Doubletree by Hilton Putrajaya Review: Families With Young Children Will Love This

The history of the hotel actually dates as far back as the early 2000s and the hotel was only officially opened in 2008 under the Pullman group of hotels. The original plan for the location was for it to host 4 different hotels, China Block, the Indian Block, the Borneo Block and the Malay Block.

In 2019, the hotel underwent an extensive renovation project after a period of languishing and they've recently reopened under new management by Doubletree by Hilton. While the exterior of the hotel and the 4 different themes remain, all of the rooms have been refurbished and some facilities have also been added to the hotel, namely, the water park, kids club, games room, and arcade room.

Full disclosure, our review was in September 2023 when they had just recently reopened all rooms for booking so there may have been changes to what I experienced. That said, the changes should only improve your experience if you're reading this and booking in the future.

I can't gush enough about the hotel labelling their light switches, so here I go again. Doubletree Putrajaya has labelled switches and they're awesome. I requested a baby cot and they gave us one with a wooden frame which was fancy. You can also adjust it to 2 different heights which was nice. Usually, in other hotels, you'll get baby cots with metal bars with no height adjustments.

The room we got was a King Family Room in the Malay wing which faced the water park. While convenience to the park was something I appreciated, you'll have to deal with a significant amount of noise coming from the children outside. Shutting the balcony doors and closing the blinds helps, but if you're sensitive to sound, maybe try to book a room located away from the water park.

Special mention has to be made about the bed, because it was humongous. You can comfortably fit probably 5 adults on it and it was really comfortable to boot. I can't be sure, but it looked like they combined two queen beds to get the size.

Not everything is perfect however, as the bathroom in my particular room was really small. Curiously, it had one standalone toilet and one bathroom (with a toilet) on either side of the room. There were also two doors to the room, one for entry and exit and another for exit only.

The bathroom was really cramped and the water pressure was low. It was also difficult to get it to the right water temperature setting as if you turn up the hot water too much, you get the pressure, but you'll also burn yourself. This of course was an isolated incident and with more than 200 rooms, there are bound to be quirks in every room.

To round things out in the room, there was a working desk, a huge 50-inch TV with Astro's finest programming, and two balconies. No fancy espresso maker in the room though, but that's not as widely introduced in local hotels yet compared to Singapore.

With the takeover, Doubletree added a waterpark, arcade room, games room, and a kid's club and having tried all of them, I can safely say that kids will have a lot of things to do during your stay.

The water park was divided into several areas according to age groups but the 2-storey tall slide was the one with the longest lines. There was also a small water playground to the side as well that's thoughtfully cordoned off from the main park area for babies and tots below 3 years old. This means that older kids can go wild in the park outside while the parents on guard duty for babies still have an area to entertain their young ones.

The park was constantly filled with kids who have either just checked in or who were taking it their last go-around the park before check out. The one gripe I had was that there was no organisation within the park itself for parents who wanted to park their towels and clothes. There are also no shoes allowed inside the park so what you'll find is a mess of footwear leading into the compound.

Parents were seated on the floor most of the time and towels were strewn around which took you out of the resort feel that the hotels location and architecture so easily transports you into.

This is in stark contrast to Doubletree Damai Laut which had strategically placed lockers and deck chairs that maintained order and a resort feel. This temporary measure of slinging towels over railings made you feel like you were at a community pool and that wasn't always a great experience.

Moving on, the next star of the hotel for parents is the Kid's Club which only accepted children who were above 6 years old and only one parent is allowed in to mind their children, no matter how many you check in.

It was good that there weren't a bunch of parents occupying sofa space and the PS5s but it does mean that as a parent, you're going to have to work overtime if you have more than one kid. The room itself had puzzles, colouring activities, the aforementioned PS5s (two), a room for masak-masak with a TV playing cartoons and other toys like jenga. Outside of the pool, I basically spent most of my time here rotating between the various stations.

