Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur is a five star hotel in the Golden Triangle, set between the fifty acre KLCC Park and the Petronas Twin Towers. It connects directly to Suria KLCC shopping centre and the KLCC Convention Centre, so the shops, the business district and the park are all reached without stepping outside. The mood is measured rather than showy, and it suits city stays, family trips and longer visits alike.

Rooms look out over the city skyline, KLCC Park or the Petronas Twin Towers, and corner rooms give you the widest outlook of all. Floor to ceiling windows, marble bathrooms, HD LCD televisions and goose down bedding run throughout, with bathrobes and yukata kimonos provided. Club rooms and suites carry MO Club privileges, while the Presidential and Royal Suites can add butler service on request. Interconnected rooms suit families travelling together.

Tennis Avenue holds the only outdoor hard surface court in the area, floodlit for evening play, with private lessons on the timetable. The Mind and Body Studio runs yoga, Pilates and sound healing, and the weekly programme takes in Tabata, barre and stretch classes. The Little Explorers Club on level three, run with Wonder Minds, opens daily for children aged four to eleven, with an activities calendar to work from.

An outdoor infinity pool looks across the skyline and opens from seven in the morning until nine at night, with a separate pool for children. The Spa is an award winning urban retreat, and treatments such as Essence of Kuala Lumpur use oils infused with herbs and spices from East Malaysia. Arrive early and the sauna, steam room and hot tub are yours. The Technogym fitness centre never closes, and classes run through the week.

Seven venues cover the day. Lai Po Heen serves classic Cantonese and handmade dim sum beneath ornate chandeliers, Mandarin Grill looks into the park from every table, and Mosaic runs buffet and a la carte from half past six each morning. Aqua Restaurant and Grill Bar adds wood fired pizza, MO Bar pours single malts, Lounge on the Park serves themed afternoon tea, and The Mandarin Cake Shop handles the rest.

KLCC Park and its fountain sit immediately outside, with Petrosains Discovery Centre and Aquaria KLCC in the same complex. Bukit Bintang and the hawker stalls of Jalan Alor are a ten minute walk away, while Chinatown and Merdeka Square are a short drive. Kuala Lumpur International Airport is around sixty kilometres out, between forty five and seventy five minutes by road.