Dear Hilton Hotels

I recently had the displeasure of staying at your downtown Austin (Texas) location. It’s not that the hotel wasn’t gorgeous, or clean, or that room service didn’t bring me the most amazing burger that I have ever had in my life… It’s everything else that comes with a hotel stay.

I’m not going to mention how much the room cost because you already know that.  I booked an executive suite to guarantee a room on the top floor.  I am a photographer and wanted to get some shots of downtown at night and I specifically chose the Hilton because it was the tallest hotel in the city and also because I am an avid Hilton customer. It has always been my #1 choice when traveling.

The young lady who booked my reservation was very kind, and did everything she could to fulfill my wishes. However, she knew I had puppies and therefore should have known that those suites were not available to those who have pets.  Unfortunately, this was not brought to my attention until I arrived.

Speaking of arrival, after driving 4 hours we¹ arrived at your hotel only to discover that in order to park our car in your parking garage we would be required to pay $18.49 per night.  So, after already paying hundreds, I  suppose you figured “what’s another 20 dollars to park?”. Of course, once a person is at the hotel and sees that there is no other viable choice to go with their vehicle they are pretty much stuck paying for your parking.  Pretty nice trick there.

Once inside checking in, DH was informed that we would have to be moved four floors down to the level below the suites because of the furry girls.  We acquiesced though we were not happy. We then had to dish out some more money to have the girls stay with us.  We were charged  over $75 when we were told originally that it would be $50 for the pet fee. As if the already overpriced room didn’t cover that.² We also had to ask for the complimentary pet items that supposedly came for free with the room.

Anyway, we unloaded everything and took the long hike into the hotel. The hotel is gorgeous, I won’t deny that. Although,having the elevators closer to where you come out from the parking trap would be nice, but I won’t complain about that. We took the long ride up to our floor and finally arrived at our room.  It was a lot smaller than expected, especially for what we were being charged.

I got comfortable, took off my shoes and sat down to check my email and what do you know, Hilton charges $6.99 per hour to use their internet. When we called to ask about it, we were told we could use the internet for free … in the lobby.  DH was beyond livid and announced that we would never again stay at a Hilton.  It is ludicrous and almost unfathomable that such a high class hotel feels the need to charge for something that is free almost anywhere you go in the world.  In this day and age it is absolutely inexcusable for Hilton to charge for internet service, especially if you consider the premium price that was paid for the stay.

After stewing over that for a bit, we realized that the room also did not have a refrigerator. Naturally, DH called to find out about that and the lovely lady at the front desk said she would bring us one… for $25.

That night, no one slept well.  Our air conditioner was malfunctioning all night. We eventually ended up having to set it to 52 degrees to feel any kind of coolness.

Needless to say, we left the next morning.

I am currently staying at a La Quinta Inns & Suites. I will assume you don’t consider them to be your competition but you should.  We paid three times less for a room that is nearly double the size of yours. They welcome pets, just like you do, except here it’s free.  Granted the view is not spectacular (although yours ended up not being good either) there is no minibar (however there is a vending machine that cost about half of what your mini bar did) there is no delicious room service (but there is a Waffle House across the parking lot, which is about how far it is from your parking garage to the room elevators), the same breakfast you charged us $32 for was available for free, the air conditioner worked perfectly, there is a complimentary refrigerator and microwave and to top it all off, the mother of all complimentary services … FREE INTERNET.

I think it goes without saying that I doubt I will be a Hilton patron from here on. My choice will be to stay at a hotel that actually wants me as a customer, with all the comforts of home included in the cost.

PS – Since writing this post, I have had the pleasure of staying at 3 more LaQuinta Inns & Suites and each visit only got better. Each time we were upgraded to a suite, and each suite was better than the simple room they gave us at the Hilton for a third of the cost. It goes without saying what my new first choice for lodging will be from now on.

1. DH, 2 dogs (1 with a conehead) and I [↩]
2. let me add that we had never been asked to pay a pet fee to stay at a Hilton. And we have stayed at MANY throughout the years [↩]

Tagged as: austin, bad customer service, breakfast, customer service, food, hotel, lodging, mini bar, out and about, photography, room service, Texas, the girls, vacation, waffle house