Hilton Kuala Lumpur
I've had a few short layovers in Kuala Lumpur, and although there are a series of amazing hotels in the city, a lot take a while to get to. I don't feel it's worth it for just one night, so I choose convenience. The one I find the easiest to get to and most well located is the Kuala Lumpur Hilton right next to the Sentral Train Station. It's pretty much made for the job.Arrival
I take the KLIA express. A 26 minute run from the airport directly to the station. It's smooth, comfortable, inexpensive (did I mention fast? Traffic and cabs in KL from the airport are... savage). I exit, walk across the station to the NW elevator, up to the skyway level and over to the Hilton's entrance (another elevator to the lobby level). The Le Meridien is right there also.The Room
This is one level above the base room (they have tons and tons of the base room) but I did get the 31st floor, and I really like being in a high floor. It's got room in it, more than you particularly need but again, I've been staying at Hiltons now for 2 years and only gotten suites at two properties. This is bothering me compared to their competitors.
3D interactive room tour, use your mouse or fingers to move around and see other rooms.
The Lounge
Ah yes, the Executive lounge. Very clean and elegant lines. Full-service breakfast in the morning and well, it was a very low occupancy day so I had it to myself for 20 minutes.Facilities
The pool goes on forever here with a slide and a winding river at least 500 yards long. It's a delight in the hot tropical sun. And a bar? Man... yeah. Gimme this.Dining
This is where getting in at 10pm was kind of a bummer. They have 7 places to eat. I didn't really get to try any of them this trip (don't worry, I'll come back and refine this post).
Interestingly situated entrances
Lobby common area, which is staffed by waiters, until late
Very proud of their enhanced service
Top floor, couple of suites up here, just not for me today
Very cute welcome note and towel art
End of the hall, no random walking outside the room
Hidden pocket closet type thing for iron, that I found very clever
Crabtree & Evelyn bath products just like the US, nothing to write home about, but the bathroom was quite large and easy to navigate
Your choice, no down though, hmmm, odd
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this spa in your room option list
Like other places, I'm really digging how they do this. I didn't notice before Covid, so I'm wondering if it's a big change around the world or I was just going to the wrong properties?
Tea/Coffee, fairly mundane on the coffee side since it's in the Tea world
No alcohol by default because they don't know if you're Muslim or not
Around 2 to 3 dollars per item, not that bad for minibars, not bad for a convenience store!
I love feeling welcome
Looking north from my window, the trees directly ahead mark the botanical gardens. Quite a large city
You can see how the pool goes on forever (more on it in the facilities area)
Access to the 34th floor without needing to use the elevator, plus the meeting room
The main side (where the food is) and there is another section across the hall for high usage times
Local dishes. If I get enough requests, I'll start trying these for the posts for everyone (hint, I have received zero requests to date for this)
Custom eggs station, and donuts. Mmmmmmm dooooghnutz
Yes, I ate all of this
Yes, a very decent complimentary mid shelf drinks option for the lounge in the evening
Salads, cheeses, your evening buffet begins
The hot stuff, the wings were good just sauce wasn't sticky enough
Noodles bar, a great way to try them if you're curious and with a lot of backups if you don't like it
No dessert without eating your dinner! I'm watching you, so don't cheat
This pool, water slide, waterfall grotto, a bar and food options right next to it
It's very long
And seriously this is where I stopped walking down it, and you can see it keeps going! Hundreds of yards long
For a hotel this fancy, I actually expected a bit of a larger gym, but obvious this will handle the Pilates women and the lift bros and everyone in between
Christmas sweets, very popular in Malaysia, a Muslim country. Go figure
Christmas gift baskets options, a very large revenue line in Asia for hotels
Chyna, shockingly, is the Chinese restaurant
It's the fancy kind of Chinese food, Peking Duck is their signature dish
Crave, the European place, serving meats and wines
Casual high end?
This, is THE bar. Open later than the rest
And it was really busy, very western styled bar
Hibachi! This is a really exceptional looking place
Sushi and a cooking show
Or, outdoor dining for here
Chambers, the steak place. Very high end
While many things are a bargain in Asia, this will be a premium
Chambers steak menu
Another Chambers grill and others menu, seems some repetition and I'm confused now
Predinner bread and wine
Grilled fois gras, which was insanely good
The black angus sirloin, and wow, so tender and tasty
Vascos, the general dining area, set up here for breakfast
With about 15 food stations, this buffet is quite over the top
I had my choice of the lounge or dining here, but as I made my train by 20 seconds to the airport, I think the speed and brevity I could do in the Lounge was to my advantage
The amount of Asian food is just awesome
I'm thinking for dinner this area is gonna be diabetes central
Summary
What an unexpectedly astounding hotel. Full resort level in the center of Kuala Lumpur, easy access to the major sights, and direct train to the airport (which is important for me as I jet about the area).Seriously I have rarely seen a resort with this many food and drink options. While the garnering of a more luxurious room might dip into the pocketbook, this is one of the places where I think it is worth it. As always with the properties in Asia, get the lounge access!
Best Hilton (not like Doubletree or Conrad but Hilton) property in Southeast Asia. Did you know? Because I had actually no clue until I stayed here.