Where to Stay in Kuala Lumpur

Every hotel listing in Kuala Lumpur (KL) looks great. They all have a rooftop pool, a skyline at sunset and a "central location". But KL is a big, spread-out city, and if you book in the wrong spot, you'll spend a good part of your trip sitting in traffic.

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In this guide 5 sections

Cream and I found that out early, stuck in a Grab inching its way out of a mall car park after a film. Before we arrived, I also thought Bukit Bintang and KLCC were two separate parts of the city. They're so close together they practically run into each other.

We lived in Bukit Bintang for three months, so we know that area well. KL flies a little under the radar next to Bangkok, but it's well worth a visit: the skyline, the food and the shopping are world-class, and where you stay decides how much of it you can walk to.

This is where I'd tell a friend to stay: the area, the building we lived in, and a map of places to stay in each part of the city.

Where to Stay in Kuala Lumpur: My Quick Answer

If it's your first time in KL, stay in Bukit Bintang. You can walk to the big malls, the Jalan Alor food street and the Petronas Towers, and it's where we lived for three months. Pick KLCC if you want the Petronas Towers outside your window and a quieter evening, and KL Sentral if you're only in town for a night before a flight. To see what's available for your dates, start with places to stay in Bukit Bintang.

Central KL felt safe to us, even walking home late; our guide to how safe Kuala Lumpur is has the details. Wherever you stay, get a room or a pool with a skyline view. Seeing the KL Tower and the Petronas Towers lit up at night, or an afternoon storm rolling in over them, was one of my favorite parts of living here.

Area	Best for	Getting around
Bukit Bintang	First visit, food, malls, nightlife	Monorail, MRT, walkways, Grab
KLCC	Petronas Towers views, families, a calmer evening	LRT, walkway to Bukit Bintang, Grab
Chinatown	Heritage streets, character, lower prices	LRT, MRT, Grab
KL Sentral	One night, the airport train	KLIA Ekspres, LRT, monorail

The Best Areas to Stay in Kuala Lumpur

We're slow travelers, so we lived in one building rather than hopping between hotels. Bukit Bintang is the area we know first-hand. Each area below has a map of places to stay with live prices for your dates, so you can pick by location and budget.

1. Bukit Bintang // Best Area for Most People

Bukit Bintang is the middle of KL's shopping and food scene, and it's where I'd send anyone on a first trip. From our apartment we walked to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, to Jalan Alor for dinner, and over to the Petronas Towers.

It's also where to stay in KL for food and for shopping. Many of the best restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and most of the best malls in KL are a walk or a short Grab away.

The food is the real reason to stay here. Jalan Alor is a good first night out and a starting point for the dishes you can't leave KL without trying. Some of our favorite meals were a short walk away too, like the beef roti at Mon Chinese Beef Roti and Oriental Kopi inside Pavilion.

The downside is the traffic. The roads around the big malls jam up at rush hour and at night, which is how we ended up waiting 30 minutes to get out of a car park. Walk or take the train for short hops, and save Grab for the trips that need it.

Where We Stayed: Ceylonz Suites

We lived at Ceylonz Suites, a serviced apartment building on Persiaran Raja Chulan, on the edge of Bukit Bintang. From our studio we could see the KL Forest Eco Park, the KL Tower and the Petronas Towers all at once, and seeing that every day was the highlight of our stay. The rooftop infinity pool faces the KL Tower and is emptiest early in the morning.

It's an easy pick for a few nights to a couple of weeks. It's not perfect: a lot of guests stay one or two nights, so it can get loud, and the four lifts back up at check-in and check-out times. The building is rented out by several operators and private hosts, and our Airbnb had no cleaning or towels, so ask about both before you book a longer stay.

We wouldn't book it again ourselves, but only because we now know we want to live next to The Exchange TRX. For a visitor, I'd still recommend it. Our full Ceylonz Suites review covers the studio, the rooftop and day-to-day life in the building, and you can check prices at Ceylonz Suites for your dates.

Map of Ceylonz Suites and places to stay nearby in Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

Places to Stay in Bukit Bintang

Look for somewhere within walking distance of Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Jalan Alor, and if you can, with a skyline view. You can also browse places to stay in Bukit Bintang as a list.

Map of places to stay in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

Next Time: Near The Exchange TRX

The Exchange TRX was our favorite place in KL. We kept going back to the cinema, Aurum Theatre, and the food court, but we took a Grab there from Ceylonz every time. Next time, we'd stay right next to it so the mall is a short walk away. Here are the places to stay near The Exchange TRX.

