Identity card
Formalities : passport valid for 6 months after the date of return.
Time difference : + 6 h in summer, 7 h in winter.
Currency : The ringgit (RM).
1 euro = RM3.99 (June 2013).
Area code : + 60 (Malaysia); 3 (Kuala Lumpur); 4 (Penang).
Best season : The equatorial climate is hot and humid. The best season is from April to July, but you can travel all year round, as the daily monsoon rains are impressive but brief.
For more information
Malaysian National Tourist Board 29, rue des Pyramides. 75001 Paris.
Tel.: 01 42 97 41 71
Email : abdrahim@tourism.gov.my
Internet : www.tourism.gov.my
How to get there
AIR FRANCE has just inaugurated a service to Kuala Lumpur, with three flights a week from Paris-CDG. This route is operated by Boeing B777-200 four-class night flights. It completes the 14 weekly frequencies offered by KLM, seven of which are code-shared with Malaysia Airlines.
Tel.: 0820 320 820
Internet: www.airfrance.com
MALAYSIA AIRLINES, a member of the Oneworld alliance, operates a daily flight between Paris CDG 1 and Kuala Lumpur. Since 2 March this year, it has been operated by a three-class Airbus A380. Comfort has been improved in all classes, with wider seats in Economy and 180° reclining seats in Business and First. The flight departs from Paris during the day, arriving early the next morning, and returns at night. Excellent connections with some thirty destinations in Malaysia, including Penang and Langkawi.
Tel.: 0 892 35 08 10
Internet: www.malaysiaairlines.com
SINGAPORE AIRLINES offers daily flights to the Malaysian capital with connections in Singapore.
Tel.: 0 821 230 380
Internet: www.singaporeair.com
Kuala Lumpur
Hotels
Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral
This is the 'generation Y' hotel. Opened in March, it features all the concepts of the Starwood group's lifestyle brand: a huge, colourful lobby with sofas, rooms with a pared-down feel, the latest high-tech gadgets and a relaxed atmosphere. Of course, WiFi is free. 482 rooms and suites, an apple-green restaurant, a rooftop infinity pool, six meeting rooms and a huge ballroom. The express train stops a stone's throw away, but the KL Sentral district is still a work in progress.
5, Jalan Stesen Sentral
Tel.: +60 3 2723 1188
Email : aloft.kualalumpur@alofthotels.com
Internet: www.alofthotels.com
Grand Hyatt
This new hotel, with its strong contemporary style, is housed in a glass and steel tower just a stone's throw from the Palais des Congrès. The curved lobby and lounge are located on the 38th floor. Very much in vogue in Asia, this high-rise location is a real eye-catcher because of the view it affords of the Petronas Towers. The same view can be enjoyed from the 412 impeccable rooms and suites. With its sober decor and luxurious details, this is a chic but unostentatious address with a serene atmosphere. Superb spa, swimming pool in the gardens and generous meeting areas equipped with the latest technology.
12 Jalan Pinang - KLCC
Tel.: +60 3 2182 1234
Email : kualalumpur.grand@hyatt.com
Internet: www.kualalumpur.grand.hyatt.com
Mandarin Oriental
Opened in 1998 in the shadow of the Petronas Towers, the Mandarin Oriental is currently living a double life. On the one hand, the communal areas have been refurbished in the latest colours and design trends. On the other, rooms and suites with opulent decor that is a little dated, but due for a facelift in 2014. And then there's the top-of-the-range service worthy of a palace. With 643 rooms and suites, 10 restaurants and bars, a swimming pool, a spa, around twenty meeting rooms and a ballroom for 1,800 banquet guests, this luxury liner is a sure bet in the heart of the Golden Triangle.
Jalan Pinang - KLLC
Tel.: +60 3 2380 8888
Email : mokul-sales@mohg.com
Internet: www.mandarinoriental.com
Bars and Restaurants
The Sky Bar
Perched on the 33rd floor of the Traders Hotel, this lounge-pool bar offers one of the best views of the Petronas Towers. You have to be there when they light up. A magical moment. Design setting, retro pop music before the DJ takes over, golden youth and psychedelic lights. It's one of KL's hottest spots.
Traders Hotel, 33° floor - KLCC
Tel.: +60 3 2332 9888
Internet: www.skybar.com.my
Marini's on 57
First, there's the view of the Petronas Towers, so close you'd like to lean over and touch them. Then there's the clever organisation of the space, which allows different atmospheres to coexist: futuristic in the bar, contemporary chic in the Italian restaurant, cosy in the lounge. Finally, there's the hand-picked clientele. Marini's on 57 is the latest hot spot in KL, where people come to see and be seen. The icing on the cake is that the bar extends onto an open-air terrace.
