Hilton Garden Inn Danbury — Hotel in Danbury

Long story short We couldn’t stay in our room because the AC didn’t work. We ended up needing to leave as there were no other rooms available. It was the night before our wedding and all of our guests were at the hotel. Hotel is also severely outdated, dingy, and musty.

More detailed story We booked a block of rooms for our wedding. We ended up having close to 30 rooms booked under our block. Additionally, we also reserved the bar in the lobby for our after party (which was great). Needless to say, we brought a lot of business to the hotel this weekend.

When booking the block, we were informed that there was a renovation scheduled for this past fall so that we would have a “fresh new hotel” in time for the wedding. The renovation never happened. If I knew it wouldn’t happen, I would not have picked this hotel for my wedding guests. The rooms are outdated, the bathrooms are sad and dark, and there’s a smell of “old” in the hotel. The renovation is severely needed.

We checked in the day before our wedding. First thing we notice when we get to our room is that it’s very warm and stuffy. The AC unit and wall thermostat weren’t working. So we called the front desk and told them about it, and we’re told “we’ll send up maintenance.” No one came. A couple hours later I went down to the desk and asked again, and again was told, “oh, we’ll send up maintenance.” Maintenance didn’t come. Later when we left for our rehearsal dinner, I stopped at the desk again and said, “hey, we’re going out for our rehearsal dinner, can you please fix it while we’re gone?” And they said “sure!”

We get back from the dinner and the AC still isn’t fixed. At this point I’m upset because I feel like our ask is reasonable and we’re not being cared for. So I go down to the desk and the manager came up to the room with me to look at it. He took the front of the unit off and reset the system. Magic! It works! Then about 10 minutes later, it fails. So I repeat what I saw the manager do, reset it, and it fails again about 10m later. Meanwhile, the manager tells me that the maintenance person left at 5pm (I was told maintenance would come up when I called at 6pm…)

At this point… we’ve had it. We pack up and leave and go home. The room was way too hot and stuffy to comfortably sleep in, especially the night before our wedding. We don’t live too far away but still, we ended up separated from our family and wedding guests.

When I reached out to the hotel with this info, all we were told was “sorry” and they didn’t charge us for the night we didn’t stay in. If it had been any other time, I would have just left and forgotten about it. But the night before our wedding? Block of 30 rooms? “Sorry” just doesn’t feel like enough. I’ve reached out to the hotel to ask for compensation (I asked for the welcome party room rental fee to be refunded - $373. To me that seemed a reasonable ask). I haven’t heard from everyone.

Needless to say, this was a highly disappointing experience and it was (luckily) the only bad part about our wedding weekend. Thanks for nothing,...

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. I didn't actually stay there - despite having booked a room several weeks in advance, because when I showed up at 10pm at night - exhausted from a very long destination wedding I had been attending during the day - I watched the manager give our room away to another couple who had been complaining about a foul smell in their room, and that was the last available room in the hotel, so my husband and I were forced to spend the next several hours driving through the night, almost asleep at the wheel, barely making it back to our home without driving off the road because we were so exhausted.

When I arrived at 10pm to check in, I witness another couple arguing with the manager about a bad smell in their room. Then, instead of checking us in, the manager whisks this couple away to another room where I can't hear their conversation, and then pops out to tell me "you need to wait about 10 minutes, because your room isn't ready yet (at 10pm a room isn't ready yet?)", and I ask her "are you trying to put us in this room that this other couple are complaining about?" and she flat out lies to my face and says "no". When I ask her why the room isn't ready yet, at 10pm, she tells me "It is missing something". Super suspicious. 10 minutes later, one of her colleagues tells me our room is ready. We head towards it, super excited to finally be able to go to sleep. When we get inside the room, a nausea-inducing stench fills the air, like death, masked by a ridiculous amount of air-freshner on top of it. I don't even know what the original smell was or what happened in this room, but the chemically air-freshner smell was so strong it would have been impossible to sleep in this room. So, we pick up our bags and head back to the front desk, and on the way we pass the couple who had previously just been arguing with the manager and they say to us "Did they put you in room 144? That was the room we just complained about" - So obviously, yes, indeed the manager just tried to stick us in the room that the other couple had been complaining about. So we get back to the front desk and confront the manager with the fact that she lied to us and she stuck us in the smelly room. She continues to try to deny it until we mention the fact that the other couple had told us what room they were in. Then she gets quiet and starts insisting that they are lying and they were in a different room. But when we ask to be put in this mysterious "other room", she tells us there are no other rooms in the hotel. AT ALL.

Long story short, there were no other rooms at all in this hotel, or in any other hotel within 100 miles. I don't know what was going on that night. So it was either sleep in a formaldehyde ether, or drive through the night to get home. It was supposed to be a romantic anniversary weekend getaway and thanks to Hilton it was completely ruined. The manager of this place is dishonest liar and...

Magic happens here at the Danbury Hilton Garden Inn. At every turn am surrounded within a wholesome environment by the most caring kindest most professional authentic! happy good energy staff who simply make you feel at home away from home, and that matters to me. This is my 2nd extended stay as a gas leak caused me to flee 30 days ago. My first stay one year half ago after the Malibu fires lead me back east introducing me to all of these amazing people who opened up the business office for me attending my every need in the midst of legal discovery resulting in two cases successfully settled. I have been taken care of in the best faith on every level to personally corresponding w/ Corporate where the most gracious officers act first 'in the best interest of their patrons' conducting themselves with three unique principles in mind vital in a customer service based business displaying the highest level of integrity, honor, and professionalism toward their valued clientele rarely seen today so thank you excellent job!

I am so grateful, and will truly miss everyone as good happy memories were created once again such as my so so special morning hugs from Megiluina and Jacky before raiding their beloved housekeeping cart foraging for cafe', and boxes of tissues lol...addiction of mine. One day the entire hotel was out of boxes of tissues am certain I was a part of that ha ha, and I had such a crack with Jacky the next morning attempting to describe how everyone hides the toilet paper and paper towels on me laughed so hard fell to the floor 'one of those laughs' that honestly I haven't had in many years, and is a sacred memory for me thank you. So if you are North visiting family, on a marathon run, or your children have a sport related visit nearby the pool is fun, and the mall is just around the corner. The front conference room has this peaceful positive feel about it surrounded by homey rustic style furnishings where I'd imagine just about any type of business can be successfully mutually discussed, mediated, or settled. I will be departing Monday, and extend my very best to everyone asking God to bless each and every one of you, and our world. Thank you all once again for everything am truly grateful. PO

In terms of local nearby restaurant mentions (The Farmer N The Fish, North Salem, NY turn right out of hotel exit) Call ahead for reservations of more than three you'll find the wine, and menu selection to be the finest made to order easy going wind down place to 'b' after a long day 10 stars. Yes they do lunch. The best Burger can be found at (The Blazer, Purdys, NY) half a mile from the above best beer selection anywhere casual dining at the Blazer. I find breakfast at the hotel to be fantastic chef makes an awesome selection of hot meals eggs prepared to perfection. ...