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Hotel bars used to be the places where overstuffed tourists sank into overstuffed armchairs with an overpriced whiskey after a hard day’s sight-seeing. In Kuala Lumpur at least that’s no longer true. Some of the city’s funkiest bars are based in luxury hotels – and they don’t come more high end and luxurious than the Mandarin Oriental.

The Sultan Lounge is the work of the design team behind Buddha Bar in New York and Nikki Beach in Miami. As the name suggests, the interior brings to mind the opulent world of the Sultan and has the look of an exotic Moorish dessert tent. There are booths draped in white fabric, a dramatic water feature and there’s not a flat surface in the joint that’s not scattered with colourful cushions.