Kuala Lumpur trip report: 2023

Kuala Lumpur is one of my most frequently visited cities in Southeast Asia. While I spend more time in Penang, I will always take the opportunity to spend a few days in KL if I have a flight on the way somewhere else. Thanks to AirAsia going practically everywhere from KL, I am usually here a few times a year.

This is my trip report for my visit in July 2023. I will have another post for transit updates.

Merdeka 118

The 678.9-metre Merdeka 118 is completed, and it’s the second-tallest building in the world (after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). It bothers though me that the 160 m spire is part of the height. It is architecturally part of the building so of course it is counted, but it just feels like cheating a little bit. Here is what it looks like in comparison to the other supertalls.

Tallest buildings (Wikimedia)

The building is all the more remarkable in that there are no other tall buildings around it, so there is a clear view of the entire tower from most angles.

There was still a crane attached to the top when I was in KL last year, but now the building looks entirely completed. It is not until you visit the base that you can see that work is still ongoing. There will be a mall at the base, so maybe that will be ready for 2024.

At the base of the tower, they were working on the entrance to the Park Hyatt Hotel, which will be in the tower. The lobby will be on the 3rd floor, there is a Sky Lobby on the 75th floor, and the hotel itself will be on floors 97 to 112

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