Check In

Checked in at the front desk, even though with suites you get access to EL and can check in there.  No real problems here.  Clerk let me know that since I was checking in early, that the only room of my type was on lower floor, noting that my preference is for high floor.  I had no problem and thought it was nice to at least ask. 

Room

Checked in and was given room 901.  Beautiful room, clean, water stocked, and what you saw in the picture on the website is what was actually there.  Put bags away, and go to turn on A/C and lay down.  Turn the fan on high, and just as I close my eyes I realize that the fan is off balance and making an awful noise.  Call the MAGIC line, and they send maintenance on up.  They screw around for an hour while being able to tell I was wanting to get to sleep.  Finally they get it fixed, and I fall asleep.  

Third day there, go to use the Jacuzzi tub in the suite.  Fill the tub with water, perfectly clear water at that.  Turn it on before getting in, and black s**t (the maid's word for it) would come blowing out.  Called they sent maid up, who then called and said it kept doing it.  They then sent maintenance up, they fiddle around for an hour and say it's fixed.  Next day find out it isn't.  Had to argue with a MANAGER to get moved to another room.  She kept insisting that I let maintenance work on it again, after them already lying to me about fixing it once.  Talking with the maid, she told me just started working there, and that they're supposed to fill the tub and run it once a week to prevent this buildup.  However per the maid, there's no supervisor that checks to ensure the rooms are done to standards.  The only time someone comes by to check is at checkout to make sure there's no damage/items missing.  

Dining

There's multiple dining options at the hotel.  Flow on the Lobby level is the normal massive buffet type dining option.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It's extensive, but IMO not worth the price unless you're ready to gorge yourself. 

Yuan is the Chinese option on the 2nd floor.  Great food, and they have an all you can eat Dim-Sum lunch each day.  It's a great value, and the menu isn't limited to just dim-sum, there's some rice, noodles, entree type items, desserts, etc.  You order from a menu, and they cook it fresh, and bring it out to you.  Taste/quality is great, and over 7 days at the hotel we ate there for lunch 3 times. 

On the 3rd floor is a seafood/steakhouse, that the name I can't remember at the moment.  The food is way overpriced, even for hotel food.  It all had weird tastes, and it seemed like they just didn't have a clue in general what the food they were serving should taste like.  I ordered a lobster cocktail, and it had thousand island dressing and hard celery as the mixing.  Other party ordered the lobster bisque.  It came out and had one small (my pinky is bigger then the piece of lobster in the bowel) piece of lobster.  They then poured the bisque over it.  We've had lobster bisque plenty of places, but this was brown, and tasted like they used gravy mix and mixed it with water.  It was just bizzare.  They then brought out a thing of bread.  Waiter pointed and said one half was white, the other grain.  The white half wasn't white bread, it instead was some type of spicy bread with carrot pieces in it.  The grain half was, well just gross tasting.  Finally the main entrees came out.  I ordered prime rib medium-rare.  It was closer to medium-well, and while prime rib has a good bit of fat, nearly half my serving was fat, and it included a bone that made up a sizeable portion of the weight.  Other person had a fish, that was grilled, and grilled till it was black, dry, and unedible.  Had to send the fish back it was so bad, and of course had to argue about it.  The Hilton Make It Right motto just doesn't seem to mean anything here.  They love arguing with the customer.  The 2nd fish wasn't great, but it at least was edible.  For this lackluster meal, the bill without any alcohol or wine came to nearly $250.  There's a reason this place is empty all the time, they charge way too much, the food is awful, and the service is just as bad. 

The EL breakfast was other then Yuan, the best dining option in the hotel.  The one thing the EL does at least do right is breakfast.  Full selection, eggs cooked to order, waffles cooked on demand, fresh OJ, plenty of breads/meats/etc.  Best thing is they don't do the stupid silly little servings of items like in the evening.  They simply put it all out, and you put the amount you want onto your plate. 

As for the EL, the snacks at tea time were good, better then the cocktail time food IMO.  The long plate in the picture is the snack they serve at tea time.  The EL staff though were either overbearing and never leaving you alone, or would never bother to come by.  This was the same the entire stay.  The EL cocktail hour leaves a lot to be desired.  Very small selections, and each item was placed one item on a small plate.  This meant they constantly were out of food, because of instead of filling the heating bowel up with say meatballs and gravy, they placed one meatball and a little gravy in separate bowels.  This had the effect of only allowing about 15 to be placed at once.  Considering how many people have EL access, this meant you literally had to run to the counter and fight people to get food, when it finally came out.  One night it was shot glasses, with one half shrimp per glass, a small meatball in an oversized bowel, and a small less then a half-pint size cup of soup.  The food is also weird combinations.  Overall, the EL while nice, and having a decent breakfast leaves a lot to be desired.  There's also not enough room for all those that get EL access.  The picture below is the entire EL seating area for the whole hotel.  Oh, BTW don't even think about taking that half-finished bottle of water/cola out of the EL.  They'll chase you down to the elevator and make you throw it away. 

Amenities

One of the stated amenities of the MHB, is that they provide a water taxi, supposedly to local locations, and the nearby train station.  It's published online, and in the Guest Service book in the room.  It tells you to simply contact the MAGIC line to arrange to go somewhere.  I got told in no uncertain terms that they only operate to the train station and per a schedule.  When I pointed out that this is not what they advertise, they told me they'd grant me a one-time exception and drop me off across the river.  (I was scheduled by the EL staff to get my hair cut across the river at the Sheraton) 

I then contacted the manager to point out that 1)the staff was rude about this, and 2)they advertise this service, and that I could watch out my window many times daily when the Hilton water taxi dropped people off at other locations.  She told me I must be seeing another taxi.  I pointed out that it's clear it's the MHB taxi, because of the big Hilton Flag flying from the back.  Finally she got the point I wasn't going to back down and admitted I was right, but they where trying to cut back on all the use. 

Location

This hotel is located on the "wrong" side of the river.  All the other hotels, and the main shopping centers, businesses, etc are all across the river.  This was one of the reasons I was happy to see the water taxi, and then disappointed when they tried to say they won't go anywhere but the train station. 

Overall

Overall, the rooms are nice, and you get great views.  However the service from staff leaves a lot to be desired.  Hope that nothing goes wrong, and if it does expect to have to argue to have them "Make it  Right."