Stayed here for a night last week and it was just about tolerable for the price we paid - we needed to drive north the next morning anyway, and this was pretty much the only Hilton within the M25 going for a two-digit price that night (£90).
Had a good chuckle at the email from the front office the day before asking if I was staying for a special occasion - half tempted to say that yes, we were coming to Watford for our honeymoon, but thought better of it. In the end as Diamond we got upgraded (barely) from a base level Double to a King visible on OLCI, with no further upgrade when we arrived. Parking was offered free of charge to all Honors members.
I have nothing to add on the general vibe and decor that hasn’t been said before, if you picture a 1970s Travelodge building and corridors with 1990s Hilton rooms, you’re basically there. They’ve refurbished some of the public areas, but while they’re modernish they feel generic and cheap, and definitely don’t scream Hilton - I wouldn’t be surprised if a reflag to a Doubletree is imminent (hopefully that would still involve gutting and a full exorcism of the rooms).
Hilton Watford corridor (not pictured: strong smell of cannabis wafting about)
The room was reasonably sized, with a tiny window with a view of the rear car park, threadbare carpet, and furniture that desperately needed to be put out of its misery.
Hilton Watford King room
I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom, it had received some minor spot updates compared to nldogbert’s picture above (new fixtures over the same old ancient bathtub) but was pretty similar otherwise. It did have the new slightly less 90s smelling Crabtree&Evelyn toiletries in large containers haphazardly bolted to the wall.
On a slightly more positive note, the service was friendly all round and the food in the restaurant surprisingly decent. But I don’t think I’d stay there again until a full refurb, and it’s probably up there with the Hilton Leicester in “least deserving of the Hilton brand”.
I’ll leave you with a picture of the room phone which says it all really:
Hilton Watford room speaking tube telephone