Hilton Garden Inn Lincoln Downtown/Haymarket — Hotel in Lincoln

Pros: This hotel is in an excellent location in the Haymarket District. It is highly walkable to shops, restaurants, Pinnacle Bank Arena and UNL. For this reason, it might be worth overlooking the negative aspects for the sake of proximity and to avoid the hassle of finding parking. The area appears to be safe. |Cons: We were presented with two parking options at check-in: 1. Self park in the parking garage. 2. Valet parking. Because I like quick and easy accessibility to my car, I self-park if it's an option. The desk clerk gave us a room key and a key card for the parking garage. This is where things started to go wrong. I had to ask how to get to the parking garage (I had parked in the 10 min. zone out front). We were told to go to the right, go past the alley and turn right into the garage. I feel like this info should have been automatically offered. We pulled into the garage. There were two mechanisms to open the gate. The first mechanism said, "Insert key card here." Tried the parking garage card in different directions. Didn't work. The teens with me suggested trying the room key. Didn't work. The other mechanism looked like it should be for people paying with credit cards, so I didn't attempt that. I pushed the help button. A very friendly parking attendant told me to use my garage card on the second mechanism, which worked. The teens commented that it was confusing that the first mechanism asked for the key card. We later decided this mechanism was for CONDO owners to insert their key cards. Our next task was to find the elevator, as we had luggage. Had one of the teens get out to check the first stairwell in the SW corner. No elevator. Checked the second stairwell in the NE corner and found the elevator. Took the elevator to the ground floor, went outside, and tried to figure out how to get into the hotel. All we could see was the parking garage and a restaurant. Fortunately, a maid was getting off her shift and was walking by. She was very friendly and pointed out the skyway going over the alley. She said to get back into the elevator and get off on the same level as that skyway (level 3 in the garage elevator). Then she said to walk through a condo building and go all the way to the back until we saw the door to the hotel. Went back to our car, moved it closer to the skyway, used our room key to access the skyway, walked past the condos and used our key again to access the hotel. Once we located the skyway, things were well marked. Walked down the hotel hallway until we found the hotel elevator and then took it to our room on a different level. I feel like all this hassle could have been avoided had the front desk given a lot more specific instructions. We were hot and tired from being in the car for a long time. Written instructions would have been best. I later came across three young ladies in their 20s, also wandering through the parking garage trying to figure out how to get into the hotel. Next, our room was not the cleanest. The bedspread and shower curtain both had stains. It looked like the maid hadn't looked at the details. The light switches and parts of the bathroom vanity had smudges. The mattress was rather worn out and not the most comfortable. We attended a concert that didn't get out until late, so we intended to sleep late the next morning. Check-out time is noon. I should have put the DND sign on the door, so this is partly my fault, but we were awakened at 9:30 by someone knocking on the door. As I scrambled out of bed, the person then tried to enter our room, but the door caught on the "chain." Then I heard a "Sorry." I finally got to the door and saw a maid going down the hall. Finally, the "one bedroom king" does not have a door that separated it from the rest of the room. To be fair again, there is no door shown in the picture, but I thought maybe it just wasn't visible in the photo. We were really hoping for a door. The room should be called a "king suite." "Bedroom"...

