Hilton Durham near Duke University — Hotel in Durham

Disappointing Stay – Not the Hilton Standard I recently stayed at the Hilton Durham Near Duke University for a total of four nights (almost five), and unfortunately, it was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had far below what I expect from a Hilton-branded property. To start, I was moved to three different rooms during my stay and was nearly moved to a fourth. This constant shuffling was incredibly disruptive and frustrating. While I understand that some of the changes were due to availability and renovations, the complete lack of proactive communication and care from the staff was unacceptable. On my first night, I checked in around 2 PM and was assisted by Sierra, who was very pleasant and professional, one of the few positive interactions I had during the entire stay. However, the room’s air conditioning wasn’t working properly. It never fully cooled the space, and when it briefly did, it didn’t last. I tolerated the issue for several hours before contacting guest services around 7–8 PM. Maintenance was sent, but there was no follow-up. It wasn’t until 11 PM; after I followed up again that I was finally offered a different room. Unfortunately, that came with a caveat: I would need to vacate it in the morning due to renovations. Given the late hour, I chose to stay in the original room that night. The next morning, I spoke with Lynette about the room I was offered but was told I needed to upgrade my booking if I was to get a different/better room. This was inexplicable because it made no sense saying that the entire hotel had no rooms with working ac for Queen bedrooms. I booked a King deluxe room and Lynette jumped in again and moved me to a new room (which was still not what I booked). I was moved to a “twin bed” room (not a suite) under the guise of it being the only one available at the time. I hoped things would improve, but they didn’t. I had initially planned to stay for 10 nights in total, but given the circumstances, I decided to only extend my stay every two nights. The following night, when I asked to remain in the current room, I was told it had already been booked, and I would need to move again, adding to the stress and inconvenience. After completing my initial reservation, I booked an additional stay and reserved a King Alcove Suite—a specific room type I selected and paid for. However, at check-in, I was told that suite was not available, despite my confirmed booking. Instead, I was downgraded (with no refunds to mention) to a Queen Suite and told I would be moved to the King Suite if it became available. No communication or follow-up ever came. When it was time to check out, I again asked about the King Suite I had originally reserved. Once more, it was not available. Worse, I was told the Queen Suite I was currently in was also booked, so I would have to vacate yet again for it to be cleaned while they “tried” to get me the king suite. After checking out and being advised by staff to wait until after 4pm, I did so and was placed in Room 234. Room 234 was by far the worst. It reeked of urine. The odor was strong and unbearable, as if animals had been kept in the room and the carpet hadn’t been cleaned in ages. This was supposed to be the King Alcove Suite. Given the time and the previous turn of events, I had little choice but to stay the night and planned to address it in the morning. When I called down the next day, Lynette again answered the phone but cut the conversation short, telling me to come downstairs for another room. That would have made it the fourth room change in five days. Still, there was no apology, no offer of accommodation, no empathy, just a dismissive attitude. When I arrived in the lobby around checkout, Lynette loudly asked across the room, “What room y’all leaving out?” A completely unprofessional and embarrassing moment in front of other guests. It’s important to note that while Lynette presented as if she were trying to help, her actions consistently undercut her coworkers. She would often jump into conversations, micromanaging and...

My wife and I decided to have our wedding here. Worst decision of our lives. Management took no responsibility for their action. 1st Issue: No bartender for the 1st 30 minutes of cocktail Hour. 2nd Issue: No steps to get on, and off the stage.

3rd Issue: My wife and I ordered sweet tea to be served at our reception. During our reception, they serve everyone unsweet tea. Everyone at the reception said the tea was disgusting. When we brought it to Mrs. Hawkins's attention, she said it was unsweet tea. Her staff started passing out sugar packs to all the tables to help try to sweeten up the tea. But after several packs of sugar, it still was not good. They finally made a batch of sweet tea for the one or two tables that kept complaining about the horrible taste of the tea. Again, there was no apology for them accidentally giving us unsweet tea. Again, when I talked to Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Hawkins on June 16th, they changed their story and stated they did give us sweet tea; it just wasn't to "My People" liking. Again, insulting myself, my wife and "My People" as well as my friends and family. As if we don't know the difference between sweet tea and brown water.

