After a night at the HGI, I am off to the Doubletree for the next 4 nights in KL. This is my main choice of accommodation in town. I wanted to go for the Hilton but given how last minute I booked, the rates were a little too high for my liking. The DoubleTree is located as part of the Intermark development and you have a small little mall right below the hotel. The Ampang Park LRT metro station is also a five-minute walk via a covered walkway. KLCC is just a stop away. This can come in handy with the traffic during peak hours. Located is pretty good and you are always just a couple of minutes away from locations in town. Grab is very reliable and cost-friendly.
Booking Process & Pre Arrival
I book directly with Hilton and got the base-level Guest room. If I had acted faster, I could have utilised my Citi Prestige 4th-night free benefit to save one night. Stupid me! My nightly rate was 352 RM. It could be cheaper if you book earlier. I booked this stay just a couple of days out. I was extended an upgrade to one of the Executive rooms ahead of the stay. This would usually go for 539 RM. I was hoping to score one of the suites. DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur features 538 guest rooms and suites spread across 7 categories. You can find the breakdown below.
| Rooms | Executive Lounge Access | Bathtub | Room Size | No.of Rooms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guest | No | No | 32 Sqm | 213 |
| Deluxe | No | No | 32 Sqm | 118 |
| Deluxe Mountain View | No | No | 32 Sqm | 99 |
| Executive Mountain View | Yes | No | 32 Sqm | 65 |
| Deluxe Suite | Yes | Yes | 50 Sqm | 19 |
| Executive Suite | Yes | Yes | 62 Sqm | 19 |
| Terrace Suite | Yes | Yes | 111 Sqm | 5 |
Checking In
A couple of days out from the stay, I received a pre-arrival email which consists of information for my stay. I can also see that I have been upgraded to one of the Executive Rooms with a Mountain View. I took a grab and arrived at the hotel at roughly 1pm after my brunch. The hotel doesn’t have a property drop-off area and this makes things quite inconvenient especially when you are unloading your bags. There are no staff on hand when I alighted. You enter into the mall when you first arrive and the hotel lobby is located on the second floor within the mall itself. I am not a fan of this configuration.
The reception was rather quiet at this time and there is an elite line. I was immediately helped when I arrived and thank for being a diamond member. The staff that is checking me in wasn’t proficient! They didn’t even know that I had back-to-back bookings even though I had emailed ahead and the fact that we had two rooms as well. Upon enquiring for a suite, the staff also lied that they are not available on the first night despite them still selling it. The manager took over and check-in took quite some time. My room is also not ready and I was invited to wait in the lounge. The manager did offer a suite upgrade from the second night onwards. Late check-out is extended till 4pm for now. Weirdly, they did not give me the welcome cookies which is the norm in DoubleTrees. My room ended up being ready at around 2.15pm.
The suite upgrade turns out to be a mess. On the next morning, I had pack my bags and handed over the keys to the staff who reconfirm the room change and shifting of our bags. However, when we returned late in the evening, the night crew had no info about this at all and it took some time to sort it out. They did not do the room change and they had given away the suite that I was supposed to get.
Deluxe Suite
The night manager suggested doing the change the next day but that isn’t ideal for me as I do not want to pack my bags three times in a freaking 4-night stay. In the end, they managed to find another Deluxe Suite for me on the 21st floor. The Deluxe Suite was pretty lovely and measured a rather spacious 50 Sqm. It’s a short walk away from the elevator. Upon entering you have an elongated entryway before you turn right and enter the main space of the living room. The living room is rather rectangular in orientation and of a good size. You have the work desk as well as a mini bar area. The work desk is rather spacious and this can also act as the dining table if required. The place lacks power outlets within reach. It comes with two armchairs. Wifi is strong in the suite and easy to connect to.
