: one geared for small children, the other for those who want a little more excitement. One ticket gets visitors into both sections. For more information, phone +603 2144 9821 or visit www.timessquarekl.com/themepark.
Batu Caves
Located in a limestone outcropping 15 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Selangor, drawing people from all over the world during the annual Hindu festival, Thaipusam. It consists of three big caves, including the main-temple cave which features ornate Hindu shrines. Scaling the 272 steps leading up to the main-temple cave is one of the highlights of a visit to Batu Caves. Nearby is the Ramayana Cave where evocative scenes of Indian epic myths are artistically painted along its walls. This massive limestone hill is also a popular spot for rock climbing.
Petronas Twin Towers
The 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, otherwise known as KLCC, is the world’s tallest twin structures. Located in the heart of KL city, it contains a complex of office buildings, conference halls, a sprawling park and an upmarket shopping complex. Visiting the sky bridge is a great experience, and it is open to visitors. Entry is free but limited to the first 1200 people who show up. For more information, phone (603) 2051 1320 or visit www.petronas.com.my.
Lake Gardens
Taman Tasik Perdana, or Lake Gardens, is a tranquil location of 92 hectares planned and built around two lakes, and is the oldest and most popular park in Kuala Lumpur. It lies just on the edge of the city and used to be where the British elite built their homes in colonial times. The Lake Gardens encompasses the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, Orchid Garden, Butterfly Park, Hibiscus Garden, and Deer Park – all are reachable either by foot or by regular shuttle buses. From the gardens, you can also visit other attractions such as the National Monument, the Planetarium and the Islamic Museum.
Royal Selangor Visitor Centre
Experience pewter making at the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre, take a tour of the Pewter Museum to learn about the company’s pioneering past, and take a look at the two-storey high replica of the Petronas Twin Towers created out of 7062 pewter tankards. The Factory Tour shows you the different pewter production processes as well as the intricacies of making Selberan’s fine jewellery. The Royal Selangor School of Hard Knocks gets groups together for an entertaining hour-long pewtersmithing workshop where participants are taught to create their own pewter dish using traditional tools and methods. For more information, phone +60 3 4145 6122 or visit www.visitorcentre.royalselangor.com.
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