What Is The Perfect OzBargainers Holiday in KL?

• 

  mskeggs on 06/06/2015 - 11:42

  +2

  We have visited KL and Penang with our kids.
  It would be more than 3.5 hours drive, I would think.
  We caught the overnight sleeper train, and it was a great adventure for the adults and the kids (ours were 3, 6, 8 and 11). Conditions are pretty basic compared to luxury sleeper trains in AU, but fine for one night, and cheap. Take some pot noodles, there is boiling water on the train, and take some drinking water and snacks.
  We flew back with airasia for just a few dollars, certainly less than $40 each, although we flew straight to SG to fly home with Scoot.
  The station is on the mainland at Butterworth so there is a ferry across to Georgetown in Penang.
  There are resorts outside Georgetown, but we stayed in a little boutique hotel on the edge of the old town that was wonderful.

  We easily occupied ourselves for 4 or 5 days around Georgetown, visiting night markets, historical stuff etc. and my kids have travelled in Asia a fair bit. If it was their first trip I think they would have found even more to do just exploring different cultural things.

  In KL I recommend visiting the Petronas Towers, but you need to reserve tickets well ahead of time. The aquarium nearby is pretty good too.
  I didn't get to go to Legoland, but I reckon it would be a good day out. There are also entertainment parks in the Genting highlands I would like to visit.

  For our "splurge" night in KL we stayed at Le Meridien hotel. They have good deals on adjoining rooms on weekends. The hotel is 5 star with a great roof top pool area with a water slide. Excellent spot to keep cool in the humidity, and enjoy a couple of poolside beers while the kids paddle.

  One other left field tip is to check out http://www.coupark.com/
  This is a site listing Groupon/Scoopon style deals for Singapore, but they often list deals for Malaysia as well at discounts.
  And the local equivalent for KL is http://www.bigsale.com.my/ but it is targetted more at locals, while the Coupark site has stuff more relevant for tourists like multi-attraction passes etc.

  I'm happy to answer and specific questions too!

• 

  RandomNinja on 06/06/2015 - 11:59

  +1

  Sunway Resort is a little out of KL, but is an awesome hotel for families. Hotel itself is decent and it's attached to the Sunway Lagoon water park which is great for kids and adults alike (maybe not so much for the 1 yr old). It's also attached to Sunway Pyramid shopping centre which is pretty convenient. You get a surprisingly good rate when converting cash at malls. When I was there a couple months ago, the rate I got was almost spot on to Google's FX calculator.

  Try and get some local guidance on places to eat, all the best places I ate at in KL were outside of tourist areas or malls. For example, a friend of mine took me to this rojak cart in the middle of nowhere and it had a 20min queue… at 3pm! Another place to check out is Asia Cafe (http://www.asiacafe.com.my/), the variety there is incredible. Went to the one at Subang Jaya, 2 of us ate ourselves stupid for <AU$20

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  LuckyLuke on 06/06/2015 - 13:21

  Thanks very much. I will definitely check out all of your suggestions.

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  Almost Banned on 06/06/2015 - 14:47

  +1

  KL is a surprisingly good shopping destination.
  I stayed in Bukit Bintang and would recommend it for proximity to most stuff.
  It is also an easy place to walk around and public transport options are pretty good.
  Sunway Lagoon is worth a visit for a fun day out. Batu Cave is not that great but is something you really should do just to say you've done it (gonna be hard going up all those steps with the littlies).
  Also take a trip to Chinatown Jl Petaling for your street market/haggling fix. I had heard the vendors are sometimes aggressive but I didn't find that at all.
  My family was surprised at how much they enjoyed KL - hope you have a great time.

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  chonghe on 06/06/2015 - 16:18

  +1

  You can take bus from KL to Penang, is about 4-4.5 hours reaching Penang island.
  The beach in Penang is really normal as the beach in Australia is just too beautiful, but you can hunt for nice food there.
  Penang is a lovely island, because it is my hometown :)

• 

  MITM on 07/06/2015 - 10:47

  +1

  KL is probably not a holiday destination for such a young family.
  I'd stay over night then fly on to a family friendly Thailand resort with baby sitting, kiddies pools and a beach nearby.
  Once there you'll be able to organise to see elephants and monkeys etc, by hiring a driver and car for the day.

  But, you must be vigilant with your health in Asia. There's a good chance your family might get tummy upsets and diarrhoea.
  Get good travel insurance.

