Bit of a different format review.
Just spent four nights (post Xmas) at the various KL Hilton properties.
Status - Gold
Hilton KL - Booked Basic King - Received Exec King - Rate ~A$140 (all in)
Doubletree KL - Booked Basic King - Received Exec King - Rate ~A$110 (stayed twice)
Hilton PJ - Booked Basic King - Received Exec King - Rate ~A$80
And a bit of a combined review.
Amenities - Nuts and fruit in Hilton KL, Fruit in Hilton PJ, Fruit & Cake at Doubletree, Water in all
Addl amentites - 2 item free pressing at Hilton PJ (as per FT thread, the dry cleaning benefit is gone for Gold at the Doubletree)
Check-in - Front desk for Hilton KL and Hilton PJ, directed upstairs to Exec lounge at Doubletree (Hilton KL unwilling to check me in after early morning arrival at 7am and told me to come back at 11am. No problem at other hotels with 10-11am checkins)
Rooms - All similar size - Hilton KL has the most open bathroom and modern design. Doubletree has shower only, no bath. Hilton KL did not have ironing board and iron.
Exec Lounge - Drinks and Canapes 5.30-7.30 at Doubletee. 6-8pm at Hiltons. Doubletree Lounge was packed on the dot of 5.30 both visits (lots of kids) and it was a madhouse with staff struggling to cope although Cathryn (main person in this lounge) was keeping things under control. Food items relatively basic. Hilton KL better albeit still limited (mostly canape style selection). Hilton PJ was great - attentive staff and by far the largest selection of foods including numerous hot dishes and desserts
Breakfast - Previously only used Exec Lounge - decided to try all main restaurants - all are good with multiple stations, lots of chefs and a wide variety of food including Indian, Malaysian and Noodles as well as egg station. Makan Kitchen at Doubletree has the nicest design and is best laid out, Hilton PJ slightly better selection than Hilton KL (which had a 10min queue when I arrived)
Pool - Hilton KL wins with large pool shared with LeMeridien, Doubletree is nice but smaller and in front of a hotel restaurant and overshadowed by buildings, Hilton PJ is small and dated
Gym - Hilton KL and Doubletree both good, Hilton PJ adequate but dated
Location - None of the Hilton properties are in what I would call a 'central location' for tourists which I would describe as between KLCC and Bukit Bintang. Doubletree is closest being about 500m and one LRT stop from KLCC. Hilton KL next being above the main train station and opposite the Nu Sentral Mall with about five monorail stops to centre or five LRT stops. Hilton PJ is about five other stops the other way from Sentral, so the furthest out (and is a good 500m from either of the two closest stops)
Surrounding location - Doubletree KL above a modern small centre with a grocer, chemist and a number of good restaurants and bars, and walkable to KLCC in 10-15min, Hilton KL connected to main station and across from Nu Sentral (brand new mall including restaurants), Hilton PJ surrounded by old local shops
All good options, but at the price I paid, Doubletree wins.
Other KL tips
Doubletree - If coming from the airport and connecting to the LRT to Ampang Park take the exit to "Citibank/Intercontinental" rather than Doubletree, as that side of the road has an escalator that goes up to the road crossing.
Public Transport - Get yourself a smartcard - queues to buy single tickets at machines can be horrendous. There are two cards on offer that cost MYR10 with MYR5 credit -
TouchnGo which can be used on Monorail/LRT/Bus/KTM and parking (the original card and built into Malaysian's MyCad card). Advantages are it can be used on the KTM (Batu Caves and MidValley/Gardens Mall), Disadvantages are it can only be topped
MyRapid Card - Can be used on Monorail/LRT/Bus (Bus recent extension) - Competing card from the operator of these services. Can be topped up at the automatic machine
Monorail - Until the HRT (Heavy Rail) opens in 2017/2018 the quickest way into Bukit Bintang which is traffic hell. However the monorail is often crushed beyond capacity. In the last 2 weeks a number of brand new 4 car monorails have entered service (and they are still testing auto doors and displays) but at the same time they have withdrawn/ had issues with many of the older 2car sets so services can be 10min headways and the platforms get busy. Hopefully this will be fixed as they get more of the bigger trains on the network.
LRT - Seems to be max 6min headways and a simple way to get around. All driverless trains and kids love riding up front.
Also the Peter Thomas Roth shower gel in both Hiltons has changed. Used to be the clearish liquid with microballs (super bad for environment I know). Now an Orange liquid. At Hilton KL this was thick and hard to use, at Hilton PJ better consistency. Is this a global change??