To date, we've reviewed Doubletree Damai Laut and Doubletree Putrajaya, both of which boasts big water parks for children and a kid's club with plenty of activities for the little ones.
We've also reviewed the sustainable buffet at Doubletree KL and had a short getaway at Hilton Kuching. All this to say, we're pretty familiar with the brand and its promises.
If there's one takeaway from the experiences so far is that every Doubletree has its own unique flair and that their cookies may look the same, but they do not taste the same. If there's an unofficial ranking, we'd rate the KL's cookies in first place followed by Melaka, Damai Laut, then Putrajaya.
Amazingly, the quality of the cookie will also determine the quality of the food you can expect at a Doubletree. More on that point, later.
Location of Doubletree by Hilton Melaka
The hotel opened in 2019 and swiftly endured a pandemic for 2 years. The hotel was developed as part of Hatten City, a project meant to gentrify the old city of Melaka and consists of hotels, luxury residences, and a mall.
Doubletree shares its location with ElementX Mall, a part of the development by Hatten Group, a Singaporean company.
We bring this up because the mall is empty right now and was in the midst of being turned into an integrated Metaverse e-Sport Hub Resort. The project was going to include Arena X, which was to become the largest international e-sports centre in the region and was slated for completion by November 2022.
It's not a good sign that when we visited in December 2023, the mall was still empty and there was still no trace of the promised eposrts hub.
This means that the entrance to the hotel is shared with the empty mall and due to a lack of tenants, the entry into the parking and the experience of walking from the carpark to the hotel lobby was a little dodgy.
Boarded up store fronts and plastic barricades block you from entering the mall and you need to walk these sights to get to the lift that will bring you up to the 12th floor where you'll find the hotel lobby.
You can skip all of this unsightly elements by going into the hotel through its Lobby on the ground floor, but if you're driving (which you most likely will be), you need to endure the transition from abandoned mall to luxurious hotel.
That said, once you reach the 12th floor and abandon the carpark, you're greeted with the familiar luxury that Doubleetree brings to all of its properties.
The cookies were served warm and the hospitality was great. It's also encouraging to see that there were quite a number of tourists from overseas at the hotel.
While the pandemic and the depreciating Ringgit has driven Malaysians to be tourists locally, it seems like it has also attracted people from outside of Malaysia to take advantage of our cheap currency.
More tourism will only improve the service of our local hoteliers so we do hope to see tourists patronising our hotels.
The King One Bedroom Junior Suite
We were informed that Doubletree Melaka had the biggest square footage per room of any hotel in Melaka and we believe them.
The junior suite has a huge bathroom with separate toilet, bath tub, and rain shower. There wasn't enough room for his and hers sinks but the counter definitely had the room for it.
We informed the hotel that we would be traveling with infants and they thoughtfully provided a baby tub for us along with a baby crib. The crib came with metal bars and you cannot adjust its levels so parents with kids need to take note of that.
The King bed was suitably large, but not as large as the one at Putrajaya which was two Queen beds smushed together.
The room had a huge TV with channels that were accurate to the TV Guide and you can easily access the panel to plug in your own HDMI cable to watch your own shows. The crowning amenity in the room however was the Nespresso machine.
We love the little case that introduces each Nespresso pod and we indulged in that coffee immediately upon check-in. In terms of noise, we're happy to report that you can't hear anything from outside the room. The corner room had a unique intersecting wall of windows that faced the busy road downstairs and aside from loud sirens, there's no perceptible road noise in the room.
One thing we'll have to mention however, is that the light switches were not labeleled. It's a guessing game at the start to differentiate the light of the foyer versus walk-in closet which were next to each other and the ambient light versus the ceiling and lamp lights whose switches were all in a row too. Then there's switches on the left and right of the bed which control different sets of lights altogether.
For what you pay, you get decent amount of luxury in the junior suite and if you're travelling with kids the room has ample space.
Great Italian food at Tosca
Remember what we said about the cookie being a reflection of the quality of the food overall? Well, like the cookie, we'd rate the overall dining experience at Doubletree Melaka to be second only to the offerings in KL.
For our first night at Melaka we tried Doubletree's Italian kitchen, Tosca. Like Makan Kitchen that provides all-day dining at all Doubletrees, Tosca similarly is the in-house Italian restaurant.
We tried a ham and cheese pizza, a beef ragout pasta dish, a cod fishmain, fish fritters for sides, and a chocolate cake for dessert.
For the sake of our non-Italian speak audience we've made the names simple to understand. To see the real names you can check out the menu here. Menu items in completely foreign languages with an english description is an odd thing that we all just accept at restaurants isn't it?
The first dish to arrive was the Rucola Curdo pizza (RM36) and it was HUGE. It's a probably a little smaller than an XL Domino's pizza but way better quality. At first glance the look of the pizza didn't impress us as much as other artisan pizzas did (for example Pizza Mansion or Heritage Pizza), but the flavour beats those pizzas hands down.
Good pizzas have layers of flavours to them besides just cheese and meat and here, each element shines on the pizza. The goat cheese and mozarella play well with the tomatoes and rocket salad to make this regular-looking pizza stand out.
The dough was itself a little flat, crispy around the edges, but lacked that complex bread flavour that comes with natural fermenting.
Next up, we got the Flaky Fish Fritters (RM26) alongside our pasta, the Stracotta Parpadelle (RM41). The fritters were flaky as advertised and it's hard to describe. There's cod fish and cheese in it and it's like eating mash that's crispy with a hint of fish.
It's not exactly like a croquette that's crispy on the outside and soft inside, it's kind of somewhere in the middle. Your enjoyment will depend on how much you like the taste of the fish.
On the other hand, the beef ragout pasta was simply chef's kiss. We can't remember the last time we had beef this tender that still retained that meaty punch we love in a good steak. The noodle had a nice bite to it and we'd love to soak up that sauce and spread it over bread.