Surprisingly for a full suite, there isn’t a half bath here. A half bath can come up to be rather useful especially when you are in a suite and having guests over. The minibar comes with a kettle, packaged tea and coffee as well as a mini fridge there is left empty for your use. Two complimentary bottles of water are provided and this is replenished during daily housekeeping and turndown service.
It is disappointing not to find a proper coffee machine in the suite, one of the most premium rooms in the hotel. Thankfully, they had a lounge where I can just stop by for coffee any time of the day.
The living area is pretty cosy! It comes with a couch along the window which can seat about 3 people comfortably and alongside a coffee table. You can find a high-quality Smart TV mounted on the wall. It comes with plenty of local and cable TV channels. I do feel that the size is a little small for a suite of this size. Overall the living room felt a little bare. The living room and the bedroom area are joined by a door in the middle of the living room. The living room comes with a rather lovely view over the surrounding area where it is unblocked.
The bedroom was almost a replica of the one I had in the Executive Room. This time around I had a king bed configuration and you can find a comfy king bed right in the middle of the room. In contrast to the one I had in the executive room, the mattress here is much better and firmer. On both sides of the bed, you can find nightstands with controls for the lighting. There are only power outlets on one side of the bed. The blinds and curtains are manually controlled. Two additional bottles of water are placed in the room itself.
You can find another television mounted on the wall in the bedroom. This is a replica of the one in the living room.
The wardrobe is towards the side of the wall. It is behind the door connecting to the living room. This makes it kind of hard to access the wardrobe. It comes with all that you might need for a stay from an ironing kit to plenty of hangers, a safe and bath slippers. The luggage rack is found in the bathroom.
The room also comes with another working desk. Outlets are readily available here and even HDMI ports. It comes with a proper office working chair that offers great back support. From the bedroom, you have a good view of the surrounding area and the Kuala Lumpur skyline. By the window, there is a small little couch which is almost like a loveseat that can fit two people comfortably.
Let me come to the bathroom and it is spacious. The luggage rack is found here. It is a tight squeeze and could only fit cabin-size luggage. The toilet and standing shower are located in separate rooms. They had the tub inside the shower room just like how they do with the Japanese.
I am not a fan of the bathroom. It doesn’t even come with a door which makes it so weird as the entire place gets so cold from the air conditioning when you are showering.
Executive Lounge
It is nice to see that a DT has an executive lounge. The lounge is open from 6am to 8pm daily and offers breakfast as well as evening cocktails. The lounge is located on the 34th floor. The highest floor of the hotel. It is a cosy space although a little dated. You can get access to the lounge if you are staying in an executive-level room or above or if you are a Diamond member. Most of the seating consists of lounges in groups as well as some dining tables. Here are some pictures of the lounge.
I love that the lounge has an outdoor space and this place has good views. You can even catch the KLCC from here. It is desirable in the evening when the temperature is cooler.
Besides breakfast and evening cocktails, the lounge also offers all-day non-alcoholic drinks. You can find soft drinks, juices, coffee and tea. I always appreciate having a different space to work from beside your room. The lounge comes in handy since they don’t have a proper coffee machine in the room.
Evening cocktails start from 5.30 to 7.30pm. I went to check it out a couple of times during my stay. Immediately after entering, you have some cakes, tarts and fresh fruits. You can also check out the drinks counters where you can find non-alcoholic drinks as well as wines. Here are some pictures.
The hot food change slightly from day to day. Food-wise, it is slightly underwhelming. The quality can certainly be improved.
More substantial alcohol offerings can be ordered from the menu and you can check out the menu here. I tried some of the cocktails.
Having access to the lounge is pretty useful. What I will usually do in KL is to head out for brunch or lunch, check out the city, head back to the hotel to rest in the late afternoon and grab some drinks at the lounge before heading out for dinner at around 8pm. The lounge is badly maintained and kids are running around. Someone is having a conference call right in the lounge with speakers blasting and even after telling the staff, they did nothing!
