Where to stay in Kuala Lumpur: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

KLCC is Kuala Lumpur's showpiece. The Petronas Twin Towers rise 88 storeys over a landscaped park with a jogging track, a paddling pool for children and a fountain show after dark. At their base are the Suria KLCC mall, the Philharmonic Hall and the Aquaria; the convention centre is next door.

The hotels circle the park, competing for the best view of the towers. One long-standing favourite sits right beside them, with a pool that seems to pour into the park; another overlooks the towers from beside the convention centre; a third has a calm, residential feel a few steps away. Add spas, sky bars and lavish breakfast buffets. Rates are a pleasant surprise for this much polish.

Bukit Bintang is where KL shops, eats and stays up late. Pavilion, Starhill, Lot 10 and half a dozen other malls line the main drag; one block back, Jalan Alor fills every evening with smoke from grilled chicken wings and stingray; and the bars of Changkat Bukit Bintang keep going long after that. An air-conditioned walkway links the district to KLCC.

Hotels are stacked close to the action. One five-star is next door to Pavilion and across from Starhill; another sits above the mall itself; a slim 60-storey tower has just 55 rooms, a top-flight spa and a rooftop bar with a full-circle view. Classic luxury names are a 15-minute walk from the shops. It is busy and noisy at street level, and nobody minds.

Between KLCC and Bukit Bintang, a wooded hill rises out of the traffic: Bukit Nanas, a pocket of original rainforest with a canopy walkway, crowned by the KL Tower and its observation deck. Jalan Sultan Ismail curves around it, lined with hotels and office towers, and the quiet residential rise of Bukit Ceylon sits just to the south.

This is the in-between choice, walkable to both the Petronas Towers and the Bukit Bintang malls. Stay in a grand, long-established hotel a short walk from the towers, a 52-storey newcomer on the site of a 1970s classic, or suites directly opposite KL Tower. Serviced apartments in Bukit Ceylon, with one to three bedrooms, suit families and longer stays.

Old KL sits where two rivers meet. Around Petaling Street, Chinatown is a grid of pre-war shophouses, incense-wreathed temples, market stalls and coffee shops serving kaya toast, with the art deco Central Market on its edge. A few minutes on foot bring you to Merdeka Square, the Moorish-domed Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the old railway station, all minarets and arches.

Stay here for atmosphere and for the price. The grandest address is a restored colonial hotel from the 1930s, facing the old station, with a spa and afternoon tea in the orchid conservatory. Newer towers between Chinatown and Bukit Bintang add infinity pools and city views, and put both districts within walking distance.

KL Sentral is the city's transport heart. The KLIA Ekspres reaches the airport in about half an hour, and the LRT, monorail and commuter lines all meet here, so it is ideal for a stopover or a trip with onward trains. The National Museum and the Perdana Botanical Gardens, with the bird park and Islamic Arts Museum, are close by; Little India's Brickfields is on the doorstep.

Hotels are big, modern and business-like, with resort-style outdoor pools that make a welcome end to a sticky day; one of the city's most lavish five-stars is here too. Next door, Bangsar is where locals go for brunch, cocktails and banana-leaf curries, and it has a pair of design-conscious hotels of its own.

Petaling Jaya is the sprawling satellite city south-west of KL, about 15 minutes from downtown on a good run. Visitors come for two things: giant malls, and Sunway Lagoon, a water and theme park with wave pools, slides and a small zoo, set beside the Sunway Pyramid shopping centre.

For families, the resort beside the park is the obvious choice, around 25 minutes from the city centre. Elsewhere, five-star business hotels offer outdoor pools and low rates, some a short walk from the MRT into town. Golfers and those with business in Shah Alam will find resort-style hotels further west.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is at Sepang, well south of the city, so a night here makes sense for a dawn departure or a short layover. The Sepang International Circuit, home of the Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, and the Mitsui outlet park are both nearby.

The most convenient hotel is linked to the main terminal by a five-minute walk across a sky bridge, with soundproofed rooms. Another, ten minutes from the airport, has gardens and scheduled transfers.