Update?
 

Has Anyone stayed at these three lately?

I am planning to be there on May 18th, currently I booked the room at the East one.. the East was cheaper by $25 and $36 a night over West and Suites and I really only plan to sleep in the room with little baggage.. No Gold or Diamond... yet, after this stay and my stay in Gallup, NM I will have Silver.

Here is where I am planning to stay in Gallup, NM after Amarillo.
http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/h...tyhocn=GUPHHHX


Thoughts?
Currently I am going to be paying $94 for the night including taxes after AAA disc.

Update
 

The original post had things right for the most part - but it was better - HOWEVER - I was tempted to invoke the 100% Satisfaction refund, still not sure if I will send an email. If it was not for friendly staff, I would have for sure.

Hampton Inn I-40 Amarillo East
THE BAD:

1. No elevator - I had more bags than I planned before, and this was annoying, however, my room was near the stairs, which was good.
2. NO POOL!!! - This was not noted when I was booking, it was over 90 degrees F outside and was told it would not open until MEMORIAL DAY!!
3. Water went out at about 2am - I was working late in the room, could not take a shower or even wash my face - I tried the sink then the shower to make sure it was not something wrong with the sink, when I closed the shower it did not close the valve all the way since it was a tough valve, so when I woke up in the morning I had a nice mess to clean up, but there were a lot of towels provided so this was ok... I guess... I had called down during the night and was told they were working on it... meh.
4.TV Was poor! The connection was bad on it and I could only have it in one position for it to work
5. TV Remote was dead! - Went downstairs and they fixed.
6. Dirty mirror, when I did end up taking the shower, it steamed up and I could see all the streak marks from a quick towel over, ew.
8. Breakfast eggs were nothing to write home about... w.e

7. [Not really] No letter or bottled water or cookies or anything, I know it was just a hampton, but in the one in Chicago I stayed in this was there, provided, and refilled daily, would have been a really nice touch with it 90 degrees outside!



THE GOOD:
Staff, Scott was at the front desk, was friendly and helpful. Fixed the remote and got me checked in quickly. Cookies were tasty, was checked out fast. As I said before, without a friendly staff, I would have claimed a full 100% refund... right now I am not sure.... thoughts?

Yupper, as discussed/discovered, in Amarillo, all of the decent hotels are on the west side of town, on I-40 West. Soncy, Coulter, Bell streets on the map. (Regional mall & restaurant rows are on/near Soncy). Only exception to this is the 'Ambassador' hotel(the lone 'highrise' hotel), which is located a couple exits east of Bell Street. And, if one likes Olive Garden grub, it's located one exit east of Bell Street at Western & I-40.

Stuff out east is pretty trashy. City developed westward, left the eastern side in the dust.

Unfortunately, the airport, which is convenient and easy to get in/out of, is located way east of town('way east' only means a few miles:) ), so sometimes people new to town stay in hotels on the east side, thinking that's a better approach considering the airport location. BIG mistake...only takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the airport if one is on the west side where the decent stuff is located.

Hampton Inn Amarillo August 26-27
 

As I was driving through town from west to east, I figured this would be the better location. Plus, I was having dinner at the Big Texan Steak Ranch which was four miles away. Had I read this thread ahead of time, I'd have stayed elsewhere.

Location: As stated above, the hotel is just off Interstate 40 near the airport and the split for US 287. It can be annoying to access this hotel from 40-West as you have to wait for a north/south road to take you to the other side of 40 onto its service road. Its located near a bunch of other middle range properties and some fast food joints.

Hotel: The hotel feels old and is small and cramped. There's no elevator, no business center and the breakfast area is particularly small and tables can be hard to find. Plus the area its in isn't great the parking lot is poorly lit and it can be a long walk from your car to the room.

Check-In: One of my least favorite agents on the year. I gave him my last name and first name and he kept disagreeing with me.
Agent: Rick?
Me: No, Charles
Agent: So you're Rick?
Me: No, I'm Charles
Agent: Oh, ok, you're not Rick.

He was equally unhelpful upon check out. No upgrades here and we were put on the first floor near the small breakfast area.

Room: Like everything else about this hotel, the room was small, particularly the bathroom which was really bad. The TV was old and the work table practically useless. At least the wireless worked as well as the air conditioning.

