Singapore vs Malaysia flights & stopover with kids

We are planning a trip to UK via Singapore or Malaysia (as 5 star rating airlines and the quickest flights) with a 6y/o & 1y/o. I really wanted to go to Dubai or Abu Dhabi but the long leg of the flight has really put me off.

We have been to Singapore before but wondered if anyone has been via Malaysia with kids?
We plan to stay 3 nights and want to make sure we get some cultural experience that is easily accessible and does not require much travelling.

Any feedback on the airlines and thoughts or suggestions for activities would be welcomed.
Thx

Thanks.
A nice hotel with a good pool is imperative so thx for the advice.

Malaysia is really good with kids and Malaysian Airlines is fine. Hotels are cheaper in KL than in Singapore too so you can stay somewhere more upmarket. Traffic is more congested by the public transport is really good especially the trains and light rail.

We splashed out and stayed in the Hilton in Brickfields (Little India area) and it was fantastic (kids still rave about the water slide and the tv screen in the bathroom). More a business than a family hotel but our kids loved it. The staff were great too and the restaurant catered really well to young children.

We didn't do too much cultural in KL as we went there after several weeks travelling in more remote parts of Malaysia so just wanted to relax and shop and EAT (food in KL is fantastic). The Petronas towers seem to be the big thing that everyone wants to do. There is also a good elephant rehabilitation place but that is more of a day trip from KL (we stopped off there en route from the East Coast). I think the bird park in KL itself is meant to be good and there is also an interesting Hindu cave yiou can go to (sorry, can't remember the name). I also remember going to a cultural night performance one time in KL but this was a long time ago (pre kids) so don't know if they still have them.

Edited by: empressnasigoreng

We did (probably) the reverse trip in Feb last year - UK to NZ via 3 nights in Singapore (Singapore Airlines), but were lucky enough to have 3 weeks on the way back and so took the train straight to KL and travelled through Malaysia.
I much preferred KL to Singpore. We stayed just outside China Town which was lively and great food (very much NOT 5 star place with pool though so not worth mentioning!).
We pottered around quite a bit, but also got a ticket for the hop-on-hop-off bus which was a great way of getting a feel for the place in an air conditioned environment!! Valid for 24 hours too, so we set off late one morning, used it all day, and then again the next morning to get us to where we wanted to be that day. The bird place looked great, although we didn't visit it. The Botanical Gardens next door are nice for a bit of space to run around and have an amazing playground (although the metal is far too hot to sit on during the day - probably an early morning/dusk kind of thing).
With a nice pool to use too, you probably wouldn't need to do much else - eating and soaking up the atmosphere - china town and little india were fab for food for the kids, very accomodating.

Hi There,

May I ask what hotel you stayed in? and how long was the train ride from malaysia to singapore? I am flying to singapore in March and still looking to find accommodation. Hotel for me is mainly to sleep and take a shower so the cheaper the better. Any sights/activities you can suggest would be highly appreciated as well. Thanks.

We stayed at Footprint hostel in Singapore. Definitly not flash, but perfectly acceptable with 3 kids ages 4 months to 5 yrs.
http://www.footprintshostel.com.sg/
I think the train ride was about 7 hours to KL.