Hilton Madison Monona Terrace — Hotel in Madison

Falls short of some basic expectations. The bathroom had 14 short hairs from the last guest in the tub and a few more on the floor along the tub's edge. Fourteen (plus the ones outside) are a bit much. The bathroom light switch appeared clean, but next to it the outlet was surrounded by oily fingerprints. I checked to make sure it wasn't something permanent--came right off. There was dust all over the magnifying mirror and shelves. The room just needed one really good spring cleaning/dusting and then constant upkeep year round.

The shuttle was the most frustrating part of my stay. I've used many different shuttles in many different hotels across many states, but this one was the most unreliable. I was told by Shawn, a supervisor, that when I arrived at the airport to call when I had my luggage and a shuttle would be sent. That's fairly standard. (He emphasized that there was no need to reserve the shuttle in advance, and after I asked if there was anything else I needed to know, he said no.) When my flight finally arrived after two days full of delays, I had to fight with very poor reception in the airport but finally got through to the hotel only to learn that there was no shuttle available. This was just after 7pm. They said they couldn't spare a driver as drivers were needed for other roles at the hotel. They told me to walk to door 7 at the airport and get one of the yellow taxis there. They assured me that they (the hotel) would pay for the cab and that the yellow taxis knew the procedure. I went out to that door and there were 5 vehicles (taxis/Lyft/Uber) waiting for passengers. None of them were the yellow taxis. So I waited. Luckily one of those taxi drivers gave me the rest of the information I needed. I needed to call Union Cab. This time I stood outside for the reception. It took Union a while to arrive, but they did come. The hotel paid.

Halfway through my almost weeklong stay I had booked a rental car for one day. This was partly why I booked this hotel, for the supposed ease of getting to and from the airport via shuttle. I needed to pick up my rental car from the airport and drop it off the same day and get back to the hotel. I called the front desk the night before I needed the shuttle to see if I would have better luck this time. I needed to be to the airport by 8:30am. I was transferred from the front desk to the valet. I was told I had the options of 7:15am or a time that is after 8:30am. 7:15am was the best they can do? Yep. Other shuttles were booked for other things. (But I thought we don't reserve in advance?) It sounds like you can reserve in advance to depart from the hotel but not for returning to the hotel. Then I asked about my return time at 8pm at night. I was told to call at that time, and they'd see if there was availability at that time. A party had booked the shuttle from 8pm to 9pm. He said there might be a shuttle at 7:45pm and then corrected himself that it was an outgoing shuttle, not an incoming one. So that 7:45pm shuttle might be available for me the next night, but since it can't be reserved for pick-up, who knows. At least this time I know about the taxis although they only pay for those if there is no shuttle service available.

FYI: There is hot water available in the lobby. It's in the hotel's market area. I was told at first that everything in the market area was for purchase ONLY even after I motioned to the coffee and hot water area. I called the front desk again tonight to be sure that was the case and specifically asked about hot water this time. Yes, it's free. Where is it located? In the market area. Sigh.

The hotel's not all bad. The check-in was very professionally handled, and when my flight was delayed an entire day, they were willing to let me out of my 3rd party reservation to book 1 fewer nights. The new rate was higher than my previous one, but it still beat paying for a night I...

My wife and I wanted a quick getaway before our new baby came, so we went to Expedia on a Friday afternoon to see what was available. A room at the Hilton was up for a big discount, so we jumped at the chance, seeing as how the rooms were normally $265 a night.

When you go to a hotel that costs $265 a night, you can't help but notice little things. The pool is small, and the jacuzzi was broken when we were there. There is no arcade or game room (e.g. ping pong table, foosball) for entertainment. The signs all around the hotel say "ice and vending," but there are no vending machines anywhere. It's just ice.

The food at the Olive restaurant was passable but nothing special. The fries and onion rings were good; the entrees themselves were average.

