Which Hyatt in Malaysia to choose?
KL: A tale of Two Hyatts
What’s better than a stay at one Hyatt? Well, maybe a stay at two?
This trip – to Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown and Park Hyatt properties – is a mea culpa to my family. See, the last time I went on a jetsetting luxury getaway, I made the grave mistake of going, uh, not with my wife and kids, but instead with my literary agent, Brendan (see: my earlier travel piece for First Class Magazine, Eat, Pray, Bruv).
Never mind that we were working, on international tour for my novel, the Miles Franklin-winning Ghost Cities. My jealous fam could not care less about the context. Far as they’re concerned, I am in the Miles Franklin-winning doghouse, not to be let out till I have brought them, indulged them in some luxe travel shenanigans of their own.
Well, mission accomplished.
TALE I: HYATT REGENCY KUALA LUMPUR AT KL MIDTOWN
In the Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown’s Club Lounge, as we sip on fancy welcome cocktails (and mocktails for the under-aged), I turn to my children to re-confirm the pen names they’ve chosen for this piece. Smol Bean (10F) and Asgore (12M) nod. They brandish their pens and pads, for they, too, are contributing travel writers.
My wife does not want to be involved.
“Leave Me Out,” she says.
“Altogether?” I ask.
“Leave Me Altogether Out.”
Duly noted. L.M.A.O. it is.
“This is too fancy to be a lounge,” remarks Smol Bean, chocolate-cupcake-with-whipped-cream in hand.
“Write that down,” I say.
On entering our suite – the Two Bedroom Residence – Asgore exclaims, “This place is huge!!! Five out of five. Would recommend.”
“Write that down.”
Spoiler alert: Of the two Hyatts, the Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown will be the one that will get the kids’ eternal, effervescent, thumbs up. And it’s not hard to see why. Spacious, family-friendly, endlessly instagrammable, and located just outside the hustle and bustle of the heart of KL, yet close enough for easy jaunts into the city centre, the Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown has got serious luxury-home-away-from-home vibes. Families travelling with kiddos under 8 will live in total gratitude of the Kids Club – replete with carers, and a full schedule of activities for the little ones.
Out come the notepads for our rich food-tour. Starting with delicious pastries, Malaysian kuehs and rotis at the Midtown Brasserie, the Peking Duck par excellence at China House, and topping the night off at ENSŌ Izakaya & Bar, with soft-shell crabs to die for, yuzu sorbets, and more. Mixologist Ivon Soon – winner of the Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Champion Malaysia ‘25 – recommends me a bespoke sake flight, the highlight of which is an adventurous Taketsuru Aigamo Junmai that is so compellingly weird with its aftertaste of chicken essence (really!) – and by the way perfectly complementary of the lighter offerings in the sake flight – that it has the odd side effect of making me want to gab, for the first time in my life, about world politics for some reason. To borrow from the eternal words of Asgore: Five out of five. Would recommend.
Next day, after a refreshing swim in the infinity pool with Smol Bean and Asgore, it’s time to check out and make our way into the city, to Park Hyatt, for the second part of this tale.
I know. It’s a hard life, but someone’s got to do all this damned luxury travel writing.
TALE II: PARK HYATT AT MERDEKA 118
Next destination: Park Hyatt at Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa. Situating a hotel lobby on the 75th floor of a building is an outrageous trick. It does strange things to the mind, to be in altitude, in airspace, a world away from the world.
The grand interior of Park Hyatt’s reception is flanked by two stunning pieces of art, titled Mappa Mundi by Ewan David Eason. On the right, an almost kintsugi-like rendition of the Klang Valley cityscape. On the left, the same valley’s topography. City. Nature. An apt confluence. I check in with Danial, one of the friendly Hyatt staff, and allow my eyes to drift and marvel at the metropolis below, surrounded by lush forest greens. City. Nature.
Park Hyatt – designed by GA Group – is filled with such thematic gracenotes, the effect of which is, as one wanders about its spaces, if one looks closely enough, one will encounter artistry at every corner, by world-class talents international and local. The handcrafted Malaysian Tapir Sculptures by Lesley McKenzie in a passage niche en route to the Park Lounge. And at the bar, Lee Mok Yee’s Pyramid, a wondrous portmanteau of traditional Malaysian wood carving and mirrored elements.
The desserts at Cacao Mixology & Chocolate, dreamed up by Executive pastry chef Holge Deh, are, also, endlessly artistic. Ecsa, the Assistant Manager of Cacao, allows Smol Bean and Asgore turns at chiselling a 19kg cube of dark chocolate. Bite-sized pieces are loosed from the block and placed into the kids’ hands.
Ecsa explains: “Do not bite it, let it melt inside your mouth… oh no, too late, looks like you bit it!”
The Presidential Suite is a world unto its own, replete with a fountained foyer, climate-controlled wine fridge, private gym, and private lift and back entrance for one’s security team (should one have a security team). The views are absurd. The bookshelves, tastefully decorated, with works of fiction by Southeast Asian authors Vanessa Chan, Shivani Sivagurunathan, Tan Twan Eng. Amidst this opulent shelfspace, with KL’s cityscape in full view, the presence of Tash Aw’s Five Star Billionaire is an apt touch. Out of curiosity, I wander the Presidential Suite and count the doors. There are thirty-one doors in the Presidential Suite. That’s a lot of doors.
It’s only at Wellness Above the Clouds spa, indulging in the Couples Retreat, which is an hour-long massage so good, so stress-melting, so relaxing, that L.M.A.O. finally breaks her silence: “That,” she says, as we open our eyes and look at each other from the matching couples beds, “was totally awesome.”
Looks like I’ve made it out of the doghouse.
But… I can’t help but think this stray and errant thought, that, if Hyatt were to ever run luxury doghouse hotels, I reckon I’d beg to stay inside, for just a little bit longer.
