Urban, honest and right in the heart of the real Kuala Lumpur: The Chow Kit perfectly captures the charm of the district and combines it with a stylish boutique feel. Compact rooms, a relaxed atmosphere and an exciting location make the hotel an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to experience the city beyond the glossy façade – so hopefully this description will make you curious about the whole story. Have fun reading and discovering.
Review #101
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Content
Location
The young and modern hotel The Chow Kit is located in a district of Kuala Lumpur of the same name that is simultaneously historic, urban and a bit “rough around the edges” – resulting in a really exciting mix in our opinion. Small traders, coffee shops, markets and street food characterizes the area. You can quickly reach the old colonial buildings of the city center on foot, while the Chow Kit monorail station right outside the door connects you to the rest of the city with ease. The location feels authentic – not touristy, but real Kuala Lumpur.
Arrival
The easiest way to get to The Chow Kit from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is by taxi or Grab. Depending on traffic, the journey usually takes between 50 and 60 minutes. If you prefer to travel by public transport, take the KLIA Ekspres to KL Sentral – the journey takes around 30 minutes. From there, take the KTM Komuter or the MRT and then the Monorail to Chow Kit station. In total, you will need around 55 to 70 minutes for this combination, depending on how well the transfers fit.
If you arrive in Kuala Lumpur by train or long-distance bus, you will usually also arrive at KL Sentral or one of the central stations. From there, the monorail will take you directly to Chow Kit; the hotel is just a few minutes’ walk from the station.
We arrived at KLIA International Airport from our short stay in Bangkok, where we stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton and the InterContinental Bangkok, and took the grab to the hotel from there.
Check-in
We arrived at The Chow Kit at around 3 pm and were able to check in straight away. We were neither greeted at the door nor helped with our luggage, but we weren’t expecting that. The reception is located right next to the entrance and is also part of the Lobby and Restaurant area. Check-in was straightforward and friendly – we were checked in directly and without any waiting time. Just 10 minutes after walking through the hotel entrance, we were able to take the elevator to the top floor with our room keycard in hand.
We had booked the second-highest category, a Towkay Suite, via Hyatt.com and also received the room category we had booked. Mr. & Mrs. Smith Hotels do not usually offer upgrades via Preferred Partner rates or status memberships.
During the check-in process, we were also given an information leaflet with a drawn street map of the hotel surroundings and information about the history of the hotel building on the back. A very nice idea that is also practical.
The Chow Kit at a glance
The Chow Kit is a 4-star boutique hotel in Kuala Lumpur that has been named the best boutique hotel in Malaysia every year since 2021. The Lobby, Restaurant, Bar and breakfast area merge seamlessly into one another and are logically located on the first floor of the hotel. The hotel clearly focuses on an urban, minimalist concept without classic luxury standards and offers 86 rooms including 27 Suites. The 7-storey, rather classically unadorned building also offers a roof terrace from which you can soak up the historic surroundings.
Suite
Despite being the second largest room on the entire floor, the Towkey Suite on the 5th floor is relatively small at only around 30 square meters – considering the fact that it is a Suite. Unfortunately, the actual feature of a Suite – a separate living room – is not available here either. The layout is more like a spacious double room. The floor map also shows that there are also rooms facing the interior of the building, which is why you should pay attention to the category while booking.
So let’s take a closer look at our Suite No. 514 together.
Welcome
A classic welcome gift and a turndown service were not offered. However, in this category of boutique hotel, this is absolutely acceptable for us and we did not notice it as a negative.
Living room and bedroom
The shared living and sleeping area consists of a large room with a full-length window front which is very well insulated and ensures that the room is pleasantly quiet despite the main road being in front of the hotel.
Directly behind the entrance door, you are already standing in the middle of the room. Unfortunately, there is no actual entrance area here. To the right of the window is a sofa with a rather large, round, low table.
Right next to the entrance door is a larger piece of furniture that functions as a desk, but also as a place to hang your larger items of clothing. Unfortunately, there is no actual, closed wardrobe or additional drawers.
The minibar – consisting of an empty fridge – is located in the base of the unit. Next to it is the safe. There are two water bottles on the shelf, which can be refilled independently near the elevators on each floor. There are also glasses, of course. Unfortunately though, there are no other options for the minibar. You can either use room service or go directly downstairs and order at the Bar.
The double bed consisting of two single beds is set up in an alcove on the left-hand side of the room, right by the windows. Each sleeper has two pillows and a large shared blanket. Unfortunately, the separation of the two beds disturbed us quite a bit and we couldn’t sleep very well here – also because of the pillows. We both found the bed to be rather uncomfortable.
