The luxury hotel Aloft Kuala Lumpur is a very popular and highly rated hotel on Trip Advisor. The hotel is usually gets ratings that lie between 4 and 5 stars. It’s a business hotel, but because it is such a hip and trendy hotel it also attracts many tourists. Although the hotel is not in the center of town, you can get there easily by taking the subway or monorail. The hotel is located right next to KL Sentral, the main train station in the city. This is quite convenient for travelers arriving at KLIA or KLIA2 (together they form the main airport where almost all domestic and international travelers arrive at). In 30 minutes you travel by train from the airport to the train station. Add another 5 minutes of walking time and you are at the lobby of Aloft KL.
Especially great is that the hotel is located within NU Sentral, a very popular shopping center and one of the most recent additions to KL’s shopping scene. You can reach the shopping mall from the 1st floor of the hotel. Right next to Nook restaurant you will find the entrance to the pedestrian tunnel to the mall. The hotel is also popular among the locals, because everyone wants to chill and have a drink at the popular Skybar called Mai Bar which is located on the top floor of the hotel and offers breathtaking views over Kuala Lumpur’s suburbs.
Aloft is a very trendy hotel and the lobby is modern and sleek designed. This is especially true for the beautiful round check-in counter, where staff seem like DJs behind their booth while waiting to help new arrivals with checking-in (which incidentally is a super quick and easy process). The lounge bar next to the lobby is also magnificent. Checking-out is also a breeze, just throw your room keys in the box and everything is handled automatic. Starwood Preferred Guests can even check-in on their mobile phone through the SPG App. With this app they can also operate the elevator and room door. Talk about innovations.
Rooms
Aloft guest rooms are called “asleep”. The bulk of the 489 rooms are standard deluxe rooms called Loft Rooms and Urban Rooms; standard deluxe rooms with (partial) views of the Kuala Lumpur skyline. These rooms are modern and trendy furnished and well equipped. You have a complete entertainment system, which you can use to see movies and series or to listen to music. Obviously the room contains standard things like air-con (which was wonderfully quiet), LCD TV, minibar, safe and a beautiful, spacious shower. Our mini bar was complimentary and was refilled every day. It was the best mini bar ever, as it even contained a beer and red bull, besides numerous other drinks and small snacks.
Conveniently, the USB port at the outlet, where you can easily charge devices such as cell phones, cameras, tablets and more. Naturally, all rooms in the hotel have access to fast, complimentary Wi-Fi.
Standard rooms are quite spacious (33m2) and families with older children can easily book two interconnecting rooms. If you are traveling with children, it is nice to know that you can request for the fun “Camp Aloft” package free of charge. It consists of a play tent with toys and a children’s mattress. Our daughter really loved to play in her little tent.
The suites are significantly larger and are fitted with a separate living room. Sweet Suites consist of two floors, the Breezy Suites are the largest and these are the most luxurious rooms of the hotel. All suites have a complimentary stocked mini bar (refilled daily).
Breakfast
The breakfast at Nook was very good and especially very extensive. Not often do you see such a wide range of choices. There was a huge variety of delicious breakfast dishes, including several local dishes. Of course, you can get your favorite style of egg at the egg counter. There are a lot of different types of fruit, but there is also many sweet stuff, like the freshly baked ‘rainbow’ cake at one morning. You can prepare your own orange juice, after putting in a bit of work at the pressing machine, but then you end up with your own delicious fresh juice. The coffee was also delicious. You can make your own cup at one of the coffee machines.
Keep in mind that on busy days, you sometimes have to wait for the elevator a bit longer because everyone uses it at that time during breakfast hours. That said, most businessmen were on the road again after 8.30am, so after that time it is best to sit down to enjoy your breakfast in peace.
Restaurant(s)
Nook is a wonderful restaurant, this is where you will enjoy your lunch in the morning. You can also visit the restaurant for your lunch and dinner, but know that there are a plethora of options nearby as KL is of course known as Food Walhalla of the world.
W XYZ Bar is a fun sports bar on the ground floor of the hotel. Here you can enjoy a drink in a less clubby atmosphere (compared to the Mai Bar at the rooftop).
Also located on the ground floor, just behind the lobby is Re: Fuel Grab ‘N’ Go Cafe. Here you can enjoy a nice cup of coffee or one of many other beverages and snacks, including delicious Magnum Ice. The coffee place is open 24 hours a day. Here you can also enjoy free Wi-Fi, just as everywhere else in the hotel.