Map of places to stay near The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

2. KLCC // Best for Petronas Towers Views

Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) is the business district around the Petronas Towers, the Suria KLCC mall and KLCC Park. Stay here if you want the towers right outside your window and a calmer evening than Bukit Bintang. It also suits families, with the park and its playground right below the towers.

You don't give up much by staying here. An elevated, air-conditioned pedestrian walkway links KLCC to Bukit Bintang, so you can reach the malls without crossing busy roads in the heat.⁴ My tip is to be at the towers in the evening, when they light up and the free Lake Symphony water show runs in KLCC Park.

Places to Stay in KLCC

Many KLCC hotels sell rooms by view, so if the towers are the point, book a room type that faces the Petronas Towers rather than the city. You can compare places to stay in KLCC for your dates.

Map of places to stay in KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

3. Chinatown // Best for Character on a Budget

Chinatown, around Petaling Street, is the older side of KL: shophouses, a busy street market and red lanterns overhead. We ate dumplings under those lanterns. It's generally cheaper than Bukit Bintang and KLCC, and it suits travelers who'd rather have character than a skyline view.

The trade-off is that you'll take a train or a Grab to the malls and the towers, and you won't get the high-rise pool views the city is known for.

Places to Stay in Chinatown

The map shows what's around Petaling Street, or you can browse places to stay in Chinatown as a list.

Map of places to stay in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

4. KL Sentral // Best for One Night and the Airport Train

KL Sentral is the city's main train station, and the KLIA Ekspres runs between here and the airport.³ If you're only in KL for a night before a flight, staying here saves you a long ride. It's a business district without much charm, but Brickfields, KL's Little India, is right next door. When we walked through it, the smell of spices was everywhere.

Places to Stay Near KL Sentral

If you're catching the airport train, a place connected to the station or the NU Sentral mall next to it saves you a walk with your bags. See places to stay near KL Sentral for your dates.

Map of places to stay near KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur

This map comes from Stay22, a booking partner.

Hotel or Serviced Apartment?

KL is known for high-rise serviced apartments with infinity pools and skyline views, at prices that would buy a much smaller room in other big cities. We lived in one for three months and loved the view and the rooftop. If that's what drew you to KL, book one.

A few things to check first, from our own stay:

• Who runs the listing. Many buildings, Ceylonz Suites included, are rented out by several operators and private hosts. Cleaning, towels and check-in can be completely different from one listing to the next.
• The lifts and deliveries. Grab drivers in our building didn't leave food in the lobby, so I met each one downstairs. With busy lifts, that sometimes meant leaving 15 to 20 minutes early.
• Who else is staying. A building full of one-night guests is fine for a short trip, but it gets noisy if you're there for weeks.
• The tourism tax. Foreign guests pay RM10 per room per night, and Malaysians are exempt.² The hotel or the booking site collects it, so check whether the price you see includes it.¹

My Quick Tips for Getting Around From Your Hotel

Download Grab before you land. You'll use it from the airport on, and it's cheap and easy for getting between areas. We install an Airalo eSIM before every country so we have data the moment we land.

Take the train at rush hour. Between about 5:00 and 7:00 PM, the roads around the malls can grind to a halt. If you're crossing the city then, skip the Grab and take the LRT, MRT or monorail. Our guide to getting around Kuala Lumpur covers all three.

Plan for the afternoon rain. Storms roll in most afternoons, so being near a mall or a covered walkway helps. Our guide to the best time to visit Kuala Lumpur covers the rainy months.

So, Where Should You Stay in KL?

For a first trip, book in Bukit Bintang, ideally somewhere with a view of the skyline, and you'll be able to walk to most of what you came for. If you're planning a longer stay to live and work, our guide to KL for digital nomads covers what three months there was really like, and for a month or more, see the best neighborhoods in KL for digital nomads and how to book a monthly Airbnb in Kuala Lumpur.

Next Steps for Your Kuala Lumpur Trip

• Everything else to book: our Kuala Lumpur travel guide, in the order we'd do it
• Is it worth it? Is Kuala Lumpur Worth Visiting?
• When to go: The Best Time to Visit Kuala Lumpur
• What to eat: The 10 Must-Eat Foods in Kuala Lumpur
• Where to eat: The 13 Best Restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, Ranked
• Where to shop: The 8 Best Malls in Kuala Lumpur
• First time? 17 Things to Know Before Visiting Kuala Lumpur
• Staying longer: Is KL Good for Digital Nomads?
• Where we lived: Ceylonz Suites Review