Hilton HHonors - Hilton Suites Boca Raton

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050118/185882_1.html

Press Release Source: Hilton Hotels Corporation

Hilton Hotels Corporation Announces Opening of Hilton Suites Boca Raton
Tuesday January 18, 12:03 pm ET
Elegant Lakeside Property Receives $2 million Makeover to Become a Hilton

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT - News) today announced the opening of the 200-suite Hilton Suites Boca Raton. The hotel's beautiful lakeside complex sits at the heart of a 22-acre business center with an office tower, a retail complex and several of Boca Raton's finest restaurants. The property is located between the Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach International Airports, and is just minutes away from Florida's Gold Coast beaches. Formerly a Radisson, the property has received $2 million in enhancements to the public areas and guestrooms to enable it to reach Hilton standards.

The Hilton Suites Boca Raton is owned and managed by Stanford Hotel Corporation, based in San Francisco, and operated under a franchise license agreement with Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corporation.

The contemporary seven-story, all-suite property features 200 spacious suites, each with a separate bedroom and living room. Each newly-upgraded suite features a Suite Dreams® bed by Hilton, private balcony, high speed internet access, microwave, wet bar and coffeemaker.

A brand new porte-cochere entrance leads guests into the renovated lobby. The modern interior features a beautiful atrium with lush greenery and waterfalls. Also new is a glass-walled fitness center, which accompanies the outdoor pool, hot tub and jogging trail in providing a variety of activities for relaxation and rejuvenation. Guests are treated to a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast each morning and an evening reception.

A local shuttle service transports passengers throughout Boca Raton. For the business traveler, wireless internet is available in all public areas, including the new state-of-the-art business center. The hotel's flexible lakeside meeting facilities and catering staff can accommodate groups of up to 200 for business and social functions. Four lakeside restaurants within the hotel and a four-star restaurant, Pete's, adjacent to the hotel, provide for a variety of dining choices.

Boca Raton and greater Palm Beach County offer an abundant variety of leisure activities, including some of the best golf courses in Florida, serene beaches along Florida's Gold Coast, and a variety of museums, shopping centers and first-class dining establishments. Other nearby attractions include Boca West Country Club, Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University, and the corporate offices of Oce Printing, Sunbeam Corporation, Office Depot, Siemens, Tyco, and Volvo Aero Services.


GETTING THERE

The Hilton Suites Boca Raton is one of the area's premier full-service hotels, and is centrally located between the Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach International Airports in Central Boca Raton on Glades Road, east of Florida's Turnpike. The address is 7920 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33434. Phone: (561) 483-3600. For more information or to make reservations, contact Hilton Reservations Worldwide at 1-800-445-8667 or visit www.hilton.com.


Source: Hilton Hotels Corporation

I am planning on staying at this property next week and wanted to see if anyone else had done so. I did a search here and only found a couple of mentions, with very little info. Apparently, Hilton Suites is a subbrand with very few locations, I had never run into one before. The web site says "cooked to order breakfast" is included and mentions an evening reception, which appears to also be complimentary, so that seems like a lot of overlap with the ES brand. They also have a "fitness room", but with no pix, hard to tell if that means a worn-out treadmill and bike, or something more comprehensive. They also mention HS internet, but don't indicate that it is free, so I assume not.

So if anyone has stayed there, I am interested in knowing what to really expect for breakfast, evening reception, fitness facility, price for HS internet, and general condition of the property.

Thanks.

I stayed at the Embassy Suites of Boca Raton (I think it's near that one) and it was the worst hotel experience I have ever had...surprising because usually Embassy is reliable. How did your stay at this location go? Just booked my father at the Hampton Inn in Boca Raton...any comments on this property?

We liked the Hilton Suites at Boca Raton last summer for a get-together with friends (also fellow FT'ers). Quiet location in a business park, so deserted (and cheap) on weekends. Nice goodie bag at checkin and slightly upgraded room on top floor. Evening beverage reception was held in the bar with waitress service. Although in a totally open area, kids were not permitted to go past the designated bar perimeter, however they offered to serve us at an adjacent seating area. Drinks came directly from the main bar and were much superior to the ES "bulk-service" style. The hotel's restaurant was closed for the quiet weekend evening, but a number of other good dining choices were nearby. The kids liked the pool. The breakfast buffet was quite good, and high-speed internet was $9.95 a day IIRC.