Embassy Suites by Hilton Denver International Airport — Hotel in Denver

Worst stay we've had, including motels and developing countries:

1. Filthy premises (soiled furniture, dead animals)
2. Lack of housekeeping
3. Unprofessional, hostile, petty staff
4. Lack of any sort of accountability

We checked in Tuesday. The room had not been turned over: the bed was unmade, it smelled bad and drapes and an armchair were soiled (dark brown stain on the seat). The staff offered to make the bed and remove the armchair (rather than acknowledge that the room hadn't been cleaned). After 2+ hours and getting the front desk manager involved, were got different room. It was a little better, but still not great: e.g., we found soiled socks from a previous occupant in the bathroom. But tired from flying and the room exchange--we tried to give the benefit of the doubt and work with them. They agreed to have housekeeping come and clean the room ASAP.

Wednesday, the room has not been cleaned. We remind the front desk. Thursday, when we go in/out of the hotel, the front desk confirms that our room will be cleaned--but it never is. We realize the pool/hot tub area is littered with dead birds. Friday, we again remind front desk several times. Friday afternoon, the room has still not been cleaned; I go down to the front office to try to expedite this.

They front desk tells me housekeeping has already left for the day. Front desk manager offers me supplies so I can "clean it [my]self." (Really?) She's says she can't get housekeeping involved because she's the front desk manager, so it's not her problem. Isn't the front desk the interface to the hotel's services? Apparently not. Is there a manager who can/will communicate with housekeeping? Yes--but he's not there and they refuse to contact him. He won't be in until Monday.

I'm explaining to some people in the lobby what's going on--that we haven't been able to get our room cleaned for 4 days. The front desk staff starts telling people that we've been "doing nothing but causing problems since we got here." (Apparently asking them to do their job is "causing problems.") The manager threatens to call the police to kick us out of the hotel. I tell her: sure, call the police, and they're going to come arrest me for asking to get the room cleaned? She realizes I haven't done anything wrong and drops this.

I called Hilton's customer service--I am a status member by the way--and they said this is terrible, but can handle this only once the stay is complete. We decided to switch hotels. However, the front desk has now decided I'm "disrespectful" and refuses to even check me out. I had to call the Hilton customer service line and to call the hotel the hotel to check us out. Basically the hotel was trying to force me to pay for the rest of the nights on the reservation.

I'm still confused as to why things had to escalate like this. I don't think we asked for any unreasonable, just for a clean room--I have no idea why the hotel put up such a fight about it. I'm historically a fan of Embassy Suites--I grew up next to one and I've had family members get married in them--but is this an anomaly that Hilton will address, or are they letting the brand die? How they handle it will go a long way to telling me which; and we shall see. (Even though I have vacated the premises and relinquished the room yesterday, the hotel still hasn't checked me out yet.) At the professional conference we attended, the other attendees who stayed here had similar complaints, whereas attendees were raving about other hotels in the immediate vicinity, some of which were actually cheaper and don't have "upscale" reputations. This is the sort of thing that has the potential to turn me off of the Hilton brand in general.

I do advise people to stay away from this particular hotel: whoever is operating it is doing a poor job. And their front desk people (especially the manager) are too unhinged to be in any customer...

I don't have a dramatic or egregious story. There were many things I appreciated about my stay here, but there was so much left to be desired.

What I liked-

Various Accessibility Features I stayed in a standard handicapped accessible room, I myself am not. I grew up with someone who was disabled and appreciated the wide variety of physical accessibility accommodations. Despite smaller features, it lacked an automatic open when your card is keyed in, which is very important for many regardless of wheelchair use.

Large Room The room was very large, and separated into a living and bedroom, with the bedroom through a separate door. Both of these rooms had their own TV's, and the living room included a small pull out bed, which is great for families.

Clean & Safe The room was clean enough and the area felt safe. But for the price point these should be given.

The pool has very long hours 9am-12am if I remember correct.

What I disliked-

I am neither disabled or traveling with a family, so the things I liked the most about this hotel weren't really relevant to me. I stayed on July 12th for a long layover. ($144) After weeks of being on my feet traveling, getting good rest and relaxation was the most important for me that night. I specifically wanted a quiet hotel with a hot tub to soak in. And I chose this one out of the many other options for that.

Out of order Hot tub I was very disheartened to find that the hot tub was closed that night, which immediately made me regret choosing this place over my preferred options that were cheaper that night.

No Adult Swim Though I like the pools long hours, children were loudly playing in the pool well past 10pm, so I couldn't enjoy it. This is not against the rules, but after not being able to enjoy the hot tub, I wish there were adult swim hours to have a quiet evening in the pool.

Limited Restaurant Menu The menu has gotten scarce over the years, with all of the menu options that I were interested in no longer being offered at the time of my stay. For the price point and offerings I wasn't willing to stay in for food and rest like I wanted.

No Free Parking I didn't bring a car but I already know if I did I would have been furious.

Curtains Don't Block Light The curtains have gaps that allow way too much light in. I woke up 2 hours early to a beam of light in my eyes, very undesirable and left me feeling anger over regret.

Housekeeping Entered at 8am 8am, yes you heard it, 8am. As I was packing my bags hours before checkout time, housekeeping knocked and entered the room.

Cold and Disinterested Host The only time I interacted with a host was at check in, when the person working felt cold and spoke to me with a tone like I wasn't good enough to be...

Of course ... It all depends on what you're wanting. For me, I don't care about tv, but there was a big flat screen in the room. I don't need wifi. But, I did plan to check some things at the main floor computer station, and neither computer worked (when I tried to use them). The day after that, a relative could not get his boarding passes to print. This place absolutely needs to get its parking gate situation fixed ASAP. One of the inward bound gates does not work at all, no matter what button you push. More than once, in the dark, we had to back up get out, and manually open an outward gate and drive in that way. The machines should not accept credit cards if the fee is added daily to the bill; this created some confusion and unnecessary charges for some people in our group. The whole situation around the gates is pretty unclassy and feels trashy. Then. When you try to communicate this gate situation to staff, they're frustrated, too, and it makes for an unpleasant feel. I was surprised by the condition of our room. Busted lampshades, a rip in the carpeting. Rolling chair with worn, beat-up corners. The bathroom floor was disgusting. I had to wipe up a lot of hair all over the place. The floor and shower had a public swimming pool restroom feel. There is no shower curtain but a drain and a dip for the water to roll down. I think we might have been given a handicap accessible room; but, this should have been better planned out. Water gets everywhere, creating a serious fall hazard, so you have to mop up with a bunch of towels after every shower. I was concerned about fellow family members falling. Our room had an old, unfresh feel. That said, the bed was comfortable, the sheets seemed clean, and the surroundings were quiet. The lobby and breakfast area are great. It's a beautiful space with plenty of room to meet and hangout. The breakfast has a nice, fresh variety with attentive staff. I didn't catch his name, but the man whose name tag says he is from Trinidad gets one million stars. He is friendly, hardworking, and wants guests to have a wonderful experience. Another highlight was meeting Raenesha W.; she is a ray of sunlight and I truly enjoyed our conversation. I did not need the airport shuttle, but a number of my relatives did. The shuttle looked nice, was prompt every time, and the driver was courteous. If I were meeting up with a big group of people again, I'd probably consider staying here again because of the nice lobby and different great spaces to sit and talk or play games games. But, I would not choose this place...