Welcome to the new blog – one designed to specifically post about travel, reviews and trip reports. I am currently with the family on a Chinese New Year long weekend break to Kuala Lumpur. We’re staying at the Hilton in Kuala Lumpur, a change from our usual residence at the Renaissance thanks to a recent upgrade to HHonors Diamond.
This review focuses on the Hilton. We travelled here by Malaysia Airlines, of which there will be a review of at some point in the future but not from this holiday. I aim to review the Plaza Premium Lounge in KLIA after our return journey (access via Priority Pass gained from AMEX Platinum).
We arrived into KLIA a few minutes late just before 6pm in the evening. We passed through immigration and after waiting a while for the bags, headed straight to the KLIA Ekspres Train for the 29 minute ride into Kuala Lumpur. This brings you straight into KL Sentral Station – which is across the road from the Hilton (which ‘shares’ a building with Le Meridian).
Check in was swift, as a Diamond member I was ‘upgraded’ to an Executive room (but was asked if I wanted to pay more for a suite). The room was on floor 27 while the lounge is on floor 33 and the top floor is 35. The room, as seen in the pictures, is nice and provides plenty of room for a family (2 adults and two small children). I assume that the room has been refurbished fairly recently as it is fairly modern (and in good working order, not always found in Asia!).
The facilities of the hotel that we used were limited to the Executive Lounge and the pool but both are very nice.
The pool is split into two main bits – one part on the Le Meridien side and the other on the Hilton side. Guests from both hotels can access both parts which is nice.
The lounge offers a fairly decent breakfast spread – in a relaxing environment very different to what the restaurant downstairs looks like in the morning!
Later in the day from 2:30 – 4:30 there is afternoon tea served; a selection of cakes and sandwiches.
In the evenings from 6 to 8 pm the lounge offers cocktails and canapés which surpassed my already high expectation. The quality and presentation is excellent and even includes free flow Mumm Champagne. Easy to relax and enjoy and a nice way to start (or end) your evening!
Out stay cost approximately £70 per night – great value when you consider what was available throughout the day in the lounge. I booked less than a month in advance.
While in KL we visited Kidzania and did a bit of shopping at Pavilion (although disappointingly Din Tai Fung in Pavillion, the Taiwanese Michelin Star Xiao Long Bao restaurant, was closed for two days over Chinese New Year) and Suria KLCC shopping mall. The rest of the time was spent relaxing at the hotel.
We are going to be back in KL towards the end of next month for a two or three night stay before holidaying in other parts of Malaysia. I was undecided whether to stay at the Hilton again or try either of the Club Accor options of Pullman or Novotel or return to the Renaissance. I am pretty sure that the experience of this long weekend has confirmed we will return to stay at the Hilton!
[EDIT: The above was written before we had checked out. The post checkout experience/service was FANTASTIC. As previously mentioned, the Hilton KL is across the road from KL Sentral rail station. The very kind concierge man wheeled our bags on the trolley from the hotel all the way to the airline check-in at the KL Ekspress section of the station! This involved crossing the road, taking a lift and going from one side of the station to the other and placing the bags on the weighing scales at check-in! Excellent service all round and a lovely touch to end an already fabulous stay!]
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The Hilton KL looks absolutely decent! I’ve stayed at The Majestic Hotel (you can find a review here: http://traveluxblog.com/2014/09/29/hotel-review-the-majestic-hotel-kuala-lumpur/) the last time I was in the city and also had an amazing time! KL definitely has some great properties 🙂
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