I always choose Hilton hotels because i know what to expect. Regardless of which Hilton it is - Waldorf, Hampton Inn, Garden Inn, Homewood, etc, i know it will be clean, comfortable, and well appointed. I know that i can check in online ahead of time, get my digital key, and not even have to stop at the desk on my way in if i don't want to. And, as a rewards member on at least the silver level every year, i get a few perks besides. But the Garden Inn in Avondale was just not up to regular Hilton standards, imo.
My son and i stayed here on September 19, because it's just 5 minutes from the campus where my son had his campus tour the following day. But this was the worst stay I've ever had at a Hilton brand hotel. To start with, i completed my digital check in while i was on my lunch break at work - around 12:15/12:30 before i ever left for Avondale - because i knew that i would not arrive at the hotel until close to 1:00 am that night because my son had to work the late shift. So i figured if i did my digital check in i could use my digital key and not even have to stop at the front desk, saving a good amount of time so late at night. Well, when i arrived, closer to 2 am, due to some unexpected delays, i opened the app to get the digital key, but it said my room wasn't ready yet and i'd get my digital key as soon as it was ready. So i ended up having to stop at the desk anyway. There was a family of 4 checking in at the same time, so we had to wait another 15 minutes or so for them to finish before we could even check in.
When we finally arrived at our room, i had to use the restroom. When i opened the restroom door, i noticed the waste basket was sitting ON THE BATHROOM COUNTER! I can understand putting it there to change the bag, but then i would expect the counter to be CLEANED, which obviously could not have happened if the basket was still on the counter. So instead of laying my toiletries, etc, on the counter for morning like i usually do, i decided to just leave them in my bag until i needed them. While sitting in the restroom i noticed that he floor was really not clean - there was black hair everywhere! It looked like it hadn't been swept or mopped between guests in a while! (I wanted to post pictures, but there's no option for that on this page.) By this time i was wondering if our bathroom had been cleaned at all, or if all they'd done was change the trash bag and put out new towels, (which, btw, there were two bath towels and two washcloths. That's it. No hand towels and no extra washcloths for washing our faces before bed and a shower in the morning.) I decided it was just a good thing i'd brought my house slippers.
The room itself was way too cold. I do not sleep well when i'm cold, so i attempted to turn off the air conditioning unit, but guess what, it wouldn't shut off. So i tried instead to just change it to heat. That wouldn't work either. But it's already so late at night, and we have to get up in 4 hours, so i just left it and snuggled up under the blankets. I still couldn't get warm enough, though, so i didn't sleep well at all.
In the morning i realized i'd forgotten my shampoo and conditioner. No problem, they stock the shower with the essentials. Unfortunately, the bottle of conditioner they had provided was actually empty.
And last but not least, though it does seem trivial compared to everything else that was wrong, when i was packing up to leave, i discovered there was no bag for soiled laundry. I always like having that little convenience so i don't have to put my dirty clothes in my suitcase or duffel bag - i'm very sensitive to smells.
So that's it. My tale of the worst night i've ever spent in a Hilton brand hotel.