Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur offers a stylish, design-led stay with sweeping city views.

Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur bedroom interir with a view of city skyline out the window

The Living Room at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur.

The interior of a premium room bathroom with bathtub at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur hotel

Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur rooftop swimming pool with city skyline in the background

The entrance to Sabato's Italian restaurant at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur

The lounge at Sabato's Italian restaurant, Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur hotel.

If there is one thing I’ve come to love about the city I now call home, it is the abundance of green spaces. Wherever I go in Kuala Lumpur, there’s a park, a garden, or even a forest just around the corner. Not to get too nerdy, but research has repeatedly shown how being around plants and trees, especially in an urban context, reduces stress, improves mood, and contributes to an overall sense of well-being.

The moment I step into the sleek lobby of the new Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur (from US$200 a night), I know the folks there subscribed to the same research. That was indeed the brief given to Australian design firm Hassell: for the hotel to be a natural extension of the city’s leafy outdoors. This makes sense, given that its entrance sits directly opposite the four-hectare TRX Park.

Upon arrival, I am struck by the sense of openness and the profusion of plants (including carnivorous pitcher plants from Borneo) around every corner. Staff whisk me up to the first level, which I discover to be the beating heart of the hotel. Called The Living Room, this is where guests get to check in, chill, and connect. The welcome drink is a refreshing cooler made with calamansi citrus, hibiscus, and winter melon tea—my first hint of how the food and beverage offerings at Kimpton Naluria lean toward native ingredients.

This floor has all kinds of seating, from loungy couches and armchairs (even a stray daybed should you be overcome by a sudden urge to lie down) to a long worktable at one end that is intended to be shared among strangers. As it happens, interaction between guests is a theme the hotel actively promotes here with its evening Kimpton Social setups from 5 to 6 p.m., involving complimentary wine, cocktails, light bites, and a chance for everyone to mingle.

The same counter morphs into the Kimpton Kickstart in the mornings from 7 to 10 a.m., for guests who just want to grab a coffee and pastry on the go, instead of lingering over breakfast. But if you do want to savor your cuppa, there is Rise & Grind on the ground floor, an espresso bar that nods to Malaysia’s kopitiam (traditional coffee house) culture. So along with the use of homegrown Liberica coffee beans, the small menu has interesting local touches like teh tarik madeleines, delicate pastries that taste mildly of milky Malaysian tea. Later on, I find more uniquely Malaysian flavors in my room’s minibar, from pandan gula melaka granola to salted egg yolk potato chips and Passa Cola, a locally spiced craft cola available only in the country.

A model in the Presidential Suite cocktail bar and posing on a couch of the Celebrity Suite at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur hotel.

Two photos of the Indonesian model Shyn at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur. On the left she is at the Four Siblings cocktail bar and on the right at Tuai & Till restaurant

Two photos at Four Siblings bar at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur. On the left the barman prepares a cocktail, on the right a waiter brings a drink to the table.

A table laden with dishes at Tuai &Till restaurant at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur

Staff busy themselves at Tuai & Till restaurant at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur

The main restaurant, Tuai + Till, delivers a creative fusion of cuisines, with a menu spanning both Malaysian delicacies and Western staples—from Nyonya curry laksa and tandoori lamb chops to spaghetti pomodoro and a wagyu burger. As the name suggests (tuai is Malay for “harvest”), the emphasis here is on farm-to-table dining, an approach reflected in golden paddy stalks on display and even a pitchfork, shovel, and spade tucked away in a corner. The Ulam Fried Rice I order for dinner is fragrant and flavorful, packed with fresh vegetables, paneer satay, and sweet-sour pickled cucumbers.

The signature restaurant, Sabato’s has a 1970s disco vibe and serves Italian-American cuisine. But the highlight is the rooftop bar—currently the only one in the TRX area. Four Siblings is named after the four essential spices used in Malaysian cooking: star anise, clove, cinnamon, and cardamom. These ingredients elevate cocktails like the pisco-based Clove & Vine and the Nutty Lime. More than the drinks, however, I am taken with the views. Four Siblings opens up to outdoor seating on either side, from where I can see the twinkling lights of the city’s iconic skyscrapers, including the KL Tower and Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world. And from my Studio Suite on the 15th floor, I can look out onto the green sprawl of the Royal Selangor Golf Club, another urban oasis in this bustling city. To underscore the botanical theme, there are abstract rainforest paintings and a giant leaf-shaped mirror on the wall—not to mention fragrant luxury bath amenities from British perfumery Penhaligon’s.

There’s been a lot of buzz about the glitzy newish shopping and eating hub of The Exchange TRX, southeast of the city’s central commercial district. One of the key selling points for the Kimpton Naluria is its prime location in the master-planned TRX precinct, with an elevator connecting the hotel directly to the shops and restaurants in the mall.

Detail of artworks in a public space and close up of the bathroom in the Presidential Suite at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur

Interior details of a Suite at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur

Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur's Celebrity Suite features a living room with a cityscape view

The interior of Four Siblings Bar at Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur hotel

Though a large property with 466 rooms, Malaysia’s first Kimpton is firmly design-led, with thoughtfully curated wall art and installations that speak to themes of harmony between man and nature and the eternal circle of life. As a result, browns and greens dominate the color palette across common spaces, with an added earthy layer of roughish textures on the walls to mimic the feel of tree bark.

My favorite piece of art here is on the third floor: a collection of shimmering stones in myriad shades of blue and green hanging from the ceiling on thin, almost invisible threads of varying lengths. Evoking water droplets clinging to leaves after heavy showers, this installation transports me to Malaysia’s rainforests with their patches of mellow, magical sunlight filtered through dense canopies. In that moment, the true meaning of the hotel’s name, a portmanteau of two Malay words—naluri (instinct) and ria (joy)—comes to life.

Fashion Stylist: Jessica Esther
Model: Shyn/MBFP
Hair & Makeup: Talia Subandrio
Photographs by Franz Navarrete. Supplementary photographs courtesy of Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur.

This article originally appeared in the March/May 2026 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Natural Selection”). Buy a single issue or subscribe here.

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