DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago - Magnificent Mile — Hotel in Chicago

I encountered several issues during my recent stay that I feel compelled to share. The front desk staff were notably rude upon check-in. Last year, I stayed at another Hilton property where a representative offered me a Hilton Grand Vacations promotion that included a tour. After booking through Hilton Grand Vacations via phone call, their error caused me to be simultaneously booked under both Hilton Grand Vacations and Hilton Honors for the same dates. This meant I was accidentally reserved for three rooms instead of one. Fortunately, I caught the mistake early and canceled the duplicate bookings, receiving repeated reassurance that the issue was resolved. Upon arrival at this hotel, the front desk supervisor, Nicolas, informed me there was a problem with my reservation and directed me to call Hilton Grand Vacations myself. Instead of assisting, they asked us to step aside and handle the matter independently. I spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with Hilton Grand Vacations, who needed to speak directly with the supervisor. Ironically, the agent said the supervisor hung up on her, forcing me to put my phone on speaker so the two parties could communicate. Due to their error, I was assigned two different rooms during my three-night stay, causing significant inconvenience and delaying my planned activities on my first night. The supervisor should have taken responsibility by contacting Hilton Grand Vacations directly rather than expecting me to mediate. The supervisor offered a $100 room service credit to compensate for the poor check-in experience and room confusion. However, upon checkout, no credit was applied. When I called the front desk, the staff acknowledged the note about the credit but said they could not apply it because the supervisor was not present. They offered contact information for the manager and asked me to reach out by phone or email, despite telling me the manager was unavailable. If the manager is truly unavailable, how am I supposed to contact them? If the manager can respond by phone or email, why is the front desk not contacting them directly? When I asked if I should call back the next day, the front desk staff said yes and then abruptly hung up. I called again later, after a long hold, and the front desk who answered just transferred me directly to the billing center without checking, where the hold was impossible to wait through. While some front desk employees, such as Tyler, were helpful, the overall attitude of the team was dismissive and unprofessional. My interactions were respectful throughout, yet the service fell short of expectations. Additionally, confirmed reservations appeared to carry little weight at this hotel, which is concerning. I hope management addresses these issues to improve the guest experience and customer service standards. I gave one star because the view from my room is nice and I also can’t give 0/5 on Google. Update: After being on hold for a very long time, I finally spoke to someone in the billing department who told me that my confirmation number was not valid and that the hotel room number I stayed in did not exist. Frustrated, I called the front desk again and requested to speak with a supervisor or manager. A supervisor named Liam was very kind and was able to resolve the issue for me, along with his manager. It turned out that there were supervisors and managers on site today. However, the front desk lady this morning was almost yelling at me and insisting that no one from management was working today. In addition, if you happen to book a Hilton Grand Vacation at this location, be aware. I spent an excessive amount of time on the phone with multiple departments trying to confirm my reservation, yet when I arrived, it was...

I made reservation for my parents who were visiting me from South Korea for the first time in three years.

I reserved a room for ten days. During the stay, the hotel requested that we change our keys. Apparently, Ashley at the front desk didnt have ang patience with people whose first language is not English. My parents were little intimidated and gave me a call.

I went to the front desk, and asked for new keys. Clearly she was being rude from the onset, and made some derogatory remarks. I requested to talk to the manager about this and he apologized.

Lets see what the hotel will do about Ashley.

Update So, apparently one of the cards that Ashley gave us yesterday did not work. Hence, I went to the front desk and asked for a new key. I was greeted by Ashely "once again." She said quote on quote "I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT TODAY." I went to Tyler (a different person on the front desk) to get the new keys, and asked for manager. The manager Kevin was not on duty today, so apparently they can do nothing about Ashley's rudeness. Personally, I feel like this is borderline racism against Asians. I asked for Keven to call back. Still haven't heard anything yet. More update will come.

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It’s been about a month after I left the above review. I still haven’t heard back from Hilton Customer Service about this matter. I live nearby the hotel, so I drive past the place often and see Ashley and hotel front desk personnel, all of whom I believe to be racist against Asians and/or people whose first language is not English. It is pretty ironic because Ashley at the front desk was the one who was saying things that were completely out of context (e.g., because I was not able to hear her clearly, I asked “what?” to which she replied “the answer to your what is yes”) and in sentences that were neither grammatically correct or logically sound.

