Transport from KLIA to Hyatt Saujana
 

Would anyone know what safe, convenient transport is available from KL International Airport to Hyatt Saujana? Our flight arrives late at night and I'm wondering how we get to the hotel from KLIA - trying to save on pocket money so the hotel limo's out of the question. Any idea as to types of transport, rates would be most welcome. Thanks!

There is an express train that takes about 30 minutes from the airport to KL. From there you can take a taxi to your hotel.
http://www.kliaekspres.com/

I should elaborate on the link I put up in the above post,; you want the KLIA Ekspres

Click on that and you'll get info on it.

If I remember correctly, that Hyatt is a long way outside of town, close to where the old airport was. If I'm correct on that, then I'm not sure that it makes sense to go into the center of KL where the express train goes. I expect you'll need to take a taxi (There is a taxi counter just as you exit from Baggage Claim) I'd write to the Hyatt and ask for their recommendation on how to get there.

Oops, sorry traci. I just assumed the Hyatt was in the city center. Disregard my post and listen to Kathie, she knows much more than I do since I'm just taking my first trip there in Sept. I would hate to be responsible for giving you bad advice and having you go out of your way!

Yes Kathie is right, the Hyatt Saujana is in Subang Jaya, near to the old airport. If there's more than 1 of you, taking a taxi from KLIA is the best bet and the fastest...shouldn't cost more than RM80-100 even with late night surcharge. Make sure you join the official taxi queue and not follow the misc touts in the arrival hall asking if you needed taxis.

Thanks a lot for all the help. Based on what you've written, it seems like the Hyatt isn't such a good base after all. Another alternative we have is the Sheraton Subang Hotel -- is that more central, nearer town? The thing is, we will be visiting the Malaysian Airlines Academy and we need to be based near there. Based on all this, at would you recommend? Again, thanks for all the info so far! I've been doing my own research on the web but it's so difficult to gauge distances based on the maps the hotels provide on their sites!

The Hyatt Saujana is a great hotel, very resort-like. It's just not smack in the middle of KL city (neither is the Sheraton Subang btw). Both hotels are indeed nearer to the Malaysian Airlines Academy (from a quick address search on the net). They're a 20-30min drive from the city in good traffic. Your hotel may have a shuttle to the city, so that may make your city sightseeing much easier.

It depends on whether you'd be visiting the Academy everyday or just for one day vs. how often you'd be touring the city/going shopping.

If you were staying in a city-centre hotel and needed to take a taxi to and fro the Academy every day at some fixed hours, you may be better served staying closer to the Academy since traffic is quite bad in KL during peak hours.

On the other hand, taking a taxi to the city centre for shopping and other sightseeing during non-peak hours is a breeze and inexpensive.

Thank you so much for the brief. My last question.. seeing that both hotels are near Malaysia Academy, which would you recommend? The websites seem to show Sheraton as a newer hotel, and I get the impression that the Saujana is no longer part of the Hyatt chain because when I went to Hyatt's website, a search of Malaysian hotels in their chain failed to bring up the Saujana.. By the way I did a search too and for the life of me I couldn't get any bearings on what hotel was near the Academy! :)

I've never stayed at either hotels, sorry. The 3 locations are in the same general suburb if you know what I mean. I doubt you could walk from any of the hotel to the Academy though, esp with all the highways.

Under the "Local Area" link on this website ( http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...propertyID=279 ) on the Sheraton, it says that the hotel is 5km from the Subang Golf Club, which you can see on this map ( http://hq.malaysiaairlines.com/mys/e...cation/map.asp ) is just opposite the academy.

The Saujana is on the Old Airport road which is also just round the corner of the Academy.

Looking at the map again, (and if I got my bearings right), the Sheraton should be towards the top part of the map as that is the Subang Jaya area, whilst the Saujana is towards the bottom (the right-most main road you see on the map is the old airport road, though it is a very long road).

I'm sorry I couldn't be clearer or more specific; I may even be off my mark on the exact locations. What I'm sure is that 1) you can't walk, 2) a taxi ride to the academy would take 5-10 mins only from either hotel.

Hi traci_d

Re transport to your hotel, make sure you ask for a "BUDGET" taxi when buying your ticket at the taxi counter just after baggage claim. There are 2 types of taxi service, the basic budget type or the more expensive limo and the difference between them is basically the size of the car.

On your hotel, if you need to go to the airline academy fairly frequently or during office rush hour, I'd suggest you stay at the Saujana instead of the Subang Sheraton as the traffic out of the Subang Jaya area can be a major pain.

Both hotels are in the suburb of Subang, which is about 25km from the city centre. If you need to go to the Academy everyday during rush hour (I assume it's for training?), then Saujana will be a better choice. However, that said, Sheraton is nearer to the actual suburb... which means nearer to the malls, a private hospital, places to eat (a must do while in Malaysia is to try the varied types of food!!) and commuter train station (to get into the city). Saujana is a bit isolated as it has an adjoining golf course and is next to a gated community area. So you'll have to evaluate based on your preferences.
If you need to get into the city, you can either take a taxi (since it's far, it may cost around MYR30 or US$8 each way) or you can take the commuter train into the Sentral station and change for the light-rail (rough cost estimate to get to the Petronas towers is around MYR6 or US$1.50)
On taxi from the KL international airport, purchase your taxi coupon from the booth which is located just next to the luggage claim area (before you exit the arrival hall). Ditto view on BUDGET taxi. But if there are many of you or if you have many, large suitcases you'll need a bigger car/minivan. Ask the counter for advice.
Hope that helps..

Many thanks to everyone who replied - laurieco, jannag, laurie, susumiki, kakijalan - i just got back from KL and your advice on the taxis were spot on! We saved a lot by booking the taxi from the official taxi counter inside the airport and all was orderly and neat. the limo the hotel offered was for MYR100 (or something like that). i just didn't count on the trip back, where when we inquired about the trip to KLIA, our "limo" booked through the hotel was not as nice as the one we booked at the airport. the only hassle was the hotel didn't inform us that there was a MYR50 night differential (our flight out was 8ish) for the taxi. nevertheless, the trip was smooth and i do so appreciate everyone's advice about transport from KLIA. next time we'll book a return journey via taxi through the same KLIA official taxi counter. thanks again!

Oh tell us a bit more. Did you have a good trip? What did you especially enjoy?

Hi Janna.

It was a business trip - an airline forum, so we really didn't get much time to look around. We took a look at Petronas Tower by night and a quick trip to Subang Parade, a small shopping complex near our hotel, and that was about it. I did like what I saw though -- KL looks clean, travel seems safe, people are friendly, the places in the brochures look fantastic -- and I'm planning to go back on my own.

Oh, and Janna -- since I didn't get to see much, on this trip it was the food I enjoyed the most!

My hosts were indulgent enough to change the menu to suit me - in deference to the different nationalities represented in the forum, they were going for "safe" choices -- boring! But when I asked if they could serve local specialties, they obliged and I got to taste different local cuisines - Nonya, Indian in the form of different curries, and other dishes too many to mention. I enjoyed what I saw and I enjoyed my stay, however brief!