Embassy Suites by Hilton Syracuse Destiny USA — Attraction in City of Syracuse

First they assigned us to a room occupied by someone else. We were trying to enter our assigned room and a large man opens the door from the inside asking us what we were doing. We were absolutely mortified.

After apologizing profusely the front desk gave us keys for the next room they assigned us that also did not work. Neither did the room after that, or the one after THAT!

After arriving 45 minutes late to our 2 hour event that we drove down from Toronto to attend, we returned to the hotel to find that our desk lamp didn't work.

In the middle of the night the fire alarm went off for about 25 minutes prompting everybody to leave the building into the parking lot. It was a false alarm.

In spite of the management offering us a late checkout and insisting that they made notes in the account, two people came by to interrupt us, one at 8:30 in the morning and again at 10:00 a.m. to ask us when we were leaving.

The absolute icing on the cake was that there was NO air conditioning. The room was extremely warm and had no air circulation. In the middle of the night at 4:30 a.m. I was trying to switch rooms. Two other rooms and neither of them had air conditioning. When I brought this to the attention of the front desk, the front desk manager with a short dark beard and glasses glibly asserted that they are part of some kind of low impact environmental program, as if to Virtue signal at me. I responded that if I wanted to participate in an eco-friendly experience I would have stayed in a log cabin, and that for $300 a night I expect air conditioning. As it stands one of the other staff informed us that the air conditioning controls are locked out by the management from the management office which means this was really just a cheap excuse to save a couple dollars at the expense of the comfort and well-being of their guests. Certainly not in the HILTON mission statement.

Finally, when we asked for a discount, given all the things that had transpired, (even other staff members who were privy to what we had been through were at the front desk advocating for us) we were told that a manager would get back to us but was unfortunately/conveniently in a meeting at that moment. We left our number and no one ever called to follow up. (Its been 8 days now) BEYOND unprofessional and embarrassing.

We will NEVER stay at another HILTON or HILTON associated property ever again. As nice as the rest of the staff was, this was a professional embarrassment. I will also be sure to inform everybody I ever encounter for the rest of my life to avoid HILTON properties while traveling, and that the reputation of their brand is at best inconsistent and certainly a suckers bet.

RESPONSE TO OWNER"S RESPONSE:

What will those 'necessary adjustments' consist of? Turning the Air conditioning back on? If you were too cheap to have it on in the first place, I doubt this review will change your mind. Learning how to properly book rooms and encode room keys? One would think that is the BARE MINIMUM for operating a hotel, like expecting a bartender to pour liquid into a glass. Coaching your front desk staff to NOT offer assanine excuses like 'we're participating in an eco-friendly program' in a transparent attempt to excuse your poor practices?

Meanwhile, the only meaningful compensation, a reduction in the $300+ charge has yet to be forthcoming. We still have neither received a follow up call nor any kind of refund or discount for the trouble we endured at the hands of your greed and ineptitude.

You are more than happy to keep our money even though you failed to provide any measure of service promised by or expected of the HILTON brand. Your words are as meaningless and empty as your promise of hospitality (and a follow up phone call) I'm not surprised; anybody in a position of authority who cowers behind the 'in a meeting' excuse clearly isn't the type to take any real responsibility.

This will be the last $300 that you and HILTON will steal from us and anyone else who reads...

We stayed here for 2 nights during labor day weekend. We come every year from Montreal to the Syracuse area for the New York State Fair, to eat and shop around. We usually opt for lower budget hotels like a Comfort Inn style and staying at the Embassy Suites was definitely a splurge. The rooms were very expensive for this holiday weekend understandly, however the experience was far better.

This hotel is in a prime area, right infront of the Destiny USA mall, plenty of free parking and acess to the shuttles if you want to go to the fair. The hotel itself has grand entrance, beautiful modern lobby with stylish furniture, a waterfall, some plants and lots of natural light. There is a restaurant/bar on site called Salt City Eatery which also doubles as the breakfast area.

