The Sunway Lagoon complex is a huge leisure area in the south west suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, about 15km from town. Within the complex is the Sunway Lagoon Theme Parks - water park, amusement park and wildlife park, the very posh 5 star 300-odd room Sunway Resort Hotel, the massive Sunway Pyramid shopping mall and the slightly down market 300-odd room 4½ star Pyramid Tower Hotel. Within (but separate from) the Tower Hotel is the 100 or so unit Resort Suites, with it's own lifts accessible only to those with a valid electronic card. Quite a few of these are privately owned and occupied or property investments on the long-term rental market, the rest being owned or managed by the Sunway Hotel Group. Don't know how many of these are dedicated to timeshare, but the hotel seems to make no distinction between paying guests and timeshare people when checking in or allocating units. The difference between the Pyramid Tower Hotel and the Resort Suites is the difference between hotel rooms and apartments - cooking and dining facilities and a coin operated laundry. We were incredibly lucky to pick this up on a timeshare rental week - it's the first time I've ever seen it available.

We had a studio which was very large. The mini kitchen was well equipped - 2 burner cook top, microwave, large fridge/freezer, rice cooker, toaster and a couple of pans and basic utensils, while there was a dinner setting for 4 people including 3 sets of glasses. This was separated from the living and sleeping area by a dining table. The fixtures and fitting as well as furniture had a very 'in' look, especially the very slick bathroom, with a glass basin and ultra modern low line toilet.

The first thing we noticed in the unit was the quality, unmissable really. The bed and sofa were excellent and we had feather pillows (low allergen ones were available on request). Even the bed linen and towels (changed daily, of course) were very obviously top drawer. There was even more storage space than most people could need, and an iron and ironing board.

The TV had a handful of satellite channels including BBC World, ESPN and a couple of movie channels. Broadband via cable was available in the room but relatively expensive at about A$16/£7 per day - WiFi in the lobby was on a pre-paid system and just as expensive, but there were several services from nearby restaurants and cafe's, including a local telecom/internet company who were giving it away free. Room service provided everything you could possibly want or need (at 5 star hotel prices) and the staff were very pleasant.

The Resort Suites has a small but well equipped gym, a coin operated laundry and a huge lobby area on the 12th floor with 2 massive seating areas (one air conditioned, one cooled by the breeze coming in open windows) where there are newspapers and magazines to read. There probably was other things to do and maybe even organised activities, but we didn't get around to finding out.

The swimming pool is next door at the Resort Hotel, as is a much larger and better gym which is open 24 hours. The one drawback here is that you have to take a spare set of clothes - walking through the very gentile lobby in sweat-soaked gym gear or swimming togs would be very inappropriate. That, however, that is a small price to pay.

As for location, if you want a theme park or shopping you can't go wrong. There's even an artificial beach and waves in the massive lagoon pool at the theme park if that's your thing. I should say that entry to the parks was very reasonable - A$13/£5.50 got you into the water park with lots roller coasters and the like as well as the extreme park with ATV safari, paint ball, kayaks and the like, and there is a wildlife park for a small additional charge (as with all such places, they made up for the low price at the food and drink stalls and lockers which had to be fed each time you opened them).

There are 2 big supermarkets in the shopping mall which are open 10am to 10pm and 24 hour convenience shops outside the main entrance, where you also find several tourist and local restaurants and lots of canteens. The canteens and even food stalls with their fixed, marked prices are maybe 20% more expensive here than other places we've been, and get the occasional adventurous tourist wandering in. Two of the ones we went into overcharged us - one only slightly, unusual for Malaysia but not worth quibbling about, and one by quite a lot percentage wise (we're only talking a dollar or so, but it was double the price we should have paid). The system of charging you by what is on your plate is quite arbitrary although usually very honest and even after I questioned the amount of the bill at the second one they stood their ground. Once you've eaten the food, there really isn't anything you can do except not go there again. Much better is to walk for five minutes or so and get out of the Sunway Lagoon area where everything was priced normally and honestly. If you prefer, the shopping mall has every brand of fast food/restuarant/coffee shop and a food court in each of the supermarkets.

There are lots of buses going into KL for less than 70c/30p and a taxi voucher system at the main entrance to the shopping mall. The taxi drivers that congregate around the hotel entrances quote ridiculous prices for short journeys and if you manage to find one who will use a meter, there's a good chance of going from A to B via Z.

The Resort Suites are magnificent and it's hard to find fault, but that's what I'm here for. There are no chairs on the balcony for some reason, and the dining chairs are not comfortable for extended periods and In a country where budget hotels offer it free, it was disappointing to have to pay for internet access, but I suppose that's the price you pay for staying at posh hotels.

We would jump at the chance to stay here again at this price, although if you decide to come, ask for a room at the back or the call to prayer from the mosque out the front will give you a 5.30 wake up call.