Review: Doubletree Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur

The Doubletree is Hilton’s latest addition in Malaysia opening in 2010. The hotel is located in the city with a metro station located a 5 minute walk across the street which gives easy access to the rest of the city. A cab ride to either the Petronas twin tower or the Bukit Bintang shopping area should cost you between 10-15 ringgit and take about 15 minutes depending on the traffic.

The hotel is located within the Intermark Building with check-in on the 2nd floor. We arrived at ~9 am before the official check-in time of 2pm but were allowed to check-in. Check-in was prompt and we were given our room keys and a chocolate chip cookie which I only later found time to be a "standard offering" for Doubletree hotels. There was no mention of any upgrades by the trainee that was helping me and I had to verify that we were indeed given upgrades to executive rooms as a Hilton Honors Gold member after she passed us the keys.

Reception Area

Complimentary Chocolate Chip Cookie

The room were expectedly new, modern and clean. The room has see-through bathrooms but there are blinds who might not appreciate the "openness". The beds were firm just the way we like them. The Doubletree in KL also uses the same Crabtree & Evelyn products used by the Hiltons.

We used the Executive Lounge pretty extensive during this visit. They were still serving breakfast in the lounge right after check-in so we decided to grab a bite. There was nothing special about the spread with the main restaurant where we had breakfast the next day providing more options. It was however much quieter and less chaotic in the lounge.

Cocktail hour is daily from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. All the alcohol is served by the staff and they were pretty liberal about it. The food selection was pretty extensive and you can make dinner out of it just like we did. The one good surprise was the murtabak loosely described as an indian style meat pancake. It was one of the best we ever had and could rival those you find in any authentic indian restaurant or mamak shop in Malaysia. The pancake itself was crispy with a moist meat filling.

My favorite feature of the lounge is the outdoor patio and smoking area not because I smoke but because of the view of the Petronas Twin Towers:

Night view

During the day

The gym at the Doubletree had a good selection of exercise machines including thread mills, elliptical, stationary bikes and free weights with views facing the pool. The pool is large and long enough to do laps. The only disappointment though was that the pool area is covered by the tall buildings so there was virtually no sun hitting the pool area making it rather chilly.

Kid's Pool

Main Pool

View of the Italian Restaurant

The hotel boast a couple of pretty good restaurants. We had breakfast at the main Makan restaurant which serves a wide range of local cuisine. There is also an Italian restaurant with it's own wood fire pizza oven right by the pool that looked pretty good but we didn't have time to try it.

In summary, the Doubletree is a good option with modern rooms that's priced reasonably. It gives those loyal to Hilton an option in the city center with the other two Hiltons in Kuala Lumpur further away.