FlyerTalk Forums

FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)
-   Hilton | Hilton Honors (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors-417/)
-   -   Hilton Garden Inn Aberdeen City Centre {GBR} (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors/1468212-hilton-garden-inn-aberdeen-city-centre-gbr.html)

Prospero May 18, 2013 9:03 am

Hilton Garden Inn Aberdeen City Centre {GBR}
 
This review is a sampling of two very recent stays both booked at very late notice. HHonors Gold, booked Queen Evolution Room on both occasions at the prevailing weekend rate of £69. Rates for Monday to Thursday nights are very much more expensive and as I found out simply unobtainable. Like most hotels in Aberdeen, weekday demand far outstrips supply and the rates certainly reflect that. Luckily the rates for Fridays to Sundays are more reasonable.

I was allocated a King room at check-in on both occasions. On my first visit room 605 on the top floor, on the follow up visit I was given room 211 on the second floor (or the third using North American terminology). Both were spotlessly clean and well presented. The king rooms on the upper floors are marginally smaller - same width, just not quite as deep. The views are significantly more pleasing. My view from 211 was directly into a student bedsit where the tenants appeared blissfully unaware (or unconcerned) of the candid aspect they were giving the occupants of the HGI :)

Each room has tea and coffee facilities, an empty refrigerator you can use to store self purchased drinks, groceries, medication etc

Gold amenity is a voucher which could be redeemed for a bottle of water in the pantry. Quite why the voucher is inserted into a sealed envelope and not handed over at check-in puzzled me since the pantry is just a few footsteps from the reception. I was also offered a choice of complimentary breakfast or 750 Bonus HHonors points. I went for the points but as always will need to check closely if they actually materialise.

Wifi/wired internet is complimentary irrespective of HHonors status. The wifi service is a little flaky. Plenty of bandwidth, it just dropped every time my iPad went to sleep.

Breakfast was satisfactory, if perfunctory - it is a buffet style offering with scrambled eggs, the usual bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, and haggis. Cereals, porridge, cheeses, fruit salad, yoghurts and a variety of breads and breakfast pastries were also available. There is also a waffle iron. Coffee is free pour from an urn and was really quite objectionable. I've had better at the Hampton Inn in Canon City, CO. Bean to cup coffee is available from the bar - infinitely better even if it was about £3 for a Cafe Americano. Breakfast if not included in your rate costs approx £10.

The highlight of my stay were the staff who were warm and most receptive.


Photographs:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-m...0/IMG_2202.JPG
Room 211

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...0/IMG_2206.JPG
Room 211: 42" flat screen

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X...0/IMG_2208.JPG
Room 211: desk

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...0/IMG_2210.JPG
Windows can be opened on request, but there is also a very useful trickle vent bar along the top of the upper pane. It provided a very effective flow of fresh air which allowed me to turn off the HVAC when I retired for the night.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...0/IMG_2212.JPG
Bathroom: a bath

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...0/IMG_2216.JPG
Bathroom: and a walk-in shower

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...0/IMG_2218.JPG
Neutrogena toiletries

camsean May 18, 2013 10:15 am

Thanks for posting.

lifetimeblue Feb 15, 2015 4:36 am

Just stayed at this property as Silver on my partners card (they need stays).

Booked a Queen Room cash for around £70 B&B.

Parking

Parking is a faff. They only have around 20 spaces under the hotel. These were all full, so we had to park in the nearby Bon Accord shopping centre car park. 5 minute walk max from the hotel though, but it's just a pain. Hotel have a deal with them so it is the same price as parking in the hotel.

Update to add: if you are leaving the hotel after 11am you will need to pay a top up fee at the Bon Accord car park at a machine before leaving, despite already having paid your £8 at the hotel as the hotels credit only covers from 4pm till 11am. Hotel staff didn't make me aware of this on checking out at 12.30 (late checkout) so when drove to the barriers and put the token in, it said no. Had to reserve out and go find a machine to pay an additional £2.50, all very stressful and embarrassing so hopefully I save someone from having the same experience ;)

HHonours benefits

Silver benefits included a free newspaper & a (one only) free bottle of water which bizarrely you had to collect from the pantry and hand over a paper voucher to reception. Welcome letter given on arrival also.

