BearX220

Mrs. BearX220 and I have had three multi-night HGI stays in the past six weeks: in the Pasadena area, on the outskirts of Minneapolis, and in NoVA outside DC. So, this is not one of those operatic I-curse-the-whole-brand rants based on one bad night.

Recent experience, however, suggests there’s something deeply awry with a brand I used to evangelize for. In the Before Times I found HGIs sensibly equipped and priced, well-staffed, consistent, and well-maintained, and told people so.

Now, though?

• Broken elevators and ice machines, non- or under-functioning HVAC, fridges that either freeze everything solid or remain at room temp, bedside lamp-mounted chargers that don’t work, TV cable or satellite systems that glitch or hang, dead light bulbs.
• Front desks routinely unstaffed.
• No visible employee older than 22 or 23, none in uniform or wearing badges. This morning in NoVA the only one around is a sullen young person in leggings and a sweat top that says “NEWPORT”, helping themselves to the house coffee urn meant for guests. (The ones in California were at least cheerful.) The majority seem minimally trained and lack customer service instincts; I’ve seen them chatting on their phones while people wait to check in, struggling with the computer, etc. I’m not even attempting to use the F&B credit on these stays because I have no heart for the confusion / confrontation that comes with trying to get it applied.
• In re: training, on our current NoVA stay, one employee committed a pretty serious security violation. I'd checked in via the app but my digital key wouldn’t work, so I asked them to cut me a regular cardkey for room 6XX. They shrugged, did so, and passed it across without asking for my name or ID. I could have asked for a key to room 5XX or 3XX.
• Lobby drinks-and-snacks stands picked down to odds and ends – but pilfering is easy with no staff present.
• Obviously no housekeeping. Even on a 7-day stay, nobody looks in. When you request (and succeed in getting) it, the people are apparently hurried and undertrained; you get all your facecloths taken away, are provisioned with four bottles of body wash but no shampoo, etc.
• Evening bar deserted and AFAIK unstaffed.

Before we say these properties simply can’t recruit / hire qualified people, I’ll add that we’ve also been in two Hyatt Places and a Hyatt Regency over the past ten weeks. None had these personnel issues. All had lovely, friendly, professional people front of house, with managers in evidence; I even got a personal text from someone on-site the night before each arrival, asking if I need directions or anything. Their service game was strong.

Hilton, in contrast, seems to be trying to extract every possible human hospitality element from HGI experience design – to the point where these places have become, essentially, automated, faceless, sometimes malfunctioning bed vending machines, with one or two low-paid college kids lurking in the back office, there to call 911 if the place catches fire or something.

It all feels like a cynical experiment in extreme value-engineered hotelling (not "hospitality," per se, which has been red-pencilled. You can come and go from these places without making human contact). And that’s before you get to the non-trivial number of infrastructure fails, which seem like the natural upshot of long-term neglect or disinvestment.

I’m not given to goodbye-cruel-hotel/airline/etc. drama but I have to be in NYC in ten days, I used to hit up the Hell’s Kitchen HGI on the regular, but this time this Diamond is getting a Hyatt.

I would love your thoughts, including pushback if you have it.

bitterproffit

My issue with HGI's have been that they have stripped the breakfast benefit and there is no consistency between properties as to what it covers. And even though these properties supposedly have a full service restaurant, breakfast is still on a paper plate with plastic cutlery for over $15. They seem to have cut back on staff as well.

I think Hilton has recognized that their cleanliness standards have dropped. I am a firm advocate for leaving very accurate reviews on Google regarding major cleanliness issues. I don't know if it helps, but clearly Hilton has recognized pushback.

I have noticed clogged AC filters at 3 of the 4 properties I stayed at this summer. 1 was a Homewood Suites that was filthy (including a used crusty washcloth still in the shower), 2 were Hampton Inns. They filters were so dirty they might not have been cleaned in a year. The room cooled down after cleaning them. Its now the first thing I check, especially if the room is too warm.

As for me, since Hilton has such a range of properties, I can skip the drama of the HGI and just go to another Hilton. I have tried Courtyards and they even charge you for coffee. I was charged $2 for a tea bag, with Marriott Gold status. I haven't felt the need to go to Hyatt instead. But I have started looking at non chain properties at some destinations.

I get enough value out of the points program to keep staying at Hilton properties. But hopefully if people leave honest reviews remarking service failures, Hilton appears to listen.

est-gratuite

Most (or all) of these problems do NOT exist with this brand outside of north america.

DJ_Iceman

You just described Hilton overall, in my experience. I'm nearing lifetime diamond status and probably won't ever make it because Hilton properties are now dead last in my consideration for future stays. I will likely spend one solitary night in a Hilton this year, because the Hilton Logan Airport hotel is just so darn convenient for an early-morning departure.

Hilton lost the spirit of hospitality years ago, COVID just gave them the excuse to double down. And now while everyone else has pretty much come back to previous standards, Hilton still wallows with all the kinds of issues you described. I'm not saying there aren't individual gems out there still run by professionals who get it, but by and large the corporate umbrella has made it clear they no longer care about the guest experience.

dw

Some of the dirtiest properties I�ve stayed in during COVID, and recently, have been under Hilton flags.

I believe they finally admitted on their recent earnings report call that cleanliness standards have been an issue that has noticeably impacted guest satisfaction (I assume metrics taken from post stay surveys?).