On the left-hand bedside table is the telephone and remote control, as well as charging facilities and a light switch, while the one on the right is empty. Individual lamps are also installed on both sides. Two armchairs with a bistro table are placed in front of the foot of the bed.
Bathroom
The bathroom is located directly to the left of the entrance door and is kept rather simple. The washbasin is installed to the left of the door and only contains hand soap. There are no other amenities here. Next to it is a toilet and a walk-in rain shower is installed at the head of the room. Bodywash and conditioning shampoo from Jeanie Botaicals for The Chow Kit are available here. Unfortunately, there is no body lotion to be found. Overall, the room is functional, but clearly minimalist.
View
The floor-to-ceiling windows offer a view of the surrounding streets, the MonoRail tracks and buildings, as well as the entire neighborhood. From here you can perfectly observe the hustle and bustle below.
Hotel activities
Special features
There is a small essentials corner on each floor with a drinking water fountain for refilling the water bottles, as well as towels and bathroom items for free use. This is a well thought-out and very practical detail, especially for a 4-star hotel.
However, the roof terrace is a real Highlight. A spiral staircase takes you up to the roof of the house, from where you can admire the surroundings and enjoy the skyline. The only pity is that there is no sun lounger or seating area. Why? This stayed a mystery to us that we couldn’t solve.
Restaurants
The Chow Kit Kitchen & Bar
The restaurant is located right at the Lobby and also serves as a Bar, all-day dining area and breakfast room. The open design allows a good view of what is happening in the hotel and the atmosphere is relaxed and urban. Malaysian specialties with an international touch are on offer.
The Bar is centrally located in the room and very present. As a welcome drink after check-in, we were each allowed to choose a drink from the Happy Hour menu.
Library
This room is used as additional seating when the capacity of the actual restaurant is exhausted during breakfast, but can also be used as a meeting room.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served Ă la carte only in the Chow Kit Kitchen on the first floor, so there is no Buffet available. The rate includes one dish per person, each additional dish is charged separately. Coffee specialties and juices are also at an additional cost. It goes without saying that meals are ordered and served at your table.
However, this regulation leaves us with a somewhat unnecessary aftertaste. We understand that with the low prices for overnight stays and the size of the hotel, the aim is to avoid too much breakfast being available or guests ordering too much at once and then not eating it all, but somehow this handling always feels unnecessarily patronizing. I mean – breakfast without coffee? Who would actually decide that?
The breakfast was generally very good in terms of taste, and the service was okay – but in our opinion the concept was not quite up to fit.
Check-out
Check-out was uncomplicated and without any special incidents. Everything was well prepared and went smoothly at the reception desk.
Costs
This one night at The Chow Kit cost us 635 MYR, which in November 2025 was equivalent to around 135 euros, which is a very attractive price for a Suite – although the room and Suite sizes are rather small. Rooms in the entry-level categories are of course even cheaper. That’s quite okay for a hotel right in the middle of the city and of that standard. Or what do you think?
Departure and onward journey
After this stay, we continued our journey within Kuala Lumpur and reached our next hotel, the Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, fairly quickly by grab within a good quarter of an hour. After that, we’ll take a look at the Alila Bangsar Kuala Lumpur for you before continuing our journey on to Bali.
Conclusion
The Chow Kit is a small, charming boutique hotel in Kuala Lumpur with very friendly service, functional and compact rooms. Located in the middle of the hustle and bustle of this historic district of the Malaysian capital. The breakfast system left us a little perplexed and the roof terrace definitely squanders its potential. But the price-performance ratio is great and we felt all together very comfortable.
The Chow Kit is particularly suitable for couples, solo travelers and business travelers. The rooms are really very small so for families it might not be the perfect fit – an extra bed is often not even possible inside their rooms and this hotel might also be less suitable for guests with high expectations of classic hotel services.
Accordingly, we place the hotel clearly in the Midscale range on our EVRYWHRE internal scale.
Rating
We award this stay at The Chow Kit 9 out of 10 possible points.
The one point deduction is due to the somewhat questionable breakfast arrangements. Everything else was absolutely appropriate for the price and expectations.
Go there?
Especially if you want to stay centrally, stylishly, fairly priced in the centre of Kuala Lumpur and can do without classic luxury, we say: Go there!
Booking with EVRYWHRE
Would you like to go on vacation to the Chow Kit? Then book via our Booking Hub! It won’t cost you any more and unfortunately won’t bring you any advantages at this hotel, but you’ll be supporting us with our work on this homepage and our YouTube channel and will be looked after by us personally!
YouTube Review
As always, you can find the full video of our stay at The Chow Kit here below and on our YouTube channel.
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