Hilton Garden Inn Secaucus/Meadowlands — Hotel in Secaucus

As a Hilton Honors member, I’ve come to expect a certain standard of service from your hotels, this experience fell shockingly short of that standard. In fact, by a wide margin, it was the worst hotel stay I’ve ever had and I have stayed in hotels in over 20 cities around the world.

The issues began before I even arrived. I called Hilton reservation line to confirm that a shuttle would be available to pick my family and me up from ERW. The booking agent assured me that one would be, even asking for my exact terminal location. I asked again for specific instructions, explaining that Terminal C at ERW is large and chaotic. Rather than offer clarity, the agent became impatient, told me to "just listen," and insisted that someone would contact me on my phone once they get to the terminal. No one ever did.

After waiting outside the terminal for nearly an hour with no contact or sign of a shuttle, I placed a long-distance call to the hotel reception, only to be told that the hotel doesn’t offer any shuttle service at all. At this point, I had no choice but to take a taxi to the hotel at my own expense.

Unfortunately, things only got worse after arrival. At check-in, I was given key cards for room 332. When we got there, the keys didn’t work, and there was garbage sitting outside the room. Back down to reception I went, and I was given a new room 322. This time the door opened, but what I walked into was far from acceptable.

After spending nearly eight hours in the airport due to four separate flight delays and a cancellation, all I wanted was a hot shower and a clean, quiet place to sleep. Instead, I found a bathroom with barely functioning water pressure, a clogged tub drain, and a sticky, visibly dirty floor. I contacted the front desk, and a staff member did come up, he offered to send maintenance, but by then it was too late in the evening, and I just wanted to go to bed.

As I moved around the room, I stepped near the air conditioning unit and discovered that the floor was soaked, not just wet but soaked. At that point, I called reception again to request a different room, but I was told the hotel was fully booked.

Needless to say, the night was extremely uncomfortable. My family and I checked out at 8:30 a.m. the next morning — exhausted and incredibly frustrated.

To summarize: I was misled during the reservation process, left stranded at the airport, charged for a taxi I shouldn’t have needed, given faulty room access, placed in an unsanitary and water-damaged room, and offered no real resolution throughout. I’ve had better experiences in youth hostels and budget motels — and that’s not an exaggeration.

To add insult to injury, I contacted Hilton Customer Service shortly after the stay. Their only response was a generic apology. I followed up, expressing that this response wasn’t good enough especially for a Hilton Honors member and that I expected more than a form reply. I decided to wait two weeks to give Hilton the chance to make it right. I heard absolutely nothing back. At this point, it seems the company doesn’t stand behind its motto, “For the Stay.”

@HiltonHotels I expect Hilton to take this matter seriously. I’m requesting a full explanation of how this was allowed to happen, along with reimbursement for the taxi fare and compensation for the unacceptable condition of the room. If this is how Hilton treats its Honors members, I can’t imagine how non-members are treated.

Please let me know the next steps for filing a formal claim and receiving...