Fitness Centre
The fitness centre is located on level 10 and opens 24 hours. It is quite a cosy space and not too huge. It comes with a nice view of the pool as well as the restaurant area. The gym gets the work done if you require it. Most of the common equipment that you might require can be found. Drinking water and towels are provided as well. The place looks well-maintained and clean.
Pool
Similar to the gym, the pool is also located on the 10th floor and it is open from 6am to 10pm. The pool is quite lovely and mainly rectangular. It is good for doing laps and lazing by the pool. It does get a fair bit of sun so this is great for working up a tan. The pool is located right by the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Tosca and as such it might score a little low on the privacy part. You also have a jacuzzi on the side and a smaller wading pool for kids. Towels are provided but there isn’t any water by the pool.
In the changing room, you can also find a sauna and steam room that is open from 8am to 9pm for guests’ use.
Tosca Restaurant
Tosca is the hotel’s signature Italian restaurant. It is open daily from 12pm to 10pm. I dine here once during my stay as the hotel offered a meal as part of the service recovery on the suite issue. I went for dinner right before checking out. The restaurant vibe is pretty lovely and the restaurant somewhat opens up to the pool area.
You can find the menu here.
Service starts with some freshly baked Italian bread that is served warm and accompanied by some spreads and butter. I always love some bread and olive oil. Service is quite slow and the food takes quite some time to be served! It is almost a good 45 mins before we got the food despite the restaurant being empty when we made our orders. Here are what we got!
Seafood Bisque
Grilled Salmon
Grilled Asparagus
Aglio Olio with Seafood
Seafood Arrabbiata
Tosca Signature Risotto
Tiramisu
We also got some drinks and I enjoyed the meal with a glass of wine. The food was pretty good and I enjoyed most of the dishes. The stand-out items were their aglio olio and the risotto.
Breakfast at Executive Lounge
Daily Breakfast is offered in the Executive Lounge from 6am to 10.30am, till 11am on weekends and public holidays. I appreciate the extended hours. It is so annoying when some hotels end their breakfast service at 10am and some of these are even in resorts. I checked out the breakfast a couple of times during my stay to see how it is. The selection here is much much smaller than the restaurant. By the entrance, you can find some cold cuts and fruits. Then you also have some soy milk and porridge which was my favourite item of the entire buffet. You can find some continental offerings ranging from pastries to cornflakes. I love that they had some honeycomb on offer too. There is also a small salad station and cheese.
Hot dishes wise is quite lacking with only some sausages, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and fried wontons. It’s rather underwhelming. The food quality is low.
All of these are complemented by a menu that you can order from. To me, this is the best option here at the lounge and much better than the eggs done below.
Hot drinks are much better at the lounge and you get more attentive service here. With the restaurant breakfast not being much better, I will just head here for a light bite and coffee.
Breakfast at Makan Kitchen
Breakfast is served at Estate Restaurant which is located on the 11th floor from 6am to 10.30am daily. The breakfast buffet is quite extensive. The restaurant is segregated into different kitchens and cuisine. The restaurant is very busy every morning and on certain days, I can’t even find a table. The place is certainly understaffed.
They have some live stations and I really love the Roti Prata one. Despite having a huge selection of food, the quality is not high. It is certainly not worth paying for breakfast in my opinion if it is not included.
The best plan is to come here and grab some freshly cooked eggs, coffee and fruits then head out for more substantial offerings in KL. If you have access to the lounge, that will be a better alternative.
Conclusion
The decor is very much similar to other Malaysian properties like Doubletree JB and Doubletree Penang. Elite recognition is decent but the way it is managed is messy for me. To be fair, the management is quite on the ball and constantly goes around every morning around the hotel and the restaurant. It feels like they miss out on a great opportunity to renovate the place during the pandemic lull period. Breakfast is bad! I did love the hotel location and the easy access to the LRT Monorail. It is nice to see that there is a lounge in a DoubleTree although they can polish the offerings. I can’t say that I will be back again. I would rather just do the HGI or splurge for the Hilton.
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