Hilton Garden Inn Rapid City — Hotel in Rapid City

I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member who travels for work, so I qualify for Diamond almost every year with rollover nights alone. I spend more than 120 nights a year in hotels. For those who aren’t familiar with the Hilton Honors program, Diamond is the top tier, with a handful of perks that go along with it.

When checking in, the receptionist asked if I preferred the choice of “bonus points” or a meal credit per night. We had two rooms, and the group agreed to breakfast at the hotel, so I asked for the meal credits. She said that wasn’t possible. I could have the meal credit for one room and the bonus points for the other, but I cannot have the meal credit for both rooms. This is confusing, and it’s the first I’ve heard of this kind of thing in 15 years with Hilton. As a Diamond member. Okay, just give me the bonus points; we’ll get breakfast somewhere else.

When getting to the room, I found it wasn’t clean. I went back to reception and asked for a manager. There wasn’t a manager on site. I told the receptionist about the problem and showed her the photos of the toilet and shower. I asked to be moved, but she said there were no more rooms. I asked that housekeeping clean the room because it appeared to me that the room was missed. Housekeeping wasn’t there either. She said she’d take care of it herself, so we went and had dinner.

In the meantime, the Executive Chef took great care of one in our party who needed a light snack and has some dietary restrictions. Thanks Red! You shouldn’t be working at this property; you’re too good!!

When we came back, the room was not cleaned. The receptionist said she didn’t want to come into the room because nobody was there. She said she didn’t have permission. Interesting perspective considering our previous conversation.

I had checked availability of rooms in the meantime and found that rooms were, indeed, available. I asked to be switched with the knowledge that rooms were available, and was switched.

The second room, a “complimentary upgrade” by the way, was also dirty. The picture of hairs on the sink is room #2. For the night I had no other options, but this was a two night reservation so I cleaned the bathroom myself with the plan to check out the next day and go somewhere else. There was nothing about this second room that was any kind of “upgrade.”

The next day I went to ask to see the manager, and the receptionist at the desk asked for the reason because she wanted to see if she could help. I told her about dirty room number 1 and the impossible room change that I had to enable. I also told her that I cleaned the bathroom in room 2. She reduced the room rate by half for that night and offered to move me again, which I accepted. After changing rooms, the general manager was available so I told him about the dirty rooms and the fact that evening receptionist wasn’t equipped to deal with problems, had no backup, and had no access to housekeeping. He offered bonus points - so the story came full circle.

I didn’t mention the meal credits again, and judging by the Executive Chef’s attitude, it’s unfortunate that I simply couldn’t see my way clear to give this hotel any more money. The end of the story? In room 3, the coffeemaker was broken!

I don’t spend a lot of time in Rapid City, but if I ever go back, I will not stay...

First the good. The staff is friendly and tries to be helpful. However, some things like finding the correct TV station guide and replacement of a missing lamp seemed to be out of reach for one shift on the front desk. The hotel is clean and convenient for traveling in and out of Rapid City. The bar and restaurant are convenient and pleasant. The business center is neat and convenient and has two computers and a printer.

Now the not so good. Like many Hilton properties (and we have stayed at a lot of them) the need to conserve energy has made many the rooms dingy. Ours had a suite with a ceiling light in the living room section that you could not read by. There was a light on the desk that was adequate for working at the desk but did little to light up the room. There was an end table between the sofa and the chair that should have had a lamp on it. We were told that the table should not have had a lamp and that an extra could not be found. Walking down the hall on day two we noticed a light on the table in the room right next to us. Two additional conversations with the front desk desk did produce a floor lamp with a bulb that you could barely read by. The walls being painted dark red did not help either. The lamp between the beds had two "energy saving" bulbs that appeared to be at least ten years old based on the amount of dust on them. These lights were inadequate for reading in bed.

The first morning we woke up to what we thought were motorcycles in the parking lot only to discover it was the compressor in the air conditioner. A discussion with the front desk did produce having someone look at it during the day while we were out. It was better but we would call it noisy. You could feel the vibration while in bed. I guess it saves you putting quarters in a slot.

Having fifty channel of TV is great except you have to find you favorite stations on you own as no one in the hotel could locate a channel guide. There are two copies of the guide neither of which are correct. We were told that they "recently changed" TV providers. Also, don't ask the bartender as her TV is on a different provider. Several people tried to find a copy of the guide but nothing turned up in our six-day stay.

One one day (out of six) one of the beds was not made. On one day the room was not ready until almost 6:00 p.m. A coke or a drink at the bar would have been a nice gesture while we waited 45 minutes in the lobby.

There is a card in the room that you place on the bed if you want your bed linens. It was ignored two out of two times.

All of this may be nits to some people but it added up to a less than memorable stay at a Hilton property. This is the first negative review we have written...

We stayed at this hotel for four nights. There is so much to say. Where to begin?

The staff at the front desk were confident, prompt, and very nice. No complaints there at all.

The facilities on the other hand… are another matter. It should be noted that the hotel was under construction, but that doesn’t affect the detail this review is about to go into.

There was only one bed in our room, but it was very spacious. Plenty of room for two people to sleep even spread out a little bit. At one point, I fell asleep on the chair… And it was extraordinarily uncomfortable. Do not sleep in the chair. Take my word for it. The view out the window overlooked various places of business, and some construction… It was a better view than Mount Rushmore. Clearly out of place though, was the empty fleet farm next-door. Lights on, seemingly open for business… With an utterly empty parking lot and locked doors.

There’s a wonderful back way into the hotel, if you can find it... you will save close to a minute on your arrival. Good luck.

The shower was odd. No matter how you adjusted the two sliding glass doors, water invariably went out from the shower onto the floor. Large amounts of water. It seems such a strange design flaw, and I cannot understand how it was not caught… But it is the reality that must be lived with. Also the drain clogged very easily and drained slowly.

The artwork. The artwork. Three paintings were in our room, one of a bird over the bed, which was wonderful. Another of some buffalo, which was great,but it it had some weird designs across the front… But they were easily ignored. But the third painting… The third painting… What was it? Upon close inspection, yes it was plains, and a mountain, and sky with a map of South Dakota overlaid over it… But I don’t think that was the full meaning. Some of us saw a beautiful naked woman slightly turned away from you in an erotic pose… Some of us saw a slaughtered chicken, feathers ripped out, and left to rot upon the sand… it continually drew your eye. It was almost, hypnotic, in the pull it had over us…. I am including a picture. So that you too may observe and reflect… on the hidden depths of this art. I can only pray, that it does not pull you in the way it pulled us in… Also can you tell me where I can buy this?

Good...