Nature and luxury in KL: Where to stay and play in the TRX district

KUALA LUMPUR – I step into the lobby of the Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur hotel and zoom, moth to flame, towards a painting of a leopard.

She is the unbothered queen of the jungle. The only thing she is paying attention to, with a predator’s unnerving stare, lies outside the frame. It is the stuff of antelope nightmares.

The piece – accompanied by more cheerful works like a napping tapir – is part of a temporary art exhibition inspired by the rainforests of Malaysia. It is jointly organised by the new hotel and the surrounding Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), an international financial district in central Kuala Lumpur.

Pictures from the exhibition and the hotel’s own art and decor are strategically paired.

A hornbill in a painting glances at another hornbill stitched onto an enormous banner, which drapes from the ceiling like a cloth waterfall.

In the reception area, one can sit with 15 friends on an improbably long white sofa, which costs an eyebrow-raising RM650,000 (S$210,250). One-seaters are in cobalt blue and burnt orange, a colour combination interior designers on TikTok rave about.

Elsewhere in the hotel, sculptures in hallways resemble raindrops or fungi. Monsteras and carnivorous plants lounge in designated corners. Lily pads are carved into the walls of the lifts.

Global architecture and design firm Hassell has taken a world-building approach to the hotel’s Botanics Beyond Aesthetics design theme. According to Kimpton Naluria’s publicity materials, the hotel styles itself as “a forest in the city”. Each detail, no matter how small, adds to this splendid simulacrum.

Near the headboards in the rooms, a discreet pattern of slashes evokes how Malaysian rubber tappers cut the bark of trees to collect the sap. The liquid soaps, shampoos and creams for guests hold the green scent of basil. Mirrors are shaped like leaves.

The idea of nature as a luxury good has gained currency.

As rainforests get mown down in favour of palm oil plantations, the great outdoors is increasingly seen as a scarce resource.

In 2003, American scientists in Phoenix, Arizona, published an early paper on the “luxury effect”, describing how wealthy areas in cities have more wildlife and more biodiversity than poor neighbourhoods.

Evoking the natural world as a premium experience need not involve any actual touching of grass. Spas and beauty salons, for instance, commonly conflate concepts like serenity, wellness and nature.

South-east Asia roll-out

The 466-room Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ luxury and lifestyle portfolio, opened in Malaysia in December 2025.

Prices start at around RM800+ a night. Rooms range in size from 30 sq m to 195 sq m for the Presidential Suite (from RM10,000+), which is the size of a Housing Board jumbo flat.

Plans for expansion are unfolding, fast and furious.

“The Kimpton debut is part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ strategy to focus on the demand in the lifestyle and luxury segment,” says Mr Vivek Bhalla, managing director for South-east Asia and Korea at IHG.

In 2025, the Kimpton brand, which started in San Francisco 45 years ago, opened hotels in places like Hong Kong, Hainan, Frankfurt and the Algarve. Kimpton hotels will launch in Bali, Shanghai, New York, Adelaide and Rotterdam in 2026. A second Malaysian property in Kota Kinabalu is also in the works, hotel representatives say.

IHG is also opening Regent Kuala Lumpur, InterContinental Penang Resort and voco Kuching in Malaysia.

IHG has hotels in more than 100 countries. In Singapore, the global hospitality company has 12 hotels. It plans to open a Hotel Indigo at Terminal 2 in Changi Airport, says Mr Bhalla. Terminal 3 already houses IHG’s Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.

Luxury travel was worth US$239 billion (S$304.1 billion) in 2023. McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm, predicts the sector will grow to US$391 billion by 2028.

Large and comfy

At Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur, my 43 sq m Studio Suite, with rates from RM1,050+ a night, is lavishly appointed with golden fittings and marble. Even the kettle has a pendant light dangling above it.

There are small touches of luxury – a Dyson hairdryer, an Illy coffee machine and toiletries from British perfumery Penhaligon’s.

At 17 sq m, the bathroom is practically a tiny home. With wine-red tiles in the shower, a free-standing bathtub and art above the toilet, it looks as dramatic as a movie set.

