Embassy Suites by Hilton Los Angeles Downey — Hotel in Downey

STAY AWAY FROM THIS HOTEL! The worst customer service, starting from the management. Terrible and unprofessional altitude. Needless to say that Hilton Gold or Diamond member is nothing to them. Very money minded and all they care about is charging $$$$

I recently paid $350 per night to stay here. Obviously it was a price gouging due to the dance competition next door. Hotel texted me in the morning if I needed anything so I asked about the complimentary early check-in. They said the room was available right now with $25 fee. When asked about honoring complimentary as a Hilton Gold member, I was told that it would depend on the room availability and checked back later. Didn't they say that the room was available right now with $25?? Before check-in, I texted again and confirmed about the complimentary check-in. I was told again that it would be $25(I kept hearing this) at the front desk. I needed to mention that I got the confirmation for the complimentary. She confirmed then and I got room keys. Guess what? They billed me $25 plus tax to my credit card upon check-out. Very ridiculous!! It was the illegal bill!!

Upon check-in, I also requested the late check-out since my daughter has the dance competition til the evening the next day. Again, I was told that it would be $25 for 1pm checkout and extra $50 for up to 4pm. As for the complimentary it would be based on the room availability and asked me to check back again tomorrow morning. I texted them the next morning for the late checkout request and no response. Then I called the front desk and the lady who answered the call brought up about those late checkout fees again; no complimentary check-out was available because they were completely sold out. That was the last day of the dance competition and most people checked out already. I asked I would pay the fees to have the late checkout for my room available(as they brought up about fees over and over again throughout my stay). She RAISED her voice and responded that the late checkout was not available at all. Apparently, that was how they treat their frustrating hotel customers. No courteous or nice altitude, let alone apologetic behavior.

My hubby told me to talk to the manager to explain our situation why we needed the room. So I called the front desk second time and this guy namely PILAR who called himself a manager picked up. He said his staff did it right and I was the one with the wrong altitude. He didn’t even listen attentively to anything I said. He kept interrupting me, RAISED his voice, told me that I needed to fix my altitude. He also insisted that the check-out time was 11am (meaning I need to get out from it soon). He kept repeating that the only option I had if I wanted the room for next couple of hours was to pay the full-price for another night. So, the room was apparently still available if I was willing to pay another $350. Wow! What's an avaricious dude!

That is how they treat their customers apparently. He did nothing to sympathize my situation, nor offered even a small gesture to alleviate the customer's frustrations. Yet he triggered and elevated to make the situation worse. They are the masters of making the frustrated customers more annoyed and make them to never come back. When I asked his name, he even proudly spelled his name.

They repeatedly kept mentioning about fees throughout. When asked about the early check-in, the room would be available right away with $25. When you asked them about the complimentary, they immediately switched the tone that it was based on the room availability. Same thing for the check-out.

I'm not even sure why they are still in business. Probably it's the convenience of the location because they are next to Downey theater? Needless to say that I'm not staying in here NO MATTER WHAT! What's an embarrassment to the brand!! How could someone like him be in a manager position for customer service business. Hilton seriously needs to think for retaining such people if they want to keep their...

