Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral Kuala Lumpur is a luxury 5-star hotel located just outside Kuala Lumpur’s city centre. The hotel has been built just a few years ago and everything about it looks brand new. The lobby is very well designed, just what you would expect in a 5-star business hotel. The reception staff is friendly yet above all efficient. There is always someone you can talk to. When you walk towards the main counter, there is always someone greeting you. The same applies to the concierge; always ready to advice or help out.
Rooms at Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral
Every single room, 357 in total, is magnificent. There are no standard rooms; it starts with Deluxe. The interior decoration is very classy and all rooms are fully equipped. There is free Wi-Fi throughout the whole hotel, the rooms included. The signal is good and the speeds are high. Connecting to the internet is easy; no time-consuming hassle where you constantly having to log in again and again. Wi-Fi works at the swimming pool too, convenient when spending a day at the pool.
The deluxe room contains a large bed and a nice bathroom. The mattress is of very good quality, and a modern flat screen TV hangs from the wall. An entertainment service is available providing the latest movies and series. Each room has multiple sockets and a usb-port making the charging of gadgets an easy task. The ‘One bedroom suites’ are huge and decorated with style and class. They contain a living room with adjoining kitchen, a bedroom with adjoining bathroom area with a large bath, a rain shower and a wardrobe with safe. The kitchen has a refrigerator and a sink. There even is a coffee machine that uses coffee capsules, perfect for making your own coffee in the morning, before having breakfast in the breakfast area.
Several rooms are connected with each other; perfect for families with children. Because the hotel is relatively cheap (for a 5 star hotel), you can easily book two rooms when traveling with your family. The family suite is also a possibility; this is a two-room apartment with 3 beds in total (one King and two Queen sized beds).
Breakfast
Next to the lobby there is Kembali Kitchen; a local restaurant where breakfast is served in the mornings. Breakfast is elaborate; with a broad choice of several local and western dishes. As usual there is an egg counter where you can have an egg of your choice prepared. Being a business hotel, most guests have their breakfast quite early in the morning. If you visit Kembali Kitchen after 8.30am, chances are that there are no crowds.
Pool with stunning view
Unlike many other hotels in the centre of Kuala Lumpur, Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral has a beautiful swimming pool and large children’s pool to offer. The square infinity pool is very beautiful. From the edge, you have a stunning view of the metropolis Kuala Lumpur. The children’s pool is located next to it and offers a truly breathtaking view of Kuala Lumpur’s city centre (with a magnificent view of the Petronas Twin Towers and Menara KL Tower).
Restaurants
There are two restaurants to be found in the hotel; Hugo’s at 6 and the renowned Grill 582. Hugo’s at 6 is located right next to the swimming pool; some tables are at the edge of the pool (providing a magnificent view of night-time Kuala Lumpur). The menu is internationally orientated (Mediterranean) and includes several tasty dishes, among other some delicious pizzas. I tried the Tandoori Pizza; especially recommended by the Chef. If you are with two people, you can easily share a pizza as it was quite big in size.
At Grill 582 you can go for semi-fine dining. As delicious luxury food is not that expensive In Malaysia we can surely recommend a visit to Grill 582. The restaurant won three medals at the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2014, something the whole team at Grill 582 was very proud of. After having dinner at Grill 582 you can enjoy a drink at the lounge bar that is located next to it at the 2nd floor.
Punch Bar & Lounge
Punch Bar & Lounge is the hotel’s bar. It can be found on the 2nd floor by elevator or staircase at the lobby. The atmosphere is very pleasant and it offers an extensive list of liquors and cocktails. For example, I enjoyed a wonderful 12 years old Maccallan for the reasonable price of RM28 (they had an even older one but this one was much more expensive). The lounge bar is beautifully decorated and if you are lucky, a piano player will be playing beautiful music pieces. Next to the lounge bar the biggest climate controlled cigar room of Kuala Lumpur can be found; the Grand Trinidad Cigar Divan. For true cigar lovers this is the place to be. Here you can try over 200 cigars and they enjoy special offers like a complimentary glass of Cognac or Whiskey with a cigar.
Free shuttle service
The hotel has a free of charge shuttle service to some popular destinations in the immediate vicinity (KL Sentral, KLCC, and Mid Valley Megamall & Gardens). The fact that the hotel is not lying in the city centre is not a real issue because with the shuttle service you can be in downtown KL in no time. Furthermore, there are always taxis waiting to bring you to other destinations in and around the city. If you have a rental car you can park it in the spacious parking lot for a mere RM8 a day. The hotel is located right next to a major highway; it won’t take you long to reach one of the main roads going out of Kuala Lumpur.
How to get there
Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral can best be reached by taxi. Every taxi driver knows the location of the hotel. If you have a rental car, you can drive to the hotel yourself and park the car in the hotels’ parking bays. If you are traveling from KLIA/KLIA2 then it is best to either take a direct taxi from the airport, or to take the KLIA Ekpress first to KL Sentral, from where you can take a short taxi ride to the hotel (only 5 minutes from KL Sentral, and a one-way trip shouldn’t cost more than RM10).
Our final verdict
Ramada Plaza Dua Sentral is a very pleasant 5-star hotel. Even though it is a business hotel, tourists will have a great time staying at one of the wonderfully designed rooms. Their standard ‘Deluxe rooms’ are very spacious and beautifully decorated. Because the hotel is located just outside the city centre, prices for a stay are very affordable. The location is not a problem because of the free shuttle service. Travelers going for the best price/quality ratio will have a splendid time in the hotel. For the best view, ask reception for a room with a view of KLCC. The view is even better when you stay at one of the higher floors. We had a great stay at the hotel. We were lucky; our room was upgraded to a suite with separate living room and kitchen. We had an amazing time, and would definitely consider staying there again. Keep an eye out for great hotel deals, as a room in this hotel is sometimes sold for 3-star prices.
