Tatler Best-in-Class Hotel awards in Malaysia for 2025

Best Design

Housed in the historic Lee Rubber Building, built in the 1930s by late Malaysian rubber tycoon Tan Sri Lee Kong Chian, Else is a boutique hotel with ambitions to show off the city’s vibrant and often overlooked creative scene. The aim of the hotel’s design was to make Else as Malaysian as possible: from tapping local design firm Studio Bikin, to adorning the floors and walls with pieces by luxury rug designer Omar Khan. It also honours the building’s heritage and history, yet has just the right amount of contemporary cool to attract aesthetically inclined travellers. Else’s restaurant, Yellow Fin Horse, is helmed by chef Jun Wong and offers a seafood-centric, open-fire dining experience that champions elemental cooking methods. Expect bright, fresh flavours with a smoky twist, paired with an imaginative drinks selection.

Best Boutique Hotel

This three-storey boutique hotel is housed in a restored Straits Eclectic-style building that once served as a home-away-from-home in George Town, Penang, for Armenian traders in the mid-19th century—hence the name of the street and the hotel. During those days, Armenian Street was the bustling heart of the region’s brass and copper industry, and is still known today as ‘phak thang-ah kei’, or ‘Coppersmith Street’ in its Hokkien patois. 88 Armenian pays tribute to its history with touches of copper, alongside original design elements including exposed brick walls, wooden flooring and rehabilitated wooden doors marked with Chinese calligraphy. With just six guest rooms in total, this intimate boutique hotel is a charming place to stay for those looking to immerse themselves in the rich history of Penang’s Unesco World Heritage Site.

Best Service

First opened as The Equatorial in the ’70s, before being rebuilt and rebranded as EQ in 2012, this iconic property has been a stalwart of five-star excellence in Malaysia for over five decades, thanks in large part to its impeccable standards when it comes to service. Intuitive but never overbearing, EQ has luxury hospitality down to a fine art. This is especially felt in its seven restaurants, including Sabayon, which offers exquisite fine dining on the hotel’s highest floor, or Blue 11 next door, where cocktails are coupled with bar bites and bumps of Beluga caviar. It’s also home to Sky51, the most coveted rooftop bar in the city, which boasts sweeping views over the Petronas Twin Towers.

Best Heritage Hotel

The Eastern & Oriental Hotel is to Penang what The Strand is to Yangon, what Raffles is to Singapore… you get the drift. This waterfront heritage hotel dates back to 1885 when it was opened by the famed Sarkies brothers, and maintains much of its original charm including its stately facade and a cavernous atrium with a white grand piano. The Heritage Wing, a restored arm of the original hotel, feels like the set of a period drama with vintage fixtures and antique furniture. The newer Victory Annexe Wing, built in 2013, puts a contemporary spin on Penang's iconic colonial style, with deep timber floors and marble-tiled bathrooms with free-standing tubs.

Best New Hotel

Bringing new meaning to the term ‘urban jungle’, Hotel Indigo Kuala Lumpur on the Park is located in Bukit Nanas—or Pineapple Hill—forest reserve, which is the last of the city’s untouched rainforest. Sustainability and eco-friendly design are at the heart of this new property: the central staircase in the lobby is constructed from old railway sleepers; reception desks crafted from old tree roots; a double-height green wall; and a sculpture fashioned from glass bottles. The 180 guest rooms feature thoughtful, locally-inspired design, including Hap Seng cracker tins and hand-painted Peranakan tiles. Wanting to dive deeper? The hotel library invites guests to discover Malaysia’s rich literary culture through a curated collection of books by local authors.

Best Resort

The resort was built with utmost respect for its surroundings, thanks to its dedicated team of on-site naturalists and marine biologists. It was also built to unleash the wild in you—with rainforest villas that place guests in the heart of ancient flora, as well as lavish beach villas that boast views from the shimmering sea to the forest-draped ramparts of Ko Tarutao. The Datai’s luxurious spa harnesses ancient ramuan (Malay herbal) rituals and treatments using indigenous ingredients, many foraged from the rainforest. Keep an eye on Datai’s wellness programmes, as they regularly invite experts from around the world—from sound healers to chiropractors, TCM practitioners and more.