Hilton gives guests tour of newly refurbished rooms

THE completion of the refurbishment of the Hilton Petaling Jaya’s guest rooms, meeting facilities and ballroom were marked with a corporate cocktail event themed “Hilton Petaling Jaya 2.0” last Thursday.

As part of the experience, guests and media alike were treated to tours of the hotel’s newly-renovated rooms and its executive lounge, while the cocktail itself was held in the pillarless Kristal ballroom.

In his opening speech, Hilton PJ’s general manager, Peter Webster said the refurbishment of the hotel was important in maintaining the hotel’s relevance and competitiveness in the market.

Since opening in 1984, the hotel has since become one of the landmarks in Petaling Jaya’s city centre, and serves as a popular destination in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry.

The refurbishment of the rooms and other facilities took two years, to the tune of over RM50mil.

However, this is not the end as Webster added that there were other works in place, such as repainting the the exterior of Hilton PJ, which is currently in progress.

Webster added that the refurbishment of the hotel’s lobby is due to start in the third quarter of 2013, while 2014 will see Hilton’s three restaurants - Paya Serai (all-day dining), Genji (Japanese cuisine) and Toh Yuen (Chinese cuisine) getting a new look as well.

The latter two refurbishment works are estimated to cost between RM3-5mil.

“The rooms had to be refurbished in four phases, so sometimes guests were put into a refurbished room at first. But on their later visits, were booked into room that was not refurbished yet.”

“We got comments from guests specifying that they wanted a renovated room. But I can guarantee that all the rooms are ‘new’ now,” Webster said.

Indeed, the interior of the hotel, barring the lobby area, are now done up in earth and metal tones, which give off an air of understated luxury in keeping with Hilton PJ’s five-star status.

The 554 rooms themselves also underwent extensive reworking, with whole portions actually demolished and rebuilt and the rooms’ furniture undergoing a sea change to fit the hotel’s new interior design.

“I have overseen numerous hotel renovations, but there has never been anything as extensive or thorough as this,” Webster added.