Hilton Garden Inn Rochester Downtown — Attraction in City of Rochester

The employees staffing the front desk couldn't have been nicer. That was a big plus for the hotel, and the reason this isn't a two-star review.

My wife and I had problems finding the entrance to the hotel. It isn't at 155 East Main Street. Instead, the main entrance is on Stone Street. And you need to enter the city-owned "South Avenue Garage" parking deck located at 39 Stone Street. More on the parking garage later.

Our room was adequate, but showed some normal wear-and-tear that occurs with age. It was clean, as were common spaces and entryways. The bed and linens were comfortable. The room was quiet. The hotel was walking-distance from most of the attractions we wanted to visit.

During our stay, our rental car was broken into. Someone tried to steal it, bending the doorframe with a crowbar, shattering a window, and prying apart the steering column. The car was rendered undrivable. The hotel staff were quick to point out that the parking garage is not their property, nor their responsibility. I was even told that the hotel doesn't insure the garage space. This despite parking spaces being clearly labeled with permanent signs for "Hilton Garden Inn Guests". The parking garage security staff were similarly unhelpful, quickly pointing out that there's no camera monitoring the Hilton Garden Inn parking spaces, which are immediately adjacent to the office. The Rochester Police kept us on hold for nearly an hour (no exaggeration). They declined to inspect the crime scene, calling it a non-violent crime. The Police quickly gave us a "Crime Report Number", then they closed the books on our case.

On the morning that we checked out, my wife and I opted for the breakfast buffet. A young man was patrolling the dining area, wearing earbuds. At first, we didn't know that he was a hotel employee. When I was almost finished with my breakfast, he walked by and took my plate. He did the same thing to my wife just before she took her last bite. Then he dropped a check on our table. We asked him a question. He walked away without saying a word. We never heard him speak. It was apparent that he couldn't hear us, because he was listening to something else with his earbuds. That was less than ideal, but didn't really constitute a major problem when compared to the rental car fiasco.

Just to ice the cake, when we checked out of the hotel, the pass given to us by the hotel staff for exiting the garage didn't work. We had to pay $16.00 for parking. Good riddance, Rochester.

My advice to guests is -- When you check in, get photographs of the inspection certificates in the elevators of the hotel and the parking garage. The information included on those documents will identify the owners of each building. Contact them about using their insurance, if you are robbed, or if your car is damaged...

This was the most absolute worst hotel experience I've ever had in my entire life. First room stunk and had zero air conditioning. They spilt my family of four into two different rooms which were digustly dirty and old. There was a pubic hair in one of the showers. They failed to enter the fact they moved us into these rooms into there database so none of the other employees knew we were in the rooms. In the first morning, a security guard tried to enter the room my wife and 16 year old daughter were in while they were getting dressed. When I stopped him he proceeded to tell me we weren't supposed to be in those rooms and escorted me to the front desk to explain why we were in the rooms. This confusion continued for the remainder of the trip. I received calls asking why my belongings were in my room when I was supposed to have checked out. I wasn't supposed to be checked out,I had reserved 3 days on Expedia two months prior. What should have been a great trip turned into the most hectic and horrible hotel stay we've ever experienced. Stay away. ... 8/25/25 Thanks for the AI response. We could have predicted that. And the email from AI, #Patrick Stewart

Dear Franklin, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and please accept our sincerest apologies for the numerous issues you and your family encountered during your recent stay. The incident involving our security team is especially distressing, and we understand how upsetting and inappropriate that must have felt — particularly with your wife and daughter involved. This is not acceptable, and we are taking this matter extremely seriously. Guest safety, comfort, and privacy are our highest priorities, and what you experienced does not reflect the standards we hold ourselves to. We would appreciate the opportunity to connect with you directly to make things right. If you’re open to it, please contact us at the hotel with your reservation details so we can further address this matter.

Sincerely, Management Team Hilton Garden Inn...

This is the worst Hilton that I’ve ever stayed at.

The only thing that salvaged an ounce of quality was the kindness of the front desk staff. They were very helpful.

Room 611 (Suite) -Smelled thick of cigarette smoke. -Floors sticky. -No phone in the room at all. -Egressed windows looked into a wall 3 feet away. -Dark with only a few lights. -Bathroom was dirty.

We had to change rooms—no suites were clean/better than what we already saw. We downgraded to room 228.

Room 228 (King) -Mattress is old, noisy, and uncomfortable. -Only one bedside lamp—no other lights other than the entry—with an interior window. A very dim room. -Couch is broken to sit in-springs tip the seats to the middle. -Shower is grungy. -Sink was slow/nearly clogged

Room 322 (2 Queen) -Mattresses are old and uncomfortable. -Mattresses are badly stained. -Floor is stained with a large red stain in the middle of the room. -Shower is grungy. -Shampoo and conditioner bottles are empty.

Maid service entered room 228 only 1 time, and they only took out the trash. No towels, no making the bed, no cleaning.

No other cleaning service for our entire 4 night stay, despite us being gone all day each day and never posting the do not disturb. We had to call to ask for fresh towels.

All rooms look as if they haven’t been updated in decades.

Keys for both rooms were reset without notice on two occasions. Requiring us to return to the first floor desk for new keys to get into our rooms.

Our parking pass “expired” while we were in the lot on the second day of our 4 night stay. We were stuck in the exit until I went to get a new pass printed out from the front desk.

WiFi is shoddy at best, and never allowed us to use Room 228 to authorize...