The room was clean, had its own toilet, hot and cold water, and a supervisor who was there to clean up and offer toys to the children. I wish more hotels would offer kids club for free like Doubletree, but so far, I haven't personally been to any. I hope in time, the hotel will introduce daily planned activities as well like the Damai Laut location, but till then, it's always nice to have free childcare at your hotel.

If you're curious about a comparison, Sunway Resort Hotel has a kids club that costs RM120 for 3 hours per child with lunch included and RM200 for a full day with lunch and tea break. We're not saying that's ridiculous, but when a room costs about RM700 a night at least, you don't think you'll have to shellout another RM120 just to use the facilities.

The other two rooms, the arcade and games room, were kind of haphazardly put together, but it's nice that you can play ping pong and foosball for free. The arcade had quite a number of games for young children but for OG arcade goers who want to play fighting games, rhythm, or shooting games, you're out of luck. These are arcade cabinets for young children only.

Unlike the kid's club that had sofas, vinyl flooring, and other furnishing, the arcade and games room were just empty rooms with some activities fitted inside. I suspect this might change as the hotel finds its footing, but for now, they were welcome additions.

At the time of our review there was only one restaurant open, Makan Kitchen, and like all Makan Kitchens around Malaysia, they emphasised local cuisine more than anything with a Malay, Chinese, and Indian corner at the buffet.

I tried the Sunday high tea buffet (RM98/adult, RM49 for kids above 5 years old) and tried to take all the food from every corner. No matter what Makan Kitchen you go to in Malaysia, you'll find food prepared in the three local corners and each will have your favourite singnature dishes.

The teh tarik station makes a return from Damai Laut and they make an excellent pandan and ginger teh here.

Of all the stations, the Indian corner attracted me the most with the nasi kandar pot with all kids of curries available including crab curry. The dessert corner was another highlight with many local kuehs and even cucur durian for durian lovers (which is almost all Malaysians).

For the price, it's got a lot to offer and at the time of writing, there's a buy 3 free 1 offer for the buffet. I also managed to try the Sunday night buffet which is a simpler affair with semi buffet at RM68 or RM88 that comes with a selection of main courses.

The breakfast buffet meanwhile, was mostly what you'd expect from a hotel buffet. They emphasised their donuts which were made in house but I'd also like to recommend the live egg station that can actually make eggs benedict for you on top of the regular omelettes.

Overall, the food at Doubletree Putrajaya was varied, but didn't quite deliver on taste. Compared to Damai Laut, and Doubletree KL, Putrajaya felt like it lacked something in the kitchen. That said, tastes are subjective and you may find that you'll like something here, afterall, there's a lot on offer for the price you pay.

Staycationers who are looking for a short getaway can look forward to a lot here too. On top of the water park, there are two other pools here, one rooftop pool which is open to 12 year olds and above only and one on the ground floor near the clock tower over looking the lake.

The hotel grounds are huge and there's plenty of things to do away from the screaming children besides the pool. Head down to the lake and you can walk a track that takes you around the lake to hit many popular destinations like the Seri Gemilang Bridge, the manmade beach Pantai Floria, and Jetty Marina for watersports.

At the time of writing, the spa was not complete yet and there's one more restaurant that's going to be added which should cater more to adults looking for a getaway.

There's also plenty of nooks and crannies in the hotel that are Instagrammable as the facade is still one of the best in Putrajaya.

The building has finally found itself a suitable partner in Doubletree that has the wherewithal to manage, improve, and run the iconic Putrajaya landmark. The hotel has always had a niche in catering to MICE travellers (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) because of its central location to businesseses and government meetings but it hasn't made a concerted effort to reach beyond that.

With an internationally known brand like Doubletree, the hotel stands a better chance now of attracting new and existing customers to enjoy the facilities once again. I just hope they iron out the kinks when it comes to the finer details.

For now, the hotel is a great destination for families looking for an all-in-one escape from the city that kids can go wild at.

Book your stay or find out more at Doubletree by Hilton Putrajaya Lakeside.

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