My fiancé who was next to me, and for whom English is her first language, also asked what she meant. Ashley just decided to ignore her question and said ‘thank you’ and handed the keys to our parents’ room.

I tried all channels made available by the Hilton group and DoubleTree branch to notify them of Ashley’s unacceptable and racist behavior. The only thing I asked from them, or the most important thing I asked, was a sincere apology from Ashley and the hotel. The hotel and the management team acknowledged that Ashley’s behavior was unacceptable and promised that such behavior will not continue. As hastily noted above, Ashley was rude again the very next day and I notified Hilton and DoubleTree management team of the incident. They assured that they will be in contact to resolve this issue (as evidenced from Hilton’s comment to this post) - or to put it bluntly RACIST act of their employee.

I naively took their words and waited for their response. Meanwhile, I decided to reserve a different hotel for my parents (guests to the hotel) because they were very frightened by Ashley and by DoubleTree Hotel management team in general. I received refund for the remaining 7 nights that were left on my original reservation and moved my parents to a different hotel.

To my dismay, neither Hilton nor DoubleTree contacted me regarding this matter despite their assurances that I will be contacted after they investigate this matter; and despite their acknowledgment that Ashley’s conduct were not consistent with their values.

After all, I believe I am logically entitled to conclude that DoubleTree and Hilton are condoning racist behaviors or their employee Ashley. To future customers who are considering Hilton or DoubleTree service, and especially for Asian customers whose first language is not English, I strongly advise against their services.

Edited...

Had 3 rooms (1116, 1113, and 1118) between October 20 -24, 2023. Traveled with 2 adults and 2 teens. Two days for family time and two days for work. Would not stay here again.

PROS: Location is very good and all of the staff were friendly. The linens seemed clean. 1113 had a nice view and large windows. We used the luggage storage in the lobby at check-in, check-out, and on the day we had to move rooms - that was helpful. And, of course, you get cookies at check-in.

CONS: When we checked in, one room (1113) had wet carpet that we didn't notice until removing shoes and stepping on it. It extended from the bathroom door out over a fairly large area and, given the extensive fresh plunger marks in the toilet, we assume this came from an overflowed toilet. There was also extensive black mold on the bathroom ceiling and some in the tile in both rooms. I only took a photo of the ceiling after they came in and cleaned it the second day. It was much improved, but still bad. (The most visible spots in photos was around the lamp - it was hard to capture - but it was diffuse across the entire ceiling. I do have significant mold and mushroom allergies.) I only took one tile photo, but in both rooms there were 4-5 areas like this. When we showered in 1113 the water accumulated so badly on the ceiling that it dripped on us for half an hour after. Note that these were not long showers (2 showers, 10 minutes each). There clearly wasn't enough ventilation. I had to request fresh towels because we needed to put them down on the floor. We received them in one room (1113) but not as requested in the other.

The other room (1116) had a noticeable pet urine smell that we thought was just a sour smell at check in, but became more noticeable as we walked over a visible stain right inside the door. It appeared to have been treated, but not adequately. I complained about it twice, was promised they would inspect it, but they never did. In this room we also didn't have any shampoo or body wash at check-in. (there are large containers fixed to the walls) You text for service and they finally responded after we went to sleep the first night. We did receive body wash the next night after a second request, but no shampoo until the third day.

They did give me $50 off of my total bill of around $1200 but never addressed the pet smell/stain in 1116. On the third day, since my partner was leaving and we no longer needed two rooms close to one another, I asked to be moved to a new room for the last two nights and was given 1118. That room was better than the other two, but still had black mold in the shower tiles and the sink didn't drain. I could also hear a mouse munching on something under the bathroom sink (enclosed) as I sat on the toilet.

I don't leave a lot of reviews, but this was a frustrating stay. I know that it's hard to find good custodial staff right now and hotel reviews in the city reflected that, but I feel like they knew the state of the rooms and weren't doing as much as they could to make guests comfortable. I have traveled all over the world and stayed at hotels in a variety of price ranges - this was the most challenged for maintenance at this equivalent price range.

I will not...