Mai Bar Skybar
The Mai Bar is located on the top floor of the hotel. From the sky bar at level 30, you have a splendid view of Kuala Lumpur. The Sky bar is since the opening of the hotel often included in articles that list the best sky bars of the city. During weekends, it can be quite busy at Mai Bar, but during weekdays it is often not that crowded. The atmosphere is usually relaxed and casual which is quite consistent with the hotel’s hip and trendy approach. During the day, hotel guests go there to swim in the pool and are often seen swimming in the evenings while the DJ is already playing. Don’t forget to check out the beautifully carved Tiki totems, standing guard outside against the walls. Mai Bar has a small menu with a variety of dishes and snacks like their famous BBQ skewers (only on Fri, sat, sun between 5pm and 8pm).
Obviously, you have an extensive cocktail menu including their signature cocktail Malaysian Princess Mai Tai, which we have truly enjoyed. There are also a lot of unknown names that you could certainly try, the Assam Boi cocktail being one of them. Between 5pm and 9pm there is a daily happy hour. A beer costs about RM15 and a cocktail about RM35/RM40 (much.
Swimming pool
The hotel has a stunning infinity pool “Splash” at the Mai Bar on the top floor. Here you can swim during the day, there’s always a very nice atmosphere. In the back, you have a children’s pool, which is not deep and therefore very suitable for small children. There is free Wi-Fi at the pool area, and during the day you can order several delicious lunch dishes from the lunch menu at the Mai Bar. Around the pool, there are plenty of deck chairs that can be transformed into sun beds easily. Above the deck chairs, there is a cover for the bright sun during the day.
Other attractions in the area
Pretty much all major attractions of Kuala Lumpur can be reached after only a short subway or monorail ride. In a few minutes, you walk from the hotel to KL Sentral where you can take the subway to Suria KLCC, Petronas Twin Towers, Chinatown and even the Batu caves. The Monorail station is also nearby. Here you can take the monorail to Bukit Bintang, where you can find a large number of shopping malls.
Within walking distance of the hotel is Little India (Brickfields), the Indian district of Kuala Lumpur with a few temples and a large number of Indian restaurants and shops.
Within walking distance you have the cabs at KL Sentral, they charge a (high) fixed price. At the hotel entrance, you can also ask the hotel staff to hail a taxi, make sure the driver uses the meter. It may be easier to order a taxi via the “My Teksi” app on your smartphone. You can then relax in the lounge to wait until the taxi arrives. You can also consider the Uber transportation service.
How to get there?
There are only a handful of hotels in Kuala Lumpur that are so easily accessible, Aloft KL is one of them. From the airport, you can take the KLIA Ekspres, a fast train that takes you to KL Sentral in less than 30 minutes. From KL Sentral, it is only a few minutes’ walk to NU Sentral, the luxury shopping center next to the train station. If you are coming from KL Sentral, take the escalator to the main entrance of NU Sentral, then turn right and walk past Sushi Tei to the entrance of the hotel (the hotel is clearly indicated at this point). Once you enter the hotel, take the lift to the ground floor and you will immediately notice the big check-in counter. If you are traveling with luggage and arrive at KL Sentral, you can use the lift behind the main escalators into Nu Sentral to get to the first floor of the mall.
Our final verdict
Aloft Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful, modern and hip hotel. The location is perfect as you walk to the KLIA Ekspres that goes to KLIA and KLIA2 in only a few minutes. Furthermore, it is located right next to the luxurious Nu Sentral shopping center. The lobby is beautiful and the iMacs and the Wii at the In: touch terminal are a nice extra touch for hotel guests. Another nice touch is that you can save points for your ‘green deal’. You can, for example, earn a free breakfast by not having your room made up for three executive nights. We loved the staff. They were very kind but also very efficient. They even helped us carry our luggage all the way to the KLIA Ekspres counter up departure.
Rooms are stunning and if you pre-book you can often stay at a great price. Try to stay on a higher floor, from the 13th floor onwards you will have a great view over the city).
We were amazed by their huge breakfast spread, by how fast their Wi-Fi was, by the pleasant vibe of Mai Bar (really recommended, even if you are not a guest at the hotel) and also by how stunning the hotel was in general. We may have found our new favorite hotel in KL, especially due to its great location near KL Sentral (for the train to KLIA) and due to the fact that it almost lies within NU Sentral, one of the premier shopping spots in Kuala Lumpur. Aloft Kuala Lumpur is a definite must-visit hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