4th : When my wife and I first started looking at having our wedding at the Hilton, one of the first things they told us was that we were not allowed to go down on our guest list. They stated that we were only allowed to go up. And with that being said, if we didn't have the guests show up, we could have the option of getting their plates since the meals were plated. We had 108 guests, and 20 people did not show. During the reception, we asked Mrs. Hawkins about our plates from the guest that did not show up. Mrs.Hawkins informed us that the leftover plates would be boxed and left at the hotel front desk. Later after the reception was over, I went to the front desk, where they handed me only four boxes, and all of them only had pork chops dinners in them. When I spoke with Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Hawkins on June 16th about the plates we paid for and did not get, they said they threw the food away, and I was not allowed to-go boxes. I then reminded them that when I was at the reception and when we asked about the food. Mrs.Hawkins told us they would box up the plates and leave them at the front desk. Now they are telling us they throw the food away. And telling us per contract we are not allowed to take food. However, they never gave us the option to eat it there. Mrs. Hawkins suggested the to-go boxes. We paid 66 dollars a plate with 22% service tax and 7.5% sales tax equaling $86.66. And you're telling me they just decided to throw the food I paid for away. I find it funny I saw several staff members from reception leaving with to go boxes. I also find it funny that they are telling us now that we couldn't have to-go boxes. But they did give us boxes with all porkchop dinners. There were no chicken plates or Salmon plates left at the desk. Basically, what happened is that the staff members took all the good plates and left us the scrap like we were some type of dogs. Did they think they could really just hand us what they didn't want and think it would be okay?

5th : Towards the night's end, my wife witnessed a staff member recording us through the door slightly open near the DJ booth. We had several guests dancing on the dance floor and within the reception space. We do not understand why a team member wants to record us during our special private time. My wife went over to her to talk to her directly, and she walked away as if she had something to do. When bringing this to the attention of Mrs.Hawkins, she said she would talk with the person and that she believed she knew who it was and that the manager was aware of this situation. Once I spoke to Mrs. Hawkins, she only informed me that she would “train the staff on what not to do” and that no one admitted to recording during that night.

After all this management offer me a laughable...

Writing to express my extreme disappointment with the customer service and follow-up at the Hilton Durham near Duke University. Unfortunately, my recent experience has left me frustrated and dissatisfied, and I feel that my concerns have been completely ignored by the staff.

After checking out of the hotel, I realized I had accidentally left behind a pair of brand new AirPods Pro in the room. What many people may not know is that AirPods Pro regularly send their location to the cloud, which made it easy for me to track their whereabouts. I immediately contacted the hotel the day after checkout and was assured that a lost item report had been filed, and I would receive a follow-up call. No big deal, right? I thought the situation would be handled quickly and professionally.

However, when I called the next day, I was informed that no report had been filed, and there was no record of my previous call. At this point, I could still track the AirPods, and the location was clearly within the hotel. So, I drove two hours back to the Hilton Durham in the hopes of recovering the AirPods. Despite searching the room, nothing was found. Still, the location on my device showed that the AirPods were at the hotel.

Then, things took a bizarre turn. I watched as the AirPods moved from the hotel to a residential area about 15 minutes away. I called the hotel once again and provided them with the address, suspecting that the AirPods might be in the possession of someone connected to the hotel. However, after my visit and explanation of the situation, no action was taken, and I was left in the dark.

It’s been nearly a full week since I first contacted the hotel, and despite multiple follow-ups—including a voicemail left on Tuesday of this week—I have yet to receive any kind of response or resolution. The lack of follow-up and accountability is truly astounding. I understand that it was my mistake for leaving the AirPods behind, but the failure of Hilton Durham to address my situation in a timely or professional manner is inexcusable.

At this point, I’ve received no acknowledgment of my concerns, which has left me with a very negative impression of this hotel. I won’t be returning to this location and cannot recommend it to anyone based on this experience.

UPDATE 3.5.25 I honestly was so surprised by the response from the property on this that I needed to post a reply.

Thank you for your response. However, I must clarify and reiterate my deep disappointment with how this situation was handled, despite your claims of exceeding standard protocol.

Yes, I appreciate that I was eventually allowed to re-enter the room, but that only happened after I drove two hours back to the hotel myself—not because of any proactive support from your team. In fact, when I followed up the day after my initial call, I was told there was no record of my report at all. This directly contradicts your claim that the issue was “immediately” addressed.

Further, your suggestion that the situation was resolved within 48 hours is simply not true. I made multiple follow-up calls, left a voicemail, and received no communication or acknowledgment in return. Only after making this review did I get a response to my voicemail.

What’s most concerning, however, is your decision to publicly disclose the full name of another guest (who was never mentioned in my review) as part of your response. That is completely unprofessional and a serious breach of privacy. It’s shocking that a Hilton property would choose to publish another customer’s personal information online in an attempt to deflect responsibility.

Lastly, while I understand Hilton cannot be held responsible for items left behind, the total lack of follow-through, the contradictory communication, and the passive approach to an issue that clearly involved traceable property were all unacceptable. This experience has left me with no confidence in your hotel's service or...