Other: Breakfast was a standard Hampton Inn affair, and I was happy they had biscuits and gravy. Check-out was annoying as I was staying at three properties in three days I wanted to be manually checked out and have my folio reprinted for me (in the past with back to back stays I've had issues when I wasn't manually checked out in my presence) and the agent complained about this but eventually did it.

The AAA rate was $80 but the next time I drive through Amarillo, I'm staying at the Hampton West or the Garden Inn.

Yes, Hampton west and Garden Inn are pretty new hotels on the West side of town. Also a restaurant row about one block east of there, too(all off of the Coulter/I-40 exit).

Sorry you missed this thread before your stay. Lots of Hyway/transient biz in AMA cuz of I-40, but with the economy down the drain, the hotels out east are likely not doing well.

And, for others that will read this post, if travelling through AMA, by and large, everything's on the Interstate, so something like the 'The Big Texan' restaurant is really only a few minutes away, even though on the east side towards the airport. Not much traffic to worry about, so no big issues.

Between Garden Inn, Hampton West, and Homewood Suites, which one is the better choice?

Not sure. Garden Inn and Homewood Suites are both by Soncy Street & I-40 and very new, so you're probably ok w/either. Offhand, I don't recall how old the Hampton West is(fairly new, tho), and I've never been in it or known anyone who stayed there. I'd guess the Hampton West is much better than the Hampton East, described above.

I'm local, so don't stay in the hotels, just know 2nd/xth hand stories. Buddy of mine comes through town occasionally and has stayed at both the Garden Inn and Homewood and thought both were just fine. There's also a Days Inn on the NE corner of Soncy & I-40 that looks very nice(new, too), so check that out, too.

Garden Inn, Homewood and Days Inn are located almost on top of each other, so location doesn't really matter.

And, for Marriott fans, on the north side of I-40, between Coulter and Bell are a Fairfield Inn & Courtyard, located next to each other. These are several years old and I don't have any current info on them. And, of course, no HH points here or at the Days Inn :)

Texas Hilton Recommendations?
 

Hi all, I'm a newly crowned Diamond member and am looking to take the family to the lone star state for a little getaway from the Midwest winter. Any recommendations on Texas hotels with good Diamond recognition that are good for families?
Thanks all!

Texas gets plenty of winter. After you plan around that suitably, a search on city name will likely yield some property master threads. Watch out for spring break.

Houston has very mild winters (if any at all). So you might check that area.
We go there in the winter quite a bit and the in laws usually pick us up at the airport in tank tops and shorts (even over Christmas break).

Cold weather there tends to be in the 50's (and doesn't seem like much of that). Winter has some nice warm enjoyable temperatures as well.

looks like dallas and houston temps are around 60-50...much warmer than our Iowa winters.....where we can get to -20 or so.

Any personal recommendations?

Dallas has much colder temperatures and much more of a winter season than Houston.

Full Service hotels like Post Oak Hilton or Hilton of the Americas. Careful with vagrants who hang around at night time asking for money, always be outside in pairs should take care of this.

The bad part about Dallas is that if you are trying to plan in advance, you won't know the temperatures. So, I would assume you are going to run into cold weather there in Dec. and Jan.

Dallas does get snow and some much colder weather than 50's. They don't get a lot of snow, but it stays cold enough to know it is winter time.

Thanks Shoreline. Was thinking about Hilton Americas as it looked pretty decent. Good call on Dallas, i guess we will head further South..

Appreciate the help!

I don't know about the hotels in San Antonio, but the city is a nice place for a family vacation. Riverwalk, SeaWorld, and Alamo are all fun places.

Yeah, I'd suggest that Dallas is too iffy weather-wise as well - just too far north. So it's a gamble.

Do you want a Hilton proper, or a Hilton-related property? Many more of the latter. All depends on your room space/driving/location tradeoffs.

That said, in Austin, the Hilton (downtown) is very nice. And it's a cool city, particularly for music and eating. San Antonio has the Hilton Palacio del Rio, and the Riverwalk. The former is also very nice, the latter is a bit more touristy than I prefer, but there's plenty to do in San Antonio beyond the Riverwalk. In Houston, the Hilton Americas is fine, but downtown Houston is about business. You'll need to drive to get to much interesting (in my opinion). I like Houston, but you need to dig a bit more to find the good stuff relative to Austin and San Antonio.

