OUR 3 NIGHT STAY AT KL JOURNAL HOTEL

After our trip to Langkawi we decided to have a 3 night stop over in Kuala Lumpur. I chose to stay in the reasonably priced boutique hotel The KL Journal Hotel which is centrally based in the Bukit Bintang area.

The rooms are all spacious and decorated with a modern twist. The floor to ceiling windows make the rooms bright and airy and offer some great views of the local area and the Petronas Twin Towers.

Besides the location, the biggest selling point of this hotel is the rooftop pool. The view is simple over the Bukit Bintang shopping district but it is decorated with some great decor and an amazing array of neon wall lights. On Saturdays they have a pool party with a resident DJ which has a great atmosphere for all guests. The drinks aren’t cheap though but remembering you are in a city hotel, they are pretty expected at 25MYR a drink.

The vibe around the whole hotel is clean and modern.

The area around KL Journal Hotel is a real mix. Immediately outside and to the right is a residential area leading down to a really busy street filled with great eateries and bars. We found a great place with amazing fish and chips and Rob could watching the Cricket world cup final.

Out and to the left is the main street leading to the shops and major transport hubs. Just around the corner is the most amazingly cheap Indian restaurant called The Indian Kitchen. It cost us 49MYR for two curries, a rice, a naan bread and drinks which is less than two drinks at the hotel bar!

How much does it cost to stay?

We booked directly with the hotel KL Journal and for our three night stay it cost us 840RM which is around £164 which, for a city centre location, is really good and it included a buffet breakfast each morning.

How to get there?

If it is your first time visiting KL, the airport is miles away from the city centre and we had no idea! We decided to get a taxi there as we didn’t know where we were going. We went to the counter at the airport, told them the name of our hotel and paid the 118RM it cost. Handed the ticket to the driver and 1 hour later we arrived at the front door. The traffic was a little heavy towards the centre so on a good day it could take 50-45mins but not much less.

On the way back we got the train, which interestingly took the same amount of time and only actually saved us 15RM when travelling with two people. We got the MRT from Bukit Bintang station to Muzium Negara which cost 1.50RM each. There we could walk to KL Sentral station using the overpass and picked up the KLIA Ekspres to the airport which cost 55RM per person direct. The total journey took around 45mins.

If your travelling solo, then the train is the cheapest option but if your travelling in a group of three or more then a taxi would definitely be cheaper.

Things we wished we had known when visiting KL.

Kuala Lumpur is one of the most instagrammed cities and so there are a number of locations you will have in mind before you visit. Well… besides the Petronas Twin Towers, almost all of them are not accessible via the MRT system. If you want to truly get the most of your Kuala Lumpur trip then get a SIM card and get to grips with GRAB the Asian version of Uber. The taxi’s do not have the greatest reputation so many people prefer to use GRAB. We don’t use SIMs when we travel, we like to go old school using maps and speaking to locals for directions. I like the break from social media and being present in the moment when we go away but during our trip to KL, this method didn’t work for us. We missed out on so much so just bear that in mind when you visit.

If you’re not that fussed about seeing specific sights, then just taking the time to walk around this multicultural city and using it as a base for some retail therapy time is fun and we enjoyed it. We will leave you with some pictures of our 3 day trip to finish off with.

SP x