Redang Beach

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s eclectic capital city, is a mix of old world charm and modern wonders.  The world famous Twin Towers, is the tallest twin structure in the world, and the city has a monorail system even American cities would envy.  When it comes to hotels, the price and quality spectrum is just as all over the map.  There are grimy cheap solutions and overpriced national luxury chains - most of you are probably looking for that eternal sweet spot, cheap, yet conveniently located and CLEAN.  Well, for those who value a good bang for the buck, here are our picks for cheap hotels in Kuala Lumpur.

Number 8 Guesthouse

Pujangga Homestay

Pondok Lodge (”Resting Place” in Malay) offers home stay with traditional Malay living, in room guests will find comfortable and livable.  If you’re looking for clean and safe, inexpensive and friendly accommodation for the budget traveller, Pondok Lodge might be the perfect home away from home for you.

Red Palm - a small, basic hostel more than hotel, Red Palm excels in creating camaraderie with bare minimum amenities.

Tune Hotel

StayOrange Hotel - first of all, you’d better like the color orange.

Prescott Inn - TripAdvisor readers think highly of this $36/night hotel.

Le Village - Le Village doesn’t have a website (that we know of), it’s also the most barebones guest house on our list, and the only one located in Chinatown, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t charming.  Occupying the top floors of an old shop house, and featuring a roof deck, Le Village is a nice low budget option with flavor.

The Swiss Inn, Chinatown.

Photo: Skybar, with view of Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, by Stuck in Customs via Flickr CC

We love a good bang for the buck, and at $299, the Panasonic / Lumix FZ28 is our Editor’s Pick for Budget Travel Camera.  Of course there are always better cameras, but we’d be hard pressed to find one this good at this price.

Punching way above its weight class, the Panasonic Lumix FZ28, introduced late last year, is a bit of an unheralded star performer. First of all, it can be purchased for around $299 at Amazon, yet it shoots HD video (720P), has an 18x megazoom, Leica lense, and a plethora of options. Most importantly, it’s received rave reviews from 90% of its customers, as well as serious camera blogs such as cameralabs.com, letsgodigital.com and more.

We like it so much, we’re using the Lumix FZ28 on our upcoming trip to Malaysia and Cambodia. Why lug a $1,000 DSLR when you can have one of these bad boys?  We’re impressed with specs of cameras in the $500 range to be sure, like the Canon Powersot SX1 and Sony DSC-HX1, both of which feature 1080P HD video, but In this tough economy, if excellent pictures and value is important to you, consider the Panasonic Lumix FZ28.

Where to Buy: Amazon, $299 and free shipping.  Be sure to add-on the 16 GB Transcend SD memory along with memory reader for $44.

from Wikipedia:

“Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality. It is an economic, industrial, commercial, cultural, tourist and historical center.

Once known as the “Pearl of Asia” in the 1920s, Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap, is a significant global and domestic tourist destination for Cambodia. Phnom Penh is known for its traditional Khmer and French influenced architecture.

Phnom Penh is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia. It is also the commercial, political and cultural hub of Cambodia and is home to more than 1 million of Cambodia’s population of over 13 million.”

“Lisbon (Lisboa, Portuguese pronunciation: [liʒˈboɐ]) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipality, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477^[1] in 84.8 km² (33 sq mi), while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inhabitants, and 3.34 million people live in the broader agglomeration of Lisbon Metropolitan Region (includes cities ranging from Leiria to Setúbal).^[2] Due to its economic output, standard of living, and market size, the Grande Lisboa (Greater Lisbon) subregion is considered the second most important financial and economic center of the Iberian Peninsula.^[3] The Lisbon region is the wealthiest region in Portugal and well above the European Union’s GDP per capita average – it produces 37% of the Portuguese GDP. It is also the political center of the country, as seat of government and residence of the Head of State.

Lisbon was under Roman rule from 205 BC, when it was already a 1000 year old town. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city for the Christians and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural center of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon’s status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal.

Lisbon hosts two agencies of the European Union, namely, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), is also headquartered in Lisbon.

The present mayor of Lisbon is António Costa, elected by the Socialist Party.

The municipal holiday is June 13, St. Anthony’s Day.”

Source: Wikipedia.com

“Malacca (Malay: Melaka, dubbed as The Historical State or Negeri Bersejarah amongst locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The state’s capital is Malacca Town. This historical city centre has been listed as a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO since 7 July 2008.

Although Malacca was once one of the oldest Malay sultanates, the state has no Sultan today. Instead, the head of state is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri or Governor.”

Source: Wikipedia