You could of course head even farther south, or select among the many Hilton-related properties in those cities, or many more throughout the state. I've found the ESs in Texas, on average, a bit run down relative to other states, I've found the Hampton Inns consistent, if uninspired (but then that's the niche they aim for), I've found the DTs highly variable, and the HGIs consistently better than the Hampton Inns, but also not particularly exciting. But then I think that's the niche they aim at as well.

FWIW.

I have heard nice things about Austin too, have you been treated well as a Diamond there?

My experience has been that Diamonds are treated as well there as at any other decent Hilton in the U.S. Upgrades seem hit or miss. But I've simply stopped anticipating upgrades at any Hilton, and just book the room that I need. If an upgrade happens, that's great. But don't get me wrong - the Hilton Austin is a very nice hotel in a very nice location. I check it first when I'm looking to book a stay in Austin.

Austin is great. San Antonio is great too. Houston, I didn't care as much for.

Any part of Texas can have cold but obviously the farther south you go the less those chances are. Therefore, consider South Padre Island.

You did an apples to oranges comparison here. You compared average vs extreme. If it is extreme cold in Iowa, it is likely to be extreme cold (but still warmer) in much of Texas.

One of my favorite football memories is the Dolphins and the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in the driving snow in Dallas and the infamous covered blocked field goal.

What sort of things are you interested in? I haven't stayed at every Hilton in the state, but my sense of it is that Texas isn't a great hotel state for Hilton. As a Texan, maybe I take things for granted that others wouldn't, but I might also overrate how interesting some sites are.

Houston offers all the big city entertainment and some history. You could go to NASA.

San Antonio is history and culture. Palacio del Rio is ok, but I wouldn't book a trip to stay there for Diamond benefits.

Austin is OK. It has some history and some college town aspects and you could still make an hour drive to San Antonio.

Dallas/Fort Worth is very similar to Houston. Sports and shopping. Art museums and eating.

As a Houstonian, I'd suggest splitting your trip into 2: Austin and San Antonio. They are a 45 minute drive from eachother with a great outlet mall in between. Austin is a trendy up-and-coming oasis in the middle of Texas. It has a beautiful nature element and very family friendly. Lots of live music and activities. Then head southwest to San Antonio for great history and family attractions (as others have mentioned, Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas - are they open in the winter?). Houston is a nice place to live, not visit.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have lots of kids (hence the handle) so am looking for family friendly type options. NASA sounds interesting, would also look for something to engage the girls. As is typical for most kids they love pools so any location that has a decent/good pool would be highly appreciated as well.

Palacio del Rio didn't get very good TA reviews, places that I have seen that "sound" interesting are:

Hilton DFW exec center
Hilton SouthLake
Hilton Americas
Hilton Austin
Hilton Park Cities

Not sure if you have experienced any of these or if you have recommendations from your own personal experience.

thanks again for the input.
Cheers!
Z

Thanks, that's great advice, another poster here recommended the Hilton Austin. Is there another in the area that you would recommend?

Palacio del Rio was fine when we stayed there in March. I think any of the places you listed are OK, but I'm not sure any are special. The Anatole in Dallas would probably give a lot of value. They have a lounge and some really low prices at times. It is a huge place that puts quite a bit into the holiday season decoration. If your family likes sporting events, there's probably cheap Mavs tickets available on Stubhub.

Sadly, we are also in full historical retrospection on the Kennedy assassination because of the anniversary. The Perot museum is quite popular, and the Aquarium is impressive.

Dallas and Houston are car cities. Austin and SA are somewhat less so if you perch yourself in the downtowns. I agree with fork that most Texans would probably split between Austin and SA. However, the kids might not care about either place. If they want shopping and swimming, the value might be in Houston or DFW.

I am a Texas resident. Mrs. Jjaz and I stayed in Austin at the Embassy Suites downtown on south Congress Ave. Very centrally located for everything downtown and south Congress, which is somewhat Austin-centric - laid back - whole earth - free range poultry - etc. It's a lot of fun both ways. Town Lake is a block away with a lot of fun things to do. Zilker Park is about a 1 mile hike west, but always has a great Christmas display that draws big crowds.