I asked in the comments if we could have a King bed rather than queen if available, they obliged and did put us in a king which was nice of them.

Room

Room was nice enough, almost exactly like the photos above. LOVE the rain shower, although it is hard not to flood the place with it!
We were on floor 2 which gives you zero views (unless you like looking into flats). The higher floors might get you something of a view though.

Breakfast

Breakfast was nice and was on till 11am at the weekend. Good spread. Waffles were absent even after the front desk manager insisting we try them on our welcome letter ;) You have to get your own tea/coffee which is always a bit of a faff. The buffet area is also extremely small and awkward, particularly when a few people are at it.

Bar/Restaurant

We didn't try the restaurant (by Nick Nairne).
We did have a few cocktails in the bar though which were lovely. £6.95 for a Margarita which isn't too bad. They didn't seem to be doing table service which I thought was a little odd.

Checkout is early at 11am. Asked for late checkout and was given 1PM which was good of them.

Now off to try out the Doubletree :)

mnelson Aug 11, 2016 11:50 am

Stayed here twice recently. The oil crash makes accommodation in Aberdeen pretty cheap, and there are £50 rates for the HGI popping up now and then. The previous reviews still seem roughly accurate. I like the rooms and location.


Originally Posted by lifetimeblue (Post 24354113)
We were on floor 2 which gives you zero views (unless you like looking into flats). The higher floors might get you something of a view though.

I stayed on floor 6 one of the stays, rear-facing room, and it had sort-of a view. The flats opposite are also 6 stories, so they block the view, but there's a partial diagonal view northwest over rooftops. Downside: the open air means it's a lot more windy up there too! Gusts of wind sometimes howl noisily past the window even when it's closed, and if you open it, it can get banged shut when the wind is strong enough. Not sure if this is the same with front-facing rooms. Anyway, you can usually get a high floor if you do online check-in the day before. If you don't, it's hit or miss.


Originally Posted by Prospero
Gold amenity is a voucher which could be redeemed for a bottle of water in the pantry. Quite why the voucher is inserted into a sealed envelope and not handed over at check-in puzzled me since the pantry is just a few footsteps from the reception.

At least for Diamond it's two vouchers now, and no longer in an envelope. Still the same pantry-redemption deal. My guess is it's a ploy to get you to check out the pantry, in hopes you'll remember it exists and maybe buy something.


Originally Posted by Prospero
Windows can be opened on request

They seem unlocked by default now, at least in the two rooms I've been in.

I didn't have a car so didn't try out the parking situation. Also, I didn't see mentioned yet: there's a coin laundry in the basement (£2 for a token), which is nice to have when an employer isn't paying exorbitant hotel laundry fees for you. :-)

chrism20 Oct 4, 2018 1:38 am

The hotel uses the Bon Accord Shopping Centre for alternative parking when their own small car park is full.

A six month trial started on October 1st at the shopping centre offering free parking between 5pm and 8am with normal charges (£2.50 an hour/£3.50 for 2hrs) outwit those times applying. It's less than a five minute walk from the hotel which charges approximately £15 a night.

stc Oct 7, 2018 12:33 pm

(deleted)

kkong42 Aug 26, 2020 3:43 am

The Covid-19 closure period of this hotel keeps being extended.

It is now closed until at least 01 Nov 2020.

The Hilton TECA is currently the only Hilton brand hotel open in Aberdeen:
  • DoubleTree Treetops - permanently closed.
  • DoubleTree City Centre - permanently closed.
  • Hampton Airport - closed until 01 Oct 2020.
  • Hampton Westhill - closed until 08 Nov 2020.

kkong42 Oct 29, 2020 12:47 pm

This hotel has now closed permanently.

hugolover Oct 30, 2020 2:29 pm

Well, thats's a pity. I stayed here twice. Three Hilton Family hotels remaining and this one had a very decent location. A lot of jobs have gone in ABZ.

There's no termination showing in the system? Do you have people there that you know what's going on?

kkong42 Oct 30, 2020 2:47 pm


Originally Posted by hugolover (Post 32783845)
Well, thats's a pity. I stayed here twice. Three Hilton Family hotels remaining and this one had a very decent location. A lot of jobs have gone in ABZ.

There's no termination showing in the system? Do you have people there that you know what's going on?

There was an article in the local press yesterday.


