Whenever I have friends from overseas who is visiting Kuala Lumpur, I would always recommend that they visit Bukit Bintang area as there are many shopping complexes available. You can reach there either by taking monorail or MRT trains and stop at Bukit Bintang stops.
The shopping complexes available near the Bukit Bintang stops are: Pavilion, Starhill gallery, Fahrenheit 88, Lot 10 and Sungai Wang. You can also walk further down towards the Jalan Imbi monorail station direction where you can find Low Yat (digital shopping mall) and Berjaya Times Square.
Sungai Wang Shopping Complex
Getting down from the Bukit Bintang monorail station, the closest shopping complex would be Sungai Wang and Lot 10. Sungai Wang used to be a fully packed shopping mall back at the heydays when I was still in school. However, it is less congested.
I was told that Sungai Wang adopted a business model where the shoplots are not being rented out but is being bought by the retailers. Now the shoplots are owned by the retailers, then it is very hard to get a consensus when it comes to doing major renovation or improvement works. After a while, it gets hard to compete with newer and more innovative shopping complexes.
Some of the store owner may have sublet out to folks that sells mass produced low quality products. When this is done, it will dilute the value of the complex- this was what I noticed years ago and could have brought to the decline in visitors. However, you would still be able to find good offers and sales on clothings and shoes.
Lot 10 Shopping Mall
Lot 10 have Isetan as the anchor store. It features branded retailers like H&M, Zara, Braun Buffel and Machines.
Fahrenheit 88
Fahrenheit 88 is a shopping mall that have a varied number of retailers covering books, fashions, beauty, jewelry and toys. Some are popular retailers like Book Xcess, Pandora, Caring Pharmacy and Guardian. But mostly are smaller retailers which you can find unique products being sold there.
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Pavilion is very much similar to KLCC where you can find a combination of high end brands such as Christian Dior, Emporium Armani, Cartier, Tissot as well as the every day stores such as Daiso and Watson’s. There is quality control and balance between higher end and affordable brands.
When you step into Pavilion from the entrance, you would be greeted by this huge spacious area. It is very comfortable to go around Pavilion as the complex is spacious. During major festivals, the decorations are very elaborate.
All these shopping complexes are within walking distance of one another. If I am travelling to Bukit Bintang area, I seldom drive there because the area is congested and parking (if I am able to find) is expensive. I would usually travel using the monorail (even though I must say the monorail is usually packed like sardine) but I need not go through the congestion.
For eating place, you can almost anything from fastfood, local food, sandwich bars, cafeterias and street food. Below are the Hong Kong like street setting located at Lot 10:
And a chain of Chinese restaurants between Lot 10 and Fahrenheit 88:
Alternatively you also enjoy street food at Jalan Alor at night.
After that, you can walk further to Low Yat (mall selling computers, mobile phones, games as well as digital accessories) and Berjaya Times Square. If you are not able to complete the trip in one day, you can come back on another day. Note: Berjaya Times Square is located right in front of the Imbi monorail station which is one stop from Bukit Bintang monorail station.
