Hilton Petaling Jaya — Hotel in Petaling Jaya

I was looking forward to this stay and was left disappointed. Calling themselves a “5-Star hotel”, Hilton PJ clearly fell short.

I booked a 1-night stay on 28 May 2025 and checked-in around 9pm. Reception staff MARTIN was professional, friendly and helpful, and he definitely was the only thing that left a good impression on me. It was just downhill from here on.

Firstly, the hotel had ALL lifts in the East wing under renovation, and I was directed to use a service lift at the far end. This lift was located in a dirty hallway filled with rubbish and leftover unused kitchen machinery. Not only was it unsightly, it made me feel like I was in the back alley of some dirty restaurant. I proceed to my floor and upon exiting the lift, entered a hallway which was blocked off on both sides. I had to push a few doors open to find where my room was. The hotel was under renovation, and it seemed like Hilton was perfectly fine leaving guests to wander around what felt like a construction site. Bizarre.

Next, I decided to take a hot bath to unwind. When I turned on the bath tap, water was mud brown. Had to let it run for some time before using. The shower head connected to bathroom tub also couldn’t work. When I finally got out of the bath and went to the shower, there was no soap at all! Not even one drop. How does room cleaning turnover a room without checking if there is any shower gel left? Thankfully I had my own, but this made me wonder if the bedsheets had been changed, or if room cleaning just takes shortcuts. You’d think staff of Hilton would’ve been more meticulous. The knob on the shower also fell out at the slightest touch, so did a screw in the bath tub tap. Some wallpaper in the room was also peeling and misaligned with gaps. Gives you the feeling that they used very cheap materials and labour, but try to pass off as a luxurious hotel.

I called reception for the soap to be topped up and the cleaning lady who came, struggled for minutes with how to unlock the device and to fit the new bottle. Again, very bizarre and unbecoming of a supposed “5-Star” hotel.

After the cleaning lady left, I realised that in my hurry, I didn’t pack a charging cable for my short trip. Proceeded to call reception, as it was 11pm, only 1 staff was working and she informed me flatly that they are not able to help. I then went to the Concierge desk, where a kind Bellboy tried to lend me his Lightning phone cable but it did not match my phone type (USB C). I then spent the next 1.5hr trying to ask various hotel guests in the lobby for help, and finally one lady was able to lend me hers. While I take full responsibility that it’s my fault for travelling alone and forgetting to bring a charging cable, I am surprised that a 5-star hotel does not invest a few bucks to have a spare cable for any guest to borrow in case of Emergency. All the staff could tell me is “sorry we can’t help”. They did not offer any solutions. After charging my phone with another guest’s charger, I was able to purchase a cable on Grab for my own use. I’m shocked that the hotel staff did not bother to offer to help me do this, I would’ve been happy to pay for their assistance.

Lastly, I went back up and wanted some water, but realised their bottled water is recycled - I don’t mind the earth-saving initiative, but the peel tabs of these huge bottles cannot be placed back, leaving the opened bottle exposed to dust for the entire day.

On top of all this, the hotel’s on-going renovation also meant that one of the main restaurants was closed. None of this was mentioned on their website and I was not made aware of the renovation until I reached my room and found a note.

Other generic feed back is that the staff seem mostly engrossed in their own conversations. Often when you pass the lobby, they are standing around chatting amongst themselves rather than being professional and attentive. Generally I was left feeling like I stayed at a very average hotel. Would I come back again? I doubt so. Hilton PJ definitely has a long way to go towards becoming a true...

IMPORTANT NOTE: This report refers to a stay in November 2023. The hotel is currently being renovated. Most of the public areas have already been renovated. The rooms in the "East Wing", the larger of the two parts of the hotel, are currently being renovated. This is expected to last until mid-2024, after which the rooms in the other wing will probably follow.

Please note that our comments on the rooms will no longer be up to date at some point!

The hotel is located at a crossroads next to multi-lane, busy roads. Unfortunately, the windows of the rooms are not soundproofed. For this reason, you can hear the traffic noise very strongly in the rooms. Several stores (Seven 11, pharmacy, dry cleaners, exchange office) and restaurants are within walking distance. There are two shopping centers that can be reached on foot in just under 15 minutes. Both are rather simple local malls with stores, pharmacies, restaurants and (in one of them) a supermarket. Two elevated train stations are also a good 10-minute walk away. Other than that, there isn't really much around the hotel.

