Hilton Garden Inn Wilkes Barre — Hotel in Wilkes-Barre Township

Having stayed at Hilton Garden Inns many, many times before (including this one a few times), I usually know what to expect—clean rooms, comfy beds, and a consistent experience. That’s why I booked a four-night stay from Tuesday through Saturday, checking out on New Year’s weekend. While some aspects of my stay met those expectations, others…well, let’s just say it left me scratching my head.

When I checked in Tuesday night, I asked for a room in a quiet part of the hotel since, you know, New Year’s Eve could bring some party vibes, and I wasn’t in the mood to hear revelers after a long day of travel. The front desk clerk was super accommodating and got me set up in a nice, peaceful room. Props to her for that!

It was nice to see the remodeled rooms, too. Mine had a king bed, a flat-screen TV, mini fridge, large workstation, and a bathroom with a long but narrow shower and a spacious sink area. Plenty of storage, USB ports on both sides of the bed, and a very comfortable mattress—it checked all the boxes. Except…one wall near the bed had some suspicious stains that were visible when the light hit them just right, let’s just say these made me wonder what someone was up to previously in that room. (Seriously, Hilton, maybe prioritize touching up that wall in room 427.)

Now for the crazy part: My room was not serviced a single time during my four-night stay.

Here’s the timeline:

Wednesday: Left my room around 9 AM, worked in the lobby for a while, then went out for the day. Came back that afternoon to find the room hadn’t been cleaned. No biggie—I checked in late Tuesday, so I figured they’d get to it Thursday. I called the front desk for towels, and those were delivered quickly.

Thursday: Same routine—left around 9 AM, came back late afternoon, and…still no service. By now, I also needed shower gel because the bottle in the shower was empty. I went down to the desk and let them know my room hadn’t been serviced since I checked in. The response? “Rooms are serviced every other day, so it should have been done today. Maybe tomorrow.” They brought up the shower gel later, but by this point, I was annoyed.

Friday: Left at 9 AM again, returned around 4 PM, and guess what? Room STILL wasn’t cleaned. By now, there was a mountain of towels on the bathroom floor. At that point, I just gave up.

Ironically, every morning while working in the lobby, I’d see a man (who said he was the director of marketing but had no nametag or anything official-looking) walking around reminding guests to fill out surveys. Sir, maybe focus on why the rooms aren’t being serviced before asking for glowing feedback?

A few positives to balance things out: the room was spotless (except for that wall) when I checked in, the bed was very comfortable, and I appreciated the USB ports by the bed. But the lack of housekeeping during a four-night stay—especially when the front desk knew I’d already asked twice for towels—was unacceptable.

Would I stay here again? Maybe. Hilton is my go-to brand, and this location has been fine in the past. But knowing there’s a Hampton Inn right across the street gives me something to think about next time.

Here’s hoping they get their housekeeping...

I’m not normally one to write reviews so you know I have a reason when I do. My husbands family is local and we’ve been planning this trip for months. My husband and I normally go a bit cheaper as it’s just us but now that we have a baby I really wanted a nice, clean and accommodating hotel. I thought we could splurge some. A huge factor in us going with Hilton was that they advertised they had cribs/infant beds. We called to make sure as we absolutely needed a crib. They told us they had them and we felt good with booking. Well in fact when we show up and the front desk girl looks so confused. She checked with her manager and they in fact got rid of the cribs!! We just flew thousands of miles to find out our baby no longer has a bed for our weeklong stay!! I was livid! Back to making this reservation, like I said I wanted a nice stay. I wanted a hotel with a nice pool and facilities. I bought the baby a suit and floaties and have been waiting months to take her! It’s the little things sometimes. We also wanted a hotel with room service/ a restaurant seeing as we have a baby and we’d like the convenience of being able to get a quick bite when needed. So we are checking in, we find out there is no crib and then my husband goes down to look at the pool and it’s closed due to covid as well as the spa, restaurant and room service! Are you kidding me?? No where in our hotel confirmation emails did we read of these closures! Our one vacation to see his family and all we get is our room? Well I’m hoping it’s nice at least.

So I don’t even know what happened with this visit. I spent a good while trying to find a beautiful hotel, and we find ourselves in a tiny room, that honestly doesn’t look or feel much different then the much less expensive hotels we’ve previously stayed in. For goodness sake the bed was awful! We both woke up stiff each morning! And I don’t think I’ve been to a hotel lately that hasn’t had a free continental breakfast, but this one did not! You had to pay and it wasn’t even good. Such a waste of money!! They advertise a clean hotel and yeah the sheets and towels seemed clean but that’s about it. The bathroom definitely needed a good update. The shower tub would clog each use! How gross to be standing in a pool of water as you shower. We really feel like we did not get our money’s worth. I am incredibly disappointed with our stay and it’s infuriating we payed so much money for basically nothing we were expecting. With all of the closures and lack of amenities I really wish we got a discounted room. Needless to say we won’t be visiting Hilton again after...

I paid $160 per night plus a $50 pet fee for my dog for two nights. I was given a "brace for cuteness" card to hang on my door, as in, please come in and pet my dog. I don't want anyone in my room, my dog is terrified of strangers. I asked for a "do not disturb" sign instead, I was told they're on backorder, they don't have any. No pen and notepad in the room.

When I reserved the room, the agent asked me if I had any requests. I asked for extra towels due to my long hair, and an extra blanket. The reserving agent told me that would be taken care of. Found 2 towels total for myself and my husband and no blanket.

Bathroom floor had a spot of some kind of goop/dirt on it, the floor was peel and stick laminate with one "board" at the foot of the bed loose.

The heat/AC in the room did not work.

The room had a king size bed, and I was looking forward to a quiet, private room, but the room had an adjoining door to another room and we could hear people in that room whispering and quietly coughing. So much for privacy. I feel as though this should have been communicated when I reserved the room, but when I discussed it with the night clerk he said we are expected to just know that. I wasn't given a room number when I reserved to check the mental map of the hotel I keep in my head.

The fan in the bathroom didn't work. Condensation from the shower was all over everything in the bathroom.

No complimentary breakfast. It's a la carte or $15 per person. Nope. Now I need to get up even earlier to get breakfast elsewhere.

Given that hotels in the surrounding area were $80 a night on average, I expected better quality than this. This is an annual trip for me, and I can safely say that this will not be my first, second, or third choice in the future.

The room charges are non-refundable.

I am a VERY...