Hilton Jackson — Hotel in Jackson

Hilton 011325 Complaint.docx||1 / 11|Good Morning,|On Monday January 13, 2025 around 6pm I checked into the Hilton Jackson on Countyline Road in Jackson MS. This was in conjunction with the Mississippi Municipal League Mid-Winter Conference held on the same property. |I had done the electronic check in when it was emailed to me and selected my room electronically based on it being the lowest floor available. I made this selection because having stayed at the same hotel approximately 10 years ago I experienced issues with hot water and water pressure where the general manager blamed time of day and a higher floor room as the reason for no hot water and low water pressure.|After I checked in to get a physical key, I requested a bellman. The young woman at the desk made several attempts to locate the bellman to no avail. In addition, there were no luggage carts available to self-serve. After 20 min. she located the bellman, and he stated he was off property. She apologized profusely, obviously unaware of his departure from the property. I then proceeded to retrieve my luggage from my car myself. As I struggled to load this onto the elevator, the gentleman who I believe to be the same GM followed me onto the elevator. He made a comment about not being able to get good help. When I arrived at the 6th floor, again I struggled to get off the elevator and the GM did not even offer to help or assist in any way.|When I entered my room, I looked for a menu to order room service…not only was there no menu there was no guest services folder and no phone in the room. After I got organized to do some work, I went downstairs to find only the bar was open for food service. I ordered food and took it to my room and immediately went to bed. |When I woke early the next morning, I then found that the coffee pot did not work…again no phone in the room to call for a replacement. I prepared to get ready to attend registration for the conference and went to pull the covers up on the bed to find the most disgusting situation I have ever encountered in a hotel. I had turned out the lights the previous night before I pulled the covers back unfortunately. I literally became physically nauseous at the sight. (Please see the pictures attached). While I was looking up the number of the hotel to use my cell phone to call the hotel, housekeeping knocked on the door. I happily asked her to come in. She continued to knock so I went to the door in my pj’s. I told her I had a bad situation, and she stated that she was not allowed to enter the room while I was there, and I would need to step out. Needing to shower and dress I was very irritated and told her it was ridiculous. A few minutes later she returned and said she would go against policy to help me. When she saw the stains on the sheets and pillowcase she was obviously disgusted. She took photos and called the head of housekeeping. She called maintenance for a phone and found me a new coffee pot. The Head of HK called to offer $100 off the room. After you|2 / 11|look at the photos, please tell me if you think $100 off is enough in concert with all the other problems. And that is not all the problems!|After such disgust I looked around the room to find stains on nearly every cloth covered surface (Pictures included), rust on the light fixtures, stains on the grout in the bathroom, and to no ones surprise the shower had shampoo and hand lotion…no conditioner, even though the sink had a bottle of hand lotion! Why would they put hand lotion (not body cleanser) in the shower?|I requested a box of tissues as mine ran out and returned to find toilet paper hanging on my door. I set the tissue box outside the door in hopes that housekeeping would get the message…nope, never got tissues.|I went to the restaurant in hopes of ordering a good breakfast to find a sign stating complimentary continental breakfast…no one told me that. But I wanted to have some eggs cooked to order…the hostess approached me, and I asked about the sign. Before I could ask to be seated, she literally ignored me and helped 2 other people that walked up after me! Literally walked away while I was speaking as if I was not there.|Most of what I asked for on the menu was not available although I ordered off the menu 2 nights in a row.|Again, at checkout…no bellman and no luggage carts.|When I say this was the worst hotel experience I have ever encountered, it is no exaggeration. I have been staying at Hilton properties since 1970. I will never stay at that property ever again, possibly never Hilton again. Since this was a business trip, I have no personal gain in requesting a full refund for my entire stay. I do not think my company should have to pay for the extensive lack of cleanliness, common courtesy, basic needs, proper manners and customer service from the GM down. Most of all I am completely dumbfounded that Hilton would allow this representation of their brand. |I will await a prompt reply, and I am happy to answer...

I believe my email to management states it well enough:

To whom it concerns: I arrived at your hotel located at 1001 East County Line, Jackson, MS, on September 22, 2017, for the Pawn Brokers Seminar but my experience turned out very poorly. I'm writing to express my dissatisfaction with this Hilton location in hopes you can help remedy the situation.

I will begin by complimenting the BOH staff and the food, both in the conference areas as well as the adjoined restaurant. Very pleased with the selection and quality/quantity as well as friendly staff. Delicious.....GREAT experience ... Kudos to them and the professionalism of these folks. Never enough is mentioned about the hard-working people that keep your guests happy.

And now for the bad experience...

