DoubleTree by Hilton Appleton — Hotel in Town of Grand Chute

This review is for Brides considering booking here for the shuttle service for off-site venues. My advice: don't do it! My reasoning is as follows: When I first had contacted the Holiday Inn about getting shuttle service for my guests they had told me that with a certain number of rooms booked I would have shuttle service for the day/night of the wedding. I had mentioned that I had a large number of people who were coming to the wedding and I was guaranteed that my guests would be accommodated. I could only block a certain number of rooms at a time and had asked if when the room block was filled that I be contacted. This is where the first troubles started.....I was never contacted by the hotel when my room block was filled and guests had contacted me to tell me the block was full and then in turn I had to contact the hotel. Three separate times. Once I had 60+ rooms booked here I had called to figure out what times I should put on the shuttle service card (every half hour, 45 min and how long round trip it would take). It was at that time I was told that I was only allowed four scheduled times there and four scheduled times back.....and here's the kicker, the "shuttle" or what I like to call van, only holds 12 people (all of which would have been nice to know at the beginning of the contract!). I was told that they "couldn't" offer exclusive shuttles because of city regulations to ensure that business wasn't taken away from the local cabs/shuttles/bus lines (even though country inn & suites offers exclusive shuttle services and they are right next door). When I had expressed my concern for only having four scheduled times (doing the math I had figured with 60 rooms booked/2 people per room = 120 people at least) I was told not to worry and was reassured that my guests would be accommodated and that the shuttle would come and pick up/drop off people at unscheduled times just by calling the number. Well I should have known better. A number of my guests ended up being late (some even missing the ceremony) due to waiting for the shuttle to come back to pick them up just to be informed that the shuttle had other guests to accommodate. My parent's even ended up driving back to the hotel because the shuttle was full for the way back (and the shuttle driver wasn't happy about coming back after the unscheduled shuttle times). The whole reason I had booked rooms here was because they had offered this shuttle "service" and I wanted my guests to have a worry-free night at the reception with no one worrying about how to get back to the hotel (it was an open bar for guests). I heard from a lot of guests after that they didn't get to take the shuttle because they were told it would be a few hours for the next one. After the wedding I had called to talk to the hotel about my concerns and the guests not being accommodated and I was told that there were other guests that "needed a shuttle to other locations". I get that there were other guests that requested a shuttle but when the hotel makes a guarantee that the guests in the 60+ rooms booked would be accommodated you think they would try to hold up on their end of the deal. We would have chosen a different hotel to have our guests book at had this information been disclosed up front and I feel like I was deceived in order to get my guests to book here. The only reason they didn't get a one star was because the rooms were clean and after the reception we got to hang out in the pool area since it was open 24 hours (this was after a few rude comments were made by the shuttle driver that security would be called if we gathered in one room). Please, from one bride to another, if you are looking to book this hotel due to their "shuttle service" please look into booking a different hotel, preferably one that cares about your guests and appreciates the business that you bring to them. (hint: country inn and suites offers exclusive shuttle service, suites for the bride and groom, continental breakfast for your guests, etc. - overall the choice I should...

Block of rooms was reserved for a family wedding. No communication with bride and groom until the day it closed( apparently the person my daughter-in-law initially communicated with no longer works there) and they only had 4 people registered in the block which means they get no shuttle and no free room for their wedding night. Upon contacting family, we concluded that more than 20(probably closer to 30) rooms had been booked, but the reservation process was not streamlined in a way to get the information about the wedding connected to the guests. Some people called the hotel to book; some booked through the wedding link; and some got connected to the corporate customer service. People were charged different amounts when they first registered. Some people used their Hilton points, others had things like AARP and AAA. There should still be an option to connect to the wedding block.

The pre-pay option should not be offered(I believe it was the same price, but guests didn't know what the block price was). The date span was automatically from the 12th through the 17th. One person got charged over $1000 for his room because he didn't change the dates and booked all of them. It is so much easier(especially for older folks) to call the hotel directly to book rooms. It automatically kicks to a corporate customer service if no one answers at the desk. Booking online was not clear. I didn't state the $129 room charge so people looked for cheaper options. If people booked rooms for the wedding-no matter how or what kind, it should count towards the wedding. The hotel is still getting money.

The bride and groom both work full time so I looked into the mess. Brooke at the hotel was very helpful, and we were able to move guests into the block, but I only knew my side of the wedding. I quit once we got to the magic number of 20, but I have no idea how much others paid for their rooms.

So, the real issue is that whether people book online, directly through the hotel, or through the corporate call center, there should be an effort to ask about a group rate/wedding block. Ordinary people like us don't realize the impact to the couple.

Last issue. Because my father and I have the same name, they gave him my room, and I got his. I had 3 people who were not going to sleep together in a king bed. Our parents got our 2 doubles. There should have been an effort to check addresses on an ID before giving out keys. We checked in hours later, so it was too late to switch. We are hoping that that charges work out because he didn't have to show his credit card. It is on my card. Yikes!

There should be no hassles with a wedding! There should be periodic communications with the bride and groom. An employee who leaves is not an excuse for all of...

I reserved two rooms in April 2017 for my sister's wedding which was being held in Sept 2017. I requested and was assured that both rooms were going to be next to each other with a conjoining door so we could walk back in forth while getting ready for the wedding. I checked in and was told that my conjoining door request wasn't in the notes so we were separated which was an inconvenience and irritating since I specifically requested it during reservation. My mom asked that if one person reserved two rooms wouldn't common sense tell you that they wanted to be next to each other instead of separated? Obviously common sense took a vacation that day. The elevators don't have safety bumpers to reopen the door when closing for I was caught in between them while pushing the luggage cart inside. I hit the inside bumpers, nothing happened. I pushed on the door to force it open because it was continuously putting more and more pressure on me trying to close. The only way I was released was when my mother got around the luggage cart from inside the elevator and pushed the open door button. A lady who saw this brought it up to the hotel staff and they didn't do anything for the next day the elevator closed on a young girl resulting in an injury to her shoulder. The telephone wasn't plugged in and when I plugged it back in the cable wouldn't stay in the receiver because the plastic piece was broken. Also, you have to pay a rental fee for a microwave and mini fridge to be in your room. This is the only hotel where I had to rent those two appliances instead of it be part of the room. The house keeping was terrible for my parents because the day we were checking out my dad informed me that their room had no large bath towels to dry off after taking a shower. All they had were the three small hand wash cloths. My mother brought it up to the hotel staff and all she got in return was "we are sorry" which only frustrated her even more. This hotel still advertises that they have complimentary breakfast which is true but it's not free, you have to pay 10 dollars which is ridiculous for it's deceiving. I do not recommend anyone to go to this hotel regardless if you are a member or not because during all of my other Holiday Inn stays, this one...