Review of the Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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As one of the larger hotels adjoining the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur, the Seri Pacific Hotel stands at a hub for the city’s business and transportation, although not for leisure: you’ll have to go a little further to get any serious partying or shopping done.
The hotel's properties play to its strength as a premium business hotel. The Seri Pacific Hotel does events very well; your guide was impressed with the hotel's conference facilities and services.
You check into the Seri Pacific if you’re in town for business, not if you want to be pampered (unless you can afford a Club Floor room at the top).
Checking into the Seri Pacific Hotel
The Seri Pacific Hotel (formerly the Best Western Premier Seri Pacific Hotel) is an hour’s drive away from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) by car or taxi. If you’re trying to make it to the hotel on the cheap, you can either take the KLIA Ekspres or Skybus to KLIA Sentral station closer to the city, then ride the RapidKL (Ampang Line) to PWTC station.
You’ll arrive at a sleek glass and aluminum tower thirty floors high. The lobby is considered the “third” floor, and is the lowest level accessible via elevator. The Chereza cocktail lounge and the Zende Restaurant (where breakfast is served every day) are located to the right of the concierge desk, as is the elevator lobby.
The “fourth” floor mezzanine contains function rooms and the Kofuku Japanese Restaurant.
Beyond a sliding door to the left of Kofuku, you can walk out onto the pool deck and poolside bar; walk a little further then turn left to reach the spa, fitness center, and outdoor tennis/futsal court.
The glass elevators offer views of the Putra Mall, the LRT station, and the Petronas Twin Towers as you ascend. Guestrooms extend from the 5th to the 29th floor; the Club Floor on the very top (30th) floor houses five Club Floor rooms with their own butler, and a number of exclusive amenities like a business center, TV entertainment lounge, and private conference room, as well as a Club lounge that serves a buffet breakfast, evening cocktails, and refreshments any time of the day.
The Deluxe Room at the Seri Pacific Hotel
The Deluxe Rooms in the Seri Pacific are a good-sized 53 square meters, and are located on the 13th to the 26th floor. Due to their relatively high positions, Deluxe Rooms provide good views of the city: your guide enjoyed an eyeful of Chowkit and KLCC in the daytime.
The 20th floor, where your guide's Deluxe Room was located, is a non-smoking floor. Your guide's room - 2024 - had a great view of the Petronas Twin Towers, which at night are illuminated like a pair of crystalline candlesticks.
The flooring along the room foyer changes from marble to wood parquet floor as you enter the main bedchamber; the floor surrounding the double bed is covered with a colorful carpet with a contemporary design.
The bathroom contains three separate chambers - one with the bathroom counter and sink, one containing the toilet and a bathtub, and one containing the shower stall. The rainshower in the latter stall is quite refreshing, although the warm-water setting took a bit too long to kick in, in my view.
The work desk faces away from the window; you'll be seated directly in line with the entrance foyer. The desk is made of two slabs of solid marble; near the wall, an Ethernet outlet and a couple of plugs (not universal, sadly, but configured for Malaysia/Singapore) allow you to tap Internet and electricity for your gadgets. There is no WiFi available on the guestroom floors; public, free WiFi is only available at the public areas on the third and fourth floors, as well as the ballroom on the ground level.
The Seri Pacific’s Amenities
Between convention meetings, the Deluxe Room and the hotel’s other amenities were good to get lost in: the room is cozy, with soft down comforters you’ll want to pull over your head as the frigid air conditioning starts to kick in late at night. The lighting controls were counter-intuitive, and I had a wild time trying to figure out what to push so I’d get something in between pitch black and noontime-bright.
In the mornings, I’d venture down to the small fitness center, located far past the swimming pool, close to the tennis/futsal court. The gym opens at 7am, and is rather compact; I’d estimate about seven or eight exercisers can use it at any given time. Their equipment is hardly new, but very serviceable – the treadmill was a breeze to use, despite the television being out of range.
After my run, I’d venture to the pool (which also opens at 7am) and try a lap or two; given the size of the pool, they were very short laps. Despite the compact area of the pool podium, the architect managed to squeeze enough deck space for about a dozen lounge chairs and a poolside bar.
My booking included a breakfast buffet, which was served at the Zende restaurant, a modern glass-encased casual-dining area at the lobby level, with ceiling-to-floor windows that look out onto the street and the Putra Mall across the way. The breakfast selection doesn’t fall short, providing plenty for Western, Chinese, and Malay eaters. A small but varied vegetarian selection stands ready at the far end of the restaurant.
From the Seri Pacific to the Rest of Kuala Lumpur
If you're looking for shopping and leisure activities, the Seri Pacific is not your ideal hotel; for that you'll have to venture east into KLCC and the Golden Triangle, which luckily are relatively simple to reach from the hotel. An elevated pedestrian walkway leads from the sidewalk in front of the hotel to the Star LRT PWTC Station. Taxis also congregate on the street in front of the hotel.
If you want to stay close, the Putra Mall across the street has decent shopping and fast-food dining, but nothing too fancy - the mall has the feel of a community shopping center
The Seri Pacific at a Glance
Location: Jalan Putra, PO Box 11468, 50746 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Location of Seri Pacific Hotel (Google Maps). One hour drive from LCCT and KLIA; ten minutes' drive from KLCC and the Golden Triangle. Airport transfers available upon request.
For more hotel options close to the area, read our list of Hotels near PWTC and Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.
Rooms: 560 guestrooms, divided into Superior, Deluxe, Suite, and Club Floor. Accommodations include individually controlled air conditioning, separate bath and shower, LCD cable television with in-house movie and easy listening channels, minibar, safe, iron and ironing board, and wired Internet (no WiFi).
Amenities: Executive business center with complete secretarial services; fitness center; tennis/futsal court; swimming pool; spa, sauna & Jacuzzi; conference facilities at ballroom and mezzanine; free WiFi in public areas.
Contact Details: Phone +60 3 4042 5555; website www.seripacifichotel.com; email resv@seripacific.com.
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