A ‘G’ Spot in the City

Just a couple of weekends ago, Cumi & Ciki were invited by the lovely Melissa Hon, the Marketing & Communications Manager of GTower Hotel to come over and check out their spanking new hotel. As you probably know, Kuala Lumpur is a thriving multi-racial metropolis that fuses spectacular architecture, colourful street markets, lush greenery and excellent hawker fare alongside, a myriad of modern 5-star, state-of-the-art hotels. The reason why we accepted Melissa’s invitation and why this particular hotel really peaked our curiosity was really its green message.

You see, the unusual thing about this hotel is that they have made it part of their prerogative to save the equivalent of 18,000 trees per year. Wow, you say, right in the heart of the concrete jungle that is Kuala Lumpur.. while this notion is highly commendable and praise worthy, how on earth do they plan to do that?

Well, speaking to Melissa we found out some really interesting facts about the GTower hotel and their stand on sustainable technologies. Here is what being green means to them, in a nutshell.

1. Site & Project Management

The original design of the building was an iconic 40 storey, single tower. It was decided to build shorter, but in two towers to be more green. By building shorter, they increased the lifting efficiency, as well as allowed more natural light into the building. During construction, care was taken for responsible disposal – construction structures, such as scaffolding were reused for other projects and sustainable, green certified products as well as the latest certified green building technologies was used in the construction throughout the hotel.

2. Innovations

The Bridge Bar showcases recycling and sustainable elements. Old timber decking was salvaged to be used as floor and wall coverings.

Old wine bottles have been reused as decorations, ash trays. Old furniture, due for disposal was refurbished and reused. Wood furniture from sustainable sources echoes the sustainable theme. Swanky yet eco-friendly – Ciki totally fell in love with this place. Tres chi chi!

Ciki sits on gorgeous furniture

3. Energy Efficiency

The extensive use of double glazed low e-glass reduces the air-conditioning cooling load and this same eco friendly air-conditioning system is 28% more efficient than a normal system helping reduce unwanted pollutants. Check out the double glazed e-glass.. I just love the “watery” effect that it imparts.. so gorgeous yet still so green. LED lighting used throughout the property is more efficient than normal lighting. Extensive green planting, such as green roof systems, green wall systems and roof gardens all help to reduce the heat island effect and lower the transmission of heat into the building.

Even some parts of the flooring employs double glazed glass… see the traffic below , from way up high!

4. Water Efficiency

How many hotels actually reuse their condensed water? Here in this hotel, rainwater is harvested and stored for use for irrigation. Water efficient tap and sanitary fittings reduce the usage of water. Condensate water is collected and used to top up the air con chiller plants.

5. Indoor Environment Quality

Paint that has low volatile organic content is used. There are carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide sensors placed throughout the hotel. These sensors trigger fresh air intake when carbon dioxide or monoxide levels are too high. Maintaining proper indoor environment controls reduces the sick building syndrome and reduces the introduction of toxic elements into the rooms. No wonder I felt so refreshed after a night sleep here. Ever woken up still tired after 6 hours of sleep in a hotel? Well, this place is great for a relaxing night’s sleep. Something all we energetic, traveling executives really need!

6. When in doubt, recycle, recycle, RECYCLE!

Hot water in the hotel is generated from waste / excess heat from the air conditioning units. Water in the hotel rooms and the swimming pool are also heated from waste heat, therefore reducing the usage of electricity and natural resources. As part of their continuing green efforts, organic waste products such as waste cooking oil is turned into bio-soap. Vegetable and fruit waste is converted into bio enzyme cleaners. Plant waste is composted for fertilizer materials.

There you go! So if those reasons alone are not enough to make you sit up and go wow..! , here are a couple more..

What I think this place has going for it :

LOCATION: This hotel is super close to Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), located at the junction of Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Ampang. It is also highly accessible by public transport: 2 minutes walk from Ampang Park LRT station and serviced by public buses

CONVENIENCE : 24 hour building access supported by 24 hour operations such as security, air-conditioning and concierge service

SAFETY:  Reliable security that include CCTV cameras, an state of the art visitor-management system

COMFORT: Big rooms with big beds. The beds support and cushion well all forms of flying objects.

CHITCHAT: Free Wifi – a super zippy connection that allows you to Chat, Twitter, Skype, Facebook and Twitter some more about your super zippy connection all day long.

VANITY: Loads of mirrors for preening and to facilitate flawless make-up application and cam-whoring.

SWANKY: Deco that is chic but still environmentally friendly like with these energy saving lights. Also all the large panels of glass that make up the hotel’s windows are double glazed and protect the patrons from any harmful U.V rays.

FURNITURE: This place has great taste in designer inspired furniture – Eames.. we like!

DINING: A high and lofty dining space known as TANZINI, situated on the 28th floor of the hotel.

MORE VANITY: A state-of-the-art gym to facilitate calorie loss, so that you can eat some more at Tanzini.

VIEW: 28th Floor dining and Bar.. In full view of the Petronas Twin Towers .. say no more!

PARTY: The Club is a great pre-party venue to get warmed up with drinks before heading out to Zouk or Velvet to party the night away

COCKTAILS: A great bar in the sky that makes the best Martini Vodka’s Extra Dry.. that James Bond would be envious of.

And as I mentioned earlier, the key point to it all, being GREEN: If I have not mentioned it before, GTower has the Gold Greenmark , that is awarded by the Singaporean Building and Construction Authorities (BCA). Which means that this hotel uses energy efficient air-conditioning and centralized chilled water, double glazing glass for lower heat transmission and last but not least, a very cool green lung at the top of the building where the land area to Green Planting ratio is approximately 1:4. Heck, this place is so green that even where they cannot have plants, they hang photos of plants in its place. Yes, what can I say.. greener than the 1st runner up in a beauty pageant.

Of course, man shall not live by technology alone, and at some point in time, we ate.

Photos of our Brilliant Dinner at Tanzini..

Jo the Chocoholic imbibes cocktails.. sorry Mocktails;)

Cumi and Ciki take photos of the gorgeous KL skyline

Tanzini Antipasti Tower

what pretty little things..

Freshly baked Italian bread – soft and fluffy. A real winner

The gorgeous Rebecca poses with her favourite snack.. bread!

Lamb Pasta

Rocket Salad with Parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes

The Chef’s Piece de resistance, the Barramundi was splendid. The best dish of the night – we highly recommend this Asian sea-bass.

Tanzini Tiger Prawn Vongole

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swirl it don’t slurp it.

Dessert that was gone in a flash

The Chef of Tanzini Chef Woraphong Jaemphon

Later, cocktails at the The Bridge Bar

Best Vodka and Gin Martini’s in town

Chili-padi Mojito.. smoking HOT!

Breakfast with a view on the 28th Floor

A good spread

I love my eggs, sunny side up. It reminds me that a great day is about to begin.

A big thank you to Melissa Hon, the Marketing & Communications Manager of GTower Hotel and Rebecca Saw for the invite and the terrific arrangements.