craigthemif

You are being completely closed-minded. Some of my best travel experiences have come from "because there is a nice hotel there" and discovering a new city/country with no advance expectations... rather than following the masses to Paris and Rome, where of course I've been multiple times.

In fact I found a weekend in Mainz/Frankfurt much more enjoyable than a weekend in Berlin, precisely because it's somewhere new and has unexpected charms. Berlin would be repeating more of the same, unless one puts serious effort into exploring well off the beaten path. I would never have gone to Mainz for example unless there was a nice Hyatt there, but it's a lovely little weekend getaway and a sunny weekend afternoon in Frankfurt is quite nice.

For a once-in-a-lifetime trip, yeah of course don't choose based on the lounge. But if you are a regular traveller, I can think of far worse reasons to visit somewhere than a nice lounge...

mrvincent

Totally agree. Maybe not going out of my way so far as to go to a different country, but certainly new cities or staying in areas that I wouldn't normally. My wife and I have had some great adventures this way.

arlflyer

flyerCO

+1. By continent is just too broad. No one can generally say they've been to all the hotels within one major city, muchless an entire continent.

If OP had limited this to a city, I think it would be reasonable.

craigthemif

Nobody in this thread has said they wouldn't leave the hotel. What's wrong with you? Move along if this thread annoys you so much.

delinquentwoody

I think we should get this discussion started..

If narrowed down to those with a TA rating of 4.5 out of 5 (for Europe at least) there are roughly 50 contenders for Europe...

Hilton St George's Park Burton upon Trent
Hilton London Wembley
Hilton London Tower Bridge
Hilton Canary Wharf
Hilton Angel Islington
Hilton Bankside
Hilton Berlin
Hilton Frankfurt Airport
Hilton Paris Opera
Hilton Madrid Airport
Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
Hilton Sorrento Palace
Hilton Athens
Mersin HiltonSA
Adana HiltonSA
Hilton Bursa Convention Centre & Spa
Hilton Istanbul Bomonti
Hilton Istanbul Maslak
Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus
Hilton Zurich Airport
Hilton Vienna Plaza
Hilton Vienna Danube Waterfront
Hilton Prague Old Town
Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik
Hilton Sofia
Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest
Hilton Sibiu
Hilton Budapest
Hilton Budapest City
Hilton Belgrade
Hilton Kyiv
Hilton Tallinn Park
Hilton Helsinki Strand
Hilton Helsinki Airport
Hilton Warsaw Hotel & Convention Centre
Hilton Amsterdam
Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Hilton Rotterdam
Hilton The Hague
Hilton Reykjavic Nordica
Doubletree Glasgow Central
Doubletree Tower of London
Doubletree London Islington
Doubletree Istanbul Moda
Doubletree Warsaw Hotel & Convention Centre
Doubletree Wroclaw
Doubletree Amsterdam Centraal Station
Conrad London St James
Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus

Yes I have too much time on my hands but thought this list may come in handy for some.. also it could serve as a reference point for discussion. I get the point that no-one will have been to all of these for one person to make a fair comparison between them all but like someone said above when recommendations are made on here they can prove useful.

Also while I might have time on my hands I don't have enough time to make lists for any other continents!...

MP001

Hilton Madrid Airport was for me the worst EL experience in europe.
I have good memories about Hilton Berlin; London Bankside, Budapest City, Reykjavic Nordica, The Hague and Rotterdam.

mecabq

Of course, but, as previous posters have mentioned, a nice hotel can put a place on the map for people who've traveled a lot and serve as the anchor to discover a new destination. For example, I recently went to Georgia and was planning to drive from Tblisi to Batumi, Absent any other guidance of where to stop on the way, I found Bojormi because there is a Crowne Plaza there. Turned out to be nearly InterContinental-level, an excellent hotel. Bojormi turned out to be very worthwhile. Not a life-changing one-night trip, of course, but I am glad I went.

mjbdiamond

I normally go to a destination for several days to explore. I also like to see if there are any good properties worth visiting in a different part of the country. For example, in Poland I was staying in Warsaw which I had wanted to see. I had planned to go for a week, but saw good reviews for the Doubletree in Krakow - somewhere I had no intention of visiting, but incredibly pleased I did.

The beauty of a good lounge is it allows you to visit somewhere different, and if you love the destination, great - you can go out, explore etc; if you don't, you have a backup for a couple nights. That's why I like going somewhere with a nice lounge.

I understand your point, but I feel that no one would simply go to a hotel in a new destination and not ever leave the hotel - however, a good lounge may inspire someone to visit somewhere new.

arlflyer

Or you could just research the destination...you were going to skip Krakow until you read about the DT? Wow. Whatever it takes, I guess. Anyhow, I do not usually troll this hard but for some reason this thread just rubbed me the wrong way. Have fun and who knows, maybe I will discover a new place to check out.

tkelvin69

1. Asia

2. Europe

3. Africa

4. South America

5. Australia

6. Antarctic

7. North America


For the previous posters, the United States isn't a continent regardless of the viewpoint of the current president.

flyerCO

When did Hilton open a property in Antarctica?

craigthemif

And since when was there a decent lounge in the US OR North America?

(which is perhaps why arlflyer is so annoyed)

arlflyer

No, I was annoyed because the thread is ridiculous, but that being said the decent lounges in the U.S. tend to be in strange places where one does not usually expect it. Like the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, in which I've seen a three-course meal of salad, prime rib with mashed potatoes, and homemade fudge sheet cake. Or the odd DoubleTree Portland (ME), out by the airport, which for some reason was serving very good Chinese food the night I was there. The DoubleTree Charlottesville always got points in my book for serving free beer and local wine, until they closed the lounge, sadly.

Of course, most of these still do not compare to even the entry-level lounges in most other places, but we take what we can get. The U.S. hotel market is far less competitive at the upper end so there is not much pressure to impress anyone.

Rock DeAugustine

You obviously I've never stayed in a world class Club Lounge with free flowing vintage french champagne, Hennessy XO and 20-year-old tawny port free for the taking all day... Not to mention exquisite coffee and the best eggs benedict ever in the morning, as well as jamon iberico...