When we booked the room, the website proclaimed free wifi throughout the hotel. So did the guest books in our room. However, the wifi actually costs $5 per day. When we arrived, a parking lot attendant told us that our room cards would get us into and out of the garage—while neglecting to mention that the garage cost $17 a night. In the morning, we discovered that there is no complementary breakfast. You can buy a piece of toast for $2 or some yogurt for $5—it's all a complete ripoff—but there isn't even a token attempt to let you walk out the door in the morning with some food in your stomach.

The rooms themselves are fine but nothing 4-star-worthy. The beds are small: we had a choice of either 1 king-side bed or two doubles, so get ready to get cozy if you're a couple traveling with kids. The AC was ridiculously loud and hilariously ineffective—we had to set it to 66 degrees before the room got comfortable at night.

If we'd gone to Holiday Inn, we would have had free parking, free breakfast, free wifi, a bigger pool, and a room of comparable quality and cleanliness—plus, maybe, bigger beds and a quieter AC.

To be fair, the staff were excellent. We complained, and they took off the $5 wifi and $17 parking charge. But I can't judge the hotel based on the fact that we got these BS charges refunded. Clearly, the hotel is making bank on people who are either too timid to complain or too rich to care. Gouging your guests for basic amenities such as wifi, parking, and breakfast is the sort nickle-and-diming BS I'd expect from a sleazy mobile game, not a 4-star hotel.

Seriously. What hotel doesn't have free wifi, parking, and breakfast? It's like the Hilton is actively trying to take steps backwards. Changing free wifi to paid wifi and implementing that policy BEFORE updating the website and the booklets INSIDE ALL OF THE ROOMS just reeks of bad management. I will never stay in a Hilton hotel...

Hilton’s Inhumanity Toward Cancer Patients||||Imagine finishing weeks of grueling radiation treatment, walking into what is supposed to be a world-class hotel for a brief moment of normalcy, only to be denied a simple drink and mocked in the process. That is exactly what happened. Hilton staff showed zero compassion, zero common sense, and zero hospitality. Employees Sam and Andrew mocked a cancer patient, and Andrew went so far as to stick his tongue out at us (security video will confirm if released).||||This is no longer about “policy.” It is about basic human decency. A cancer patient, celebrating survival after radiation and attending a wedding, was treated with coldness, disrespect, and outright cruelty by Hilton employees. This is inexcusable. ||||Hospitality is supposed to be about people first, not rigid, tone-deaf rules enforced by staff on a power trip. The lack of empathy was staggering. Guests around us were shocked and disgusted. Worse still, Hilton’s management response has not been to apologize or act swiftly, but to stall, deflect, and attempt a cover-up.||||This is why I must warn future guests—especially cancer patients, disabled individuals, and their families—that Hilton is not a safe or compassionate place. If you are fighting for your life or simply trying to reclaim a piece of normalcy after illness, you deserve respect, not mockery. The cruelty we experienced here should never happen to another patient or family.||||Their fight is hard enough. Don’t add cruelty. Compassion is strength. Mockery is weakness. Cancer takes enough—don’t take away dignity too. Yet Hilton’s failure to act swiftly shows a callous disregard for these truths.||||Equally troubling is the handling of this matter by Steve Hilton. Instead of urgency, Hilton leadership, under Steve Hilton, chose delay and deflection—signaling cover-up rather than accountability. Such disregard for the sick and disabled is as damning as the mockery itself, and it is clear that only new leadership committed to dignity, transparency, and basic human decency can begin to repair this stain on Hilton’s reputation. His responses to date suggest not genuine concern for the victim or the seriousness of the ADA implications, but a calculated effort to minimize and delay. That is unacceptable.||||Any senior executive who treats discrimination against cancer patients as a public relations problem rather than a moral and legal crisis has no business leading a hospitality company. I call for Steve Hilton’s immediate replacement with leadership capable of restoring dignity, accountability, and humanity to Hilton Hotels.||||Dr....