Hotel Insider: The Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

The welcome

The Majestic Hotel opened in 1935 and much of its heyday grandeur has been retained, despite a seven-year renovation that was completed last year. Pith-helmeted doormen greet guests with a colonial pomp that resonates throughout the hotel. Guests staying in the exclusive Majestic Wing - the beautifully-preserved original wing - arrive by a private car service at a dedicated entrance, while guests staying in the new wing should be impressed by the elegantly-vaulted art deco lobby and its magnificent chandelier.

The neighbourhood

In the heart of chaotic Kuala Lumpur, The Majestic Hotel, a YTL hotel, is close to the high-speed rail link to the city's international airport. Here you will find the KLCC precinct, which is home to several Fortune 500 companies and KL's best shopping. The hotel is also on the city's "historic mile" and is close to the National Museum, the National Mosque and the Islamic Arts Museum. However, the fact that the hotel is on such a major thoroughfare isn't lost when you're relaxing by the outdoor pool.

The room

For the real deal experience, opt for the all-suite 35-room Majestic Wing, with its white gloved butler service, beautifully-restored guest rooms, rich timber furnishings and deep claw-foot bath tubs. Rooms are regal and sumptuous, with tufted carpets in warm tones, eye-catching black and white chequered bathrooms and spacious work desks. If you're after something a bit more contemporary, the Tower Wing boasts the same hints of the 1930s, but in a much more modern setting. Poster beds are fused with earthy decor and open-plan bathrooms. Both feature double vanities, rain showers, flat screen TVs and high speed Wi-Fi.

The scene

The Majestic is very much the here-to-be-seen hotel it was when it first catered to visiting royalty and celebrities. High tea in the Colonial Café, complete with a white-jacketed band and baby grand, is one of the city's most coveted affairs. Private luncheons can take place in the glass-encased Orchid Conservatory, while The Smokehouse bar features its own cigar sommelier. Downstairs, a traditional barber and tailor are on hand. The opulent Majestic Spa, housed in the former staff quarters, is the city's newest house of wellness.

The service

Uncharacteristically crisp for a city known to move at a sloth-like pace. Staff are immaculately attired but the spa staff could do with a lesson in time management.

The food

The main restaurant is Cantango, a modern open-kitchen restaurant in the main tower. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Malay and Western dishes are cooked to order. The dinner buffet starts at Rm88 (Dh103) per person, and includes dishes such as beef rendang, Thai green curry, chow fan noodles with prawns, salmon, tuna and butterfish sashimi, wood-fired pizza and Tandoor chicken.

Loved

The colonial refinement of the Majestic Wing and the attention of the butlers and drivers assigned to those suites.

Hated

Waiting for 40 minutes for a pre-booked spa treatment because staff were "in a meeting". The ambience of the sizeable outdoor pool is also ruined by the ceaseless traffic and pollution.

The verdict

A relatively unknown gem in a city of tower blocks and service apartment complexes, the Majestic returns a touch of glamour to the Malaysian capital.

The bottom line

Tower Wing rooms from Rm550 (Dh639) and Majestic Wing suites from Rm1,500 (Dh1,745) per night, twin share. 5 Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (www.majestickl.com; 00 60 3 2785 8000).

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”