From Here To Infinity.

Community Highlights Asia From Here To Infinity.

View over Kuala Lumpur from the Ibis Swimming Pool.

We had been in The Renaissance for four nights. Our room was lovely and the dinners and breakfasts in the lounge were excellent. We were even getting used to the pool, but it was time to move on. We were going to The Ibis City Centre for our last two nights in Kuala Lumpur. The Ibis has an infinity pool and you can swim thirty-one floors up on the edge of a hill with a view of the twin towers. (More on that later.)

We had to check out of The Renaissance at 12 and check-in at The Ibis was at 3pm, so we tried using our gold card trick again. We contacted The Ibis and requested an early check-in. We got a totally unhelpful reply saying 'Early check-ins are subject to availability.' I think we kind of knew that without contacting them.

Anyway we were sitting in the Renaissance lounge eating our breakfast when the hotel manager decided to make an appearance and wander around the tables asking how people were enjoying their stay. When he came to us, we told him that all the staff were very helpful and pleasant and the club lounge was excellent value, but that we remembered the pool from before and were disappointed about what had happened to it. He explained that with the lack of tourists during COVID the hotel was faced with closure and they had to reinvent it in some way to try to save it, so they had redesigned it for the domestic market as a family friendly place for staycations. We had to agree that it made sense and that they probably didn't have many other choices. He then asked how long we were staying and I told him that we were checking out that day and going to The Ibis. I asked if there was a cafe in The Renaissance we could use up until 3pm when we could get in to our next hotel. He said we could stay in the club lounge and help ourselves to snacks and drinks until then, or we were welcome to use the pool until three, or he could give us a complimentary late check-out. I said if we could have a late check-out that would be perfect, so he immediately went to his desk staff and got us one. Our opinion of the hotel immediately shot up, enough that I would come back here again.

With the late check-out we had plenty of time to get packed and to relax. We headed down to the pool. I wasn't feeling great. I had caught a really bad cold. Peter, on the other hand, went in the pool and swam continuously for two hours. He was really enjoying it.

Me by the pool.

Pool bar and restaurant.

Peter in the pool.

The pool slide.

Peter in the pool.

We checked out at three and called a grab to get to our next hotel. It claimed it was on the way, but ended up cancelling. Not sure if it got stuck in traffic or if it just got a better offer. The distance we were going wasn't really very far. In the past we would have walked it, but this is hard for Peter nowadays.

Anyway we requested another grab and this one turned up so we got there after all for the princely total of five ringgit - which is very cheap.

We checked in and were given a room on the twenty-eighth floor. I would say it was nicer than the average Ibis room. It didn't look quite as basic. I'm not sure if we had been given an upgrade or if all the rooms here are like this.

Peter in our room.

There's a restaurant near The Ibis that we like. It's called The Canopy. We intended to eat there, but the daily thunderstorm started early, so we decided to eat in The Ibis Skyview Bar and Lounge instead. I remember they used to have very little food, but they have improved a lot and now offer a choice of several main courses and snacks. They also do draft tiger beer.

Service in the bar was very friendly. I ordered chicken in black pepper sauce. Peter had fish and chips. The chicken was a bit underdone for my taste. This is very common in Asia where they like chicken to still be a bit on the pink side. I would never cook it like this. However, apart from that, the food was tasty and filling enough.

Skyview Bar and Lounge.

Sign outside the Skyview.

Peter in The Skyview.

Us in the Skyview.

Peter in The Skyview.

At one point I went out on the balcony at the bar to look at the view through the rain.

I returned to Peter and said: "That's funny, I thought you could see the twin towers from the bar as well as the pool, but you can't."

View from the bar.

He said:" Yes I thought so, too."

Stranger and stranger.

I went up to check the pool which is just above the bar. There's a spa on this level, too. The pool was closed due to the weather. I asked one of the barmen if the pool was likely to open again that night. He told me it would reopen as soon as the thunder and lightning stopped and that it would stay open until 10pm.

The Asia Spa.

We returned to our room. Later the storm stopped. I decided to go swimming. Peter said he didn't want to since he had swum for two hours earlier, so I went by myself.

It was just starting to get dark when I got there, so I got to see it in the light and the dark. I swam to the side with the great view of the twin towers and was confronted with a half finished skyscraper which completely blocked out all view of the famous towers. What a shock! As Peter always says: "Never go back." I mean there were still wonderful views, but not of the most famous buildings in Kuala Lumpur.

Next day I took Peter's photo in the same place where we used to take photos with the towers, just to illustrate the difference. Only Peter's hat has stayed the same.

Peter in the pool in 2018.

Peter in the pool in 2019.

The same view nowadays.

The old view at night.

Anyway, if you arrived here without knowing how the view used to be, you would still find it really good. When you swim towards the far end of the pool, you feel like you are going to fall off the edge of the world.

From here to infinity.

The infinity pool.

As you swim towards the side, you can see only the tops of tall buildings above water. It creates the illusion that the world is flooded and you are making your way across a deluge.

View over the edge.