hugolover

I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on this hotel. From Poland you can fly to AMM for under £20 return...but even so, I am nervous about going here.

There's lots of dodgy reviews on TA. A one star review which highlights the often-commented dirty pools is then followed by Five Star reviews which names specific staff members as being marvellous and those reviews are further added for the individual restaurant review pages on TA. They are obviously fiddling the reviews.

No matter what is written when its not favourable, the same reply is pasted by the hotel (sometimes twice by mistake). One review called the property out on closing the pool and the reply called it "vitriol" saying it has never happened, yet you can see photos of the closed signs on another negative review. Very strange behaviour.

It seems the product has been hit very hard which is typical in Jordan.

I thought they had a Western GM and would take them to ask on this, perhaps he's gone?

Finally, as I pointed out before its called "& Spa" but its still not open. More than two years after opening.

florens

The spa seems to be open as I just got a pre arrival email with all sorts of information including a spa treatment list.

The pontoon is under maintenance until further notice.

I will update here in due course.

Edit: The spa is not open yet

florens

Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa

Hello from Hilton Dead Sea Resort and Spa. I will try to review this as thoroughly as possible. If I forget to mention anything important, then do not hesitate and ask.
Let me tell you that in general the place exceeded my expectation, especially given the many negative reviews that can be found online. There are, however, things that could be improved.

Pre-arrival
I got the following pre-arrival e-mail a couple of days before check-in.

I booked an airport pickup which cost 55 JOD. The driver was there on time and was very friendly. On the way to the Hilton he explained a few things.

Do note that the spa is not open yet but apparently they offer treatments. I do not know where they take place as we didn’t use them.

Arrival & Check-in
There was a security check before entering the resort. Before entering the hotel, there as another security check. Please note that no food or drinks from outside are allowed in the resort. I was a bit nervous as we bought a bottle of white wine at Amman airport duty free. They noticed this and informed us that the consumption should be in the room only.

The lobby is located on the 3rd floor of the main building. There are no rooms in the main building, all rooms are in the wings.

When you enter the lobby there is the main check-in area to the right. They also have a Diamond/Gold check in area further to the right. The check in formalities were very quick and took maybe 5 minutes.

They made a photo copy of the passport and explained a few things about the resort. We booked a Junior Suite and that’s the room we got. They have 2 Deluxe Suites but they were already occupied when we arrived so no upgrade for us unfortunately. No credit card needed to be shown. The room was a prepaid rate which hadn’t been charged on the card at the time of the check-in though.

Check in area with priority check-in to the right


Room
The junior suite is about 70 square meters and features a large bathroom with 2 sinks, a shower, a bathtub in the middle of the bathroom and a toilet with bidet. There is a walkable closet by the entrance where the safe is located with a lot of space for our stuff. The main room is divided into a living area with a couch and the access to the balcony. The bed is located on the opposite side of the living room area and is divided by the TV on a piece of furniture which also has the minibar in it. The TV swivels and can be used both when seated on the couch or when in the bed which I found to be a smart design. The power ports are UK type G, however there is an international adaptor on the outlet by the bed. There is a nespresso coffee machine, 2x 1.5L bottles of water (per day) as well as tea making facilities. The room was very clean, however a few things are already showing age / worn such as parts of the floor, the makeup mirror was wobbly and it was difficult to lock the balcony door due to poor engineering. The wifi speed in the room was the following: 20Mpbs download, 19Mbps upload.
One thing that I found odd was that after check in a staff member came by to do a minibar check. They claimed it was to make sure it was full and that we don’t get charged for anything that was consumed before. Surely such a check would take place during housekeeping?

Living room


Balcony


Water, coffee machine and tea making facilities


Bathroom with bathtub, sliding door towards the bedroom


Housekeeping
Generally, the housekeeping took place rather late, between 2 and 4 pm. The first day the housekeeping forgot to refill toilet paper, which I found disappointing as I expect this to be a fairly basic task to do for housekeeping. I called the front desk to ask for two rolls of toilet paper. When they delivered them during us having dinner they put them by the TV instead to where they belong – the toilet.
In the evening there was turndown service the first night but not thereafter. We used two nespresso capsules the first day and they refilled only one and the next day we used one again and it was not refilled thereafter.

