Highline Vail - a DoubleTree by Hilton — Attraction in Vail

DON’T DO IT!!! Worst stay I’ve ever had at a Hilton or any hotel in general. Terrible front desk team, not friendly or polite. Tried to check in early and was told “that’s not something we do.” I work in the industry for a different company as does my partner and both of our companies allow early check in. Was told to come back closer to 4pm which is standard check in time. Asked for them to hold our bag and had to carry it ourselves and put it in the room. I work front desk and this is NOT okay. My property doesn’t have a bellman and I carry the guest bags and store them all the time, that should not be on the guests to do. Came back a little before 4 and was told the room should be done in about 5 minutes, just needed to be inspected. Sat down close to the desk and waited over 20 minutes past check in. This was a trip for our anniversary and I noted it in the comments section of our reservation. They didn’t acknowledge it or do anything for it which was also a terrible start. Got to the room and it was right across from the elevator and ice machine and had a terrible view of their HVAC system. Called down immediately to try to move and was rudely told they were fully booked and would call if something came up. The room was disgusting. The longer we were in there the more we noticed. Stains/discoloration in the floor, dirty baseboards under the ac unit, torn leather chair with a gross dark stain on the seat, dusty lamps, dirty remote, dirty bathroom floor that was also wet by the sink, the top layer of the desk/dresser was chipped and peeling away and looked like it had water damage, the wallpaper by the sink had a big stain, there was a Bobby pin in the corner of the bathroom that housekeeping missed(not mine because I don’t use them), and so many other little things. The room next to us kept banging around and we could feel it on the headboard. Someone decided to get ice at 5am which woke us and sounded so loud like it was coming from the closet right next to the bed. Constant noise from the elevator also kept us up and woke us multiple times. Couldn’t move rooms because we were already told they were full so why bother saying the room is disgusting when I’ll get the same rude responses. Wasn’t able to use our Gold status food credit because the restaurant that they advertise isn’t associated so you can’t charge things to your room, it’s just a small lobby bar or their market that you can use the credit on. At check out it looked like the name tag of the lady working said general manager and she didn’t even ask how our stay was or anything. I couldn’t even try to complain to her because she just didn’t seem to care and the rest of the front desk staff was terrible too so I wasn’t able to get anything resolved. Overall such a terrible experience especially being one of their higher tiered member. Working in the industry and knowing how things work has given me high expectations and they really did fail. The only good thing about it was the nice shuttle driver that took us to dinner in town. So sad I waisted rewards points and money...

Where to start

Everyone has been polite. The normal Hilton employee attitude. However, the communication between employees is not as expected.

We drove from Denver to get away for the evening. Our checkin went great and Summer was very kind. We were not recognized as Hilton Honors Gold members as other Hiltons normally do. While this isn’t a huge issue, is has come expected because it’s typically the normal. The cookies were not fresh. Another let down, however, not too serious.

How room was the typical hotel room. Clean and well taken care of. The hotel does have a 70s feel with the sense of a recent renovation.

Our first issue. We took a shuttle to Vail Village. We stayed about 3 hours. The paper the front desk gave us for instructions on how to request a shuttle return to the hotel is vague and doesnt exactly assist guests with their questions. We were told to call for a shuttle back to the hotel. We called the hotel and request directions on where the pick up point was. We were told there were signs saying, “Hotel Shuttle Bus Pickup” which is just not the case. I contacted the hotel again and we were told to go to the Transportation Pickup. This was also not the case. That location is for City buses only. After waiting for a shuttle for almost an hour and witnessing other hotels picking up at a nearby location, we decided to wait. We called the hotel for the 4th time and explained we were still waiting for a pickup. Guest services explained the shuttle ran consistently until 10pm, however, when we called to ask why the shuttle hadn’t ran in about an hour, a new person told us we had to call and request a pickup.

Issue number two. We called to order dinner. Chicken wings and Pizza. That front desk transferred us to the restaurant. We placed our order and was told the front would contact us when our food was ready. 40 minutes went by and we decided to walk down and check on our order. Once we arrived downstairs we found our food waiting at the bar across from the snack bar area. I asked how long our food has been waiting and they bartender, who explained they were closing, said it had been ready for 20 minutes. I asked why we weren’t contacted he explained someone should’ve. The pizza and wings were cold yet we were still charged.

This seems it could be an isolated experience since the hotel has amazing reviews but I would recommend better communication between employees. Also, shuttle drivers should have direct communication with guests to allow for a seamless experience while visiting.

Thank you.

-Joe and...

Basically it's a beautiful hotel but the walls are super thin and it's annoyingly run by corporate rules rather than practical human consideration.

I chose this hotel solely because the decor is great. Found a nice deal online but called the listed phone number to see if they would match it. I guess they do all their booking through some generic Hilton company service because the lady I spoke to sounded like she was in a call center; nice but completely bound by bureaucratic rules and unable to actually help.

Got the room through the third party, the lobby and everything is legitimately gorgeous and well-designed if you're into that aesthetic. The first room I got I could tell was not going to work right away because of the crystal clear sounds of an unhappy dog yapping, small child shreiking and stomping, and parents talking to each other. The door between the rooms was so flimsy I could hear exactly what they were saying and the tones of their voices. Went back downstairs and got switched no problem, this time quiet neighbors but you could still hear pretty much everything in the hallway. I think the doors are just extremely thin. And the balcony still overlooked McDonald's (not very atmospheric) but the light wasn't shining in as bright as the other room which was nice.

The actual rooms amenities where wonderful and cozy.

However I was startled awake at 9:20am by what I think was housekeeping knocking on my door? By the time I stumbled out of bed and put clothes on whoever it was was gone, but I was awake and groggy but couldn't fall back asleep. Which sucks since the only reason I got the hotel in the first place was desperately needing a good night's sleep because the sun kept waking me up early in my camper car.

So I don't know why housekeeping would need to come in if I'm only staying one night, or maybe it was someone in the hallway, but it was so loud and clear it almost doesn't matter either way because the experience sucked.

Four stars because it's beautiful, clean, not too expensive, good location near restaurants, kind staff, and has all the things you expect a nice hotel to have. Minus one star for thin walls and bureaucratic nonsense. Oh yeah, and the bathtub was super shallow but I'll file that in with...