We booked online and were able to check ourselves in through the Hilton app. You can choose your exact room based on what is available and get a digital key to access your room without needing to speak to anyone at front desk or wait in line. We stayed in room 429 which is a corner suite, 2 queen beds and a separate living room with pull out couch. The bathroom was very spacious and featured 2 doors allowing entrance from either the living room or bedroom area.

There was a tv in both the living and bedroom areas. There living room also features a small bar with sink, mini fridge and microwave. Having a corner suite means that you get a better views and more light - there are 2 huge windows in the living room and 1 in the bedroom. We found the area to be a bit noisy during the day with the traffic of cars but once the mall closed and the parking lot emptied, it was very quiet. We chose a room closest to the mall and away from the highway.

The room was a bit more basic than I was expecting, some of the furniture had stains - and the general color and vibe was grey. The mattress was too soft to my liking and caved in a bit, I actually took the sheets apart and flipped it over - I was able to sleep more comfortably on a less "used" area.

However I loved how spacious the room was, the ceilings are very high, the ac is a central unit that worked wonderfully. Best part for me staying here was the complimentary breakfast buffet and evening reception. The breakfast offered made to order omelettes, you can select any type of egg you want, otherwise they had ready made scrambled eggs, either french toast or waffles, sausage, bacon, cereal, a variety of breads, bagels, english muffins, cakes, yogourt and fresh fruit. Everything was delicious and fresh. On weekends, the breakfast is served until 11 otherwise weekdays it goes until 9:30. I loved that I didn't have to rush on the weekend, other hotels cut it off much sooner.

Starting at 5:30PM to 7PM, there is an evening reception in the lobby, each guest is given a card with grants you 2 complimentary drinks. There is a selection of wine, beer otherwise spirit of your choice to get a mixed alcohohic drink. There are small snacks and appetizers as well. Crackers, pretzels, salsa, tuna dip, pasta salad, seafood salad, nachos, bite size cheesecakes etc. This was a real treat.

We also got to experience the indoor pool however it is very small and the water was murky, not very appealing when we went.

Overall the size of the rooms, location, food and general experience was very favorable. There are some small improvements they can do like upkeep the furniture as we noticed the lobby sofas had some rips, the fake leather was peeling everywhere. These should be replaced as it is very noticeable and makes it look "cheap".

If you are looking for a hotel that delivers more in terms of food and experience, Embassy Suites is a great choice but if you want to save your money you can find many other basic hotels at...

We’ve stayed at Embassy Suites many times at many different locations. We’ve even stayed at this location once or twice before. While the reasons are certainly first world and not third world, our experience has led my spouse to say that we won’t stay at this location again!

As with many hotels looking to increase their profit margin by decreasing (or keeping decreased services after COVID) there was no housekeeping. But that was just the start of multiple silly issues.

The pool was frigid to the point of being unenjoyable. The was after having to get a time slot and going to get a special key to get into the pool during that time slot. If you’re traveling with kids, pools matter. This is one of the reasons families choose Embassy Suites. Tickets were required for all amenities. My spouse went to the bar to get a soda during the manager’s reception and was questioned because he didn’t have the ticket. (Also, while we don’t drink alcohol, I heard someone else being told that they were limited to two drinks.) There were no plates on the breakfast bar, this was mentioned to one of the staff, but they were too busy worrying about tickets to go and get or notify someone that plates were needed. Also, there was no silverware, just plastic take out packets. While I don’t want to see food wasted the buffets were rather scant. (And again tickets were of the utmost importance.) We had a room with a king sized bed and the sheets were too small to stay on the bed. By the morning we were sleeping half on the mattress pad and half on the sheets . The king size pillows, while great pillows, stuck out of the standard sized pillow case that were put on them. The pull out couch had only one sheet and the blanket was nasty. It was old fabric that had to be pulled apart to spread it out. The pull out couch had a large stain on it that did not look like any attempt had been made to clean it.

Again, these are certainly first world concerns, but we’ve never stayed at an Embassy Suites with the same or so many issues. Sure there’s been something here or there, but we’re all human and everyone was striving for the best experience for each guest. The management at this hotel needs to take a systematic approach to looking at how they’re providing for their customers.

We will certainly stay at Embassy Suites again, but it is unlikely that it will ever be at...