This property truly brings shame to the Hilton brand and reputation. Should we start with the check in process? Make sure you bring your phone with you for entertainment while waiting in a completely unacceptable long line. The personnel could not be more indifferent and detached. Expect a Hilton Honors Elite Status recognition? Forget about it. The staff is too jaded for making an effort to thank you for being whatever elite level guest you may be - making their job possible. My guy spent more time talking with other front desk staff members while checking me in, then addressing me. Zero info about any amenities or facilities. He silently lined up a bunch of mini coupons in a key pocket, handed them over, along with a parking slip - presumably I needed to go out and put it inside my car's windshield? He never said anything of that nature. Turns out the mini coupons are for the free breakfast, a tradition for all Embassy Suites properties - BUT for some reason, this property decided to implement the high school cafeteria style of enforcement via coupons?! I saw the breakfast sign clearly indicating the 6-10 AM hours for breakfast. After the check in, I arranged my next working day based on this info. It is now 7 AM and the breakfast area is neatly shut down and cordoned off. Gathered guests started shouting into the closed space. A clearly annoyed kitchen lady shows up and informs the crowd that is is the Presidents' Day, so they decided to start breakfast at 7, not 6. No, there is no sign to inform people about it. And remember the indifferent check in guy from yesterday? Yea, you guessed it, he was too busy chatting with other front desk folks - of course he did not mention this fact to me - Presidents' Day breakfast starts later - 500 bonus points to those who guess WHY? My work had to be rescheduled, as I was joining the breakfast crowd and banging spoons against tin pots, in the spirit of a real school cafeteria. As other reviewers noted, the omelet guy is in charge of collecting the mini coupons, and boy, is he diligent about it. No more random folks walking from the street and mooching free breakfast at this property, there must have been an epidemic of freeloaders in the past. Hence this new summer camp style of dispensing your eggs and pancakes. Once the omelet guy is done with his part, the plate is not given to you, no siree, the kitchen lady grabs it and starts distributing potatoes, pancakes and sausages and she determines the amount and/or number. No more hoarding of sausages in the real buffet style, those days are over, for all you freeloaders! The lady decides now. Thankfully, there is plenty of tip jars lined up, so you can reward them for agreeing to give you an extra sausage. Next, just like in that Seinfeld Soup Episode - you move to the coffee area and find no disposable cups for juice or coffee. Just glass and porcelain. Must be the same reason - hoarding prevention, no more coffee to go - gotta drink it here and not waste by taking it to your room or car! Next, other reviewers mentioned bathrooms as well as constant noise at this property. True, the bathroom is the size of an average shoe closet, yoga fans and other contortionists may be able to use Downey bathrooms. The hallway noise seems to be a recurring theme here - in my case, it was a busload of middle schoolers, with zero supervision - just ruling and owning the property, doing what pre-teens do best, going wild. On the bright side, they must have loved the breakfast arrangement, it fit their level perfectly! Folks, you can do so much better than this, please choose wisely and stay away from this hole...

Our experience at this hotel was deeply disappointing, and I feel compelled to share our experience so others are aware of what we encountered.

Our stay began on a frustrating note. We arrived on the 4th at 2:30 PM, having requested an early check-in. We respected the stated time and waited in the lobby, but when we approached the front desk at 3:55 PM, we were told to wait until 4:00 PM, only to be ignored until 4:20 PM—well beyond the agreed check-in time. This was a simple process that turned into an unnecessarily frustrating ordeal.

When we finally made it to our room, we were met with a strong smell of marijuana, despite having booked a smoke-free room. This was particularly upsetting as we were traveling with family and expected a clean, safe environment. While the staff did move us to another room, the initial experience was unsettling and did not align with the standards promised.

Later that evening, we encountered another issue: we were told that our reservation had been made for only one guest, even though we had five people in our party. We realized that my father had made an error during the booking process, accidentally selecting only one night instead of two. The staff member at the front desk assured us that the issue would be corrected, and we would be charged for both nights. However, we later found out that this correction was never made, adding to our frustration.

The following morning, my sister tried to use the pool and jacuzzi, but when we asked the front desk about availability, we were told that the pool was under maintenance, yet the jacuzzi was open. My sister entered the jacuzzi, only to find it lukewarm. When I asked if it could be heated, I was then told that BOTH the pool and jacuzzi were unavailable due to bacterial contamination. The same staff member had allowed us and others access to the jacuzzi just moments before, leaving us confused and concerned for our safety. My sister, understandably alarmed, immediately washed off in the room.

Later that day, while my family went shopping, my wife and I stayed behind to rest after a long 9-hour drive. A member of the housekeeping staff entered our room without knocking and apologized upon realizing we were still there. She then asked if we had a late checkout, and that’s when we realized that the booking issue had never been resolved. We explained that my father had made the original reservation, but he was hours away from the hotel. We asked to extend our stay, offering to charge the credit card we had on file. Unfortunately, the front desk staff member was rude and unreasonable, insisting that my father appear immediately in person, which was not possible. In frustration, my father cursed, a reaction born of accumulated poor treatment.

The situation escalated further when we received a call later that morning informing us that we were no longer welcome at the hotel. This was devastating, particularly because my family had been loyal guests of this hotel for years, since I was a child. To be treated in this manner was not only humiliating but heartbreaking.

Given everything that happened—and the deeply disappointing way my family was treated—I do not plan on ever returning to this hotel. Instead, we will be staying at Home2 Suites, which has consistently provided the comfort, professionalism, and quality we’ve come to expect from Hilton properties. It's disheartening to see such a decline in standards and management at a place that once held special memories for us. We expected better, and everyone...