Hilton Garden Inn Rockford — Hotel in Rockford Township

Our family stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn/ Rockford for 2 nights Oct.31st and Nov.1st. Every year for our anniversary we take our children and go to Madison, WI for a nice hotel stay and spend a good amount of time in the hotel pool. This year because of covid we decided to stay closer to home. We chose the Garden Inn because of the pool, and because my father, who is a Diamond member, stays in Hilton hotels weekly and said in his experience Garden Inns are usually his favorite. We also read some reviews. The majority were positive and said the hotel was very clean which is a very big factor for us. Upon entering the room I was disappointed. I immediately noticed the carpet was dirty. The room was outdated and severely crowded. I actually could not believe we were at a Hilton property and it looked this way. I started looking around while my fiance started a cup of coffee. Gross, dirty, outdated, damaged, rusted, simply unacceptable. We paid Hilton prices for what I imagine to be Motel 6 type quality. That cup of coffee my husband made? When he poured the creamer provided by the hotel in, it was curdled! This is just the beginning of the worst hotel stay we've ever had. The next morning my husband and daughter go down to get breakfast (that we had paid for with our reservation) and bring back some to the room for our son and I. What they brought back in to-go containers was burnt and inedible. Even the bagel was clearly burnt. How hard is it to serve a toasted bagel? My husband took it back down, had it remade and brought back an okay breakfast that I could accept. Atleast it wasn't burnt. He said that while he was down there the server had to argue and show the cook that the potatoes she was serving were burnt and she needed to make new. Yet another disappointment for our stay. That evening we turned on the air conditioning after our showers. Doing so made the whole room smell of musty mold and we were all sneezing, and sniffling with runny eyes. We shut it off after about 10 min. and were unable to use it further. We were really starting to become upset. We told each other we'd never stay there again. We continued to try to make the best of it for our children, even with all of these issues and disappointments that were really simply unacceptable for any hotel. By the way, our children's white socks were black each day from walking around on the carpet of the room. It was disgusting. We threw them out.

So this brings us to our last day. Same breakfast scenario, as we had paid for that day's breakfast with our reservation as well. This time the food wasn't burnt and tasted better. We guessed it was due to a different cook being down there. Within two hours of eating that breakfast, myself and our son and daughter were vomiting. At 11:42am I messaged the front desk through the Hilton app and told them that something was wrong with the food and that we were all ill from breakfast. Fifteen minutes before I sent the message my husband had started vomiting as well. It was horrible to drag my severely sick family out of that room for check out. My husband had to take the next two days off work. Not only did we have the worst hotel room we've ever been in but we all also suffered dearly from our stay here. All we wanted was a nice, clean hotel room and pool to swim in for a couple days in the fall and to celebrate our 17th anniversary. That is too much for this place. I emailed customer relations and the hotel staff had lied to corporate offices and said they'd reached out to me and were refunding $130. They never reached out to me! $130? Out of a $293 stay from hell? To think that we paid for this mess! Never again. I recommend that you steer clear. There are other hotels in Rockford for cheaper with much better rooms and...

Lobby of the hotel is very nice - they had a nice selection of snack items. There was a small bar that is open until 10pm and a small food area where you can order off a small menu or dine from the buffet. Staff was friendly when we checked in. They seemed to be having some computer issues with one of the computers so only one person was able to check people in. We waited for a few minutes, but it wasn't a big deal. We got checked in and went up to our room. It was nicely appointed. The tv and all the channels worked. There are plenty of outlets in the room for charging phones etc. Bed was comfortable. Pillows were like pancakes and very uncomfortable. Had to roll them up to use them. The sheet seemed to be too small and kept coming off on the corners at the headboard in the middle of the night. The blanket was too narrow. Was hard for both of us to lay on the bed and be covered all the way. Light didn't work on the thermostat. There was a good sized gap under the door to the room. The bathroom door wouldn't stay closed unless you shut it completely - it would just keep swinging open. There is no exhaust fan in the bathroom for 'those moments' when it was surely needed. In the morning we got up and decided to eat at the restaurant downstairs. Again you could dine off the buffet or order off a small menu. The tables were already set with silverware and coffee cups and had menus on them. The first table we chose we couldn't sit at because there was maple syrup all over the bench seat (We told the waitress and by the time we left 40 minutes later it had still not been wiped off and we had to warn people not to sit in it!). We decided to order off the menu. The waitress came by and got us our drinks and took our order. We literally sat 30 some minutes waiting for our food to come to the table. It sat in the window under heat lamps for a good 5 minutes if not more! When the food came both of our eggs were overcooked so we called the waitress back over and said they were overcooked and sat too long under the heat lamps. She had the audacity to lie and say it wasn't our food when we literally saw her grab it and bring it to us. She grudgingly took our plates to have them recook. It was then we noticed them laughing after she told them what the issue was. The kid who was cleaning the tables did a terrible job. Didn't pick anything up and wipe under it. Left the unused coffee cups and silverware that people had touched on the tables. Didn't wipe the menus down. Used a rag that was barely wet and never wiped the seats down that had crumbs and other stuff on them. He did not look pleased to be at work at all and it clearly showed in how he went about cleaning or not cleaning if you ask me. We sat another 10 minutes waiting for our food that took 30 minutes to get the first time and decided we were just going to leave. We went to the front desk and explained the issue and said we needed to pay for our coffee and orange juice. I've owned a restaurant and NEVER would allow that stuff to happen! Total lack of care or respect for people staying and eating there. I certainly hope something is done about the kitchen...

I left two stars only because I have a handful of stays. This was my first really bad experience with the Hilton me and my children frequent here for fun birthday party’s ect… I booked one night stay with the idea that I might stay an extra night which we usually do. I check my bank account I had paid $147 for the room. But there was a $220 hold I was told $44 was for incidental hold which would come out to 191 that was the first red flag because it was a $220 not 191 like it should’ve been I didn’t listen to my instincts, and I booked the second night which I have screenshots of all the conversation in my Hilton honors app where I was told for booking a second night it would’ve been $147 and some change with the current $44 incidental fee would cover that second night stay and I wouldn’t be charged an additional incidental fee. I check my bank account I have 190 something dollar hold keep in mind they’ve already taken out their charges for the room but the incidentals are almost 200$ when I was told $44.24 keep in mind I have all conversions documented in my honors app and screenshoted now in a folder not only that, but apparently at some point on our second stay a group of children from 13 to 7 there was probably about six of them were running wild in the pool area, throwing wet floor signs and caution cones in the pool which I have all on video not a parent in site knocked my three-year-old over made my kids uncomfortable and they just wanted to leave which usually I have to drag them out of the hotel I’m currently waiting for my money to be refunded. My bank is on standby ready to begin the dispute process because with the screenshots and my receipt the $196 was not the agreed-upon. Incidental hold that was to take place 44.24 times two nights It’s really unfortunate because we love staying here. The staff is super friendly it’s always clean and they’re doing renovations so I know it’s gonna get a lot nicer but after this, I will not be staying and if I do, you’re gonna get a prepaid card with the room amount and the exact incidental fee that is it I highly suggest if you stay here, get it on file what your incidental fee will be in document it, and keep track of your bank account Luckily, I did these things. And no matter how this goes I will get my money back. I know they escalated it to see if I can get a refund for the pool incident and the inconvenience of now my bank account almost going negative not to mention the overdraft fee I’m gonna have to pay if that insane hold is not released in time. I’ve seen on searches I’m not the only one who has had this happen...