Hilton Hotels

PM_Mama00 · #1 07-03-2007, 11:00 AM

My parents said they had a bad experience with the ones in Niagara Falls. And now our experience here at the Staten Island Hilton has been less than great.

First they told us that our rooms that we originally had had a leak in it so they gave us two other rooms that were not ajoining. My mom bitched and last night the girl says that they didn't give them to us because they were having problems programming the doors. Riiiight. So now we're in our rooms we were supposed to be in and there seems to be no problem. Except..... the damn outlet next to the bed doesn't work, and the clock is plugged into an outlet BEHIND the bed. So the only working outlet in the room is near the desk. And our view? The lovely air shafts. Solid cement wall with lovely machinery. Not to mention we are here for a wedding in which some of these rooms are on the wedding block. Nice.

So is it just us or has anyone else had a problem with Hilton hotels?

jitterbug13 · #2 07-03-2007, 11:15 AM

My parents and I had a major problem with Hilton hotels when we visited Virginia Beach two years ago.

My mother and I went to our regional conference and stayed at the Doubletree (also owned by Hilton). We booked our rooms in February for a non-smoking room. We get there in the middle of June and they tell us they could not honor our request and we were stuck in a smoking room. Our alegries acted up and my mother got an eye infection. She has to spend a part of her vacation at Emericare.

Also, my line sisters, other sorors in my chapter and I ate at the resturant at the Hilton. We waited forever to get our orders, than forever to get a drink and also forever to get our food. It was packed that night and since almost every resturant in Virginia Beach closed by 10 p.m. we were stuck.

Both of those experiences had me so mad that I wanted to find Paris' number to complain. I know she has little to do with what the company does, but you get my drift.

axidgl · #3 07-03-2007, 11:31 AM

The Hilton in Jacksonville, FL was one of the worst. It took them almost an hour and a half to get us checked in, and they had given us a smoking room when we had requested non-smoking.

The we had asked for (and had already paid a good amount for the shuttle plus parking for a week) a shuttle at 9am the next morning to us get to the dock for our cruise. We arrive at 8:45am (as advised) but unfortunately for us, The Hilton apparently never contacted the shuttle line for us. We kept waiting around as they kept saying they would come. At 10 am the airport shuttle arrived and offered to take us. The concierge (if she even deserved that title) said no, they couldn't take us, that there was another family waiting to go to the airport.

We ended up driving to the dock and had to pay to park there after waiting for 3 hours for the shuttle that never came...that the Hilton CONTINUED to promise would arrive momentarily (but she never made any attempt to contact the shuttle company, the airport shuttle driver was the one who tried to get us in). We were (finally) refunded our shuttle and parking fee after many many calls to Hilton. I don't think we will be doing business with them anytime soon again.

_Lisa_ · #4 07-03-2007, 11:54 AM

I recently stayed in a Hilton in Saint John, New Brunswick & my only complaint was that we had to pay $18 CAD/night to park the car in the hotel parking garage. It was for business, so the company paid for it, but I thought it was a bit absurd considering there was nowhere else to park in the area-so it was your only option. And I almost forgot, the parking garage was also used for the local shopping center, so sometimes you'd come back to the hotel & the parking garage would be full & we'd have to park several blocks uptown, all the while still paying the parking garage fee on the hotel bill.

Other than that, our stay was very nice, and they had "business" floors that gave us a bit more privacy, free wireless internet access, quiet, and a great view of the bay/city.

ZTAngel · #5 07-03-2007, 12:04 PM

I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn by UCF about 2 months ago and I had a great experience. The rooms were very, very clean which is huge coming from me since I'm OCD about cleanliness. The staff was friendly. Also, the price was very good.

honeychile · #6 07-03-2007, 12:10 PM

It's been such a long time since I've stayed at a decent Hilton, I actually cancelled my Hilton-based Amex (after collecting the mileage, of course).

The two I stayed at were "boutique hotels" - one in Baltimore, one in DC. You couldn't possibly swing the proverbial cat in either room, among other things. One had a freon problem, and I had to change rooms mid-visit, an STILL didn't get a decent room. One didn't even have a closet!

The days of the cachet of the Hilton name are over - sadly. I'll take a Westin any day.

