I'm a big fan of the Hilton hotel chain. I travel a lot for work and always try to book a Hilton hotel, generally gravitating to Hampton Inns and Hilton Garden Inns. I particularly like Hilton Garden Inns because they have memory foam beds, so I sleep really well. After a nearly five hour drive, I was looking forward to checking in at this hotel.
Unfortunately, my greeting was terrible. I arrived at the front desk and saw the young lady. She did greet me and I told her that I needed to check in. She took my name and confirmed my details. She then proceeded into a long winded explanation about how their credit card system had been down all day and did I have another form of payment? Who pays with anything but a credit card these days? I was flabbergasted. I told her that it was a business trip and a business card, which was saved to my online profile. Did I mention that I'm a Hilton Honors member? That wasn't even acknowledged, by the way. The first time ever that hasn't happened. I informed her that I had no cash. She then explains that they had an electrical fire (just what a guest wants to hear) and that their Wi-fi and credit card system had been spotty...yadda, yadda, yadda. Then she says something about charges are run at check-out in the morning so they would try the card then. So why ask me for an alternate form of payment? She then hands me my keys and says my room number, and that's it. I had to ask where the elevators were, and the gym before heading to my room.
The room itself was nice. Clean and quiet. As mentioned, I'm a fan of the memory foam mattress. I didn't want to get up in the morning. The bathroom was updated with a nice glass shower but I only had hot water for a portion of my shower. Fortunately I was hot from running on the treadmill so it didn't bother me.
The gym was pretty good for a hotel gym. I didn't have breakfast at the restaurant but I used the free coffee bar, which is a nice perk. Check out was completed quickly, with nothing being said about the credit card. He asked me how my stay was and I said, "OK." That invited no comment. To be honest, he didn't really seem like he cared beyond getting people out the door.
So I probably wouldn't stay here again. There are many hotels in the area.