Status: Gold
All stays included the obligatory bottled water, and the phone was answered with a "Good morning/evening Mr ChrisFlyer" at every property, so I'm not going to mention it under each hotel.
Property: Hilton Singapore
Dates: October 1-2
Booked: King Hilton Deluxe
Received: King Hilton Executive (Corner) Suite
Notes: 8am check in, offer to have breakfast at 7:30am when I arrived at the hotel (while waiting for my room), though I chose to freshen up before returning for breakfast in the exec lounge. Breakfast at the restaurant the following morning, bowl with three apples in the room, and a 2:30pm check out on the following day. I found the staff
inside the hotel to be absolutely fantastic, though the valet staff
outside seemed generally disinterested and bored whenever I would pass - not even a smile or a hello.
Property: DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Dates: October 2-3
Booked: King Bed Deluxe Room
Received: King Bed Executive Suite
Notes: I arrived at around 9pm, and though I tried to check in in the lobby, the desk clerk noted my HHG status and escorted me to the exec lounge for a "more private" check in experience. Though I was too late for the free drinks, the staff brought me a glass of wine while everything was taken care of, and I was given a warm cookie to take to my room, along with a 3pm late checkout. The lounge staff were incredibly friendly, and as I would still be in town the following evening, they invited me to return to the hotel for free coughtails (knowing that I wouldn't be staying there), along with a 3pm late check out. I found a very elaborate fruit platter in my room on arrival, along with two slices of cake. I was quite tired, and chose to order a club sandwich on room service, which was nice and fresh. HHG guests are given a daily laundry/pressing allowance, which was enough for one business shirt, one pair of slacks and one pair of jean shorts. When the laundry was returned to me, the shirt and the slacks looked lovely, though the shorts were returned with the comment "we no wash, we put sticker on"....... apparently a label on the shorts (that sits under the belt) was slightly worn, and for some reason, this was the deciding factor. I couldn't be bothered complaining (given that it was 'free' and all), but it was both funny and annoying! Otherwise, a lovely stay, and when I went to check out, I was greeted by no less than 9 staff in solid formation behind the desk, along with two managers. Either I'd interrupted their staff meeting, or they knew I was coming....
Property: Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Dates: October 3-4
Booked: King Hilton Deluxe
Received: King Executive Lake View
Notes: On arrival, a porter saw me walking through the lobby, and assisted me with my bags - first to the desk, and then to my room. Check in was very business-like, with no 'personal' interaction. The porter asked "where is your girlfriend?" when in the lift, and when informed that she was back home in Australia, he commented "well that's ok, we can get you a 'girlfriend' while you're here" :shock::shock:... I politely declined, and considered returning to the DT if the experience continued along this path! However, the room was modern, and I found an apple, along with blueberries and roasted cashews waiting for me. The welcome letter indicates that "coughtails" are on offer in the exec lounge, though when I asked if a coughtail menu was available or if they had any signature coughtails, the staff have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, and insist that only "basic coughtails" are available, referring to "vodka and orange juice or rum and Coke", which aren't 'coughtails' as commonly known - rather, 'mixed drinks'. The spread was excellent, and included items that could constitute afternoon tea, dinner, dessert and supper. Breakfast could be taken in the restaurant, which had a multitude of options, and had Vegemite available!
Property: Hilton Singapore
Dates: October 5-6
Booked: King Hilton Deluxe
Received: King Hilton Deluxe Plus
Notes: While I wouldn't have expected that the staff would remember me (given the number of guests that they would speak to each day), when they have my reservation and profile open on the screen in front of them, I don't expect to hear "as this is your first stay with us" on my second stay that week... perhaps a "welcome back" would have been more appropriate. Anyway, there wasn't much to report about this stay - no apples or exec lounge access, though breakfast in the restaurant was available, which included the full (hot) buffet. When I checked out, the hotel clerk
did remember me from the night before, and greeted me by name as I approached the desk. I suppose she made up for her little (and insignificant) blunder on my arrival! When I was leaving, one of the porters took my bags (which I presumed was to help carry them down the stairs or the ramp at the side), but without asking, took it upon himself to try and slot me into a taxi. I had to grab my bags off him and explain that I would be walking to the train station, and that I had not asked for a taxi. A rather odd parting memory!
Property: Conrad Centennial Singapore
Dates: October 6-7
Booked: King Classic Room
Received: King Business Room
Notes: There's something time-honoured about approaching the main hotel doorway and having two staff rush to hold the doors open for you - a very nice way to arrive. At reception, the staff went through every detail of my reservation with me thoroughly ("this is your first stay with us here, I see you have booked x rate, I note your room preferences of x, etc. etc.), and immediately offered a confirmed 3pm check out (as is guaranteed by the room type). On mentioning that I had an evening flight, I was eventually able to stretch this out until 5pm at no charge. I was escorted to my room, where a fruit platter and a teddy bear awaited me. The staff member commented "
please take the teddy bear with you, we want you to have him", so I did - along with the rubber duck.
On the Conrad website, the room description does note that pralines are included with that room type (in addition to the fruit platter), though they were nowhere to be found. One phone call later, and I had
two boxes and a second fruit platter delivered, so I suppose I can't complain! One thing I did find odd was that the 'Business' room description notes that powerpoints are to be found at desk level, though I could only find
one behind the curtains (?), and another underneath the TV. I'm thinking that perhaps I wasn't
really upgraded, but was merely given the benefits of the room type (laundry allowance etc.) to suit my late check out. As the staff had been lovely to me, I didn't want to get greedy and demand a room change over a power point (particularly as my laptop has a long cord), but it was odd. Breakfast was near the pool, though dining was actually inside, which was still nice. Unlike other buffet/lounge plates, these were
large dinner plates, so you can actually get what you want on the first helping, without looking like a piggy by constantly returning. I got back to the hotel quite late, and enjoyed a Nasi Goreng in the 24hr restaurant, which was reasonably priced and quite delicious.
The following day, I received an unwanted wake up call at 7:30am. The clerk apologised, but immediately called me back and did the same thing (?)... by that time, I had been disturbed enough to get up, and checked my phone for any alerts and messages. Fortunately, the QF upgrade fairy had sent me a message a few hours beforehand to say that I'd be sitting in J on QF6 that night, so that immediately ended my grumpiness! I turned my laptop on to check my seat assignment (which followed my preferences - upper deck, aisle, forward: 12B), and then went back to sleep for a few hours before breakfast.