Marriott has a lot of issues with their loyalty program (although at this point I�d say Honors is now worse for US stays), but they�ve at least finally implemented consistent cleaning standards based on brand. Unfortunately it�s not back to pre-COVID standards but you at least know what to expect.

aww3583

The newer HGIs were some of my favorite properties. The new HGI in Spartanburg has legitimately some of the best F&B service of any hotel I’ve been to.

Unfortunately, the older HGIs aged poorly. I’m glad that most got rid of the inflatable/adjustable mattresses.

I recently left mid-stay from an HGI that had ineffective AC, broken gym equipment, and broken restaurant equipment (causing No F&B to be available). The maintenance tech tried to fix my AC by vacuuming the coils. When he pulled the cover off, there was black gunk over most internal surfaces. He sighed and mumbled “every time…”.

I’ve found Hamptons have bounced back faster than HGIs post-Covid. I do agree that most HGIs have settled on Hampton-style breakfasts rather than opening back up the hot made-to-order items in response to the F&B credit.

craigthemif

You can cut and paste almost any brand into the title.

Whether by design or by circumstance, the major hotel chains no longer enforce brand standards. And the individual hotel owners are finding it more profitable to run down their properties than invest in them and their employees.

It's no surprise, therefore, that the major hotel chains are inventing new brands. After all, you'd have to be crazy to build a brand new HGI when every other HGI owner is turning theirs into a dump...

Eventually - and it might take a generation - people will realise that being a "Diamond member" and earning "points" won't come near to compensating for terrible hotel stays...

The Road Goes On Forever

Unless you're staying at one of the miniscule amount of properties Hilton actually owns or manages, they have nothing to do with your day to day experiences at HGI or a Tru, HWS, HIS, etc. Hilton has zero direct influence or impact over what an hourly rank and file team member gets paid, is in their handbook or how many FTEs exist at any property. The owner/management company alone decides what they will allocate on FTE's/labor/every controllable and that's what dictates what is offered/not offered and the staffing model you experience since it's their hotel, not Hilton's. If the lobby drink/snack area is bare, it's the owner/franchise company, not Hilton. Team members at a property not wearing uniforms, (uniforms are not mandatory) again it's the franchisee choosing to avoid that expense. The franchisee can choose to allow staff to partake from the same lobby coffee as guests use the same as they can say no. That's 100% an LSOP.

Industry staffing overall is two extremes. You have lifers or you have a never ending revolving door of people that come in with an inane romanticized vision of the industry and once they get a taste of it, they run. And run they should. Why would you stay? Stagnant wages, little to no benefits and irregular work schedules where you have no idea if you're working on Monday and it's Friday or Saturday. The MSM publishes a lot of crap that the pandemic brought increased wages in hospitality and overall, it very much did not. Wages for new hires are back/more than likely never left pre-pandemic levels and owners/management companies have made decisions to permanently reduce staffing which means that even if you made it through the pandemic & lockdowns with a job, whether or not you got a raise, you're working twice as hard for your money than you did four years ago.

Most people's beef is directed at the wrong group. The parent companies are very hands off and aside from the once or twice a year when a QA audit takes place have no direct boots on the ground, ever. The real issue is with owners & management companies who take the parent company's "rules/guidelines" and run with them while they do their best to pervert them and water them down to benefit their bottom line. Parent companies like the appearance of standards since it helps their topline, but the franchisee is always trying to sabotage those standards since that alone is what increases their bottom line.

TKFrequentFlyer

This is definitely a US thing, I really enjoy the Garden Inn and Hampton Inns in Europe or Asia. They are clean, modern and very reasonable priced.

It depends on the hotel, but in the US, mid and lower-end chain hotels generally lack any kind of service level. Working at a chain hotel (high and low end) in Europe is even something to be proud of, especially because most graduated hotel management studies or similar.

Cymro

This is absolutely correct, but it's not unreasonable to then ask why other competing brands that have the same business model are able to rein in their franchisees in a way that Hilton, in the US at least, seemingly is not.

The Road Goes On Forever

That is a great question to ask especially since most franchisees own/manage a portfolio of properties that cut across all four of the main parent brands.

Repooc17

When you frequent one property long enough, let alone the brand, you will find different ends of spectrum even among similar rooms.

I just finished another stay at HGI DCA airport - have gotten some really nice rooms at times, but I have also stayed same types of room with distinct differences.

Hey, most of my hotel stays are around $100/night + taxes/fees, so you won't find me venting - I check in, get my sleep in, and leave. Most of the time, i don't even stop by the front desk or use any facilities.

craigthemif

Do you really think that Marriott and IHG aren't in a similar situation?

You couldn't pay me enough to stay at a CP, HI or Candlewood in the US. Some Indigos are code for "run down, dump that we'll pretend is a boutique"

Sheraton? Four Points? Yuck. Without mentioning the regular cases of elite benefits being ignored, downgraded, etc. at Marrioitt Bonvoy hotels.

Internationally it is different, if only because there is more competition from independents and local chains

DELee

Mostly have given up on HGIs as a brand (as well as CYs within the Marriott side) - the value is no longer there and, as you pointed out, the staffing and required training/expertise are also not there at this time - at least within the US. And management, whether the franchisee parent companies or Hilton are absent.

David

OhDoctor

I was in my medical training in ~2006 when they opened the HGI Albany, attached to the medical center. I remember walking through the lobby (with a meteorite in a display case) and thinking "Wow, what a glitzy hotel they're opening -- I hope people can afford it!" In less than 10 years, it became kind of a dump.

I cannot fathom any HGI opening in 2023, much less one that impresses anyone walking through the lobby. The brand is dead, and Hilton will continue to push it as far to the back burner as possible.