The following occurred at my arrival and during my stay, beginning with the front desk staff:

I was greeted in a friendly manner, but that didn't last long. After showing the lady (no name tag that was clearly visible) my email "confirmation", she quickly informed me that this room had not been paid for in advance. This is problem #1 because I don't believe there should be a "confirmation" number given to the guest if there is a "balance due". There should be something "clearly" stating this fact. This should be called a "reservation" (being held), so there is no confusion.The room was "reserved", yes, but not "confirmed" as being paid or unpaid

After realizing the situation I was in, the front desk staff didn't really offer to assist me in any way to remedy this situation other than handing me a phone and stating I have to contact my boss myself. Rather than making a bad and uncomfortable situation less stressful, it was made obvious by her body language and attitude that this was "Not her problem" "There's nothing she can do"...a more professional person would have offered to speak with a manager, and if she is the manager this makes a bad situation even worse. I feel all could have been avoided had it been handled more professionally. None of this took place which put me in a financial bind for the rest of the weekend, bringing me to point #3

I paid with a $100.00 bill and promptly received the coin change. A few minutes went past, and she was printing the receipt, and NO paper money of my change was given to me. When I politely informed her that she still owed me $10 she huffed and said:"Oh I'm getting it, just waiting on your receipt to finish printing." WHAT? I have been in retail and management and the customer ALWAYS gets their change altogether, at the same time, receipt comes AFTER. Not sure if she was trying to pull a fast one with that or if that is your regular business practice. Again....very unprofessional.

Ok now for the room...very dusty...and where did the blanket go? Sticky bathroom floors...A/C worked great but thankfully I brought Lysol to spray the vents as it smelled moldy.

Noise level...this is a BIG one...who puts a bunch of rowdy ballplayers on the same floor with people that are attending a seminar at 9:00 am the following morning? This is poor planning on your behalf. Attention to the finer details is important factor completely overlooked by your staff and makes the difference of returning, happy customers or in this case letters such as this one.

Upon check-out, I was asked "how my stay was" and I had to say that it was unpleasant due to the factors listed above. Once again no offer of management to try and remedy the situation, again by an uncaring, unprofessional staff.

I have traveled (and stayed) in your hotels throughout the U.S. and have to say without hesitation, this was by far THE WORST experience ever. There's more but I believe this about covers it. After reading many of the reviews I see my feelings are about the same. BIG, FAMOUS name...bad customer service...we are what put you here, the guests....or have you...

I’ve traveled a lot over 25 years and Hilton was my go to brand. Whether a full-service Hilton or a Hampton Inn, I knew it would be clean, the staff pleasant and the facility in good shape. Post the pandemic I’ve noticed a steep decline of the legacy brands across the board but most noticeable at Hilton and Marriott. The Jackson MS Hilton is a great example. I’d been here before but it was 20 years ago. I was hosting a small meeting and using Zoom to invite remote guests so I needed a full service hotel. I made my room reservation on the Honors site so that was smooth. But I had to make conference arrangements with a phone call. The first call resulted in no follow up or contract sent but my credit card number was hijacked and used to order food. AMEX caught that and I called again to confirm my arrangements. There was no record of them so the process started over. I specified a Boardroom with AV capabilities and was assigned the Jacksonian room. Arriving on Sunday everything was locked but I was assured it would be open early morning and my requested coffee and water would be there. As I looked around the hotel, the disrepair was evident. Falling plaster in the elevator corridor, dirty carpets with the damp odor of water and mildew. An elevator was out as well but the hotel wasn’t crowded yet so that was not a big deal. The room was remarkable only for being so dated. It was clean but felt like I was in a 1980s movie with dark colors and heavy furniture. Monday morning I was up on the meeting room floor at 7:30 to get set up. Door was locked. I called down to the front desk, they sent someone up saying I had been moved to an alternate room as the Jacksonian was not clean. The boardroom was similarly dated but clean. The AV equipment consisted of a flat screen TV with a long HDMI cable. No HDMI to USB adapter, speakers or camera were available. I asked about an AV support person, none was available. A quick trip to Office Depot got the adapter but I’d have to make do for the camera and speaker. My guests arrived but coffee and beverages had not. Calling down to the front desk they sent up my order about 30 minutes later. I didn’t dare try to order lunch, so we broke and went to the restaurant in the lobby. The lady working could not have been nicer, but the room looked like a HS cafeteria or Bus station. Bland, dull, empty. Food was ordered and arrived promptly. It was OK but I would not go back if I had any other choice. The day wrapped up fine a few hours later, no one ever came up to check on the set up, coffee urn or ice for the drinks. Oh well. The next morning hot water for the shower was in short supply, I really just wanted out of there. Paid for coffee at the Starbucks across the street and left. I did not the litter and accumulated in the parking lot and in the sun the exterior of the building looked tired. Overall a poor experience and a blemish on the Hilton brand, which used to stand for something. Hilton, take down your flag if you’re not going to maintain these properties. There’s plenty of very disappointing Hotel chains out there, we don’t...