DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bakersfield — Hotel in Bakersfield

It's amazing the things people complain about. Cookies?? Really?? One idiot actually posted that would be a reason for not staying at this hotel!! A lot of other stupid, petty complaints, someone complained about the USB chargers in the wall not working. Who travels without USB cables for your devices?? People are amazing. ||Anyway this is my go to hotel in Bakersfield, I was there last weekend, I was driving from the LA area, bad weather forced me to leave much earlier than I had planned, wanted to beat the storm. Arrived in Bakersfield at about 9 am just as it began raining, called the hotel to see if by chance I could check in early. I knew it was a long shot on a Sunday morning. ||Of course I was told that check out wasn't until 12 and the room was still occupied. Oh well, I guess I was going to find a restaurant to have a long, extended breakfast or brunch. 10 minutes later I contacted the hotel again and asked if they could expedite the cleaning of my room and suggestions for a nice restaurant. Albert responded, gave me a suggestion but then told me that my room had been cleaned and I could check in now!! It was 9:30 am!! I'll take that over a cookie!!||I was a bit concerned that they may have rushed the cleaning of my room but when I arrived, it was immaculate. My room was huge, I highly suggest the junior suite, it's about 800 sq ft, full dining room table with 6 chairs and a comfy sofa. Bathroom is also huge. Love this hotel||There is one issue I had while staying there, this is the third time I've dined at the restaurant, breakfast is fine, actually very good but the two times I had dinner there were both horrible. I had the shrimp pasta dish, it was below average. During my last visit, against my better judgement, I decided to try it again since I was tired and didn't feel like going out. Ordered the steak, it was top 10 worst steaks I've ever had. Just awful, I was barely able to finish it. I've had much better steaks at Denny's.|However, bad dining and no cookies are not reasons for me to not return to this wonderful hotel. There is a bakery across the street (I'm sure they have cookies) and dozens of dining options within 10 minutes...

The Early 80s Called...They Want Their Hotel Back.....

That is of course a light hearted jab at the motiff. Lol So, the hotel used to be a Red Lion. It was never updated. Not until DoubleTree by Hilton bought them out. Thankfully they remodeled ALL THE ROOMS FIRST. They are still in construction mode. The lobby area and conference rooms and even courtyard design are straight EARLY 80s. You know, when the late 70s were still clawing to stay alive? Lol It's BEIGE for Pete's sake. Dark beige. Lol You go in and there is even that "80s smell" yet lingering. It's not hugely altogether unpleasant. Kind of nostalgic. But the 2019s are much more pleasant to the senses. Lol

This place is SPRAWLING. I came in a lyft so I didn't have a car and they put me in the opposite corner of the hotel. I think it's like a quarter to half mile by hallway which I had to use as I had to use the dolly to bring up my personal effects. It's age is maybe most apparent in the hallways and the back elevator. I noticed the hand rail in the elevator had been broken loose from its mount and it was rusted out. They fixed it but you can still see where it was originally, it's angled and it is rusted out below the fix. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow. Didn't seem like there was any airflow in the hallway. Definitely not air conditioning.

Now, let's get to the GEM shall we? It's a Hilton now. And Hilton is the benchmark of service. The two at the desk when I arrived were 100% courteous and professional. Gave me a couple cookies and waters, patted my butt and sent me to my room. Well, all except the pat on the butt part. But I thought it sounded good. Lol

Those are my immediate first impressions. Worth the Priceline booking. Quality of the hotel ITSELF overall? Out of 10 I'd give ut a 7. Room wise though I would give that a 9.5! Nothing I would change. Fully modern. Comes with coffee/maker, hair dryer, big tv, new linens, lots of pillows, plenty of outlets, a safe, a fridge, a iron and ironing board, modern tlilet, new tub, super clean floors...

The hotel was decent enough. However we noticed a lot of things wrong. When we parked, we parked kinda away from the room so we had a little walk. We passed by the maintenance/laundry room and the door was wide open and the elevator handle was broken inside. Later that same night, I called for a non slip mat for tub. Waited a bit. My son was the one who needed the batj and he was fussying. Once an attendant arrived they handed us a towel. The towel that goes on the outside of the tub. At this point im pissed and said F it. The tub does have the dots inside that are textured, but for a baby(even toddler) thats not good enough. Anyways, i give him a bath and he ends up slipping and ends up with a welt on his head(yes i realize this is my fault). When we wake up in the AM the hotel has no power. I realize this is out of their hands but its bothersome as i habe 2 kids with me. As we check out i mention the non slip mat and front desk basically shrugs it off and apologizes for the inconvenience, they peobably thought i wantes the towel. But i explain to him i specifically said non slip mat for the tub. I worked for insurance companies that dealt with kind of things for hotels and i know the difference. Again, he didnt say anything else. So i let it go. I know hotels want us to say something as it happens, but the only reason why i didnt do it at the time is i had 2 kids i was juggling. Waiting AGAIN for the mat would have been just as much of a headache as him hitting his head. Service was otherwise fine. Room service was on point. The guy who brought it up was really nice and well mannered. The hotel is older and its rather HUGE. I got lost a few times. I really wantes to go down to the cafe and lobby but we were in the back of the hotel and since i got lost once before i didnt want to chance it. If it was just hubby and i on a date weekend i might stay here again. But its in Bakersfield and my Bakersfield experience was not a good...