I just finished a 1-night award stay at the Netherland Hilton.

PROS-

* First of all, they had award availability (20,000 points) on Flying Pig Marathon weekend when every Marriott and Starwood in the city was sold out. (The Hilton was closer to the starting line than the Starwoods or Marriotts as well.) The hotel was very full, yet I booked and used the award with no trouble.
* Beautifully-done hotel in all aspects. Lobby, room, hallways - everything was very nice, bright, and clean with an 'art deco' feel to it. Very charming, unlike the Hyatt and Westin that are on either side of the hotel - those look like standard 1980s business hotels. Dark and dreary-looking places.
* They gave me a high-floor room and a key to the concierge lounge. There is not a dedicated key-controlled Executive Level, so no need to stress about whether they put you on that floor. The lounge is on 16, and I the hotel has 30+ floors. I don't know if floor 16 rooms are larger, but my room was perfectly fine. The clerk told me about the lounge without me having to beg for it.
* The lounge itself is quite nice. It has a couple of widescreen TVs and they have appetizers and a cheese spread at happy hour. Food & bev is pretty typical for a Hilton lounge, and the place was cheery and bright with an outdoor patio as well.

CONS-
* No rooms were available for check-in when I arrived at 4PM. I had to wait until about 5PM to get into my room. Not a big deal - I dumped my bag with the bellman and wandered around town for a while - just a bit annoying when you consider the fact that they bristle when you ask for late checkout, supposedly because of the guests that arrive that day.
* Speaking of late checkout, they gave me a new excuse: Saturday night at 8PM, I asked for an extra hour or two late checkout. The response: "Only the first shift manager can approve a late checkout." So I had to beg a little bit, and they finally gave me a 2PM checkout. I had already checked: the hotel was not sold out Sunday night - nowhere near it, based on the variety of rates available. [rant]Why do hotels always always always fight me on late-checkout, even though they advertise it in their elite-status materials and even when I ask for it on Sunday, one of their lightest-booked days?[/rant]
* The lounge isn't always open when it is supposed to be. The sign on the door says it is open until 11AM on Sundays. I arrived at the lounge at 10:50AM and it was locked and dark. I don't know what the deal was, but at that point I was wet and cold and thirsty so I didn't bother calling anyone to find out.

This isn't directly Hilton's fault, but security had to break up several room parties on my floor on Saturday night. Apparently they had hundreds of high-school kids in the hotel that night. [rant2]What are high-school kids doing at the downtown Hilton? When I was a young punk filling the bathtub with beer and having squishy-carpet room parties, I did it at the $29.95 Motel 6, not the downtown Hilton![/rant2] I don't know if they were there for Prom or some convention.

Parking on the weekends is a dollar a day in any of several parking garages nearby.

All in all, this hotel served its purpose for me (it was free and near the marathon start). It is a beautiful place that would be even better if the staff had their basic processes a little bit more ironed out.