Recently, in order to break away from the nauseating routine of our days at home, we stayed for a night in town at the Ritz Carlton. There was a really good promotion on offer and being a Marriott Bonvoy point collector, it seemed like a lovely opportunity to collect some points and not face the fact that we are going through yet another semi-lockdown of the year.

Ritz Carlton in KL is situated just behind Jalan Bukit Bintang, the one strip of road that hosts multiple five star hotels, dining spots and premium shopping malls. In our daily life, we try to avoid this road like the plague. The traffic, hustle, bustle and soullessness of the place is pretty toxic. The one novelty it offers though is how some of the buildings are connected to each other through covered and air conditioned walkaways – a luxury in the tropical heat. From the Ritz Carlton, one can walk to Starhill and Pavillion for shopping, and from there another 5 km walk to KLCC Twin Towers. I took the opportunity in the break to wake up late for a quiet, leisurely breakfast at the hotel, do a little bit of conventional shopping and have a spa treatment.

The hotel is fine – the interior recently got an upgrade and refurbishment a few years ago so the look is very much old school European glamour. Owing to the pandemic, breakfast is a selected choice from the a la carte at The Library, and not the usually sprawling buffet nearer to The Patisserie. They have a decent Spa Village which tries to be the best it can in an urban metropolis.

Overall, the one night stay did it’s job to add a little bit of indulgence in our days of monotony, but no matter how glamorous, it’s hard to get excited over a city hotel without a captivating view of a skyline, or one that tries to capture a more restorative and healing ambiance.

Some pictures of our adventure..