PM_Mama00 · #7 07-03-2007, 12:11 PM

My cousin, who is getting married here (and paying a lot for the wedding) told us to talk to a certain lady at the desk and she was very accommodating. She sent someone up to move our bags to our new room. The room is clean although I just noticed a questionable stain on one of the comforters... ew. Free internet access, so I can't complain. It was just an inconvenience to have them lie to us when we had booked our reservation over a month ago. I forgot to add that they also had our reservation screwed up so it's a good thing we called to confirm. They had ours mixed up with my brother's and the days were screwed up.

You'd think with such a popular name, they'd have their hotels' shit together.

AlphaFrog · #8 07-03-2007, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

You'd think with such a popular name, they'd have their hotels' shit together.

The name has nothing to do with it. In the end, you're still at the mercy of someone at the desk who's probably making just better than min. wage, which is probably an indication of their aptitude. If the Hiltons themselves were handling the day-to-day at each hotel, you might expect them to earn their salaries.

Kevin · #9 07-03-2007, 12:18 PM

The Skirvin-Hilton in OKC is fantastic. They just opened a completely refurbished 1920's hotel in the middle of downtown OKC, right across the street from the Bricktown entertainment district.

http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hote...ahoma/index.do

The place was built at the height of Oklahoma's oil boom. Everything which could be preserved or restored was. The place is spectacular. It was built with over $20 million in public assistance, so it'd better be nice.

I've heard nothing but good things about the service, cleanliness, etc. If anyone here gets "stuck" in OKC, this is the place to stay.

honeychile · #10 07-03-2007, 12:20 PM

Re: hotel bedspreads

I don't know if this is a national law or not, but I had a layover with someone who works in the industry. She told me that hotel bedspreads only need to be cleaned once every three months!! She had her own blankets with her, and warned me to take the bedspread off at every hotel I do to.

Trust me, I do!

AlwaysSAI · #11 07-03-2007, 12:23 PM

The Hilton hotels are just awful. Let's leave it at that.

ZTAngel · #12 07-03-2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

Re: hotel bedspreads

I don't know if this is a national law or not, but I had a layover with someone who works in the industry. She told me that hotel bedspreads only need to be cleaned once every three months!! She had her own blankets with her, and warned me to take the bedspread off at every hotel I do to.

Trust me, I do!

Actually, I've heard that the high-end hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, etc. clean their comforters every 3 months. The middle tier hotels such as the Hilton, Marriott, etc. clean their comforters every 6 months. I believe the law is every 6 months but the high-end hotels will clean them every 3 months. In other words, never use the comforter when at a hotel!

AlphaFrog · #13 07-03-2007, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Actually, I've heard that the high-end hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, etc. clean their comforters every 3 months. The middle tier hotels such as the Hilton, Marriott, etc. clean their comforters every 6 months. I believe the law is every 6 months but the high-end hotels will clean them every 3 months. In other words, never use the comforter when at a hotel!

That's gross. And I don't understand it either. It's not like they get high-quality comforters that need to be dry cleaned or any special care. Throw it in the wash machine with the sheets for Christ's sake.

AlwaysSAI · #14 07-03-2007, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

Actually, I've heard that the high-end hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, etc. clean their comforters every 3 months. The middle tier hotels such as the Hilton, Marriott, etc. clean their comforters every 6 months. I believe the law is every 6 months but the high-end hotels will clean them every 3 months. In other words, never use the comforter when at a hotel!

I am never staying in a hotel ever agian. That is disgusting. Just gross. Ewww.

KSig RC · #15 07-03-2007, 12:48 PM

I would guess that I stay in mid- to upper-tier hotels more than most (which is NOT a good thing) . . . Hilton's properties really aren't any different, in my experience, from Starwood (Westin) or Marriott properties. By this I mean that my average stay at each is about the same, and I've had problems ranging from minor to severe at all of them - it's really a location problem, and if it's endemic then it's endemic to the entire hospitality industry.

Hotels are gross, kids - make no mistake. It doesn't matter if you're at the Library in NYC or the Courtyard Inn in Shawnee Mission, KS, quite honestly. I'm quite happy to have a neutral experience at this point.