Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas East — Hotel in Dallas

I've been a loyal, exclusively-Hilton patron for 12 years, and a Hilton Diamond member for most of those; I travel a ton for work and always choose to stay at Hilton properties. I’ve always had nothing but positive experiences at all the Hilton properties I’ve stayed at around the world – never a complaint -- until this one; this is not an indictment on corporate Hilton. I booked a room for Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas East on the Hilton website (on 27 December 2018) for my daughter, nearly a month in advance of her stay on 25 January 2019 (she was attending a theater show in downtown Dallas that night), and she drove 4.5 hours to get there. Upon arrival, she attempted to check-in (as she’s done several times on her own in the past at other Hilton properties) but was turned away by Avita (and with quite an attitude unbecoming a woman or Hilton employee, too!). "Why is that?" you may ask. Well, my daughter’s “crime” is that she's only 20 – apparently too young to sleep in a room after driving herself, on the interstate, across state lines, some 300 miles -- and this property’s unethical management practices of prejudice and discrimination (by requiring guests to be at least 21 years of age) were on full display. "Well, you should have read the fine print!" you may say to me. Well, you’d have a valid point, except that, unlike most people, I actually do read the fine print, and therein lies my issue with this property: nowhere, NOWHERE, on Hilton's website (during the reservation process) for this property does it obviously indicate that a guest must be 21 years of age to check-in. And, not anywhere, NOT ANYWHERE, on the confirmation email I received from the property does it indicate that a guest must be 21 years of age to check-in. In fact, on Hilton’s front reservation page it simply asks how many rooms are needed for “Adults (18+)” and “Children (0-17)” where you select the number of rooms needed, and the number of adults (18+) and number of children (0-17) in each room. No mention of having to be 21 whatsoever. So, as an educated man and citizen of this great country where the legal age of adulthood is 18 years of age, I can only assume that the check-in age is 18 (or older), right?! As a retired military veteran, I cringe at the thought of a young 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old uniformed patriot receiving such treatment during their transition between stations, or while attempting to spend some relaxing time with their family between missions! I have never, EVER, had any issues with Hilton properties these past 12 years, so suffice it to say that this incident shocked and angered me. Avita apparently attempted to give some lame reason of there being alcohol on the property. Hhmmm…last time I checked, Applebee’s has alcohol on their property and they won’t serve it to customers under 21, but they’ll still serve a meal. Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas East needs to seriously consider their ageist policy, or at the very least, ensure a customer knows, easily and obviously upfront, that their check-in policy is for guests to be a minimum of...

I will start by saying this hotel is generally nice. It’s clean and relative new. However, I think the rooms (at least the ones around mine) have electrical issues. I couldn’t even plug a single laptop in without it tripping the power breaker. I wasn’t running anything electrical other than a lamp and the laptop. The TV was not on, microwave was not in use, etc.

When I went to the front desk, it seemed like I wasn’t the only room with the problem at the time, they kindly flipped the breaker after asking what all I had plugged in (my laptop w/a max power draw of 160W - well under a standard circuit’s capacity). Ten minutes later the power tripped again. This time the front desk accused me of plugging too much in, even though I made it clear it was only a laptop. The only option provided to me was to not plug in a laptop in my room, or I’d have to deal with the breaker flipping again and again. I was traveling solo, so it was only me in the room, with one laptop, so that’s crystal clear. Either this room doesn’t meet current electrical code (odd for a newer hotel), or they have some faulty circuits or in-room equipment that is faulty and drawing too much power. These can be a safety hazard if not properly addressed. I hope that’s not the case here.

I’ve never had an issue like this at a hotel. By the response I got from the front desk, it seemed like it is a frequent occurrence here at this hotel. The front desk staff that assisted me during this started off nice about it, but got confrontational after the second inquiry as to why my power tripped again. I was not treated with respect and accused of plugging in too much, even after clearly stating what I had plugged in. It felt like they were using the power to my room as leverage on me. When you spend a couple thousand dollars at a hotel to stay for several days, one should expect the power to stay on and to be able to charge and use a laptop in the rooms.

This location probably needs an electrician to resolve some things. Travelers might be able to get by with phone and/or iPad charging, but apparently a single laptop being plugged in is over doing it. Good luck fellow travelers, perhaps bring a solar generator with you if staying here on business!

I’ve been a loyal Hilton brand guest for over a decade, travel frequently for work, and even own Hilton Grand Vacations property. I’ve never had one issue that wasn’t dealt with immediately and with a smile. This is not meant to knock Hilton. But, this encounter at this Hampton Inn has been one the most frustrating hotel experiences of my life.

Kudos to the housekeeping staff,...

So I guess now it's my turn, Brittany checked me in on Wednesday my guess was not coming in until later which they did not arrive till Thursday Thanksgiving morning I was charged on checkout Friday the day after Thanksgiving for parking which was not explained to me by Britney the the front desk clerk in our conversation as I bought to her attention that it was not explaining that we have to pay for parking so I asked a simple question when will the funds be returned back to my card she continued to explain I told Brittany I don't need no explanation I'm asking a simple question that only require a simple answer 72, 48 or 24 hours the funds will be returned to my card from the room deposit Britney continued to try to explain I asked her not to explain because I'm asking a simple question I'm not asking for explanation I have travel for well over 10 years and I know how the system work but each hotel have a different return policy I tend to book with Hampton and because it's very simple but on this conversation the front desk clerk was simple "mentally" who could not answer a simple question who wanted to continue with details then she got so pissed off when I told her I didn't need the extra detail I'm just asking a simple question she told me to call back on Monday to talk to Jerry so Jerry can explain, the one question that I asked when will my deposit be refunded back to my card, she was trying to explain the parking information that will be taking from the deposit, which I know this, you have my credit card information duh!!! she was so upset with me not letting her explain, I did cut her off I didn't need to hear the rest of the stuff it was irrelevant to the question I asked, she hung up the phone in my face (wow) my tone was pleasant Brittany just could not answer a simple question so I guess I will ask Jerry the simple question when will my funds be back on my car since simple Brittany could not answer, without trying to explain after the fact that parking had to be paid for which you charge me for a day that the car was not even on your lot which Brittany should explain at the time of check-in, so Jerry the ball is in your court when I call on Monday please have a simple answer 24,48 or 72 hours. And please reimburse me my $5 that my car was not on your lot that's...