Before I go any further, let me be clear; I love Hilton Hotels and the brand in general. I belong to their loyalty club and have multi-years of Diamond status. Because of my loyalty and my frequency of using them, I know that some Hilton Hotels can and should be better. Each hotel is a franchise, the same way that McDonald’s are. They are often owned and operated by a local franchisee, so there are some differences between same level Hilton hotels. This is not about those differences.
With the Hilton in Stamford, Connecticut I’ll start with the positives. It’s a large conference hotel, so if you want to hold a big company meeting here, they’ve got the rooms for that.
They have a beautiful pool and a nice fitness room
There are a lot of attributes that make this a nice hotel, but there are some things that make me wonder if they really care about the guests. So, let’s get to what I really didn’t like.
- The rugs on the floors where the rooms were.
The rug was permanently discolored and there were these two feet silhouettes. Did someone spray paint around someone standing there? How does that happen? And why does the Stamford Hilton leave that?
A stained and raised seam that could trip someone, and it looks disgusting up close. If I owned/managed this hotel I would never allow something like that.
In the bathroom the shower walls were concrete and the plug for the drain was out and not able to be re-inserted. Not that I wanted to take a bath, but someone might. How about some nice tile or a full bath surround on those walls. I felt like I was showering in prison. (Not that I would know about prison showers!)
And the cherry on the top of the feeling that the hotel didn’t care about the rooms was this:
The cabinet in the bathroom covered with either toothpaste, or cleaning stuff. At least we know that they might have cleaned the room once.
Lastly, the hotel did not have a pantry and is not located within walking distance of anything. If you want a snack in your room, or something other than the hotel’s restaurant fare, you have to bring it or go take your car out of the parking garage and drive somewhere.
Hilton Hotels, if you are reading this, please hire me to visit your franchised hotels anonymously and give objective reviews and recommendations so that you can have the customers satisfaction at the forefront of your brands reputation.
I’m starting to think that maybe my blog should be focused on northeast business travel, which is exciting to exactly no one. I’d like to review some fun places too. To that end, I’ll have a good hotel story from somewhere sunny and warm for you on Saturday, and next week I’m heading to sunny Florida. Have a great week and safe travels! ~Phil