The anticipation of needs is an under-appreciated luxury service. Lights under the king-size bed switch on automatically in the dead of night to prevent a tumble after a visit to the loo.

Another Kimpton signature is its “Forgot It? We’ve Got It” service. Last-minute packers can request items like contact lens solution, a travel adaptor, clear nail polish, a 5m-long HDMI cable and hair straightening or hair curling irons.

To be contrarian, I call the front desk for something not on the list: measuring tape. (All the better to double-check the size of my hand luggage, even if it got on board my short flight to KL without incident.) But my dastardly trap is thwarted and the bellhop delivers one within minutes.

One item on the list is baffling: Hollywood fashion tape. I call for help again: What, exactly, is Hollywood fashion tape? It is to keep one’s clothes in place, ma’am. Of course, of course, I say hurriedly, as someone whose clothes do not move much.

The delivery arrives: double-sided tape. There is no solution to this mystery. It is just as well that I do not have a Hollywood body.

Speaking of gym bods, I head to the hotel fitness centre where I discover that luxurious living can mean having too many choices. You can watch Netflix, Disney+ or YouTube, or even play digital Solitaire on the exercise bike. Something tells me the card-playing cyclist is not a serious athlete.

I turn to the TRX Suspension Training station and try it for the first time.

No relation to the hotel’s TRX neighbourhood, this portable system for a bodyweight workout, which uses nylon straps, was developed by a United States Navy Seal. It is not necessary to have that level of discipline on a weekend break, I decide, after I fall over while attempting a push-up using the straps.

Naluria in the hotel’s name derives from two Malay words, “naluri” meaning instinct, and “ria” meaning joy. This exuberant spirit extends to the hotel’s dining concepts.

It certainly throws a good party. The hotel’s official launch on April 28 was a jamboree of food, drink and fireworks.

Caviar is served on, and licked off, the back of one’s hand. Sambal gouda and nasi lemak-flavoured Asiago cheese were appetisers.

The performers included a techno and throat singing sensation, Sarawak-born artiste Belle Sisoski, who incorporates ethnic Malaysian instruments in her music; and Singaporean singer Sezairi with his 2018 hit ballad, It’s You, which has garnered more than 100 million streams on Spotify.

Disco never left the hotel’s Italian-American restaurant Sabato’s, where a disco ball, shaped like a helmet, has pride of place. Saturday Night Fever thrills from the jukebox as patrons nosh on heavenly Godfather Meatballs, which have as much depth as the tormented soul of a mafia don.

The Four Siblings rooftop bar on the 26th storey, which has an outdoor pool, draws its name from a quartet of key Malaysian spices: cinnamon, clove, star anise and cardamom. Sip on the Clove & Vine cocktail (RM58): Cloves and pisco, a spirit made from grape juice, produce a herbal tanginess.

Animatronic art

As the only hotel in the 28ha TRX business hub, Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur is linked to its mall, The Exchange TRX, through its basement.

The shopping and lifestyle complex, which opened in late 2023, is stuffed with more than 400 top retailers, but it has a particular lure for hopelessly nostalgic Singaporeans. I fall upon MPH Bookstores – long shuttered at home – with the fervour of a lost pal reunion, and promptly buy a book by a Singaporean, Jemimah Wei’s The Original Daughter.

The mall is connected to a 4ha rooftop park, TRX City Park, replete with playgrounds, walking trails and 150,000 plants. Malaysia’s first Apple store, launched in 2024, has a tiered roof that has been likened to the tudung saji, a traditional Malay food covering.

The march of shoppers slows down on the ground floor. People fall silent when they catch sight of three large robot bison at the Gentle Monster store. The South Korean luxury eyewear brand is known for its experimental displays that toy with the idea of art in retail.

The animatronic bison look like they weigh hundreds of kilograms. They have no discernible purpose. They occasionally chew the cud, swish their tails and bow their heads. Yet I am staring at them, waiting for them to blink.

Their life-like artifice makes me feel like I am looking at a bison for the first time. I will probably never see a bison in real life.

It is a successful prototype of nature, where the fake is more accessible than the real thing.

The writer was hosted by Kimpton Naluria Kuala Lumpur by IHG Hotels & Resorts.