storewanderer wrote: ↑June 15th, 2023, 10:52 pm
veteran+ wrote: ↑June 15th, 2023, 9:33 am
Hilton is one of the worst hotel chains in America. I am generously not including their "luxury properties".
I successfully received a $2000.00 refund for my stay in Denver recently. Never again will I give them another chance (I will book with their upscale locations).
Many hotel chains have not come out of the pandemic well. Hilton, in particular some of its brands, specifically "Hilton" US and "Hilton Garden Inn" US seem to have become quite troubled. "Doubletree" has been troubled for years with some excellent properties and some that should not have the brand. It seems now "Hilton" and "Hilton Garden Inn" are in the same spot as Doubletree. Though in the case of Hilton Garden Inn I'm afraid there are more marginal or terrible properties post-COVID than excellent ones. I also received significant service recovery (refund+additional compensation) out of a horrible stay at a suburban Denver property. I guess some hotels play a little game where they act like they don't have a general manager- first time I ever encountered that- when asking for one when at the hotel. Until filling out a negative survey after leaving then magically there is indeed a general manager who immediately sends a generic apology e-mail, but then "isn't available" when you call the hotel 3 minutes after receiving said generic apology. The management company who owned the hotel handled the service recovery/additional compensation after I contacted them directly. The worst part was that property had a 4.5/5 on Trip Advisor and also around a 4.2 on Google Maps and that was all I looked at before booking it. I was familiar with the location, had driven by it multiple times, great neighborhood, quiet-ish location, but once inside wow that was one of the filthiest rooms I've ever received, sleep quality was poor, odd odor/HVAC noises all night, was told could not move rooms despite the hotel seeming dead (I think they had an entire floor out of service or possibly housing long term tenants who were entering/exiting via staircase only and did not have vehicles). I did not bother to actually read that more recent reviews were very negative so that was my fault for booking the place I guess.
However I did have a nice stay at the Hilton Denver Inverness after the above disaster occurred. Aside from the terrible restaurant food and a couple spiders who came in through the ceiling vent in the middle of the night, issues I accepted and did not report, it was very good there and I'd recommend it. Also the 8 minute walk between the parking lot and the hotel room at the end of the very long corridor was a trek for sure but once in the room it was great, also super quiet.
At this point I am not loyal to any hotel brand. I'll look for the most convenient for me/newest properties/reasonable price. I have yet to try an air B&B or any such thing but I hear good things from people about them (also have heard a few horror stories, but more good than bad).
Hilton, Marriott and all of these other "major brands" are nothing more than franchises. The same issues that affect the fast food franchises affect these hotels. Inconsistent supervision and inability to hold the operator accountable. So it becomes a crapshoot to find a quality hotel. Some franchises are doing a terrible job - the Embassy Suites I just stayed at was in great physical condition, fresh clean paint, they had even painted and dusted the high rafters in the atrium which was completely new. Food service (the free breakfast including made to order omelets) was also excellent; they even used local natural eggs from Cal Poly SLO farm. But all that was negated by the fact that they completely failed to staff housekeeping. They were still running the same Hilton chain BS program of "optional housekeeping because our guests like privacy and health and safety" but the front desk apologized and said they're short staffed so they can offer fresh towels etc. but nobody can come clean the rooms. Basically they maintain just enough housekeeping to clean the rooms when they turn.
Another Hilton property that I used to frequent was a newer Hampton near Solvang. This hotel was newer, very well run, nice facility with very high ceilings in the rooms and excellent insulation (no noise comes in). But I stopped going there because suddenly the operator has decided that pricing is going to be $399 a night on the weekends! I stayed there less than two years ago, during the reopening period after COVID and it was around $150 a night with no junk fees. What in the world would justify this location going from $150 to $399 a night? Obviously franchisee greed. They'd rather have half their rooms sit empty and use less labor, utilities etc.
But I've heard all the same problems are happening at the Marriott family of hotels too. And I've never seen so many hotels swapping banners and hotel networks than in the last 18 months either. The staffing excuse is poor at best because many of the lowest end Motel 6 and other hotels have closed or been acquired by the state for transitional housing; obviously a waste of government money when you look at how much they're paying (some of these motels are selling for over half a million a room to the state; they still need millions in construction costs after - buying a brand new house elsewhere like the far Inland Empire would be cheaper!) but the personnel can move to other hotels as the overall available room count goes down. Unfortunately this turns into a double-whammy: we are paying for the state actions, and we are also paying the price in higher hotel costs since there is far less competition now.
What has surprised me the most is that the most reliable hotel operator I can think of off the top of my head is MGM Resorts in Las Vegas. Housekeeping every single day without fail. The rooms are clean and better maintained than they were pre-covid and parking is free if you have even the 2nd lowest tier loyalty card (which is a topic I'm not going to get into other than it's a lot easier to earn than a free night at Hilton or Marriott these days). Prior to COVID you were basically gambling if you booked anywhere except a high end property like Bellagio or Venetian; now it seems that they're going out of their way to provide a clean and safe experience at everything but the "low end" hotels (Excalibur, Luxor, etc.). I've stayed at Park MGM in a nice freshly remodeled strip view room, smoke free hotel for $27 a night (yes the junk resort fees and taxes basically take that to about $90, but I challenge you to find that quality of hotel in a major destination for that price). I find myself visiting Las Vegas far more often now than the California coast I love so much because of unreliable hotels.
So really at this point nothing is reliable other than really closely reading recent guest reviews on reliable sites if you're looking at a hotel you haven't stayed at before. The sign outside is meaningless.
