Hilton Garden Inn Tampa East/Brandon — Hotel in Brandon

This has to be one of the worst run Hilton properties that I have ever stayed at. When I checked in, I was told the room was already renovated. It looked like the most rushed renovation with obvious signs of being rushed with unfinished corners, paint missing or overpainted and more. The bathroom of my room on the 3rd floor was in dire need of renovation as it had a leaking and damaged shower spigot and handle, mildew in the shower tiles and stained sink. Other than a poorly done paint job, the bathroom didn't look like it was touched at all. The tile floors in the room as you walk in was dirty and stained as well. The staff overall seem overwhelmed and ill prepared to give excellent service. As a Hilton diamond member, there was no acknowledgement of status like most of the Hilton properties do. When I mentioned to the person at the front desk upon check in that i was diamond and if there were any perks available or included, she said there was water in the room already. Most properties will acknowledge the status, offer some sort of refreshment or snack, offer a potential room upgrade or late check out, and thank the member. None of this occurred. In fact, when I asked for a later check out the morning of my check out, i was told nothing was available and 11 am was check out time. Even when i pushed back and said I was diamond and all i needed was a bit of extra time to take a shower, i was denied anything. What is the point of having any kind of status when it doesn't mean anything basically? This is why I am focusing on staying more with Marriott this past year in my travels and only going to visit Hilton properties when I absolutely have to with no other choices. The hotel overall needs to be cleaned better. It seems housekeeping is rushing through the rooms as multiple other guests I spoke to were unhappy with the cleanliness of their rooms and the overall hotel. My room was no different. The dispensers didn't look it had been refilled properly as one of my shower amenities was running low. On Saturday evening, I asked for more towels as housekeeping never came to my room. The front desk attendant said that no towels were available and that I should come back at 7 am Sunday morning. I had an event and had to leave the hotel by 630 am unfortunately and she said I was out of luck. However, when I came back to the hotel Sunday AM around 10 am, I asked for towels to run upstairs and take a quick shower before leaving, I was told that there were no towels available. I told the clerk that I was told towels would be ready and was basically met with a look of apathy. Breakfast was another sore spot for me. I have stayed at many properties, including Hilton brands, where the "free" breakfast was nicer than the breakfast this hotel charges for. It truly was a pitiful experience for a breakfast that we got charged for. The servers were extremely nice and made it at least an enjoyable experience from the perspective of smiling and offering a happy face to talk to but the food was just not that good. If you are going to charge for breakfast, at least make it worth the money you charge. I think there is a serious lack of caring from the top down. I blame ownership and management for the lack of proper care, training and just not having materials available for the employees to do their job. Train the employees a bit more on smiling and being appreciative of the customer and spending their hard earned money. The price that was charged for this room (about 250 plus nightly when breakfast is factored in) was insanely high for the amount of value received. This inn is more on the quality level of a motel and shouldn't charge even half nightly what they charge. I would definitely not go back to this Hilton property again. Overall it seems Hilton has lots its quality, it's edge and is being surpassed by...

1st time ever staying at a hilton and last time. I arrived for my reservation ans cleaned the room even though it said the room was clean and sealed before my arrival. I test run the whirlpool and let it drain before I get in ans this is what I see when the water drains out. I tell the front desk staff whose name u did not get but he was a black man. When I complained, he went into action immediately. Agreed this was unacceptable and informed me that to get a refund u would have to talk to management in the morning. I emailed the pics because the video was too big. The next morning 2 27.21 I go to the front desk and Timothy Ousterhout was at the front desk. I asked to speak with management about a complaint and his response was there is no management here until Monday. So I left and called a friend who works for the Hilton. I went back in and informed him that I was told to ask for who is in charge and he rolled his eyes and said no one is here. I then told him I have someone who works at the Hilton on the phone and then again with attitude he went to the computer screen and asked for my room number. I told him 602 but was 402 was the originally room. He dropped his head again with an attitude and I asked what is all the attitude for? Am I doing something wrong? He said I took care of it. I asked what does that mean. He says "what do you think it means? I then ask what is going on because I am the one with the complaint but he was the one being rude ans having an attitude after lying and saying he could not help me and I would have to wait until monday. He was rude through the rest of the encounter ans when i asked for his bame he boldly have it as if he knew he was ALLOWED to treat his patron this way.. Danielle N was the name he gave me that I would have to speak to BEFORE I came in and told him I had hilton staff on the phone. I arrived and my room has bugs in the jetted tub. I could not sleep nor could I enjoy my bath even after being switched to an equivalent room on a floor where clearly there was smoking going on because the hallway and room smelled of it. This definitly felt racially motivated and he NEEDS TO BE FIRED but if not and he is just a jerk to everyone HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED. I literally booked a hotel for a 1 night busines event I had and got no sleep which is what I paid for the room for. Had I not been smart enough to clean the hotel before relaxing then I would have these bugs in my private parts. I could not relax and got a total of 2 hours of sleep before leaving the next morning. I should have been the one with the attitude. But I was not. Hilton, I need my money returned, Timothy needs to be fired. TODAY!!! Racial discrimination should not be tolerated in your establishment. As a 1st time guest this was the worst...

At 1:00 am I called the front desk from the 6th floor due to two groups of people hanging out at tables outside the hotel on the patio with music blaring & shouting. I asked the front desk person if they could ask them to call it a night. Her reply was, "Ya. I got you." Not really professional or polite. It is now 1:56 am and the people are still at it! If we can hear you from the TOP floor, inside the hotel, why hasn't the staff handled this much earlier, or at all!?

Also, we booked 2 queen beds and were put in a king room with a pull-out couch that had a fitted & top sheet, no pillow, no blanket. When we asked for both items we were told "due to the number of people here, we don't have anymore." Shouldn't there already be a blanket and extra pillow in the room for the (ancient, squeaky, springs/bar visible/felt) bed? Seems like it should be standard.

As for the rooms themselves...SUPER dated, especially at almost $300 per night. The saving grace is they are adequately clean, IF you bring shoes and NEVER take them off. Otherwise, be prepared for a sticky, almost slimy carpet experience. In other words, not so much cleaned as surfaced. Had we had more than a minute after checking in to notice, we would have checked out! Bonus: The toilet requires THREE flushes before emptying.

As for the "restaurant," it is OLD, DIRTY, and TINY, and so, with six floors at max capacity, there is no way of getting a table, and there is NO room service, as advertised. Even if it was possible to sit, the prices were insane for what was being served and the state of what can be seen makes you question what CAN'T.

If you are a Hilton Honors Member, like me, and therefore are doing the "points thing," I urge you to pick ANY other location. There are two other Hiltons within 10 minutes of this location that are far more on brand. We have stayed at the one located on Garden, which is modern, clean, has friendly/helpful staff, and a decent restaurant. Unfortunately it too was booked tonight or we would be there right now, at 1:56 am instead of listening to the party still going strong outside.

Update: 2:24 am: Photos are of the bathroom I am hanging-out in (after finding a curly, medium-length, black hair in the bed...I have straight, long, very red hair), so I don't wake the hubby, (who can sleep literally anywhere regardless of noise, etc. unless that noise is me). The dusty shelves, shower drain ring/scum/mold, dirty floor, and wear are nasty-gross & indicative of the age and (lack of) cleanliness present throughout the room. I guess a positive is that the party outside finally called it just a few...