Breakfast
The breakfast staff were very good. As diamond members we were escorted to a nice table by the window to enjoy the views. One of the staff members recognised us from the executive lounge from the night prior and came by to ask if we needed anything.
The spread was somewhat disappointing and so was the quality of the food. A lot of items were quite dry (waffle, croissants etc.). The offerings vary a little bit, for example one day there were sautéed vegetables and the next day there were beans in tomato sauce. The hot options are lukewarm at best, one day the food was basically cold.

Breakfast spread












Lounge
The executive lounge is located on the 2nd floor of the main building, next to Spectrum restaurant. The evening receptions is from 6 to 8pm and there are both hot and cold options available as well as white wine (Jordanian pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay), beer (Budweiser) and spirits. One night there was a Jordanian rosé as well. All drinks are self-pour, which was nice given the alcohol prices at the resort! The hot dishes were all non-vegetarian one night, but the staff were very helpful and brought us some veggies. The lounge gets busier from 7pm so I recommend to be there at 6pm or even before to secure one of the three tables by the windows to enjoy the gorgeous sunset views. I’d say it is very basic and unless you want to have a drink it is not really worth going to.

Lounge spread
















Vegetable platter for us


Pool area
There are three pools (1 is not on the map or on google maps yet; it is designated as the family pool) and there is ample deckchairs to find a nice spot. Even though the hotel seemed quite full it was never a problem to find a quiet place by the pool. We usually switched places a couple of times per day depending on the sun position and on which pool we wanted to be at. Staff come by several times per day with refreshments, plums and cold towels and to ask if everything is fine which I found nice. There is also a tea / water station, however it is removed at 11am. There is music by the infinity pool bar, the louder music and DJ start at 2pm. When you are sat at restaurant Bacchus you can hear both the music from the pool area as well as the restaurant’s music which is weird.
The wifi coverage and speed by the pool was generally good with similar speeds to what you get in the rooms.
All the outside areas are clean and very inviting. One thing I didn’t like about the pools is that they are not deep at all, the maximum depth I saw was 1.2m / 4ft. Also, some tiles were broken by the pool but this is a detail.















Epic sunsets


Refreshments


Beach
The beach is small but offers enough space nonetheless. The pontoon is closed until further notice (we did not see any ongoing work on it though) but I found it quite easy to get into the sea via the beach anyway. Floating in the dead sea surely was an interesting experience! Do note that any small wounds / open skin spots will hurt due to the salty water. There are mud treatments there too as well as two showers. Access to the beach is either via a trail with steps or via two elevators which were out of order sometimes. There is a bar by the beach as well, although it was not always staffed. Generally it gets busier in the evening by the beach.

Access to the beach via elevators






Restaurants and Bars

Bacchus (Italian)
At restaurant Bacchus pizzas are between 11 and 22 JOD. Starters range from 3 JOD to 14 JOD, pasta from 11 JOD to 18 JOD. Primi (mains) are between 16 and 65 JOD (for the whole lobster) and sides are 4 JOD. See the menu below.
You get an amuse bouche as well as bread with pesto / dried tomatoes / olive oil / vinegar with compliments. The pizza was very good and so was the penne all’ arrabbiata. The pasta were al dente and tasty, the sauce spicy as it should be. The only thing that I was disappointed with was the chili oil which was not spicy at all. There is indoor and outdoor seating at Bacchus.