  • 

    Davros on 22/06/2015 - 08:42

    "But, you must be vigilant with your health in Asia. There's a good chance your family might get tummy upsets and diarrhoea"

    Happens in Australia. I had a mild bout of food poisoning in Sydney a few years back that I put down to a ridiculously priced seafood dish at Darling Harbour.

    In all the years I have travelled in Asia I can honestly say the only places that have actually made me sick are upmarket, expensive, touristic type places where due to cost, food often sits around.

    Cheap busy fast turnover local places have never been an issue for me.
    I always eat local, preferably street food and usually away from tourist areas.

• 

  maximum on 07/06/2015 - 11:41

  +1

  We flew to Penang for about $20 each with air Asia . We stayed In an air BnB apartment which was cheaper and better for a family than a hotel. Caught buses around Penang .
  Sunway was good but there was a storm in the afternoon and they closed the park so be aware of the weather. We stayed at utama mall in petling jaya and caught a bus to the genting highlands theme parks. I think this was a really good theme park for younger children. You can also stay up there and it is cooler. If it is the kids first time in Asia it can provide some relief from the heat.
  Have fun!

• 

  LuckyLuke on 11/06/2015 - 14:41

  Thanks everyone.

  Based on the advice we were given, we have booked a room in Bukit Bintang (the Crib - $135/night - 4 star) and have decided to go to Langkawi instead of Penang as the beaches appear to be nicer. We booked a place through airbnb near the beach. We also got a deal to stay in the Westin there for 2 nights ($200/night - 5 star). Then back to the Crib in KL.

  Overall the biggest challenge has been to find a place that can fit us all in one room (otherwise we were being quoted double the price). But phone calls to Expedia and the Westin were really helpful in finding things.

  We have looked at tripadvisor for different things to do, but at this stage we are looking at doing some day nature based activities like the Batu caves and the Bird park.

  Thanks again!

  • 

    LuckyLuke on 21/06/2015 - 18:51

    I just cancelled the 2 nights at the westin. It turned out that they wanted to charge $300 / night and that was without breakfast. So, I cancelled that am now looking for something else.

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 12/06/2015 - 07:43

  +1

  If you can squeeze in a day, suggest Malacca. Very historical, very different from the big smoke or Oz.Nice Nyonya food.

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  Archi on 12/06/2015 - 11:41

  +1

  if you like buffets go to one in KL called jagoya,

  you wont be disappointed..

  they have a website and you should watch the youtube video of it if you are keen
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XryFn8vqhU

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  Kjjd on 22/06/2015 - 08:24

  Indoor kids activities in KL: http://www.kidzania.com.my. Kids get to role play as adults. Mine are too old for this but heard from friends with younger kids that they enjoyed it.

  In Langkawi, there was a decent aquarium and a cable car ride.

  Best rates to exchange money was at mid valley mega mall.

  If you're in KL but want street food in nice air conditioned surroundings, I recommend the Lot 10 Hutong. They apparently house hawkers who were head hunted for this location. Prices are more expensive than hawker food outside but still tolerable for the Aussie hip pocket. The last time we were there it was about RM 10 - 15 per dish.

  Sunway is good fun too .

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  Kjjd on 22/06/2015 - 08:28

  Legoland is fun but located the other end of KL as you are travelling to Langkawi. If you head to Singapore in the future, I wld recommend hopping over then. In Johor Bharu,, there is not only Legoland but also Legoland Waterpark plus Hello a Kitty land if you have a little girl.

  I wld check that the theme parks in Genting are still operating. The outdoor park is currently being renovated to reopen as a Fox Studios theme park which will be really good then.

• 

  Davros on 22/06/2015 - 08:37

  "A friend mentioned going to Penang as we love nice beaches"

  Even the very best of Asian Beaches are poor quality compared to Australia.
  Penang has some ok at best beaches, still wouldn't get me in the water there.

  But, I do like Penang, considered living there for quite a while but found far better options since.

• 

  Kjjd on 22/06/2015 - 09:06

  We have nicer beaches here but if you just want a relaxing beach holiday, I wld recommend going to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia to an island called Perhentian. You can snorkel there and charter a boat for fishing.

  I forgot to mention that another option for travel, a budget airline, Fireflyz.

  Www.fireflyz.com.my

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  offal spokesman on 22/06/2015 - 17:47

  Was a few years agio that we were there but…Genting highlands had a great theme park at the top, lots of fun, also a lovely temple half way down the mountain.