Menara 3 Petronas. Persiaran KLCC
Tel: + 60 3 2161 2880 or 2161 4880
Email : reservations@marinis57.com
Internet: www.marinis57.com
Old China Café
In Chinatown, the former headquarters
of the Selangor & Federal Territory Launderers' Guild has been transformed into a restaurant. With walls covered in old photos and bric-a-brac antiques, the place is as vintage as you could wish and the 'nyonya' cuisine absolutely delicious. The same owners have opened a more sophisticated annex inside Central Market - Precious Old China - filled with selected objects and modern Chinese art.
11, Jalan Balai Polis
Phone: +60 3 2072 5915
Email : leonardtee@oldchina.com.my
Internet: www.oldchina.com.my
Precious Old China. Central Market: Tel: +60 3 2073 7372.
Jalan Alor
It's impossible to name just one address, but dining in Jalan Alor is a must. On one side, there are street kitchens; on the other, restaurants with terraces stretching out to the middle of the street. You order several dishes and share. Chinese and Malay specialities are on offer in each of the establishments, but the "satay" is not to be missed. It's genuinely popular until the end of the night.
Jalan Alor. Golden Triangle
Places for private hire
Carcosa Seri Negara
This historic estate is home to two mansions: Carcosa, once the residence of the British government representative, and Seri Negara, his official guest house.
If you can't sleep here - there are only 13 suites - you can plan a chic and charming cocktail party. The mansion housing the spectacular Dining Room is currently being renovated, but there's nothing to stop you pitching a tent in the magnificent gardens of Carcosa, which also offers a restaurant opening onto a veranda and two rooms for a cocktail.
meetings in small groups. Ultra VIP and colonial to the core.
Taman Tasik Perdana, Persiaran Mahameru
Tel.: +603 2295 0888
Email : reservation@carcosa.com.my
Internet: www.carcosa.com.my
George Town
Hotels
Eastern & Oriental
E&O, Act II. Built in 1885 by the Sarkis brothers, already at work at the Raffles in Singapore and the Strand in Rangoon, the Eastern & Oriental in Penang is a legendary hotel, the mecca of George Town's social life before suffering the ravages of time. The Oriental underwent a careful renovation in the early 2000s, while the rebirth of the Eastern, reinvented in the spirit of the place, only took place last March. Travellers now move between the Heritage wing - the original Oriental, with its sublime public areas and its 101 suites that are a little outdated, but oh so romantic - and the Victoria wing, where 122 new suites with generous volumes have opted for a décor inspired by their venerable neighbour: precious wood floors, marble bathrooms and balconies opening onto the sea. With a swimming pool on the 7th floor, meeting rooms, an extraordinary ballroom with a classical theatre feel, and service that's attentive but not stuffy, the whole place is a class act.
10, Lebuh Farquhar
Tel.: + 60 4 222 2000
Email : luxury@eohotels.com
Internet: www.eohotels.com
G Hotel
A few kilometres from the old town, the very contemporary G Hotel is the antithesis of the E&O. Its huge, spectacular lobby is dotted with designer chairs. 311 rooms and suites with minimalist decor, several restaurants, a swimming pool and bright meeting spaces.
168 A Persiaran Gurney
Phone: +60 4 238 0000
Email : g4u@ghotel.com.my
Internet: www.ghotel.com.my
Places for private hire
Chinahouse
Three adjoining shophouses house a tea room, two restaurants, bars, art galleries, a library...
All tastefully decorated.
153 & 155 Beach Street
Phone: + 604 263 7299
Email : info@chinahouse.com.my
Internet: www.chinahouse.com.my
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
Apart from visits, this sublime residence can be made private for a glamorous seminar or cocktail party. 38 bedrooms.
14, Lebuh Leith
Tel.: + 60 4 262 0006
Email : resv.cftm@gmail.com
Internet: www.cheongfatttzemansion.com
Incoming agency
Malai Adventure
Suite 20.1-3, 20th Floor. Plaza 138.
138, Jalan Ampang. 50450 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel.: + 603 2163 3090
Email : info@malaiadventure.com
Internet: www.malaiadventure.com
Practical guides
Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Lonely Planet.
Malaysia, Routard Guide
Malaysia, Petit Futé
