Istana / Crowne Plaza / Royale Bintang

That%26#39;s it .... down to the final 3. Head is spinning ...

Bearing in mind we have 4 children, my priority is to be near a monorail, hotel swimming pool, and walking distance to malls and family friendly restaurants.

My choices are; (all are per night, per room, including breakfast)

Istana .... 255

Crowne Plaza .... 261

Royal Bintang .... 260

I promise this is it ... I so appreciate all the advice and help given.

Thanks again

Denise

Istana / Crowne Plaza / Royale Bintang

Hi Denise,

with one of your priority, i.e. monorail, then we can take Royale Bintang out of equation.

then still on your preference criteria of monorail, then Crowne Plaza Mutiara hotel, monorail station is just steps away from this hotel driveway.

the monorail station (Raja Chulan) is across the road from istana hotel.

then comes to hotel swimming pool-here the kids may like the one in Crowne Plaza Mutiara, as it is next to the coffee house-so a bite from the coffee house and straight to the pool.

Royale Bintang%26#39;s pool is in no comparison to Istana or Crowne Plaza.

As such, between Crowne Plaza and Istana pool-will prefer Crowne Plaza Mutiara.

Walking distance to malls- if malls, i.e. those in Bukit Bintang area, in terms of walking time, to one focal point, say Sungai Wang Plaza mall, then Istana, though from Crowne Plaza, just an additional 5 minutes from the hotel lobby down the driveway and onto main road.(which at this point, you can already see Istana which is diagonally across the road).

Here I am looking that you may walk back in evenings, where I personally do not feel quite comfortable with a walk back to Royale Bintang, when you have kids with you.

but if mall, then Crowne Plaza mutiara, i.e. the Suria KLCC mall (below the Petronas Twin Towers)-best approached by using Crowne Plaza rear escalator entrance/exit onto Jalan Perak. For the kids--here also presents easier accessibility to Aquaria, the Interactive Science Musuem, and also KLCC park.

Then family friendly restaurants- here is where Crowne Plaza Mutiara notches up.

It is really between Istana and Crowne Mutiara now--so, if do not want hassle of crossing roads for monorail station,when returning to hotel, then Crowne Mutiara.

If wish to save RM6.00 and getting same room category, then it is Istana-but pool wise, loses to Crowne Mutiara, particularly for kids.

Istana / Crowne Plaza / Royale Bintang

WOW, what fantastic information you have provided.

I will discount Royale Bintang. That leaves just two to choose from now.

Thank you so much for providing this information and the time to answer my questions.

Kind regards

Denise.

Hi Denise,

As you may have noticed Crowne Plaza overall has better services and room quality than Istana. I would recommend the former.

Hotel Istana may be slightly closer to Bukit Bintang, but Crowne Plaza has monorial at its front with stop in Bukit Bintang as well as short cut at the back of hotel to KLCC area.

I hope it helps to get over your headache now, :-)

Bummer ... left it one day too late. Went on website to book room at Crowne Plaza and it%26#39;s gone already. (Air Asia)

So will now book Istana.

Just wanted to ask one more question though before I do, how convenient is it to actually get to the monorail station. It says it%26#39;s across the road, but is there a walkway?

I have a baby in a stroller and a toddler, so am very nervous when it comes to crossing main roads.

Thanks again guys.

Denise.

did you check the holiday inn website for the Crowne Plaza, have always found it to be cheapest rate.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza last year with our 4-year old kid. A superb hotel!

I would suggest booking through the hotel (chain) website. They post ';Lowest internet rates. Guaranteed';.

www.ichotelsgroup.com

Thank you for your suggestions.

I had checked their website and they were actually quite a lot dearer than Air Asia%26#39;s rate. However, I could not even use Crowne%26#39;s ';lowest rate guarentee'; because the Air Asia rate was no longer available. (I read the terms and conditions of the guarentee)

It%26#39;s ok though, as I have now booked the Istana. It was down to a choice between the two and I would have been happy with either.

You have to be quick with some of those Air Asia rates. They even had the Shangri La for 165 a night!! But that was gone when I had looked in to that deal.

I am happy now. Kuala Lumpur is booked, and so in Langkawi. And we have managed to do it all within budget.

Roll on July ........

Thanks again to everyone who helped and gave advice.

Denise