Bread (complimentary)


Ravioli


Tiramisu


Bill


Restaurant 1312 (Lebanese)
Restaurant 1312 is located on the first floor of the main building and offers both indoor and outdoor seating.
Do note that there are two menus. The one that can be found on the website is the large / full menu but at the restaurant they will usually hand out a smaller menu with less choices. Do insist to get the full menu and they will bring it. I don’t fully understand why they do this and find this rather odd. The full menu has quite a few vegetarian mezze but no vegetarian main courses as all wraps have meat in them.
The mezze are expensive (5 JOD for hummus), however the portions are very big! We selected 5 different mezze and were only able to eat half of the food. I find it disappointing as in my opinion mezze should be small portions so that one can try a few and share everything. The staff was okay but not overly helpful or friendly. We had to flag them down to get the bill as no one was asking how the food was or if we wanted anything else (coffee, etc.) at the end of our meal. In total, we paid 42 JOD for 5 mezze and water / sodas which I found was fair given the portion size.

There was live music which was not too loud, so it was still possible to have a conversation. On Tuesday nights there is no live music. They advertise belly dancing too but we never saw any belly dancing.

I recommend asking for small servings if you want to try something. We were given hummus with tomatoes for free when we asked for a small portion.







Restaurant 1312




Spectrum (International)
This is where breakfast is served and is located on the second floor of the main building. Although Spectrum is supposed to be open for lunch it wasn’t open every day. We didn't eat here as the menu didn't have many vegetarian options and it is basically a mix of Lebanese and Italian dishes as well as a grill.

Sky bar
The Sky bar is located on the 4th and top floor of the main building and was mostly deserted and the drinks lists underwhelming (there is no champagne for example). We had 2 G&Ts with Bombay Sapphire and the cost was 25 JOD. All drinks are served with a mix of nuts and almonds. There is a DJ there during the evening.

Infinity
Infinity is the pool bar and offers drinks as well as snacks. Cocktails are 7.50 JOD (plus tax), however all of them are quite sweet. Our favourite was the fizzy sangria served with prosecco which was nice and dry. A pint of Amstel cost 7.50 JOD (plus tax) and a pint of Heineken cost 11 JOD (plus tax) which is very expensive (in my opinion a rip off price) as you can get wine for 7-10 JOD.

Snacks at Infinity


Gym
I don’t use gyms at hotels but took a few pictures for documentation purposes:







Prices
All prices are subject to 10% service charge as well as 7% tax on food and non-alcoholic items and 16% tax on alcoholic and tabaco items. When you charge to your room the bill will have a line for tips in addition to the service charge. We generally did not tip as the service never was spectacular but rather just ok. A large bottle of aqua panna is 6 JOD, soft drinks 3 JOD. For alcohol and food prices, see the menus below.

Conclusion
I think you get a decent value for money if you book a basic room for 70 JOD (plus tax) and even our suite was not that expensive at 115 JOD per night plus tax, however one should be aware of the food / drinks (especially alcohol) prices. If you are vegetarian it is not that difficult to eat here, especially the Lebanese restaurant have many vegetarian friendly dishes and so does the Italian restaurant. One important thing is to make sure to read the whole menu even though they mark vegetarian dishes. For example, the ravioli and gnocchi at Bacchus are not specifically marked as vegetarian dishes even though they are. I found this confusing and have made a comment about it to the staff. However, for longer stays the food options will start to get boring if you are vegetarian. We ate through all vegetarian options at the Lebanese and Italian restaurant in 3 days. Everything is very clean. The resort offers excursions but the transportation cost is very expensive.

Do note that smoking is normal here by the pool, on terraces etc.

We liked the following things

• Pool area is very large and has a lot of space
• Food offerings are varied and tasty as well as large portions are served
• The resort is clean. Even though people smoke by the pool it was clean and cleaned regularly.
• Some staff members were really nice and hospitable

