The hotel is off Highway 1 in the central business district. Being less than a kilometer from City Square shopping and Persada Johor Convention Centre, it only takes 10 minutes on foot after crossing the Malaysia customs at CIQ complex. Mid Valley Southkey Mall is seven km away, and Aeon Mall and Toppen Shopping Centre are 15 km. Enjoy the restaurants, Makan Kitchen and Tosca, outdoor pool, and a warm DoubleTree cookie at check-in. They also retail a tin of cookies to bring home as a souvenir at RM48.

Since I had already checked in online using the Hilton app, the check in was a breeze. I went to the counter at 4pm (no queue) and managed to get our keys to the room quite quickly. There is no digital card access for this Hilton property.

We had a high floor allocated to us – 29th floor to be exact – so we had nice views of Johor Bahru. There was nothing much to rave about as we were surrounded by other skyscrapers in the vicinity. The 29th floor is also the same floor as the executive lounge, which we had free access to when they upgraded my room to this floor. It was a blessing in disguise.

From our room, we had a pool view. The pool looks quite small but it was not too crowded at any time of the day.

The room was spacious with a King bed, which can sleep up to 3 people. There was a study desk and a 40-inch TV with several entertainment channels from Singapore, Malaysia and some worldwide programs.

As a Hilton Gold member, they welcomed me with a complimentary fruit platter. Sliced fruit is also served during breakfast and at the executive lounge.

Toiletries are from Crabtree & Evelyn. Instead of disposable bottles, the hotel has taken a step further to become more sustainable by providing large bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash which are refillable. This helps to cut costs and reduce plastic waste generated by the hotel. The water bottles are also made of glass, allowing them to be washed and refilled easily.

There was no bathtub in the toilet, as the bathtub is only for the King Suite rooms upon enquiry. The bathroom had a modern, powerful walk-in rain shower with glass feature wall.

Every evening from 6pm to 8pm, it is happy hour or cocktail hour at the Executive Lounge. It is good news for the hungry and thirsty guests, only applicable the Gold or Diamond status members. There was a wide array of drinks to choose from, such as beer, wine and cocktails.

Since the lounge was facing the other side, there was a good view of the city and the surrounding flyovers.

Luis Felipe Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon were served. Chile’s leading family owned and operated winery, founded in 1976 by Luis Felipe Edwards Sr. Winery located in the family’s estate in the renowned Colchagua Valley. Both the red wine and white wine were palatable. The white wine was chilled in ice while the red wine was served at room temperature. I also tried the Cuba Libre which was decent and the Highball which can be skipped. The Highball was served with several ice cubes so when they melted the drink became dilute. Usually, Highball is served with a single chunk of ice.

The food selection at the lounge was nice too, which is enough to feed people for dinner if they would prefer to save costs on dining out. However, we already had plans to have Haidilao for dinner so we only ate a little stuff at the lounge. The fried noodles were good.

From appetisers, salad to main course and desserts, it was filling to make a full meal. On a Friday evening, we were quite early at the lounge so we could have a good seat with a nice scenery. By the time people started strolling in around 6pm when the cocktail hour starts, there were not many window seats left.

The next morning, we went down around 9am to Makan Kitchen on Level One for breakfast. Breakfast is served from 6.30am to 10.30am daily. For members, they could also have breakfast at the Executive lounge, but they only serve a continental one. We went to the Makan Kitchen as they had a wider selection.

There was a wide selection of food at the breakfast buffet, from the three main kitchens – Chinese, Malay and Indian. From roti prata to nasi lemak to mee soto, laksa, chinese noodle soup, dim sum and the standard egg station, there is lots of food for everyone to choose from.

A special station was the Teh tarik station, where the staff made the “pulled tea” freshly. There was also a freshly brewed coffee option, or you can take it from the coffee machine, with options such as espresso, latte, cappucino etc.

On the last day, we checked out the pool but didn’t swim in it as we did not pack our swimming gear along. The pool was big enough to do laps and not too crowded even though it was the weekend. The pool is located on Level 13.

Views from the poolside included this church.

At Level 13, there was also an Italian restaurant named Tosca. Based on Google and TripAdvisor reviews, this restaurant has received high ratings. We did not have a chance to dine at this restaurant but perhaps we could have a meal here on our next trip to JB. This place is suitable to hold birthday celebrations or on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day.

Overall, we had an enjoyable stay at Doubletree Hilton. There were also additional perks of being a Hilton Gold member. While the price of the hotel fluctuates according to peak and off-peak season, we paid about RM700 per night, while the following week the price dropped to RM450. So do book early for your stay here if your plans are firm.