HGI El Paso Airport is really convenient and is relatively nice. Looks a bit different than most HGIs.

Only issue is it's right next to an oil refinery, so I have a nice view of the refinery and Juarez behind it.

The ES got kicked out of the chain and is now El Paso Suites. From what I've heard from the other guys I'm working with, it's pretty dumpy.

Not sure where else to post this...

Spent one night at the Hampton Inn & Suites Lubbock Southwest, just ahead of a Texas Tech football game day. Property seems relatively new; parking is only on one side of the building (rooms on the other side essentially face a field, other hotels, and a Lowe's down the street). The place can be slightly difficult to get to--Google maps was routing us to use 54th street, but we never saw it as we were coming off of the highway and turned down 58th street instead and drove back to the hotel (not difficult by any means, but just put out there as an FYI).

Staff is very friendly and the breakfast, while blah, was at least nicely presented. We had a studio room, which had a wet bar of sorts off to the side as you entered, a couch, an arm chair, a desk and chair, and the king bed. The room size was probably in the 200 square foot range, but that might be a bit on the high side. For a Hampton, I was impressed. Room was very clean and the air conditioner was quiet.

I'd certainly stay there again--I don't know how convenient it is to any eating establishments, as we got in late and left early the next day, but for a stopover, I had no complaints.

Corpus Christi Hilton properties
 

Looking to spend a week in Corpus Christie, late Feb. Early March. I have plenty of points and trying to decide on the Embassy Suites or the HGI Padre Island. Just looking to leave the Chicago winter behind. Not really a beach person, but the ms. and I will be driving our Jeep on Padre Island. I am Gold so breakfast is included if I stay at the HGI. I could not find any current reviews on either property, however TripAdvisor lists the Embassy Suites as The #1 hotel in Corpus Christie. Any idea when spring break is?

Thanks
Made42

March .... I would say anything from last week in Feb through the first couple weeks (or whole month) of April.

Since Easter is on April 5th, you should be safe assuming Spring Break will be anytime from the first week of March through the week of Easter. That would have the last Spring Break ending no later than April 11.

BTW, it is Corpus Christi. No "e".

Can't speak to Corpus Christie, but I've had a couple of good stays at the HGI in Corpus Christi (no e) and the Hampton on Padre Island. Both are good Hilton properties (plural, not possessive).

Concur with those times.

And it's "properties." :)

Warning don't stay at the Hampton Inn on Gateway in El Paso
 

Another complaint about the Hampton Inn on Gateway in El Paso Texas. Had issues each of my last 4 times. First time I was given an occupied room. 2nd time manager upgraded me to take care of the issues the first time and when I checked in online it was there but when I arrived I had been downgraded to a regular room. The manager offered a free night certificate on the 2nd time. When I arrived the 3rd time I left 2 messages with the front desk to let him know I never got the certificate - never bothered to call me. Tonight I was a late arrival and they walked me to another hotel. Talked to the front desk at 11pm to tell them I would arrive at 2:30am and when I get there no room. I had done the online check in so they gave away my room again. This is ridiculous. Being a diamond obviously means nothing. Wonder what compensation they will offer this time and never deliver on.

Hi avnmgr,

I sent you a PM to discuss your stays at Hampton Inn on Gateway. Look forward to hearing back form you!

Best,
Ashleigh

Rather than creating three threads on Hilton properties in Amarillo, I thought I'd just put it all here:

There are three Hilton properties in Amarillo: A Hilton Garden Inn, a Homewood Suites, and a Hampton Inn. I've stayed at them all.

I normally stay at the HGI, because the breakfast is free as a Gold/Diamond. The regular rooms are blah, and the beds are worn out. The deluxe rooms (which are essentially the same as the regular rooms, but larger) tend to have slightly better beds. In all of the rooms, however, the air conditioners are loud, and the bathrooms are very oddly designed--the shower door swings out, but can only open when the bathroom door is closed, which leads to contorting yourself into a ball so as to squeeze by all of the doors and the toilet when trying to get out of/into the shower. Words can't describe the stupidity of the design. Additionally, the rooms themselves are poorly maintained, as is the property in general. It very much has a "one night stand" sort of vibe to it--partly due to the "just passing through" tourist trade of Amarillo, and partly due to the overall lack of maintenance by the property management (who, as far as I can tell, is never present and likes to do things on the cheap). Don't expect a particularly clean stay--expect to see some dead bugs in overhead light fixtures, expect to feel grimy and sticky floors, and expect to witness threadbare and very worn carpets in the rooms. So why do I stay here? Well, rates are usually in the $89-$110 range for a deluxe room, which is usually the cheapest amongst the Hilton offerings. But, quite honestly, each stay there seems to be worse than the last one, and I'm beginning to doubt whether the low nightly rate really offers any value at all.

