Intro: I'm a newly minted Diamond member (status match from IHG), so I decided to check out the Hilton across the street from where I normally stay (Crowne Plaza).  See the Sections for my review.

PS: Don't believe what the FlyerTalk robots say I liked. 

Check In

Annoying that they had two separate check-in lines, neither marked for Diamond members, so it was luck as to whether you got behind someone that needed extra help or just whizzed through. It should be one line feeding whoever's free behind the counter. At least both lines were short.

I was not upgraded: Not to the Lounge floor - not even to a King bed room. I did ask and was told they were all sold out, but two days before there were lounge floor rooms available. This is identical to other reports  on the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa FlyerTalk forum. My room was cheaper during the week I stayed than other weeks, so I was figuring it wasn't as booked - either that wasn't the case or they just don't like to upgrade people.

Probably worth mentioning the elevators here. It's a bank of elevators spread out in a single line. There are enough of them, but they're so far apart that even if you walk to the middle while waiting, if an end elevator comes it'll start to close before you get to it - and I'm not slow. Also, one day one elevator couldn't get to the lounge floor, so I had to send it to the basement in order to not have it continually open when I pressed the button to summon another elevator. Luckily, that was broken only one day.

Oh, I used the wrong card (parking instead of room) to tell the elevator I wanted to go to the lounge floor (7), and it let me. So apparently the protected lounge floor access thing is a placebo.

Room

Standard Hilton room. Bigger than the rooms at the neighboring Crowne Plaza, and with a balcony, which is nice because it opens big and can let a lot of fresh air in, but not a place you'd hang out on due to size and traffic noise.

From what I saw, the balcony was mostly used for people to smoke. So, if you're a smoker, it's probably a big plus. 

Dining

As a Diamond member, I got free Lounge access. 

The lounge is too small for all the people who have access. Less than a dozen real tables and chairs that you could sit at and eat properly. The rest was couches and low chairs with coffee tables - not comfortable. And not even enough of those.

Breakfast: One kind of egg frittata thing (no scrambled), some sausage/bacon, and really bland hash browns. Then typical (and OK) breads, coffee, some fruit, OJ, and cans/bottles of sodas/waters. One side of the toaster broke on Thursday and wasn't fixed by Friday.

For the evening session, everything was gone through by 6:30 (it closes at 7pm). So that was a complete bust and I tried 3 different nights, but due to work couldn't get there earlier. One night there weren't any water bottles left.

Location

Good location if you want to be in Costa Mesa - very near South Coast Plaza and the 405 and the airport. 

Bathroom

The bathroom was a big dissappointment. No drawers to put your stuff in so the room could be cleaned without getting your toothbrush dirty. Speakman shower head that was just OK (Crowne Plaza has rain shower heads). TV had crappy Dish service so the one channel of HBO was unwatchable due to picture break-up and hangs.

Service

I got take-out one night and forgot to get utensils. They promptly brought up a couple of plastic sets when I called. So, service was good for me.

Overall

No upgrade for Diamond, lousy lounge experience, dissappointing bathroom, and expensive parking make this a hotel I wouldn't choose unless it was under $100/night.

After my 4 night stay, I'm going back to the Crowne Plaza across the street for the my next trip. Parking is $10 instead of $25, breakfast is in a real restaurant (and included in my company's package), and the bathrooms are much nicer. The Hilton is normally more expensive, even before counting the additional $15 in parking.

I had a short two night stay in the area and while I have stayed in the area never at this property. I decided to give it a try as it was a bit cheaper than the Hilton Irvine which is where I normally stay. 

Arrival was via the airport shuttle. It picks up at the airport ground transportation center at :15 and :45 on the hour. It leaves the hotel at :00 and :30 on the hour. There is a hotel shuttle to the South Coast Plaza on an every 2 hour schedule. I only used the shuttle to/from the airport and both where friendly and the shuttle was on time.

I had originally checked in on the app to secure a room as I was arriving a little early and it did give me a room earlier than the 4PM check-in time which was nice. I did go the the front desk to what possible upgrades were available to me as a Diamond and they gave me a room on the Executive Floor. Unfortunately that is about as good as it gets these days. What was nice though is they give a little printouts in the key pack that show the lounge hours etc. Wish more hotels did that. 

The room was nice enough. The decor is a little dark for my taste but it was not overly dated. I did find the room very clean and well maintained. There was a balcony which was nice but no way to really enjoy it much as there was no chair. The bed was very comfortable with good quality bedding and pillows. I did not hear any noise but not sure if there wasn't any neighbors or if it was good insulation. There was power plugs in the lamps next to the bed and they actually worked properly unlike a lot of lamps with the outlets that are too loose for the items being plugged in. 

I did head out to the pool one afternoon and the Jacuzzi hit the spot with a nice hot temp and decent jets. I didn't get in the pool but did reach in and it appeared to be heated which I would think it would need to be as it is pretty cool in this area and probably wouldn't be comfortable otherwise. 

The hotel has one restaurant/bar area which I did try one evening and it was "ok". I ended up only having a glass a wine as the menu was just too limited for my taste. I found the restaurant to be very boring but it served a purpose for those that don't want to go out. The hotel has a little snack shop and pantry area available and also a Starbucks on-site. In the area, there is a McDonald's across the street and also a scattering of Japanese restaurants and others across the street on the backside of the hotel. 

The executive lounge was nicer than expected. I have become quite skeptical of lounges in the US as they typically are poor spaces with substandard offerings. The lounge here is a nice space but I think they could do better with the tables to give more seating options as a good chunk of the space is taken up by large sofas. I guess that helps for when the inevitable family of ten comes in on one persons access but reduces overall seating capacity I think. Morning breakfast was a pretty standard fare of bacon, hash browns, cold cuts, fruit, cereal, pastries, eggs and oatmeal. The evening had a hot dish, sandwiches, fruit and veggies. There was also alcohol happy hour but the sign was not out one night I was in there so not sure if it is offered every day or they just didn't put out the sign. Other than the evening and breakfast offerings the lounge has soft drinks, water and a coffee machine. A solid offering but nothing to wow you. Maybe it was because of the holiday weekend but it was not overcrowded during my stay which makes a huge difference in the experience. 

I see no reason not to stay here again in the future as it served its purpose and the location is pretty solid with good access to a lot in the area as well as the 405 for getting elsewhere. I definitely recommend.