Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Birmingham — Hotel in Birmingham

Let me preface by saying, we only stay at Hilton properties. It has been that way for over 20 years. So far, this may be the most unfortunate stay. It's a new hotel, but it's clear that it was built too quickly (as it's showing lots of wear and tear already) and is understaffed. *We arrived at 4:20 pm and our room wasn't ready. Thankfully, we got in about 10 minutes later. Not the biggest deal, but we were ready to relax after being on the road for hours. *The duvet on our bed had two hairs on it and it had dirt marks on the top. We requested a new one and it was replaced. Thumbs up for promptly addressing the issue. *The 1/2 bath toilet wouldn't flush. They sent maintenance, and it seemed to be fixed, but it wasn't. It still wouldn't flush properly, so we decided to avoid that particular toilet. *While in bed, readying for sleep, our son (who is on the pull-out) hears the door unlock via keycard and opens, only to be stopped by the door stop. Whoever it was stopped, but it was unnerving nevertheless. The next morning, our keycard doesn't work. We actually had to get our cards reset 3 times, as they wouldn't unlock our room. *There's only one knob to hang your wet towel on in the bathroom, so it's pretty inconvenient when there are 4 wet towels (there are 4 of us in the suite). There's lots of wall space, but it's not being utilized for space efficiency. *There's only one small corner ledge to put soap on in the shower. Otherwise, you have to out all your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. on the shower floor (gross). It would be nice if whoever designed the shower put a foot rest or something to make shaving easier for us ladies. *There wasn't a hair dryer or makeup mirror as with other Hilton properties. The lighting is very dim throughout the rooms, so the only way to get full light is by opening the window blinds (obviously doesn't work once it's dark). *Inconvenient, but not the worst, there's no plain half & half for coffee. They supply the mini disposable creamers, but they're all flavored and sugared. They have reduced fat milk and skim milk in the fridge for cereal, but these too have more sugar than half & half. I ended up going to The Red Cat Coffeehouse down the street. Also, one morning it seemed the 2% milk was all curdled and soured. I went through 5 before giving up, and told my boys to use the skim for their cereal. *There was only one lady working the breakfast, and bless her she tried, but it was difficult for her ro keep up with the demand. All the coffee and hot water were continually out each morning. Cups, tops, sleeves, utensils ran out frequently along with the food options. *The day we left, only 1 of 3 elevators was working. It took 20 minutes or so to finally get downstairs with all our luggage on the trolley. *The ladies at the front desk were nice and promptly fixed the issues, but I think we'll avoid Garden Inns and try and stick with Hampton Inn...

We experienced an extremely frustrating occurrence during our stay at this hotel.

My husband and I checked into room 501 on the mobile app ahead of our arrival at the hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel, we went to the front desk to pick up our room keys. The front desk attendant put us in room 520 at this time. We did not think anything of the room number difference since the app said the room number isn’t guaranteed and is subject to change. We went up to our room, changed, and went to a rehearsal dinner for the wedding we were in town for.

When we came back to the hotel after the dinner, we found our room keys had been deactivated and had to go get new keys from the front desk. This was around 10pm. At approximately 1am, we received a phone call in our room from the front desk asking us our names and room number. We confirmed the information and the desk agent hung up on us. Around 1:15am we received a second phone call from the front desk asking which room we were in and telling us someone else was coming to check in for that room. The front desk agent on the phone asked why we were not in room 501. We explained that this is where the front desk agent placed us upon our arrival at the hotel around 2pm.

This was extremely concerning for us because it was literally the middle of the night and we were woken up by the front desk for something that was not an emergency. The hotel staff communicating with us on the phone was extremely rude and made it seem like we made the mistake, not the hotel staff. We also are concerned about this because we showed two charges on our credit card because we essentially were checked into 2 rooms.

The front desk made little effort to correct the situation and my husband had to outline what needed to be done to correct the situation. Even after the situation had been corrected, our room keys continued to deactivate and we had to request a new key each time we left our room and came back. We were also told by hotel staff that breakfast was included but we were charged for breakfast when we went down in the morning.

Overall, the hotel was extremely clean and the room was very comfortable. However, the staff’s attitude and handling of our situation was extremely poor. We understand that human error occurs, but this is a situation that could have been resolved during normal business hours. As a guest, we should NOT have been woken up in the middle of the night to help the hotel correct their mistakes. The general attitude and approach by hotel staff toward our situation was extremely poor and we were treated like we were in the wrong. We suggest retraining your staff so this does not happen to another guest...

I booked 2 rooms. When we arrived at around 3:30 PM there was 1 person working at the desk, but she walked past us several times without acknowledging us. The hotel was not very busy at the time. We were apparently the first and only ones checking in then. At length the desk lady asked whether we are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn or the Home 2 Suites (they apparently share a desk). We told her HGI and she asked us to walk around to the other side of the desk. Apparently 1 side of the desk is dedicated to only 1 of the 2 adjoining properties. OK. Then we waited longer while the 1 lady checked the person who was now ahead of us in. After what was a harrowing 7-hour drive, it was frustrating to have to stand around and wait. Only 1 person at the desk at around normal check-in time. I was not acknowledged as a Diamond Member (Lifetime, in fact). OK, no big deal (though I know that Hilton does not like that). I don't think my room had been dusted in a very long time. A thin layer of dust was plainly visible on the desk, bedside tables, and other surfaces. Not great. I had a minor scrape that needed a band-aid. When I asked at the desk they said they didn't have "big ones"... so they gave me some tiny adhesive strips that were not band-aids and were of course no help. The next morning I asked about breakfast, and upon request was told that we had a $10 voucher for each room. OK. When my invoices were emailed to me, the $10 charge for each breakfast was not removed. I had to call the hotel, wait in the phone tree for way too long, to finally get someone to take the $20 charge off. They said they did, and sent a new statement for 1 room, not both (?). OK. But while the new statement shows a $10 credit for 1 room, the total charge is still the original full amount. So, I just called again. Another long wait on hold. I got a different desk lady who said the other lady "probably didn't have authorization from their manager to make the change"... and neither did she. She said she would talk to her manager and I should see it corrected in "7-10 business days". Unbelievable. It's only 20 bucks to me, but come on. It's only 20 bucks to them too. (Oh, and the $20 fee for parking was an unwelcome surprise as well, but not the show stopper). Hilton prides itself on customer service, and this stay missed the mark. It was a comedy of errors except it wasn't funny. There was no sense of urgency to fix any of the problems. If this had been my first experience in a Hilton property (instead of my hundredth or more) I would probably not book Hilton again. I definitely don't plan to book this...