EuropeanPete

I stayed here last night and was very impressed by the hotel. I've not been staying much in Hiltons since the devaluation in 2010 as I moved over to Starwood, but now with the troubles with Marriott I've been shifting a proportion of stays to Hilton and qualified as Diamond again this year. My thoughts with therefore wander a bit between the hotel and Hiltons in general.

Check-in was quick and efficient, no messing around with messed up systems like at Marriott at the moment. They had my details and I was succinctly told about all of the Diamond benefits, including details of the Executive Lounge. I thought the food and drink in the lounge itself was excellent, perhaps because of its location in Alsace or perhaps because its MEP customers are spoilt. Alsatian Cremeuse (fizzy wine), a lovely Pinot Noir and a more than acceptable local Riesling went down well with a variety of fresh smoked meats, pates, sausages and high quality cheeses. There was also some hot food - nicely prepared chicken, felafel and a clearly homemade soup.

My room was recently renovated and to a reasonable standard. It was here I miss the superior Starwood (e.g. Westin) brand standards, as I feel Hilton have fallen behind: The bed was hard and could have been larger, the sheets were poor quality, the towels were tiny and thin, the shower head was meh. All new, clean and nothing wrong with them, but Starwood was clever about a decade ago in investing in doing the basics very well. I feel Hiltons are far behind.

Service at the restaurant was excellent, and I had a honey-basted pork belly on choucroute which would deserve a Michelin star in any other country. I had a gorgeous up-market Riesling for less than $10 and then went to the bar and had a Sidecar made with a $500 bottle of cognac.

Overall, a really unexpectedly good hotel which exceeds the Hilton brand standards in all ways except the detail of the brand standards themselves. I'll be back next week and beyond.