The staff are consistently friendly and very attentive to the guest. We felt very welcome. However, there is a lack of polish in the service. It's about little things and not really bad things. At this point, we would like to highlight two members of staff in particular. That would be Arafat from the Executive Lounge. He always went out of his way to make sure we had a good time in the lounge. And Fathima, who was responsible for our room most of the time. She was always available for a quick chat. She always provided us with enough water and towels. But the other colleagues and the colleague from housekeeping also did a really good job.

The breakfast was also extensive and good, as was everything else we enjoyed during our stay.

But now to the downsides, which ultimately lead us to award only 3*!

As already mentioned, the hotel is currently undergoing a thorough refurbishment. The rooms also need it. Everything still works. However, it smelled very musty in our room. It wasn't moldy. But this musty smell was a constant companion, which even permeated our clothes. We even had to change rooms at the very beginning as the musty smell was even stronger in the first room. We therefore assume that this problem affects almost all rooms.

Due to our status with Hilton, we had access to the Executive Lounge. This was located in the already renovated part due to the renovation. This temporary solution was really good in terms of space. However, it was so freezing cold in the location that it was impossible to enjoy a stay there. You could see exactly who had been there for a while. You could recognize these guests by their long clothing. Unfortunately, the situation did not improve during our entire stay. The management was aware of the problem, but the company responsible took longer to rectify it.

We would have liked to see at least some communication from the management on this matter. But nothing came of it. A more creative solution might also have been possible. For example, the use of part of the lobby.

It was also strange that we were told that the pool was closed for renovation. However, we occasionally saw people swimming in it.

Would we come back? Yes, maybe. Because in terms of price, the hotel was a good deal. And now that the complete renovation has been completed and the team has perhaps been trained a little, the hotel has the...

Location is fine but you might stuck in heavy traffic if peak season.

In house guest can entitled RM3 parking per entry (basement parking) just validate the card with reception area.

During my check-in I noticed some unpleasant things from the reception staff like judgmental attitude towards me which make me uncomfortable. None of the front office greet or smile at me until Mr Arun the Duty Manager was there and assisted me. I’m glad he was there to assist me. Staff needed more professional training and don’t judge all your guest. Respect is utmost for every guest.

He do listened to my request and assisted well. Thank you for that.

Some hours later we requested extra bed which cost around RM100 plus and the front office staff called to ask for payment and I told them can I pay during my check out and she answered no because no deposit collected during my check in. I wonder why this happened. Because while I waited for my room key I do check with Mr Arun shall I pay the deposit with having cash with me he politely say no need deposit. So it was instructed by manager itself and why the front office still mentioned to me ? Like I will run away from paying? That’s was awful. When I told her can pay during my breakfast time she agreed and I made the payment on the next morning.

For room part the bed, pillow and bathroom needed major maintenance. Hope the management team will take further action on this. I often encountered clogged sink and clogged bathtub. Although upon sending technician the issue still the same. It’s really unpleasant when we can’t enjoy the bathtub.

We had buffet dinner and the F&B team was very polite and respectful to all of us. Keep the good vibes.. We do enjoyed some discount on our bill from Hilton Membership.

The housekeeping team also very well deserved some credit. They do assisted us well when we need their service. Thank you for that.

Breakfast was good but still can have more option since Hiton is 5 ⭐️ rank.. I was expecting more from them..

Buffet dinner also good , still can improved. They more to promoting local food then having international menu.

During my stay Ms Susan from Hilton Reservations Team/Customer Service I wasn’t sure she from which department she do texted me while I staying at hotel to check everything was okay and I do reply to her too do have some issues to highlight and without hesitate she informed to relevant department and the front office staff contacted to my room to find out what was wrong. I appreciated her instant response about guest concerns. Thank you for your action.

During check out Ms Lynn Duty Manager came out and spoke to us about our experience willing to listened to our feedback. And I have shared all my experiences and feedback to her as per my google review. Thank you for listening to us.

Overall it’s wasn’t a pleasant experience and stay. But we will consider coming back since Hilton do care about their guest and I can see the action taken from people like Ms Susan and Ms Lynn and Mr Arun. Thank you for...