Hilton Garden Inn St. Augustine Historic District — Hotel in Saint Augustine

Very mixed experience overall. As of now, the hotel has been open for just two months. On the positive, the hotel is new and clean, and gives a lovely first impression. The design team had beautiful taste and it's modern. We loved the design choices, and would have put any of it in our home. The location is on the edge of the historic area, but 1.5 blocks to trolley station if that's your thing. It's a walkable distance to the pedestrian area, but not a short walk. All team members that we encountered were pleasant and professional, even if they didn't have solutions for us (see wifi issues).

Less favorable notes... Some of this may be room-specific (room 405). The contractors were super sloppy! I'm shocked at the quality of the tile work (or lack thereof), incorrectly installed shelves (one in our closet area was so loose we didn't dare use it, and a shelf in the bathroom was upside down. Electrical outlets over the tile weren't installed properly. The sliding door on the shower wasn't leveled adequately, so it kept sliding open. Wallpaper corners not applied firmly, already lifting. Also, who puts wallpaper in a bathroom?! The trim/metal lip on the shower is already starting to oxidize, and it's only a couple of months old. Casters on desk chair already broken and couldn't roll with an average-sized adult seated in it. No housekeeping at all on day two (trash not cleared, towels not replenished). Oh, and the sliding barn-door style bathroom door has a lock, but nothing to latch into, along with visible gaps. Not exactly private, so if you're traveling with an acquaintance, beware. We suspect that the doors were meant to be pocket doors, but installed as exterior sliding barn-door style. Wall panel in one of the elevators was already popping off.

Major issue... WIFI!!!! We had an abysmal experience trying to connect with wifi on the 4th floor. Lobby, no problem. But using the wifi from the 4th floor on any of our mobile devices was almost completely inaccessible. We managed to use it on laptops, but my phone and my daughter's tablet could not connect. We had different platforms/operating systems and devices. Tried all the typical recommendations - 'did you turn it off and turn it back on again?', turned off all connectivity, then restarted, called front desk, who then directed us to call AT&T tech support. After 45 minutes with no solution, the call dropped, and I gave up. Would not recommend if you're depending on hotel wifi for business uses. Employees kept telling us that "We're a new hotel." It's been open for two months, though, and I thought Hilton was supposed to be great for business travelers...

Overall, I think the Hilton brand charges more for fewer amenities, with major execution flaws. If you want a better-executed experience in the same class, choose Marriott, Hyatt, or Kimpton properties over Hilton. If you want a moderate price point with more bang for your buck, go Holiday Inn Express.

Was it terrible? No. Would I stay here again or recommend to others...Probably not. I doubt that the finishes or interior contracting will hold up well. If there are already issues with oxidizing finishes, lifting wallpaper, and overall unfinished impression, what's it going to look like in the future? I'm willing to bet that completion was rushed to meet booking...

The location is perfect and close to everything. It's walking distance to some really great places.

The service is decent. The young man at the counter is nice.

I didn't like the $15 parking fee, nor was the option offered to park elsewhere.

The room is decent. The bathroom door doesn't close all the way and that is not ok. People like privacy when they need it and that can be unpleasant for others when the option is not there. For whatever reason there is a lock on the door but the door refuses to meet the jam. But it's a decent room otherwise.

The slow door close is not the best for private people. It takes quite a while for it to close and it made me feel like someone could come in without my approval quite easily.

The TV is new but is lacking options for 2023 criteria. There was no way to connect to streaming services and all the channels have poor connectivity and skip and freeze at random times. It cheapens the room. Especially for the price.

The price isn't crazy, but I did expect more from the room for the price. Mostly from the TV. I'm actually pretty salty about the TV.

There are few things that seem neglected and will be bigger issues in the future because they aren't being tended to now. It will be interesting to see the evolution of this place in the coming years.

The bed... Here we go. Not sure it's actually a king like it is stated on the website. It's more like a Quing size.i feel like it would measure just under a king but more than a queen. One thing for sure though is that it's tough. This bed has no chill.

You could cut out a section and use it for a bulletproof vest.

My back feels like I've worked 13 hours without a break placing cones on a highway.

My back feels like I've been carrying two three year olds up and down six flights of stairs for hours on end.

I can feel the actual curvature of my spine after sleeping in this bed.

This bed is so hard I removed the fitted just to make sure I wasn't sleeping on a concrete slab.

This bed is so hard I'm gonna leave a review on the bed makers web page and Instagram.

This is the kind of bed that keeps chiropractors in business.

My back feels like I jumped off a roof and landed on locked legs.

This bed made all of my underlying issues present themselves in my dreams.

I wouldn't be surprised if the bed manufacturer started in flooring first.

Complimentary coffee is about the only thing you're getting for free. I was surprised to know that there wasn't a complimentary breakfast here. That really affects my thinking about the place and the narrative it creates as a hotel industry in whole. I'm really not feeling good about that one.

The entire place smells great! There's that.

The rest of the place is pretty. Really pretty pool with a nice layout. It's a fairly new if not brand new hotel. I think I will have nightmares about this...

The TV in our room was broken and when we asked for help the male front desk worker was rude and said it was just the weather meanwhile our tv had been broken for a good 12 hours since we had checked in and it wasn’t even raining then. He offered no solution to the problem. This continued to be a nusance since my husband and I had planned on staying in and watching tv that day.

The next day the fire alarm went off at 7:30am for a good 20 mins. My husband and I woke up and rushed out of the room. Staff was laughing and talking to guests inside the lobby as if nothing was going on. No sense of urgency or organization in a potentially dangerous situation. About 10 minutes later a fire truck showed up, meanwhile staff had already been letting guests back inside without clearance from the fire department. The alarm would go off 3 more times throughout the next hour until 8:45am. Staff was just laughing in the hallway about it.

When we got back to our room later that day we notice the carpet was soaked. My husband is certified in water restoration so he knows the potential hazard of such conditions. When we informed the front desk she said the matinence.. It was 4pm in the afternoon. Are you kidding me? The wetness in the carpet after it rained in a room on the first floor is a sign of a crack in the floors foundation. Wet carpet is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and mildew amongst other health issues.

We had to pack up all of our stuff and transfer rooms down the hall. Only to realize that the room we were given had a door that did not lock. The door did not even fully close with force. Again, no matinence man until the following day.

We had to transfer to ANOTHER room on the 3rd floor which I specifically did not want. It my initial notes I requested a room on the first.

That is not even to mention the continuously rude staff we encountered and general lack of care we received when expressing our concerns. No manager was available to speak to our entire stay. No sense of structure or leadership in problem solving for guests.

I reached out to Hilton privately about my concerns but it’s been 5 days with no response when they said they would contact me in 3 days or less. Just one more example on the negligance we are faced with even after the stay.

Our experience with this Hilton is definitely not what we expected from such a well known hotel brand. Below are picture evidence of some of our issues. I would add videos of the alarm and door not locking if Google would let me.

Side note: we had to pay $20 for parking each day and breakfast is not included in the price, which I have never seen before at a hotel. Kind of ridiculous considering the actual downtown area is a good 25...