The Homewood Suites is usually $5 to $10 more than the HGI, and is next door to it. The property is maintained slightly better, but the whole place is decorated like an 1800's bordello, with lots of overly carpeted areas, dark fabrics, and dust-attracting materials. The sink is separate from the bathroom itself, but the floor surrounding the sink is carpeted. Eeeww. The drapes don't appear to have been dusted or vacuumed in ages. If you enjoy allergies, then this is the hotel for you. Breakfast is nothing special, and I've never tried the evening meals/snacks. I doubt many guests stay more than one night, and I rather doubt that many ever return again.

The Hampton is usually the most expensive option of the three, often by upwards of $30 a night. The Hampton is slightly more difficult to get to than the others (the Homewood and the HGI are very easy to access if traveling westward on I-40; getting back on the highway requires a bit of a dogleg route, but isn't too hard, although watch out for potholes and bad roads!). However, the Hampton is bright, clean, and feels fresh. A standard King room included a refrigerator, but no microwave, and the bathroom was spacious and well designed. The bed was comfortable. The air conditioner was quiet. The staff was friendly, and there was at least one person behind the desk every time I went by (in contrast to the HGI, where you can literally spend 10 minutes waiting for someone to show up!). The drinks and snack choices are nothing special, but freely given to a Diamond member. Parking seemed a bit tight on availability, but that might have just been an impression (plus, there were several spaces taken up by large trucks and their attached flatbed haulers). Breakfast was the usual blech, although I suppose I can survive off of a bowl of oatmeal and a yogurt. But if you can handle the breakfast, and afford the higher rate, the Hampton is by far the better choice in town.

Use Hilton Free night near Aus
 

I have a free weekend night at a Hilton Property that I need to use by the end of the year.

I'm in central Texas, and I'd like to find something within about 400-500 miles for a weekend trip (one or two nights).

How about some recommendations?

Thanks,

-Dan

So... is that Austin? SA? Want to make sure don't recommend something in your own hometown.

I'm just north of Austin (Georgetown).

Hilton in Texas
 

Sirs,

I've invited my family to Texas for a trip to remember. We're flying in from Copenhagen, Denmark. 4 grand parents, my wife, our 5-year old and me.

We're looking to book a classical Texas ranch-style house for a week around SAT, AUS or HOU but I'm thinking about checking in to a hotel for the first couple of days while recovering jet lag, the long flight etc.

I'm trying to find a Hilton property ind that same, large area, that has some uniqueness to it. Either in a classical Texan area, in a small, interesting city, and iconic property or just a really good hotel. I'm diamond with Hilton but also Black with GHA (Omni etc.) so any of those properties would also be ok.

I've been looking at the Hilton website intensively, but the availability of properties is just too overwhelming so any good ideas from here would be very much appreciated!

(Also, any good advice on hunting in Texas from March 18th-April 1st, but that's a side track)

Best!

I would probably stay along the riverwalk in san Antonio. lots to do there for a couple of days. there is an embassy suites and Hilton there. there is also an Omni hotel la mansion on the riverwalk but I have never stayed there. http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

Good suggestion(s) about San Antonio Riverwalk. Definitely in the heart of the city, so it is unlike the more "country" experience the OP is looking for later, but it is unique with many dining (and tourist-y) options within walking distance -- including "The Alamo". I stayed at the Omni -- it was unique, historic and right in the heart of the Riverwalk. Since it is a renovated older building (by U.S. standards) it is kind of broken up, but that adds to the character. As an elite member you would likely receive a large room with good balcony view.
Haven't stayed at the Embassy Suites (walked through part of it) or the Hilton (walked up to it -- next to the convention center). They are both more modern, tower-type properties. Still right on the Riverwalk, but at the edges -- both within 1km walk to most attractions, however.