DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Penang — Hotel in George Town

I'm a regular Hilton guest worldwide, due to high volume of stays, I've been rewarded as Hilton Honors elite tier member, which I'm grateful as it has its benefits and perks. I'm a returning guest (6th visit) between 2022-2024 in DBT Penang for work and leisure.

My stay at this gorgeous, tranquil, clean, beachfront resort property have been mostly pleasant and a smooth, quick check in, hassle free. I'm a relaxed laid-back guest, chill type, but I observed things with a sharp mind. I'd rarely encounter lack of service or faulty rooms, if any, they're solved with utmost courtesy, respec, without delay. Any improvements needed, I'd be happy to share.

For my recent stay, I'd like to give my sincere thanks & compliments to your front office gems,

Dylan: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trustworthy with guests, flexible, easygoing, soft spoken, polite, excellent rapport, warm smile, makes one comfortable, friendly, helpful,made my stay a memorable one. Dylan is an asset to Hilton Group given his professional expertise& experience in hotel industry, complex customer handling & multitasking. He had not once complained, partial payments granted as I had extended my stay several times for up to 10 days. I was upgraded to High Floor Deluxe foc, free 5th night stay discounted mgmt has decided to honor my Silver Status perks as a Hilton Honors member. Although I'm only a Silver tier elite member, Dylan did not discriminate or compare between privileges. I was treated like royalty. Did I deserve it, given my loyalty, they valued my patronage, I'm grateful for the golden hospitality received throughout my stay.

Ember:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ember is a gem, gifted with high EQ. High emotional intelligence. One night, I asked for her help to reheat a meal from the hotel, Ember displayed high level of compassion & empathy as I explained to her I stayed up late as I had to work online, Ember then smiled, offered to reheat my meal in the Axis Lounge, a cafe which has a microwave. Although it was not her job or anyone for that matter, she had went beyond her ways to accommodate my request. Not only she waited until the meal was reheated properly, she had also apologized for the electrical flow of the microwave that took a while. I was managed by Ember several times and she was calm and professional all the way. Ember is also another valuable asset to Hilton Group. Thank you Ember for your kind hospitality.

Danny:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Danny is probably the most humble and hardworking manager I've ever encountered in all of Hilton chains. On my first night I checked in, he didn't introduce himself as the Duty Manager, he smiled & offered to carry my luggage, as concierge was unavailable.

Laila (Makan Rest.):⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ She is professional, possessed a calm leadership, good listener, patient & willing to assist. Needless to say, with her support, I was able to continue using the room service credit posted to my room despite I didn't have any cash or credit deposited. However, I'm aware that during booking, Hilton app saves my credit card info & I'd be happy to allow pre-authorizations on that card. There was some misunderstanding regarding points, discounts for in room dining, takeaways. My thanks to her exceptional lovely well trained staffs, Zara & Suki.

Rooms for improvement: Maple: 👎🏻 Cleverly disguised as friendly chat but manipulated me with his complaints which sounded more like an unhappy staff commenting against a guest. This staff was the only one who had slightly disappoint me as he had expressed his concerns over my stay, why I was allowed to be checked in with partial payment, no deposit & charges posted to my room. Sadly, the manager told me it was due to his previous bad experience with a vip guest with unpaid balance. I don't think he should equate me with the other guests. I'm a known guest to this property and Maple is new therefore he didn't recognize me as returning guest. Training Managers, please take note of Maple's disturbing emotional expressions. It's quite unprofessional. I would avoid this staff in the future.

👍🏻 Other than that, Thanks...

The DoubleTree Hilton in Penang was overall a great experience. The Roti Canai for breakfast was amazing. The whole family would queue every morning to get some. We even made up a song for Roti Canai. My son learnt to swim here, so I will forever remember the hotel for an amazing experience with the swimming pool. Overall the staff were lovely. The problem I had was on arrival we needed a credit card to put a deposit down for the room. We didn't have a credit card or much cash, we were not allowed to use a debit card. There is no ATM at the hotel. This was the first time I had gone to a good hotel that didn't have an atm. The suggestion after travelling for six hours with 2 children was that I needed to get a bus or taxi to closest ATM. They would not offer any other solutions to the problem. If I had not pushed the issue they would have made me travel into town. I honestly believe that the member of staff I got on arrival is just not good at his job, as the rest of the holday, everyone else was so lovely and helpful. In the end I had English sterling and paid the deposit with that. The second issue, which was on my first night was trying to order room service. I ordered it thinking it could take an hour. In the end it took 2 hours. When I rang about an update the member of staff denied the length of time and said it had only been 30 minutes, this was definitely wrong as I had a text from a family member from when I had placed the order. I've written a few negative things, but I was here for ten days, this is the only problem we had whilst we stayed. The main manager l, was excellent, so if you see her and need to speak about anything she is great. The last problem I have is that my deposit was not returned to me on checking out. I realised once I arrived home, I called the hotel and the staff said they would return my phone call, they never did, I asked for the manager in the end. The manager was not available to the next day. I had called three times and had no answer to how my deposit would be returned. The next day I spoke to the manager and they said the finance team would be in today and they would call with what they could do to sort out returning my deposit. I am still waiting. I hope that they return my deposit soon. I want to end on a positive, the bus stop is just outside the hotel and is really easy to use, to get around Penang and the beach is just across the road and is great at sunset or help the...

So, we kinda randomly decided to escape to Penang and ended up at DoubleTree Batu Feringgi for a last-minute family trip. You know, with work keeping the parents busy during the school break, we thought, why not start 2024 with a bit of a getaway? The plan was to avoid the whole school holiday craziness, and the kids were super stoked about hitting the beach.

Right from the start, the concierge folks totally blew us away with their warm welcome and those amazing cookies. The receptionist was a gem, giving us the lowdown on everything about the hotel. And can we talk about the kids' room? It was a game-changer for us parents – finally, some 'me-time' while the little ones got into drawing and batik painting.

The kids' pool and water playground were a hit, and having the beach just a short walk away through the overhead bridge was super convenient. Oh, and guess what? We snagged beach mats and chairs from the concierge – it's a first-come-first-served deal – but it made our beach time even more awesome.

Now, breakfast at DoubleTree – oh my goodness! They seriously went all out. Different stuff every day, and nasi lemak, tosai, and waffles became our go-to favorites. I mean, it's not every day you find such a massive breakfast spread, even in fancy 4.5-star hotels. Major kudos to DoubleTree for that!

The family game room, complete with a ping pong table, was the highlight for the kids. They loved it. Sure, some game stations cost a little extra, but it was totally worth it for the fun factor. The room itself was comfy – good water pressure, a nice view, and the AC worked like a charm. But here's the thing, we did notice some dust and a bit of a musty smell outside. And when we walked into the room, it felt a bit smaller than expected. The open wardrobe style was cool but could've used more cabinets or a dresser. Oh, and the king-sized bed was kinda smaller than what we're used to in other hotels.

A couple of suggestions for DoubleTree – maybe tighten or replace the shower head in room 334, and how about upgrading to smart TVs? It would make the stay even more awesome.

Despite a little TV glitch on our last night, our stay was seriously amazing. DoubleTree really nailed it, and we're already psyched about our...