DoubleTree by Hilton Austin - University Area

Price for rooms did not match the service. When I was asking for assistance the answer seemed to always be no, and getting to yes was not something the staff was interested in. I arrived 2 hours before check in and was told “there are no rooms available, you will have to check in at 3”. This was obviously not the case, that at 1 in the afternoon there are no rooms available. What they meant was my room wasn’t available, I had to talk them into allowing me to switch my room so I could check in. If they were trained to be helpful they would have offered this as a solution, but they just wanted to stick with no. It was like I had to negotiate to make more money for the hotel, by freeing up a king view bed for a standard room. Then, my wife needed Q-Tips, and scissors to finish her makeup, so I asked the staff at the front desk. I watched the front desk staff open a single drawer in a plastic tote, and return with. No sir we don’t have any. So let me get this right, I’m paying nearly 400 dollars for a hotel room, and I get about 6 seconds of effort from the staff to try to be helpful to guests. I think it is reasonable to be accommodated with simple toiletries. It was like I was bothering them to ask for anything. Then I repeated the question because I’m not a moron, I know they have scissors, and I was told that they couldn’t allow me to use them For safety reasons. Ok fair enough, but I knew right then and there that they just didn’t want to be helpful, even if they could. They wanted to do the bare minimum, nothing extra to please a customer. Thankfully, the housekeepers weren’t “trained to protect guest from themselves” and allowed me to use there scissors. But don’t cite patient safety with scissors while you have food delivery people walking in the hotel to deliver food. If they were really Concerned with guest safety they wouldn’t have that liability. Also, if you want ice you have to go the sixth floor. So let me get this right, you have 5 floors that don’t have ice on there floor. This can’t be coincidence, this has to be deliberate negligence that you allow 5 floors to not have ice. The mirrors in the rooms is basically just a backlight, so for the women that need a lot of lighting for makeup it’s not in there rooms. Overall, the reason I took the time to write this review, is because I have been a Hilton honors member for nearly 10 years, and this was by far the least accommodating experience I have ever had. I have stayed at several hotels with Hilton honors that provide better service, at a much cheaper cost. I would recommend finding another place to stay, for better value.

I don’t recommend this hotel. I travel a lot and i am not sure how this place can pass to be a part of Hilton brand (maybe more like Motel 6). A lot of things in the room are broken: the shower is dripping, the carpet is ripped, AC is noisy, my room is facing the Highway despite my Hilton Honors profile specifically asking for a quiet room AWAY from roads in the reservation. I wasn’t offered water at check in as any Hilton offers their members. When I called about it instead of apologizing and offering to bring - the receptionist said “you can come here and get it”. The receptionist also didn’t tell me where the elevator is, how to get to my room, what is the room number and basic things you expect at every check in. Not that I can’t find the room or the number on the key pocket but it’s basic service. Finally they charge $25 for open lot street parking which is not listed in the hotel policy on BCD travel. I also don’t remember when out of hundreds of trips and stays was the last time I wrote a bad review. Maybe this is the only one. And maybe I would have not been as upset - enough to write it- if their customer service and reception were more customer friendly and nicer.