As a Hilton Honors member, I’ve come to expect a certain standard of service from your hotels, this experience fell shockingly short of that standard. In fact, by a wide margin, it was the worst hotel stay I’ve ever had and I have stayed in hotels in over 20 cities around the world.||The issues began before I even arrived. I called Hilton reservation line to confirm that a shuttle would be available to pick my family and me up from ERW. The booking agent assured me that one would be, even asking for my exact terminal location. I asked again for specific instructions, explaining that Terminal C at ERW is large and chaotic. Rather than offer clarity, the agent became impatient, told me to "just listen," and insisted that someone would contact me on my phone once they get to the terminal. No one ever did.||After waiting outside the terminal for nearly an hour with no contact or sign of a shuttle, I placed a long-distance call to the hotel reception, only to be told that the hotel doesn’t offer any shuttle service at all. At this point, I had no choice but to take a taxi to the hotel at my own expense.||Unfortunately, things only got worse after arrival. At check-in, I was given key cards for room 332. When we got there, the keys didn’t work, and there was garbage sitting outside the room. Back down to reception I went, and I was given a new room 322. This time the door opened, but what I walked into was far from acceptable.||After spending nearly eight hours in the airport due to four separate flight delays and a cancellation, all I wanted was a hot shower and a clean, quiet place to sleep. Instead, I found a bathroom with barely functioning water pressure, a clogged tub drain, and a sticky, visibly dirty floor. I contacted the front desk, and a staff member did come up, he offered to send maintenance, but by then it was too late in the evening, and I just wanted to go to bed.||As I moved around the room, I stepped near the air conditioning unit and discovered that the floor was soaked, not just wet but soaked. At that point, I called reception again to request a different room, but I was told the hotel was fully booked.||Needless to say, the night was extremely uncomfortable. My family and I checked out at 8:30 a.m. the next morning — exhausted and incredibly frustrated.||To summarize: I was misled during the reservation process, left stranded at the airport, charged for a taxi I shouldn’t have needed, given faulty room access, placed in an unsanitary and water-damaged room, and offered no real resolution throughout. I’ve had better experiences in youth hostels and budget motels — and that’s not an exaggeration.||To add insult to injury, I contacted Hilton Customer Service shortly after the stay. Their only response was a generic apology. I followed up, expressing that this response wasn’t good enough especially for a Hilton Honors member and that I expected more than a form reply. I decided to wait two weeks to give Hilton the chance to make it right. I heard absolutely nothing back. At this point, it seems the company doesn’t stand behind its motto, “For the Stay.”||@HiltonHotels I expect Hilton to take this matter seriously. I’m requesting a full explanation of how this was allowed to happen, along with reimbursement for the taxi fare and compensation for the unacceptable condition of the room. If this is how Hilton treats its Honors members, I can’t imagine how non-members are treated.||Please let me know the next steps for filing a formal claim and receiving...

I'm in a different hotel every weekend for work, so I have a lot of good and bad experiences to compare to. So I'll just get right to the few things that stand out to me so far. I'm still here 1 more day, so if anything worth mentioning happens I'll edit it in.

I had dinner here last night and the food was pretty decent. Everybody else at the table ate without complaining, and they embarrass me at times when I eat out with them (my boss is a d*ck). They act like royalty, and some of that came out last night when the waitress forgot to bring his extra plate, and gave him his soda in a plastic bottle instead of an iced glass. But he quickly remembered that we're in the lobby of a hotel ordering food, not a restaurant. Tl;Dr food was good.

The guy at the counter this morning is being less than, well, let's just say I can't tell if he hates his job or me.

most hotels have a coffee station in the lobby. This one has a Keurig machine instead. When I asked him if the coffee was publicly accessable (it's kind of behind the counter right behind him) he was quick to tell me it all costs $2, except the bottom drawer was free. I noticed the top 2 drawers were Starbucks branded, and the bottom drawer was off brand decaf, tea, and 1 regular coffee. He was too busy sitting at the desk to refill it for me. (1 8oz coffee, unless I spend $2 is a joke)

There was no sugar for said coffee. He was again too busy to gaf.

breakfast is included, but it's currently 6am and doesn't start until 7am, so I don't know how good it is. It's a tiny area though, so I'd imagine it your basic hotel selection. She actually just wheeled out the bread and bagels and toaster right now. She made it a point to say goodmorning, unlike the front desk guy.

As you can see, pretty much everything I said was me nitpicking and trying to come up with the negatives. No coffee at 6am though, unless I want to waste $12 to brew a full cup is kind of BS. Most places just have a big thing of coffee in the lobby.

But it's an otherwise decent hotel though, I've stayed at worse Hilton's, but I've also stayed at better.. TBH, the next time I'm in this area for work, I'll probably just spend the extra couple of bucks and go to Embassy suites though. Diamond membership seems to mean more there.

But here, the rooms aren't run down or anything, the lobby had nice presentation, etc, but damn I really want some coffee and I'd rather not have to interact with the front desk guy again.. Embassy was offering me Monsters and Starbucks energy drinks last week without me even asking, just because they were out of coffee and felt bad I had to wait. They also gave me a free soda when I forgot my money in the room. I can't even get a coffee here...