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Hilton Kuala Lumpur

I had a decent length layover in Kuala Lumpur, and while I could have spent the night in the First Class lounge since they are open 24/7, I decided I wanted a real room. I looked at the easiest to deal with and the Hilton right next to the Sentral Train Station was pretty much made for the job.

Arrival

I took the KLIA Express (or well, it's not an express these days but still it's the train from the airport to the station), and arrived about 9:45. I wrangled my bags to the hotel, up the elevator (it's well marked in the station how to get there) and checked in. I was upgraded to a king deluxe plus room, which had some good space in it, but man, I am just not getting great upgrades as a Diamond with Hilton, let me tell you. Anyway, I get to my room and it's 10pm local time. Just as basically every food venue closed.

Lobby common area, which is staffed by waiters, until late

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 versus their competitors.

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

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!

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)

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.

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

Custom eggs station, and donuts. Mmmmmmm dooooghnutz

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.

This pool, water slide, waterfall grotto, a bar and food options right next to it

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

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).

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

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

Chambers, the steak place. Very high end

While many things are a bargain in Asia, this will be a premium

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. A full resort level in the center of Kuala Lumpur, access easily to the major sights, and direct train to the airport (which is important for me as I jet about the area).

Seriously I have barely 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 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.

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