Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur

Position is destiny at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. The hotel stands directly beside the Petronas Twin Towers, sharing the KLCC precinct with the park, convention centre and Suria mall, and has served since 1998 as the city's default address for visiting executives and anyone who wants Cesar Pelli's steel-clad icons filling the bedroom window. Few skyline views in Asia are as instantly identifiable.

Rooms and suites follow a classic Mandarin Oriental register—polished timber, Malaysian silk accents, marble bathrooms—refreshed over successive renovations, with the club floors among the city's best-run. The towers-view rooms are the obvious request, though park-facing quarters over the green sweep of KLCC Park have their own appeal, especially at dusk when the fountains begin.

The outdoor infinity pool on the fifth floor, seemingly pouring into the park's treeline with the towers rising alongside, is one of Kuala Lumpur's signature hotel images. Dining runs from Cantonese at Lai Po Heen to a well-regarded club lounge and international buffet theatre at Mosaic, and the spa follows the group's rigorous standards. With the park's jogging track at the door and direct mall access for rainy afternoons, it is the most convenient luxury base the capital offers.