Hilton Garden Inn Starkville — Hotel in Starkville

The Hilton Garden Inn has a lot of really good qualities but does show its age in a few minor ways.||First, I have to commend the staff. From the housekeepers and all but one front desk agent to the servers and chefs, whomever did the hiring knew what he/she was doing, and it shows! The new GM, Reid, is on the property and interacts with the guests regularly. The breakfast server, Ann, is attentive, friendly, and know the food well. The breakfast cook, Richard, does a great job and is fine with special requests. You can't beat Theresa, the group sales and special events planner who couldn't be more helpful. Every housekeeper was respectful and friendly, as were all but one of the front desk agents (who happened to be the one that handled by night-time arrival check-in and didn't even acknowledge my Diamond status, let alone know what benefits Diamond members receive).||The rooms are spacious and comfortable, with really good beds, nice pillows and soft linens. Temperature control worked perfectly. The televisions have a seemingly endless choice of channels, although the remotes are a bit different (I never did figure out how to use the channel guide properly, so I found myself always scrolling through every channel). I requested a room facing away from Highway 12 and got one. It was very quiet and easy to fall into a nice sleep!||One thing that did concern me was the mini-refrigerator. It was in desperate need of defrosting. I'm sure that the missing door to the freezer area contributed to this. There was no retaining bar on the inside of the door, so the door shelving was useless. I reported the issues and they took the fridge outside and left it in the bright sun -- and that failed to completely eliminate the caked on ice! The door bar was replaced, which was good. I was surprised that they did not simply replace the refrigerator with another one, but perhaps the age of the property is such that with an impending renovation there are no extras.||The bathroom had plenty of towels, an upper tier hand/facial soap, and shower gel, shampoo and conditioner in plastic container bottles with pump action. The conditioner was empty when I checked in, but quickly replenished after I reported it.||If you stay here -- and you should -- do not miss the breakfast. The hot items are well prepared, you have real oatmeal (not from a packet), a nice variety of bulk cereals, wonderful fresh-cut fruits, better quality bagels and other breakfast breads, etc. I don't eat bacon and sausage, but the folks around me said the ones they had were really good. The only negative is the orange juice -- in a word, it was awful! I tried it on different days and the same result: very little taste, watered down, and nothing vaguely resembling the real thing. I mentioned it to the GM (Reid, in his second month) and he agreed, saying "orange juice is a major issue with guests and one of the first things I want to change is an upgrade to a better product."||The breakfast server, Ann, is great, and I want to share something that truly impressed me: one of the guests had a very friendly dog and Ann went over to pet it. After giving it some attention, she walked straight over to the trash can, removed her gloves, and dropped them in -- and then put on a new pair. I know that this is what the server should do, but seeing her do it impressed me! ||I got to sample quite a few items at a banquet and I can tell you that the quality of the dinner buffet for that event was top-notch. Everything was fresh and house-made, from the potato salad to the sliced turkey, and the cabbage to the cobbler. I would be remiss if I did not mention the sweet and unsweet teas: deep tea flavor, steeped for the right time, and among the best I've had during my 32 years in the South.||This is a really good property right now, and when the 2025 renovations are completed, it will...

I stayed at this location during a conference for work. I chose this location because of the name, location, and I quality. However, I was very disappointed with several things during this stay. The room was very nice, clean, and smelled great. The staff was very friendly. The issues that I had were minor for the most part but very important for some. As simple as they were, I couldn't understand why they were an issue, especially for a Hilton. Issue # 1 : The coffee in the lobby was cold and weak. You could literally see through it. It was pitiful! It did not matter what time of day...From breakfast until dinner, it was the same. When I asked if they had a microwave that I could use to heat it up, I was told " in your room". So I proceeded to go to the 3rd floor back and forth to heat my coffee. There was a keurig in the room but only 2 pods. When I went downstairs to ask for additional pods so that I could just make my own, I was told " We don't have anymore" in the WHOLE HOTEL....They did not have coffee to restock the rooms. We were here for (3) days!! The prices in the little store ( in the lobby) were outrageous!!! Most hotels offer complimentary items such as, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. You had to pay here and the prices was more than 3X or more what it cost in the store. Thankfully there was a Walmart near by. THEN............ The lady that cleaned my room apparently took a liking to my personal items. This was an experience I've never had to deal with before......The housekeeper went through my items and actually STOLE MY PANTIES!!! They were a new pack mind you BUT not hers to take. had it not been for the simple fact that I opened them that morning while dressing and actually wore a pair, I would have assumed that I forgot to pack them. However, that was not the case. They were Tommy Hilfiger and were sort of pricey for underwear, but nothing expensive. She did not take the very expensive perfume in the bathroom, the costly hair products or make up, not even the jewelry in the bag on the counter....BUT she went into my bag and took my PANTIES!!!!! Who does that????? I did report it to the hotel and was asked to write a report, which I did. Then NOTHING.....they did NOTHING...... The lady at the front counter was very friendly and apologized but said " We have just hired a bunch of people that have been desperate for work, I guess she was desperate for panties". I would be very cautious with this hotel and bring your...

Room prices reflect that it is a college town and without many other familiar chains. You choose a Hilton and expect an adequate experience; this facility is in need of a renovation. The amount of water spots in the ceilings, towels aren't bleached well and have stains, and the bedding is sub par. As a maintenance man myself, all the exterior GFCIs are burnt out, it happens, they don't last forever. But it tells me that I'm more astute than their maintenance person. The bathroom ventilation system doesn't work. Hotel bathrooms have a vent for steam that is silent; the motor is in a separate location so you don't even know. But you can put a piece of paper against the grate to see if there is suction. Nada. This is a group ventilation system meaning multiple rooms, if not every one, has unvented bathrooms that steam up uncontrolled. The ceiling has bubbles as a result. Read the reviews of others.

But they lost me when the room adjacent let their alarm go for half an hour. I thought it must be an empty room and accidental alarm until the music came on at 6am blaring through the walls. I called the front desk and they said they wouldn't do anything because they would get a complaint. I said "you're getting a complaint already, right now. I'm complaining."

There's inadequate and apathetic staff each time I've stayed here. This is not a statement of all employees; I've dealt with several great ones over my stays here but the general overall average is apathy.

All in all, the issue is that they can charge college sports town prices in a hotel while dragging their feet on updates and deferred maintenance. At least the pool is open this visit (it hasn't always been). I wouldn't be posting this if it were a $99/night place; but it's definitely $220 for this stay. And it's not football season

Edit: Came back and to give credit to an impressive staff this stay! Other than the interaction I described above, Kyla, Lucia, Tink, and the guys in the kitchen deserve...