Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge Kuala Lumpur KUL Review & Giveaway!

(Note: This was my third stopover in three days and I was so tired that I didn’t notice my main camera’s battery had died.  I apologize for the poor photos, but I still think they give an overview of the lounge.)

On a recent trip to Southeast Asia, I had the opportunity to stopover in Kuala Lumpur for the night.  Not only did this allow for me to stay at the wonderful Doubletree Kuala Lumpur (One of Hilton’s best point redemption values at 10,000 points), but it allowed me to use Malaysia Airlines’ Golden Lounge in KLL Airport.

First Impressions:

This lounge is huge.  During my time there, maybe five or six other people were enjoying the lounge.  I essentially had the place to myself and almost felt bad considering there were at half a dozen staff members tending to me.  Before opting to get some food, I decided to explore a little bit to get a lay of the land.  There are several different seating areas with varying types and styles of furniture.  After making a full circle around the lounge, I set my bag down and went for the food!

Food:

The first area you come across with food is a small area I would describe as a cafe.  This area has a salad bar, sandwiches, curry puffs, a variety of desserts and little tubs of ice cream.  As for drinks, a full selection of Malaysian sodas were on hand.  I found it odd, but no Coke or Pepsi products were to be found.  This cafe would be great for someone looking to grab a quick snack during a short layover.  For those who are looking for something more substantial, there are a couple more options.

Past the cafe and almost dead center in the lounge is a hot buffet.  This buffet had some hot vegetables, two different kinds of curries and some rice.  Water, juice, coffee and tea were also available here.  Just behind the buffet was my favorite part of the lounge.  The Noodle Station.  At the Noodle Station you get to choose your noodles and toppings and a custom soup is made fresh.  At this point I ordered some soup, picked up some curry and headed to a seat with my Malaysian soda!

I remember the curry as being alright.  It was clear that it had been sitting out for quite awhile.  This didn’t come as a surprise to me given how slow the lounge was.  The real winner here was the noodle soup.  It was hot, fresh and delicious.  I wasn’t looking for anything too heavy, so it hit the spot.

Facilities:

Immediately as you enter, to the right is a small business center and sitting area.  On the other side, to the left of the entrance, there is a bar with sports playing on the televisions.  This bar is the only place in the lounge to get alcohol.  I found the bar’s location to be odd.  If you want a drink and are sitting towards the center or back of the massive lounge, it would be quite a walk to get to the bar.  Since I wasn’t in the mood to drink, it wasn’t a problem, but if you are planning to down a few, consider sitting close to the bar.

Towards the back of the massive lounge are a couple of private rooms, a game room, a children’s room and the bathrooms.  While I was traveling alone on this trip, I found it great that they had a separate place for children.  Most children, especially when they have endured long and hard travel, can get cranky.  Allowing them to have a place where they can play is a nice touch.  More lounges should build similar spaces.  Lounges aren’t solely for business travelers after all.

Now we should talk about the bathrooms.  While the furniture and decor in the lounge is nice and somewhat upscale, the bathrooms are not.  While the bathrooms weren’t gross or disgusting, they were just very plain and lacked any comfort.  They do have showers and the other typical amenities, but it is best to shower and clean up somewhere else if that is an option.  If not, know that everything is clean, but not up to the standards you would find in other lounges.

Overall Impressions:

With a business center, iPads between the chairs, plenty of food and a massive amount of space to spread out, the Golden Lounge is a very nice space to spend a layover.  They do have a separate section called the Platinum Suite for 1st class passengers, but I didn’t have access to that.  The most memorable part of my stay in the lounge was spending the last 20 minutes before boarding, sitting in a chair that overlooked the gates, eating ice cream.  Life doesn’t get much better than that!

Giveaway:

Next Monday I will start my beginner’s series for miles and points.  In celebration of that I am giving away a GoGo free in-flight Internet code.  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post before 11:59 PM PST on 1/12/2014 telling me what your favorite lounge is.  If you have never been inside of a lounge, then tell me what amenity you are most looking forward to when you visit your 1st lounge!  Thanks for being there!

More Photos:

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