I stayed here for three nights in August. This is the first time I've stayed here, and I will absolutely stay here again. Here is my opinion of the stay.||I arrived around 4pm. Room was ready based on my digital key. At first glance, the check-in desk, restaurant and a sitting area welcome you. It is very open and airy. The staff quickly gave me my keys and headed to my room.||Room: I had a king room at the end of the hallway on the 5th floor. This room faced East, so there was some sun trying to find its way in during the morning. The king bed was extremely comfortable with the perfect amount of sheets. The bed had the standard HGI pillows. 2 that were firm and normal size, and 2 that were very soft and flat, on the larger size. The room had a nice office desk and chair with plenty of outlets to charge your items. Behind the desk was another chair and foot rest. The bathroom was a nice size, with a glass door that opened outwards. Sink was a little low on the water pressure, but was hot and cold when you needed it on demand. Toilet was your standard size. There was an oversized closet with iron and luggage holder. A microwave, fridge and Keurig were provided.||Pool / Hot tub: The pool area was located in the basement (LL). It as very comfortable to swim or wade in. The hot tub was oversized, but very shallow. The water was extremely hot (Perfect) and when the jets turned on, it was an amazing feeling. The only downsize in my opinion, are all of the windows that face the sidewalks from all of the bars and restaurants. I made a suggestion for putting up frosted glass, but it was just my opinion. Felt like I was being watched at 10pm.||Restaurant: I had several great bartenders and servers for both breakfast and dinner. I did not eat dinner here, as there are so many restaurants within walking distance. I did use my $10 per day Food and Beverage credit to enjoy drinks in the evening. Tip generous, and you get a generous pour. There was also an outside sitting area past the meeting room where you can enjoy some couches and chairs.||In the area: This area of the Haymarket is FULL of restaurants and bars. I couldn't even count how many there are. Consider patronizing them as well!!||Parking: paid parking is $19 self-park, or $20 for valet. The parking situation is interesting. It is shared with all of the restaurants in the area. The best way to park, is drive all the way to the 3rd floor. You must get a parking key from the front desk at checkin. You scan the pass on the keypad that says "Hilton Garden Inn". the gate will open from either From there, there is a walkway into the hotel. You need your key to open the door. Walk down the hallway, and follow the signs and you will enter the hotel on the 3rd floor. The parking garage is accessible from either R Street or Q Street using the same method.||Overall this is a great hotel. I will stay here again. One important item, there is heavy construction on a new hotel to the East of the HGI. They start very early in the morning, and finish later in the afternoon. Lots of machines and...

I stayed one night for a business meeting the next morning. The location is fantastic, in a clean, high-energy part of town. It's easy to get to off the freeway, and if it weren't raining I could have walked to my meeting in the nearby business district. The room itself was about what you'd expect. Everything was in good working order and clean. I noticed a crack in one of the tables, but it was minor enough that I only saw it because I happened to leave my shoes next to it. I seemed to be there on a slow night, so the staff was largely distracted. Once I cleared my throat or greeted someone, though, they were all friendly and helpful. I had both dinner and breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Dinner was a chicken flatbread that was absolutely delicious. The flatbread was crispy but not dry, the chicken tender, and the veggies fresh. The BBQ sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but not by much and I know that lots of people like sweet BBQ. Breakfast is a continental setup, but you pay per person as if it's a buffet restaurant (you can include the cost in your room when you make a reservation). Well executed eggs, bacon, sausage, and fresh fruit. They also had other common options like cereal and oatmeal. The fact that checkout is a little later than most hotels (noon) was a big help to me this trip, because it meant I could come back to the room after my meeting to pack up. Parking keeps them out of the 4-5 star range. $20 per day is a bit steep, and I don't recommend the valet because all the parking is actually pretty close. But they share a parking structure with the apartments next door. The lower levels of the garage are all reserved for apartment residents, so you have to go up a couple of floors to park once you're inside. And the only access between parking and the hotel is a skybridge on the top level of the garage, so if you're on another level you need to climb up. This wouldn't be that noteworthy, except that the skybridge actually deposits you inside the apartment building. So you have to key into the parking garage, then key into the skybridge, then key into the hotel. That can get annoying when you're juggling luggage. You also have to walk through most of the width of the apartment building to get into the actual hotel, which is weird. I'm sure all the residents love it when you're delayed and don't get in until 2AM, too. The access from the apartments into the hotel is on the 3rd floor, so you have to climb up or down if that's not where you are and the elevators are at the far end of the hall from the apartments door. All in all, there are a couple of weird things that might not work under some circumstances, but nothing is actually BAD...