Hilton Garden Inn Dallas/Market Center — Hotel in Dallas

I stayed here with a long-distance friend of mine from the west coast who was flying to Corpus Christi for a business trip, but as we hadn’t seen each other for two years, he booked a flight that had an overnight layover at DFW so we could see each other. I live in the Oklahoma City area and had driven down, so we needed to book a hotel so we had a place to stay for the night.

We decided to book our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Dallas/Market Center because it’s location was in close proximity to the Dallas nightlife—less than a 10 minute Uber ride from the hotel to the Uptown area, and it’s price per night was fair, and within our budget. We checked in on Tuesday, 08/13, checking out the following morning, Wednesday, 08/14, just before the noon check out time.

The pictures of this hotel online are accurate to seeing it in-person. The hotel lobby was quiet and clean. One of the two women working the front desk who checked us in wasn’t the friendliest, but she wasn’t terrible by any means; she looked pretty young, so I chalk it up to that. The room we stayed in, (1 King bed), was clean and the bed was very comfortable. I was pleased to see there was a Keurig coffeemaker in the room rather than a normal hotel room coffeemaker. Our room also had a microwave and mini-refrigerator in it as well, but there wasn’t a minibar, so no snacks or drinks, except for two bottles of water that were $2.00–$4.00 each, (I can’t remember), were available to purchase in-room, which was a little disappointing, but not that big of a deal.

The only complaint I have regarding my stay here is that parking costs $10.00...in a completely normal parking lot—not a covered garage, not valet, the parking isn’t even limited...at all. There were plenty of open spaces for me to choose from when parking my car. I would understand a fee to park if any of the above options were available, but it’s just a completely standard, normal parking lot. The hotel isn’t exactly within walking distance of anything besides some fast food restaurants and a gas station or two, so it’s not like people who aren’t guests of the hotel would abuse the parking lot, so the additional $10.00 charge to park makes no sense in my opinion. I never saw anyone even monitoring the lot, albeit I only stayed one night, but still.

Overall, my friend and I both had a positive, and pleasant experience staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Dallas/Market Center. I would stay there again if I’m planning on spending my time in downtown Dallas, but don’t want to spend the amount of money it costs to stay at a hotel actually located in the downtown area. If you’re looking for a place to stay in Dallas, especially if you’re wanting to stay near downtown Dallas, or the surrounding area, I would definitely recommend staying here.

—————————————————————– Length of stay: 1 Night Check in: 08/13/2019, Check out:...

This hotel has 2 stars because it was clean and safe; a bottom line standard for all hotel facilities. It deserves the low score due to its numerous out-dated and/or broken utilities. The most significant grievance is its laundry capability. The entire hotel has only 2 washer and 2 dryers on only the 4th floor. This is insufficient for the many customers it may support. In addition, customers are forced to pay for both using the washer AND dryer ($1.50 each), despite the fact that the rates for the hotel are significantly high. For the dryer, $1.50 only gets you 45 minutes of dry time, where the dryer humidity sensors are clearly old and after 45 minutes you just have a very hot mountain of wet clothes. To make it worse, the only way one may pay is by COINS (quarters only) in the ancient slot mechanisms that are part of each machine. You say the hotel has a coin machine; it was broken. You say that the hotel checkin counter can give change; they had only enough to use the washer and not the dryer. By the time I went across the street to use an ATM (the hotel ATM was broken) and came back with $20 to make change with the checkin counter, they had already given it away to another patron even though I had just talked to the staff about needing the change, and they recommended using an ATM at another hotel. To make things worse, no other establishment surrounding the hotel (restaurant, gas station, or other hotel) wants to give more than a couple quarters change when asked to make change, if any at all (probably because using physical cash is quickly phasing out), and especially so in business districts with higher prices like where this hotel is located. This hotel is a scam. One cannot even park in the hotel’s gated parking lot without using a smart phone application (Premium Parking) to pay, and when asked if I could pay at the counter for parking, I am told that I cannot because the parking inside the hotel’s gates is owned by a separate business. However, when I pay through the app, the parking lot and payment receipt are clearly associated by the hotel’s name. Even if the parking is ran by a separate business, the hotel is clearly working with it and should set up a process to pay via the checkin counter. Your hotel management is clearly broken. FIX....

We stayed here because of the affordable rate and how close it is to the children’s medical center — we were in town for a family member who, heartbreakingly, passed away this morning. To say the stay added unnecessary stress is an understatement.

It started off fine. The man who checked us in on the evening of June 25th was kind and made us feel welcome. The bartender was cool and the drinks were decent. The hotel itself is a little outdated, but we were okay with that given the price.

The next morning, however, changed everything. When I asked the front desk (a Hispanic male) about the pool and laundry area, he looked annoyed — like I was bothering him. I wasn’t looking for over-the-top service, just basic decency. When I asked for quarters for the laundry machines, he said someone would bring some in a few minutes. I waited nearly 10 minutes, only to find out they didn’t have any — and no one had the courtesy to tell me.

Then came the biggest issue. Our hairdryer broke, so we called and got a replacement. Later, someone else came with another hairdryer (a miscommunication). She knocked, but before I could even get to the door, she opened it and started walking in. My wife was naked in the bathroom, which is in direct view of the entry. Thankfully, I caught the door just in time. But this was a massive privacy violation.

When I told the front desk, the same guy brushed it off with, “I’ll put it in the system.” He also got defensive when I asked again about the quarters. Instead of apologizing, he argued back and acted like it was my fault for not waiting longer. Later, I came back to grab something I forgot and overheard the woman who opened our door saying “I knocked twice.” I stepped in and told her that doesn’t give her the right to enter a room — no one should be unlocking a guest’s door without permission, period. She eventually apologized, but only after defending herself first.

This whole experience was a mess. The staff lacks professionalism, communication, and respect for basic guest privacy. With everything going on in our personal lives, the last thing we needed was to deal with this kind of treatment.

Spend the extra money. Don’t settle for this place or the people running it. You deserve better — especially...