The Hilton Garden Inn is probably the best hotel. I was in Corning for work and told by locals to avoid the nearby Fairfield and Radisson. So, the Hilton Garden Inn it was.||||The hotel still feels new even though apparently it's been open for about 7 years. You really wouldn't know. ||||Hilton Garden Inn as a brand is a weird one. It's not quite barebones, limited-service like a Fairfield with Marriott or Holiday Inn Express with IHG. There's a bar and restaurant, although I never saw anyone eat at the restaurant outside breakfast. ||||The menu for dinner looked good but there is no real atmosphere and the prices are high (it's a hotel restaurant). They should probably offer hotel guests an incentive to eat at the hotel. Like 10% off dinner. Something. Because at the prices charged I can just walk 5 minutes to Wegmans and grab something or walk 2 extra minutes into downtown and eat at any number of restaurants. Also, bizarrely, they have no local wines at the hotel, neither at the bar nor in the lobby pantry market. Why is this hotel not supporting the Finger Lakes wine region? At least have a Finger Lakes riesling for sale by the bottle if not the glass. ||||At breakfast the menu is fairly basic. Eggs are offered on the menu cooked to order. The service from Michael, the waiter, was excellent. He always kept my coffee full. ||||The room I had overlooked the river and downtown Corning. It was a nice view. ||||The room itself was one of the newer Hilton Garden Inn designs. There were a reasonable number of accessible USB and electric outlets, although the USB outlets were the older USB-A outlets. They need to update the USB outlets as USB-C is now standard for most devices.||||My room was mostly clean. I say mostly because the bathroom needed some maintenance. There was visible mold or mildew in the walk-in shower. I've attached photos. ||||Housekeeping service is offered daily.||||The gym is excellent. There's a small pool that's supposed salt water. I didn't bring my swimming trunks so I have no idea if that's true.||||No local newspaper is provided. I didn't see any local tourist magazine either. Normally, there are a few copies of the newspaper and a rack with copies of the magazine somewhere in the hotel lobby.||||In terms of location, downtown is an easy 7-10 minutes walk. You just have to cross the bridge. It's safe and easy to do. The area behind the hotel felt okay but maybe not safe at night. There's a strip club nearby and I saw a few shady people hanging out on the sidewalks around 7 pm at night. I'm not sure I would walk that direction at dusk. Of note, parking is in an unsecured, open-air parking lot. So it must be reasonably safe. ||||All things considered, there are few good hotels in Corning. The Hilton Garden Inn is probably Corning's best hotel at least until the dumpy Radisson is renovated and converted to a Hilton Doubletree (if that ever happens). If I returned to Corning for work I would...
Read moreThis Hilton property was awesome. I almost always choose Hilton when traveling and this property was one of the best. We traveled as a family with out of town nieces who arrived to visit the Corning museum of glass. My brother-in-law who is disabled needed special equipment to sleep. Pamela Ray,the general manager, went above and beyond to make my brother-in-law’s special request happen so he could have a restful night sleep. Her kindness and attention to our needs was very much appreciated. From check in with Chris to dinner and breakfast being served by Samantha and Toni, we were made to feel at home and cared for. They all went out of their way to make sure my two young nieces had food they could enjoy. The specials menu for dinner had some outstanding choices, (duck, brisket, fried, pickles, etc.) and we enjoyed several. The dinner menu in general was varied and the food we ordered was delicious. It was a cold night and we were thankful we did not have to go out to find a restaurant. For breakfast, Toni kept the coffee coming and made sure the little girls had juice and anything else they needed. The children swam in the crystal clear pool and had a great time. The lobby was open, clean and spacious. Our guest rooms were very clean and the bedding, as usual for Hilton, was perfect for a good nights sleep. I would definitely choose this hotel for my next visit to Corning. Maybe next time we will stay a...
Read moreWe were so excited that we booked this hotel, after knowing it was brand new. First to stay in the room and my kids were excited that they may have been the first to swim in the pool. JD was an amazing, he gave us a tour and was very helpful and knowledgeable. We had a great night, the view was amazing as well. However this morning was a bit unsatisfactory. We head to the continental breakfast, where we ask the front desk Jessica where the breakfast was, she pointed and told us it was amazing. Not at anytime did she mention the 11.99 charge per guest . When you had the perfect opportunity . The food was good, however if we had an option the cereal my daughter ate was not worth the price. Anyways was we checkout Jessica apologises telling us sorry but expedia should have been more clear about prices ? Seriously!! Then I wanted to let her know that because it is a new building and there can be kinks to work out , I made her aware that the bathroom door was a poor set up. I slammed my finder twice and my son sis too. She just said sorry and made an excuse that it was new. I just wanted her to be aware. The hotel was great and the view was awesome, but signs would be helpful for breakfast and a better more helpful front desk lady will help the overall experience. So I give the hotel a 4 (my finger was smashed) but the morning...
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