Attraction is reliant upon the weather if you want decent views
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I visited Kuala Lumpur in 2006 with my boyfriend and while we were there, we decided to visit the various attractions. One of these attractions was the Menara Tower.
About The Menara Tower The construction period for the Menara Tower was between the years of 1992 and 1995 with the Tower first being opened to the public on the 23rd July 1996. The Menara Tower is used for communication purposes and has an antenna that reaches 421 metres (1,381 feet). This makes the Menara Tower the fifth tallest tower in the world and the largest building in the while of Malaysia. The Menara Tower is adorned with designs that reflect the Malaysian Islamic culture and you will learn more about this during your tour round the attraction. The main attraction within the Menara Tower is the observation deck where you can get unspoilt views across the City of Kuala Lumpur. The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an lift which enables you to reach the upper area. The upper area contains a revolving restaurant where visitors can get beautiful views across the City while they dine.
Admission Fees Adults are charged 20 ringetts and children are charged 10 ringetts which equates to about £3.50 for an adult and £2 for a child which I thought was a very reasonable entrance fee, especially as this price also included the audio tour.
Opening Hours The Menara Tower is open from 9am until 10 pm, 365 days a year.
Facilities There is an ATM machine on the upper ground floor. There is also a Café and Digital Photo Service. Obviously, there is also the revolving restaurant but remember to book ahead or you will have no chance of eating here. There are also several toilets which are spread across all floors of the Tower.
Visiting The Tower As you first enter the Menara Tower you will see several ticket desks where you are able to obtain your entrance tickets. Once inside you have two choices of what you wish to do, either the revolving restaurant or the Observation Desk. If you wish to have a meal in the revolving restaurant which is located at the top of the tower, then you will need to book. Sadly, we didn't know this and there were not any tables available for us to dine when we arrived so we missed out.
We did however, manage to visit the Observation Deck. The entrance fee was 15 ringetts which Entrance to the Observation Desk cost us about 20 Ringetts which is about £3.50. This price also included the audio portable tape which acts as a guide during your visit. One thing I especially liked about visiting the Menara Tower was that there is no time limit on the Tower so you can walk around the attraction at your own leisure and take the time to enjoy the views across this beautiful City.
Once you have paid for your tickets and are ready to visit the Observation Desk, you are guided into a small cinema type room where you can watch a video about the construction of the Menara Tower. This video probably only lasted about 10 minutes and I actually found it very interesting because it explains why certain parts of the building are certain shapes and also provides you with details of the various problems they had during the construction of the Tower. Once you have finished watching the video, you are collected by a guide who escorts you to the lift. Once you are inside the lift, the guide operates the control panel inside and you literally fly to the Observation Deck (well it certainly feels that way as you can even feel your ears pop on the way up and down!)
Once you reach the Observation Deck, you can set up your audio tour and walk around the Observation Deck, stopping at various points as instructed by the audio tour. Once you are at the relevant viewing area for the audio tour, you can hear about the various buildings which surround you and the audio tour gives you a little bit of history about each of them. As I already mentioned, you can walk around at your own leisure so there are plenty of opportunities to take lots of photographs. One downside to this attraction is that it is very reliant on the weather in the sense that if you want to get the unspoilt views across the City then you really need to visit this attraction on a clear day. Sadly, on the day we visited, it was quite cloudy and the views were a little bit misty so the views were not as spectacular as they should have been but I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would also like to point out that as we went to pay for our tickets, the member of staff behind the desk did point out to us that the views would not be great due to the misty weather and advised us to come back on another day to get better views. Sadly, it was our last day in Kuala Lumpur so we couldn't take that option but I was still really impressed that they let you know the views would not be great!
Summary In summary I would certainly recommend a trip to the Menara Tower if you visit Kuala Lumpur. I think this attraction offers excellent value for money, especially when you consider it is one of the City's most popular tourist attractions so they would really bump up the prices like a lot of places do. I also like the fact that this attraction provides visitors with a fantastic platform from which to take photographs. Personally, I love taking photos and the Menara Tower offers you a really unique viewpoint from which to take your photos. I also liked the fact that you can learn about the Tower during your tour and I found the video informative and interesting. On the whole, I would thoroughly recommend this attraction, although there is not enough here to keep you amused for an entire day out, I would certainly set aside 2-3 hours to enjoy this attraction.
