Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur

This luxurious hotel offers a fabulous location just beside the Medan Tuanku Monorail station and minutes from swanky shopping centres and popular nightlife spots, but step inside, and the ambience transports you to a world of sweeping staircases and dramatic oil paintings. The frantic world outside disappears.

Once I’d checked-in, I was shown to my weekend abode: A Twin Tower Deluxe with views of the iconic structures set against an impressive skyline. My brightly-lit room, done up in elegant earthy tones with splashes of red, was spacious, and offered a walk-in wardrobe, sitting area and large desk. Like all the accommodation here, my room also came equipped with WiFi connectivity, and a hospitality port, which allows guests to connect their laptops, iPods and other entertainment gadgets to the huge 40-inch LCD TV for easy viewing. On my coffee table, I found not just the requisite basket of fruits but a pretty platter of strawberries, blueberries and pomegranates sitting beside a shot glass of chocolate fondue. At Sheraton Imperial, they really know how to spoil their guests, and you can expect minty chocolates on your pillow each night, as well as afternoon treats that include local kuih or cakes.

While KL has many great city hotels, Sheraton Imperial stands out for its F&B offerings: Essence with its fantastic buffet spreads; Pavilions Lounge with its live music, bubbly and fine wines; and Toastina Café and Bar, which serves up sinful pastries by day and a variety of whiskeys and Cuban cigars by night. Then, there’s Celestial Court, an authentic Cantonese restaurant that’s best known for its decadent dim sum menu.

Here, you can expect to savour spicy Szechuan crabmeat dumplings in chili vinegar sauce; squid ink scallop dumplings topped with mini abalone and salmon roe; and banana and prawn rolls withwasabi mayo. There are also delicious a la carte dishes like the XO fried rice with scallops and prawns and the signature black cod, which comes with a soup spoon so you can savour its wholesome rice broth sprinkled with sweet wolfberries and caviar. For dessert, sample the refreshing avocado cream and walnut ice cream.

But by far the jewel in Sheraton Imperial’s crown is Villa Danieli, its award-winning Italian restaurant with a wood-fired pizza oven and a cute mural that depicts scenes within a restaurant – from a failed wedding proposal to a waiter covertly sneaking sips of wine behind a potted plant. This clever mural makes for a great conversation piece over must-try dishes like spicy cod ceviche, luscious Boston lobster egg fettuccine, ravioli in cheesy walnut sauce, Piemontese pizza with mascarpone cheese, toma piemontese cheese, parmesan cheese shavings, fresh black uncinato truffle and white truffle oil, as well as Villa Danieli’s signature tiramisu.