Hotels & Resorts: citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang

citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang: Affordable Luxury like You have Never Seen

Text by JUHAN KAMARUDDIN Images by CITIZENM KUALA LUMPUR BUKIT BINTANG

Ever since the first award-winning hotel brand citizenM opened in 2008 at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, the brand has been the choice among mobile citizens, whom the brand refers to as urbane, tech-savvy, open-minded, frequent travellers constantly seeking smart luxuries to enrich their lives such as personalisation in their accommodation and authentic cultural immersion.

The recent opening of a citizenM hotel in Kuala Lumpur (KL) is a breath of fresh air to a row of non-descript buildings flanking Jalan Pudu leading towards Bukit Bintang, one of Kuala Lumpur’s major arteries. Since citizenM’s policy is to celebrate local community, the brand conscientiously captures the identity of the neighbourhood by sporting a colourful hard-to-miss facade showcasing the faces of selected Malaysians with creative fashionable twist, attesting to the hotel’s desire to assimilate with the host community while maintaining its international outlook. It is also just 100 metres from the bustling Jalan Alor, popular for street food, openair restaurants and terraces. Those who stay at the hotel are recommended to utilise e-hailing service or public transport to get around, so that they can immediately engage with their surroundings on a more personal level.

Designed by architecture firm Concrete, with interiors assiduously touched by Bricks Studio, both based in Amsterdam, citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang is the first citizenM property to open in South East Asia and the third in Asia. Following the hotel brand’s Dutch DNA, guests will find the property artistically designed, inspirational, and hip yet functional and pragmatic. Interestingly, despite the property being designed by Dutch companies, citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang is actually owned by Cornerstone Partners Group, a Malaysia-based integrated hospitality asset owner and developer.

Unconventional layout and staff

Though the hotel is located along Jalan Pudu’s main drag, its inside is remarkably soundproofed and shielded from external noise. Similar to stepping into a well-conceived and homely art space, guests would be able to spot the staircase area where a mini gallery showcasing art pieces from emerging Malaysian artists such as Azizi Latiff and Afiq Faris is located alongside iconic pieces collected from around the world. The hotel’s ultra-modern interior is tastefully curated, treated with splash of colours and receive generous amounts of daylight. The carpeting leading to the guestrooms features a stylised map of KL to give it a sense of place.

citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang promotes coworking and co-living, ditching the typical conventional hotel layout, similar to working in a welcoming and stylish living room. The hotel lobby sports an open plan that ingeniously integrates the zones for self check-in / check-out, dining (served by an outlet aptly named canteenM) and Vitra-furnished Living Room. Such layout is an extension of the hotel brand’s zesty personality to get the most out of life by blurring the line between business and pleasure.

Guests are free to explore every corner of the hotel to stimulate their creative juices and get them flowing, making citizenM ideal for getting work done or conducting business meetings, including socialising. Various communal spaces are available within the hotel for people to mingle and do meetings, especially inside the three creative meeting rooms dubbed as societyM on the mezzanine floor above the lobby. The largest room is set up in theatre style for up to 40 participants, while the other two smaller rooms accommodate 14 persons each. The Living Room is my personal favourite space: I could simply pick up a book, remove my footwear, put my feet up and blissfully snuggle in an armchair or a corner of a sofa with abandon without having anybody passing judgment or giving me the evil eye towards my overly casual behaviour. At the same time, I can conveniently order satisfying food and drinks from canteenM whenever I feel peckish.

Good to know: Non-staying guests or day-visitors can use facilities by purchasing the daily pass, which allows them to use the facilities on site.

On top of the hotel’s unusual layout, another element that breathes personality into the property is the hotel’s team of youthful, energetic, multi-talented and multi-lingual employees called ‘ambassadors’, selected for their sparkling personalities and genuine passion for all things travel. These ambassadors are given free rein to fully be themselves (within reason, of course) when they are at work and eager to share with guests on whatever best can be found in the city, for instance attractions and local cocktails. These ambassadors are claimed to be multi-taskers, neither pigeon-holed into specific departments nor memorise or repeat scripts when serving guests. All of them are trained in helping guests check-in / check-out, dealing with luggage, and assisting with housekeeping, even preparing beverages.

Innovative and futuristic

citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang incorporates the latest technology to boost efficiency and enhance guests’ experience. To eliminate the usual queues at reception, there are no formal check-in / check-out counters. Instead, guests do the check-in themselves at the designated kiosk by quickly scanning their booking from the phone, taking the key, and straight away whisk to their respective rooms, all completed as quickly as one minute. Checking-out is equally a breeze. When in doubt, ambassadors are always on hand to assist guests.

The guestrooms are compact and exude futuristic space age vibe that comes with exceedingly oversized king bed with luxury mattress covered in crisp linen, efficient bathroom with rain shower, and toilet with double-flushing system. Fixtures, plugs and switches are well-thought-out and strategically placed; at least three multi-standard plug points and one local plug point are deployed to each room so that guests can charge their devices simultaneously. Each room can be controlled by an iPad, allowing guests to change the mood of the room right from their fingertips. Guests are provided access to superfast free Wi-Fi connectivity as well.

Tip: If you can, ask for rooms that face the courtyard – greenery bathed in natural light is always soothing to look at.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang is well on its way to becoming one of KL’s lifestyle hubs, offering upmarket yet affordable stay through cutting-edge technology and competent employees who deliver genuine service. It is a property that is stimulating yet grounded, efficient, intuitive, forward-looking, sophisticated, global in thought and local in action, which are all the attributes of the kind of travellers that it intends to attract…

Visit https://www.citizenm.com/destinations/kuala-lumpur/ kuala-lumpur-bukit-bintang-hotel and https://www.citizenm. com/ for more info.