Aberdeen city centre hotel goes into liquidation
by Keith Findlay
29/10/2020, 1:27 pm

An Aberdeen hotel has gone into liquidation, with 34 jobs lost.

The 100-bedroom Hilton Garden Inn, on St Andrew Street, has been shut since Covid-19 forced its closure at the end of March and it will not reopen.

Professional services firm KPMG said directors of the business behind it, The St Andrew Street Hotel Company, were unable to secure funding to save it.

Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs of KPMG have been appointed as joint liquidators.

The pair said the hotel had experienced challenging trading conditions for several years, following the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

With weakened economic activity in Aberdeen and an oversupply of hotel accommodation, the business experienced funding shortfalls at various times and required additional support from shareholders in order to continue trading.

Despite a restructuring involving several "key stakeholders" and steps to reduce trading and overhead costs, the business was still unviable. Bosses then tried but failed to sell the hotel after the onset of Covid-19.

At the time of KPMG’s appointment, the hotel employed 34 people who were on furlough.

KPMG said: "Regrettably, all have been made redundant following the liquidation appointment as the business will not be able to reopen and trade."

Mr Nimmo, KPMG’s UK head of restructuring, added: "Unfortunately, following a prolonged period of challenging trading, lockdown was too big a challenge for the hotel in a local market already adversely impacted by oversupply.

"The current difficulties within the hospitality sector are well-documented and we have been working with several businesses recently with similar challenges.

"Regrettably, some insolvencies in this sector are inevitable, and we are working with all affected employees and the relevant government agencies to ensure a full range of support is available for all impacted employees."
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/...o-liquidation/

adobbing Oct 30, 2020 3:45 pm

https://www.heraldscotland.com/busin...-hilton-fails/

Hospitality crisis: Covid cited as Aberdeen hotel firm fails

By Scott WrightTHE economic fallout from the coronaviruspandemic has been cited as the company that operated a 100-bedroom Hilton hotel in central Aberdeen went into liquidation, resulting in 34 redundancies.

The St Andrew Hotel Street Hotel Company Limited, which ran the Hilton Garden Inn, had experienced challenging trading conditions in the wake of the downturn in the oil and gas industry, which began in 2014, joint liquidators Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs of KPMG said. It experienced funding shortfalls at various times amid weaker economic activity in Aberdeen and an oversupply of hotel accommodation.

However, the lockdown imposed in March to halt the spread of Covid-19 looks to have been the final straw. The liquidators said the hotel’s closure had a significant impact on the company’s cash position.

Despite attempts by directors to secure new funding, and to market the leasehold, the company, which did not reopen the hotel after lockdown was eased in July, was placed into liquidation. Thirty-four employees, who have been on furlough, have been made redundant as the hotel has not been able to reopen and trade.

Mr Nimmo said: “Unfortunately, following a prolonged period of challenging trading, lockdown was too big a challenge for the hotel in a local market already adversely impacted by oversupply.

"The current difficulties within the hospitality sector are well documented and we have been working with several businesses recently with similar challenges.

“Regrettably, some insolvencies in this sector are inevitable, and we are working with all affected employees and the relevant government agencies to ensure a full range of support is available for all impacted employees.”

ENTP Oct 31, 2020 9:37 am

That's a huge shame. I stayed here probably half a dozen times. Brekky was always good.

chrism20 Nov 1, 2020 5:30 am

That is a shame. I did like this hotel and stayed here regularly when Aberdeen was in the area I covered with work. As was mentioned the breakfast was good as was dinner the evening. The only negative I remember from here was the high cost of parking.

Sadly I don’t think it will be the last hotel in Aberdeen to permanently close.

adobbing Nov 1, 2020 6:12 am

So presumably now the only Hilton options are away from the town centre?

kkong42 Nov 1, 2020 9:49 am


Originally Posted by adobbing (Post 32787224)
So presumably now the only Hilton options are away from the town centre?

Yes, the two Hamptons (Dyce and Westhill) have for some months been open exclusively for offshore workers before flying offshore.

The Hilton TECA has also been housing some kind of transient or displaced population (not sure of the details), but is also still open to the public, but with virtually nothing open (lounge, pool, spa all closed). Restaurant is open for breakfast and evening meals from 6-9pm only.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 9:32 am.


This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.