Urban Outfitter

Hotelier extraordinaire Markus Engel explains what separates The RuMa Hotel and Residences from the rest of Kuala Lumpur’s luxury hotels, why he feels so at home in Malaysia and his fondness for travelling with shoe trees.

- Renyi Lim

You’ll know you’re staying in one of Markus Engel’s hotels by its sense of generosity, intuitive service and trademark guest experience philosophy of ‘hostmanship’. With a 25-year career in luxury hospitality up his well-tailored sleeve, the cofounder and CEO of Urban Resort Concepts (URC) is perhaps best known for creating The PuLi Hotel and Spa in Shanghai, which was launched in 2009. He has since expanded URC’s collection of luxury urban resorts to include The PuShang Hotel and Spa in Xiamen, The PuXuan Hotel and Spa in Beijing, and – most excitingly – The RuMa Hotel and Residences in Kuala Lumpur.

We’re confident that our product will have a disruptive quality to it – in a very positive sense, of course. It’s always astounded me that Kuala Lumpur, which is such a mature environment with sophisticated consumers and seasoned travellers, has no hotel that embraces the zeitgeist of a society that’s among the leaders of lifestyle consciousness in the region.