Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk — Hotel in Kitty Hawk

Overall, a great stay—I would highly recommend this hotel!

My wonderful experience began even before my arrival. Due to a family emergency, I had to cancel a room and was extremely anxious about potential cancellation fees. I called and spoke with Wallace, who was incredibly understanding, courteous, and professional. He handled the situation with efficiency and kindness, which helped ease my worries. I later had the pleasure of meeting Wallace in person and was able to thank him—truly a standout employee!

Hotel Premises: Upon arrival, I was immediately impressed by the hotel grounds. The exterior was clean, beautifully maintained, and best of all, it’s located right on the beach! The lobby smelled amazing and created a great first impression.

The room: A king suite with a view of the ocean...perfect! The view was awesome and relaxing. Very picturesque!

Service: The service across the board was excellent. From the front desk to maintenance and housekeeping, every staff member I encountered was friendly, courteous, and eager to help. The staff truly makes the experience special!

Downsides (More about guest behavior than the hotel): While the hotel is pet-friendly—which I love as a dog owner—some guests unfortunately do not show the same level of respect for the property or others. Picking up after your pet is basic courtesy. It’s disappointing to see dog waste in the hallways, which is certainly not housekeeping’s responsibility to clean up.

Additionally, one evening after housekeeping had already completed their rounds, I noticed a bundle of soiled bed linens placed in the hallway. Food remnants were spilling out of it, and it was not only unsightly but also unhygienic—especially with dogs sniffing around or trying to eat it. This kind of inconsiderate behavior puts an unfair burden on the hotel staff and affects the experience for other guests. If you wouldn’t want to clean up after yourself, don’t leave it for someone else to deal with.

The Gym: The gym is divided into two small rooms—one equipped with Peloton bikes and the other with weights, benches, mats, treadmills. and other essentials. While compact, it offers everything you need to break a sweat and get in a solid hour of strength training!

Beach: Yes, it’s a public beach—but it’s such a beautiful one that it deserves more care. I saw many people walking their dogs without poop bags, which is frustrating and unsanitary. When I’m lying in the sand with my family, I don’t want to worry about stepping—or laying—in something unpleasant.

Final Thoughts: Despite a few issues caused by inconsiderate guests, and individuals on the public beach, this hotel itself is fantastic. The staff is exceptional, the premises are beautiful and clean, and the location can’t be beat. I had an overall great stay and would absolutely recommend this...

My daughters and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn OBX from 11-14 July. I have stayed at Hilton Hotels before and never experienced this poor room cleanliness before. The first room that we received had a bad odor coming from the small refrigerator and the room smelled stale as if it hadn't been disinfected. We found a chipped fingernail in the bathroom sink, hair on the balcony glass door, chipped paint on the balcony.

The last straw was the blood stain on the bedspread that forced me to evacuate the room. I was given a second room that was a little better, but poorer side views. It still had dirty floors (my feet were dark brown from walking barefoot in the room). I asked that it be vacuumed and the floors mopped; at first reception was reluctant because of the 3 day cleaning rule, but I insisted, because the floors weren't cleaned upfront.

Housekeeping came and vacuumed, and sprayed alcohol in the room. However, the floors weren't mopped. That is a basic hygienic requirement for any hotel stay, irrespective of Covid or to avoid other illness.

Further to this, I started to become ill with a bad head cold or sinus infection, which impacted me for the rest of my trip to the USA.

The pool was not big enough to accommodate all the hotel guests. So I went to the beach, but was forced to pay $100 for one day rental of chairs and an umbrella.

This was on top of the existing $400/night I had to pay for the hotel room.

I would have left early but the room was already pre-paid.

I wrote Hilton Honors to complain but never heard back.

Honestly, this stay was a real let-down and I still get angry about how we were ripped off. Staff / hotel want to blame Covid but basic hygiene and cleanliness is an important part of hospitality.

I've travelled enough to know when a room has been properly cleaned and this hadn't been. Most hotels offer free beach seating/parasols and have an adequately sized swimming pool.

The one compliment I will give is the hotel restaurant food was pretty good, so all good there.

I waited to write this review in part because I was upset during my stay and wanted to be objective. I would not recommend this hotel at all. They used Covid as an excuse for the dirty rooms but that isn't good enough. Not when you're paying...

This is not a good place to stay if you want safety and a functioning room. I came here to get my little boy out of the house and see family here because my mom was passing away and it was too much for him. The first day I was unpacking my car around 5:00 and a man with a dog stood on the sidewalk by my car and stared at me and my son. He was about 3’ from me and wouldn’t move on. I stopped unloading and looked at him and his dog. He said oh don’t worry he’s friendly. I got annoyed he wasn’t moving and making us feel scared. I told him to get his dog away then told my son to stay away from his dog. Hoping I gave a message to him to go away. The creepy man yelled at me to move my child. My son was scared and I was too so we talked to the front desk and the police. The front desk knew who he was. He lived across the street and the police found him and talked to him. The lady at the front desk was nice and refunded me for the night which was so sweet. The next morning I booked another room but had to move rooms because they said they didn’t have anymore open and were booked even though it’s January. So I got a more expensive room and the heat was really loud so they had to replace it. They were drilling etc. my mom was in her last few hours that day. Then I had a water leak in the bathroom. Another person had to come. Then I put my son in the shower and the water barely came out then stopped coming out for a moment. I called again and then asked for a manager but they never got back to me. My mom passed away that day and I was on FaceTime with my dad as she passed. I booked a third night and asked the front desk what was happening and why no one fixed my water and why no one called me yet. It just was not handled well. A call would’ve been nice but at this point I would never stay here again. I ran into a couple that were having a terrible stay as well and said they would never come here again. It’s so sad that places are run like this. Even if my mom wasn’t passing away, I would expect to have a nice peaceful stay. All I can say to people reading this is this is just not run well and I bet eventually people will not stay here because the word is...