Hilton Garden Inn Dallas/Arlington South — Hotel in Arlington

Overall: Average mid-range room stay that you would expect as far as room quality, cleanliness, and friendly staff. If you are visiting for a sporting event or one of the theme park great location for that being minutes away from the stadiums or parks. If you are just needing a shower and a bed might consider alternatives for the pricing.

Positive: Location was fantastic, although our stay wasn't for one of mega venues (sporting event/theme park) it is a wonderful, easy to access and easy to transition to one of those places. Property itself was well maintained, manicured, and comfortable being in its surroundings. Surrounding areas by foot or by short drive you should find it easy to find just about anything you would want, including Walmart. Room itself was cleaned with more than a quick turn around vibe. All your big points that truly matter will meet general standards.

Quarks: Mini-Mart had a list of items that are stored in the back, such as ice-crème pints. By coincidence I kept picking items they were out of stock on. Outside the drink from the cooler I struck out on anything else I was wanting to pick up from the list of items they posted. Of course, that is just something that happens especially when things are busy. Had to cycle the power source to get the TV on. The remote/ TV buttons were not working, after cycling the power source it worked for a narrow window. Had to unplug it again to turn the TV off. Cover on the A/C unit fell off when adjusting fan speed. Temperature control is on the wall thermostat but fan control is still on the unit. Room got plenty cold. You'll want to designate a towel under for under the shower door. Little things that could happen anywhere you stay.

Complaints: Breakfast was horrendous. With the understanding of Covid limiting selection so wasn’t holding grand expectations. Cold breakfast was like $6 per person- your selection came with choice of pre-packaged muffin, Cheerios or Raisin Bran cereal, small can of apple or cranberry juice, or cafeteria style carton of milk. Less than what many other less quality hotels offer as complimentary. Hot breakfast was $14 per person for sausage, bacon, eggs, biscuit/Gravy, potatoes. Gave it a benefit of the doubt since it was advertised as a restaurant buffet. Taking in account we sat down for it at mid-morning (9am) and not first thing. Breakfast was served cafeteria style. Covid precautions has been the story of life and our expectations wasn't super high to begin with but quality still failed short. Scramble eggs shy of being soup, scorched gravy, one small biscuit. Biscuit/Gravy you would imagine being the main focal point. Don’t bother asking for something more your style on the bacon/sausage over/under selection or for more gravy than what is provided. You’ll get played off with I don’t understand and you get what you get. Is what it is I suppose. Never even made it past the small portions to attempt getting any more. Warm drinks only served with warm meal, cold drinks with cold meal purchase. So hot breakfast included coffee or Keurig style tea and had to purchase cold breakfast to get a juice or anything to drink with your $14 breakfast that wasn’t coffee or tea. Better off paying for a 20oz at the mini-mart to have with your warm meal unless you are a coffee person. Everyone has specific preferences on breakfast cooking but seriously for that price though, save the trouble- IHOP is 1 mile away and the convenience over quality sure wasn't worth it in our stay. Don’t bother saying you are unsatisfied. The hostess is also working front counter and too busy bouncing back and forth to care. Pandemic/staffing shortage that many places are plagued with right now.

UPDATE: I was contacted by the General Manager and we had a sincere discussion about our experience. Reviews/Survey's are genuinely reviewed and felt like it was sincerely cared about. A promise to improve was made. Because of this follow up, I bumped the star review and will return...

We were checking in late, around 930 pm, so to avoid having to deal with the front desk I used the digital key, only to discover that to have power in your room (lights, television, etc.) you have to keep a physical room key in a reader by the door. This is the absolute most idiotic thing I've seen in a hotel. I realize the intent is to force power conservation, but guests who care about that are going to turn lights off anyway. Guests who don't want the inconvenience are just going to get an extra key and leave it in the reader their entire stay. As a shareholder, I find this a complete waste of company resources and only useful for annoying guests.

When I went to the front desk, only because I had to get a physical key, I wasn't greeted as a diamond member or offered any of the perks diamond members normally get. The perks aren't why I stay at Hiltons, but they do give a feeling that there is some care for brand loyalty.

The room was clean, but be aware the bathroom is shower only with no tub. Also, I don't expect premium toilet paper at hotels, but this was particularly thin and cheap. I recommend bring your own, it's that bad.

In the morning, the Keurig coffee maker, we thought was broken because nothing happened when we started it. 20 minutes later it suddenly started brewing the cup we had setup. In the meanwhile, we checked out the breakfast buffet which is normally free everywhere else, but is $13 here. Realize there is nothing special or different about this buffet compared to other Hilton properties like Embassy Suites, they just charge for it here. There is a made to order option, but it costs even more, and you are still sitting in a general seating lobby area like a Hampton, Embassy, or Doubletree.

Overall, a very unsatisfactory experience. As I noted above, I'm a diamond member and shareholder, so definitely not a hater, but I have to say this is the second worst Hilton I've stayed at. At least there wasn't water flooding the hallways, but then again, it...

Sleep Easy

Because of a women’s Christian conference of which I would do a book signing, I was glad to return to this chain of hotels with its impressive layout and details. Here are the pros and cons of my visit: Pros- Outside of the hotel, there are glass panels that say ‘Welcome’ in numerous languages. The lobby is spacious and visually colorful. The balance of light and color makes you feel welcome. Throughout the hotel and in the sleep areas, clean lines, balance out well used space. The dining areas, pleasant in color and space, are close to the bar, kitchen area where you order. Very nice business area located off from the main lobby. The hallways in the lobby as well as the sleep areas, are wide to allow for people in wheelchairs and luggage. A clean and nice size gym on site. The room was large, accommodating a desk area for work, small refrigerator, microwave coffee pot with needed items. Neutrogena bath samples. Mattresses provided great sleep quality. The breakfast buffet provided plenty of choices of cold and hot food. The waitress/hostess during our breakfast was very sweet making sure we had everything we needed. The conference room for the event was comfortable in temperature and kept up with fresh water and tea for the guests. One of the men that was in charge of the setup of the conference room, was very nice and assisted me with an issue providing wonderful customer service. Cons- I didn’t care for the ‘streamline’ styled luggage carts. I had to make several trips to bring in my items because the carts were so small. Some of my things would fall out of the backside of the cart. Overall: This hotel is worth returning to...