The main, Merluzzo Arrositito (roasted cod in Italian), was—no exaggeration—the best piece of fish we've had. At RM85, it's an expensive fillet, but like a good medium steak, this was a good piece of meat.
Like steak, what sets this fish apart is the skill of the chef who prepared it. You need to cook it just the right amount to retain moisture while maintaining the crispy skin.
This cod in particular was cooked to perfection and we'd recommend it wholeheartedly. The flesh was juicy and sweet while the crispy skin can be mopped up nicely with the tomato velouté.
Finally, the dessert, Tortino Al Cioccolato (RM26) is similar to the pizza in that it's not exactly a looker. It didn't help that it was actually delivered to our room, 3 hours after we first arrived at the restaurant.
From what we could gather, they were extremely short-staffed that night and they had a newly appointed Executive Chef. We don't think it'll be an issue in the future when you're thinking about eating at Tosca, but it was an issue for us that day.
That said, the chocolate cake was... sublime. Not overly sweet, it had a balance of the bold chocolate flavours mixed with some sour notes. Perfecto.
Buffet dinner and breakfast
Every Friday and Saturday, the hotel hosts a buffet decicated to Melaka street food and if you're unaware, all Makan Kitchens have separate sections that are branded according to different local ethnicities, i.e., Malay Kitchen, Chinese Kitchen, Indian Kitchen, and a lain-lain World Kitchen.
We've mentioned that Melaka is only second to KL in terms of its food offering, and here's where they are lacking. Though they can compete in terms of flavour, the variety on offer is sadly limited when compared to the dinner buffet at Doubletree KL.
Don't get us wrong, there's a lot of food on offer, including fresh steamed cod and steamed clams, charcoal grilled satay and ikan bakar, and asam pedas ekor and daging. The Chinese kitchen also had duck which was almost immediately emptied out.
The standout kitchen for us was the Indian Kitchen. Try the lamb to get tender lamb without that gamey smell you might get at a mamak. This is high quality lamb prepared to perfection in curry.
In terms of live stations, there were only two: the aforementioned satay and a noodle station. It's a bog standard buffet with local food that taste great, but otherwise isn't very flashy. There's not a lot of flair that we can report about unlike our buffet experience at Courtyard by Marriott Melaka that had plenty of pizzazz in the menu in terms of presentation and variety, but that ultimately lacked in flavour.
The breakfast buffet was similarly a little lacklustre. They had a roti bakar station in the morning though and roti canai station—though we suspect the roti was of the pre-made variety.
Of all things, the standout dish was the pancake for breakfast. They have their own banana pancake recipe that they make in limited batches in the morning and it's one of the better pancakes we've had. It was at once fluffy, nutty, and robust.
The panckes were such a hit that they were finished about 30 minutes after they started serving them.
Kid's Club and Things to do nearby
We've said it before and we'll say it again, more hotels need to invest in a Kid's Club. You keep your guests in your hotel for longer and that helps you to push your tenants to spend more in house.
Like the Doubletrees we've reviewed before, the Kid's Club was fully equipped with activities for children to do with toys, a reading area, a movie room, and PlayStations for gamers.
The toys were well-maintained despite the proclivity for children to basically destroy anything they get their hands on and the space was bright and clean.
We particularly appreciated their ability to cater to crafts as they gave away simple crafts that children could make on their own when we were there. As it was Christmas, the children were given Santa Hats that they could decorate with stickers and they had 2 attendants there on the weekend who could give one-on-one time to the children to help them make their hats.
There was also an option to make Christmas-themed glasses but we didn't take photos of that activity.
They also had colouring activities with a pencil case chock-full of all the colours.
Despite it being smaller in size among the hotels we've been to, the attentive staff and the variety of play options here make the Kid's Club one of the best. Damai Laut's Kid's Club is still the biggest with the most variety overall, but this one is a close second in terms of overall value.
If you're looking for things to do within walking distance, you can head to 1-Altitude Melaka. You need to walk through the ground floor of the empty mall and navigate around the the lifts that will bring you straight up to the 43rd floor.
Again, it's unnerving to walk through that empty mall but once you reach the correct lift, there's actually an attendant there who can help you access the right floor.
The rooftop destination has Wildseed Café on Level 43, Monti Italian restaurant, FLNT Japanese-Nikkei Sumiyaki Restaurant, and the 1-Altitude rooftop bar, located on Level 44. You get stunning 360-degree views of Melaka from up here along with sunset views.
This rooftop haven was also developed by Hatten and there's also a 1-Altitude in Singapore. It's a great place to chill during the evening and more activities are still being added onto the rooftop. Follow 1-Altitude Melaka for more info.
Doubletree by Hilton Melaka Overall Impressions
Despite its unfortunate position within the mall, there's great potential here at Doubleetree Melaka.
There's good bones here for an excellent one-stop getaway for the family. It's also located close enough to the old town that you can easily take a cab or Grab to the closest attractions without spending too much on transportation.
While the Melaka government is trying their level best to make driving in the city as hard as possible for travellers and locals alike, the location of Doubletree avoids most of the traffic which makes it perfect for you to take a cab into the hot spots and avoid the jam.
The in house dining options are good, the Kid's Club is great for at least two afternoons worth, the Gym is stocked, and the room is luxurious enough that you'll probably want to spend most of your time there.
Once the mall is opened and some restoration is made to the parking lot and surrounding buildings by Hatten, Doubletree Melaka can properly stand out as the jewel of the development.
We look forward to heading there again in the near future once its potential has been realised and you can properly spend your time ensconced in Hatten City.
Book your stay at Doubletree by Hilton Melaka here or book your dinner buffet at Makan Kitchen here.