These things could be improved

• Waiters tend not to be very attentive or overly friendly, just average in general with few exceptions. The waitresses at Bacchus are better than the ones at 1312.
• There are rules which are not enforced. For example, one rule is that only couples are allowed at the sky bar but we saw a group of men. Also, at Bacchus there is a rule that no swimwear is allowed (even though it is by the pool and there is a nice outside terrace) and we were allowed to eat there regardless. In my opinion they should either enforce the rules or not have them in the first place.
• Generally, the finishings were cheap and already worn, for example the makeup mirror by the sink was wobbly, so was the handle by the balcony window. I appreciate this might be part of the building quality in this country.
• I don’t like when my device is automatically disconnected from wifi when not in use as I had to select the wifi network every time I accessed my phone.
• As we stayed 4 nights I would have liked one more food outlet, for example an Asian restaurant in addition to the three restaurants.
• I would have liked if the staff were more consistent. Some were going above and beyond and we got a really nice treatment while other staff members were indifferent and not overly friendly.
• There was some lack of attention to detail at times. For example, the candles at the tables were not always lit when we arrived.

I appreciate some of my comments are first world problems, but it is still worth mentioning as this is a five star hotel and a rather expensive place.

Things we didn’t like which are outside of the hotel’s control

• There are a lot of flies everywhere! Even our spray didn’t help.

Menus
Bacchus and 1312 menus are available online at https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/jo...ing/index.html
For reference, find below the Bacchus, 1312 and Infinity menus with prices.

Bacchus menu








Pizza menu at Bacchus


Champagne list


1312 full menu









Infinity menu

:D!

Excellent review florens.

Did you do any excursions and do you know how the hotel prices compare with arranging elsewhere? Are they easy to arrange if you don't hire a car?

Also I am curious if the clientele of the hotel is mainly European tourists (and/or Asian)? Are there many Arab guests? Are the staff mostly local people from Jordan?

florens

I am glad you enjoyed the review.

We didn’t do any excursions arranged by the hotel as we needed a couple of days of relaxing. We continue to Petra tomorrow and pre-booked a cab as the price was 80 JOD vs. 135 JOD quoted by the hotel. We’ll see how this goes. The cab can only be paid cash though and we’ll miss out on some points as well.

The guests are mainly young couples from Europe (British, Dutch, German, French, Italian) or the US and a few Lithuanians, Spanish and Poles. Then there are elderly couples, and very few Asians or Africans. We saw one tour group from Italy as well. There are a lot of Arabs too. Some are more traditional and wear burkinis while others, mostly young people in the mid 20s who are more western. They are also heavy smokers and drinkers, especially by the pool bar. We saw several ones buying whole bottles of scotch and smoking cigars as well. There are few families and nearly all families were Arabs, very few European ones.

The male staff are nearly all Jordanian. The female staff are Jordanian and there are a few Asian ones working at the Italian restaurant and at the bar. Generally I’d say it’s about 6 men / 1 woman ratio for staff members.

florens

Minibar

Resort map

nkob

thank you very much
we have booked for next year allready
Any idear about transport to akaba arranged by the hotel ?
the prices for the excursions are by car ?
I am very interested too about your petracexperience
thank you
with warm greetings
cornelis

florens

Prices are per car, yes.

We booked a cab called Jordan Cab for our transfer to Petra which was fine. On time, clean car and nice driver. I can only recommend.

https://www.jordancab.com/

nkob

thanks again
with greetings
cornelis

TheWiseOne

Thanks for the above review. Very informative. I am staying here next week with my Mother as she has recently recovered from a serious illness and I thought I would treat her. However, I feel a little underwhelmed by certain aspects :/.

Could I ask if anyone has an email address for this hotel? I ask as I need to make some requests before I arrive and the one that Diamond desk gave me has not replied.

Many thanks in advance for any help!

nkob

goodmorning
[email protected]
client relation
responds in 24 hours
greetings
cornelis

TheWiseOne

Thank you.

Lefly

Anyone knows if the above address is still valid?
I need to contact the hotel to arrange a couple of things for an upcoming stay and it's way easier by mail than phone for me.

The email I sent to the address given me by an Hilton chat agent got no reply at all.

MichaelA380

Try messaging them on FB (https://www.facebook.com/HiltonDeadSea/) - this has worked for me in most cases with all hotels.

Lefly

Thanks.
I guess one must have an account to use FB messages, though... (I haven't )