KOng

I'm going in May with a friend for a girls week in Scotland. I'm trying to decide which hotel (doubletree or HGI) to spend some points. I'm a gold and I noticed that both hotels have a club lounge so that wont be the deciding factor unless one is amazing and the other is Meh. Both hotels seem near the center of town which is what we want.

Any recommendation/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Rickers

Hey there.

I stay in both regularly, so happy to share some info. The Doubletree has a "lounge", which is located in the annex to the rear of the main hotel, in a separate building called The Platinum Club. This is a 3-storey building with larger, more modern rooms than the main hotel (although they have been upgrading the main rooms recently).The lounge offers canapes perhaps 4 nights per week, but no free drinks are available with the exception of a voucher for 2 free drinks that you will be given upon check-in, which can be redeemed either in the Platinum Club bar or the main hotel bar. Breakfast is served in the Club Lounge, and it is a full breakfast, so that is good value. There is also a mini-fridge in each Platinum Club room, which is replenished daily with free soft drinks.
The Doubletree is located around 10-15mins walk from the main shopping / dining area of Aberdeen, but does benefit from the fact that it has (virtually) unlimited outdoor free parking, a full gym, pool, sauna, jacuzzi etc.

The Garden Inn is in the middle of the city, and has NO lounge. It has a small gym, but no pool, showers etc., and also has only limited underground parking (perhaps 20 spaces ?).

The staff are great at both, and I pick the HGI most often because of the location, but if a lounge is a requirement then it needs to be the Doubletree.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

KOng

Awesome. Thanks. Here are a few other questions:

1. How do you like the rooms at each property?
a. Are they about the same quality?
2. What is the local area around each property? (loud, safe, interesting)
3. Is the walk from the city centre to doubletree easy, scenic, etc?


And as general questions...
1. do you recommend any scotch tours or places of interest that need to be visited?
2. Do you have any restaurant recs?

Thanks again!

Rickers

Hello again.

1 -- The rooms are better (but probably smaller) at the Garden Inn, because it has only been open a couple of years. The Doubletree has been there for years (formerly known as the Patio Hotel), and some of the rooms are a little "tired" for sure.

2 -- Doubletree is opposite the Beach Boulevard amusement park, which features some amusement rides, a cinema, and a few restaurants and cafes which line the boulevard (which overlooks the beach and the North Sea). This area is where young kids like to drag race in the evenings, so not an especially nice area to walk around, but not "unsafe" exactly.

The Garden Inn is right in the middle of the city, behind the Robert Gordon University and a 2-minute walk to the shopping malls. The area immediately outside doesn't look too pretty, but it is safe and central.

3 -- The walk from the Doubletree is certainly not "scenic" ! It is just a walk alongside a main road, or failing that in between residential streets.

General recs ? -- Sadly, I am usually there for business, so sightseeing is never going to happen !

Restaurants are plentiful, and the food in both hotels is generally very good, but if you like Italian then POLDINO'S is great (5 mins walk from the Garden Inn), and there is a new retail park called Union Square around 10 mins walk from the Garden Inn which has a truck-load of good places to eat ( Zizzi's is good, as is COSMO, which is a multi-cultural eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet with food from various continents). If strolling from Doubletree, add 10 - 15 minutes to the walking times.

KOng

Great. Thanks so much. That pretty much sealed the deal on the Garden Inn!

Wickersley

My £0.02

Stay in the platinum anex at the doubletree - much better than any HGI

Spend the $8 (yes $8 = £5) on a taxi to the city centre each night

Aberdeen is a very small town; enjoy the best of both

Larrude

We are spending just one night in Aberdeen August 2017.Tthe stay will be after a miserably long series of flights and layovers, and then the one night in Aberdeen before taking a flight the next day up to Sumburgh in Shetland for a wedding.

I've read the various comments, but I would like to nail things down with these specifics in mind.
1. Easy access to/from airport (by taxi, so it likely shouldn't make much of a difference)
2. In vicinity of a bank with ATM for currency exchange - I have barely enough currency left over to cover the taxi
3. Restaurant availability nearby - nothing fancy, just the type of meal that you need after a long day of travel and (hopefully) a long nights sleep

There seems to be availability for points stays at all hotels. Currently and next year I will maintain diamond status.

chrism20

I spend twenty to thirty nights a year in Aberdeen with work.

At the moment my personal choices would be (in order) HGI, Doubletree, Treetops.

However the Treetops will be a DT within the next few months and the rooms are being gutted so the bar will be raised there which may change my opinion.

HGI - In the City Centre so there is ATMs, bars, restaurants etc in the vicinity. Rishis (Indian), Angus & Ale (pub grub), Wagamama and Moon Fish are placed nearby I quite like. The hotel also has a Nick Nairn restaurant which is very good. Airport to the hotel 20mins on average.

DT @ The beach has a minibus which you can book to pick you up at the hotel rather than use a taxi and you can charge it to your folio (can't remember how much though sorry). There are ATMs at the leisure complex opposite and Asda Supermarket which is a couple of minutes away. There is Frankie & Bennys, Chiquito and Pizza Hut opposite the hotel next to the cinema. Approx twenty minutes from the airport.

Treetops is a bit nearer the airport but is in a residential area. There are some shops etc nearby but I haven't ventured to look tbh. There is a cash machine along the street at the petrol station though.

DT & Treetops have always upgraded me on every visit, occasionally I've had a king bed at the HGI but that's it however I would say the HGI is the most consistent of the three hence my preference for it.

Larrude

Thank you Chrism. That was where I was leaning, your details are a big help.

My concern was a king bed, and at least at the moment, I can book that with points, so all seems well

Prospero

Good tip ^. If you venture south along Springfield Road then left into Countesswells Road there is a supermarket with a 24 hour ATM. It is a 7 minute walk from the hotel. There's also a fish n chip shop next door to the supermarket.

ESFLYER95

+1 for HGI. Solid rooms, good location and breakfast is pretty decent. I always take bus from Union Square which I would say Is a ten minute walk from hotel but down some stairs and cobbled streets, so depends on what type of luggage you are carrying or taxi's readily available. Also if you maybe book points as a placeholder but some of the Aberdeen properties can get pretty low £ wise in sales.

Cheers