Stayed at the ELP Hilton for one night in July. As a Gold, they upgraded me to a mini-suite (2 TVs), which was OK. The free breakfast buffet was fine. The free computer/internet access in the business area near the check-in desk was a bonus. Free parking. I think I paid around $85. Property not bad, but needs a renovation.

Two of my co-workers stayed there last week, and said it was very nice. The Hampton across town is only a few years old, and should also be very nice.

I had my first stay this week and it wasn't too bad. As a gold, got a room in the North Tower (farther away from the train tracks than the South Tower) and lounge access.

El Paso, Midland and Lubbock
 

OK, I live in ELP and have stayed at the Midland Hilton probably 15+ times since September 1st...in fact, I'm on Diamond status because of the Hilton-branded hotels that I've stayed in since 10/1 in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

That being said, the El Paso Hilton is one of the worst Hiltons in the country...bar none. The lobby is decorated in some horrendous chrome-and-mirror-cum-Gordon-Gekko style that belongs in a made for TV movie about Michael Milken. It's horrible,, and the 2 restaurants are a tad worse than Wendy's. Although its only about 100 yards from the baggage claim at ELP, I would rather stay at the Hampton or the Residence Inn by Marriott (which, incidentally, since the renovation is the nicest property in El Paso.

If it's possible, the Embassy Suites El Paso is even worse. The lobby hasn't seen a drop of paint in over 20 years. The pool is filthy, the breakfast is one of the worst Embassy Suites meals that I have ever had, and the rooms have bad carpet, dirty bathrooms, and peeling window tint on the room windows. I had a VP of my company that requested a Hilton property to stay in, and I recommeded the Embassy Suites-El Paso...and got yelled at!! There are Hampton Inns in Clovis, New Mexico that are better than this s**thole.

As for the Midland Hilton, I don't think I've found another small town Hilton better than this one, except maybe for the College Station (TX) Hilton. Midland had over 200 rooms, 2 bars, 4 restaurants, and great garage parking. I always get an executive room, which isn't really a lot, as it just had an extra chair ad a potted plant. The breakfast on the Executive floor is pretty bad, just coffee, pankakes OR eggs, water and OJ...need to work on that one. The good part of the hotel is the tower closest to the front desk, as it is quiet and has a great warn-weather bar on top of the portico,where a lot of Midland oil folks come out an drink. The back tower is really, REALLY close to the train yards, and light sleepers might be kept awake due to the train whistles. Always ask for a front tower room.

You want a nice Embassy Suites? Try Lubbock about 100 miles North if Midland...its probably the best ES (in a town >500,000 people) in the country. Great rooms (>2 years old), great upgraded rooms, nice atriums, bar, restaurant, pantry, etc. Even though its in Lubbock, its a great hotel, even better tha Midland.

I'll share my reviews of the rest of my area at a later date. Cheers!

You're sure right about that. I first stayed at the Lubbock ES a few weeks ago, and was blown away. One of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. The rooms are beautiful, and the staff bends over backwards to please. As I left one morning, the staff was having a pep rally in the parking lot. It is evident that they like their jobs, and take an interest in making this hotel stand out. This is also one of very few hotels I've stayed at that treated me special as a HH Gold.

Oh, I forgot to answer the original question: The Midland Hilton is 100% finished with their renovation. They have a really great bar, called Mahogany, that just opened at the end of October, and a good pool that you can use...but it's always windy or cool in Midland, and its on the 2nd (or 3rd) floor so the air conditioning below makes it FREEZING COLD!!

The restaurants are okay, but they have a surprisingly BAD steak, especially since they are in the heart of cattle country, their NY Strip tastes like fajita meat that has been run over by a garbage truck.

Try the Wall Street Bar and Grill, just 2 blocks down the street. Great bar for dining alone (sniff, sniff), decent wine and great bar list, and really good if a bit afttening food! "He does oil, and all that implies..." lots of black gold in Midland, and lots of those type of folks need somewhere to eat!

Hilton ELP Airport Property....
 

ELP Hilton may not be the best in the world but you can't beat the convenience to the airport rental car drop and baggage claim....

Gold/Dia breakfast is a small top floor area right off the elevator and as previously noted - with little ones - the pool slide area is cool too!

You can walk from 1-to-the-other as do all the airline crew/pilot's I've noticed every stay which makes late arrivals or super early departures a breeze!

It's been years since I've stayed at any Hilton property in El Paso, since I live there ;), but waterslide is cool.

I think the best Hilton property is the Hampton Inn, that says a lot about the Hilton, and the Embassy Suites :o

Its pretty impressive that there is so much information from you guys on these little West Texas cities.

The Hampton Inn in Odessa, TX is a very new property and is the nicest Hampton Inn I have been to so far. Good breakfast, 2 bottles of water per night, lap desk, comp. high speed, modern decor and Cookies are at the front desk for part of the day.

Really very nice and also close to a few chain restaurants.

Ain't that the truth...you are literally 100 yards from the front door of ELP. When it comes to an airport property, the ELP Hilton is right up there with many others in terms of convenience. ^

I am staying at the final unvisited West Texas property this evening: the Hampton Inn Fort Stockton. It's the closest property to Balmorrhea State Park, where I am finally visiting San Soloman Springs this afternoon. :D

If anyone has questions on West Texas Hilton properties, feel free to PM me and I'll help you out.

Hilton ELP
 

I've stayed at this hotel twice albeit at least four years ago. It's no resort, but it was clean.

While the "lounge" is an open area near the elevator (vs. a restricted access room), it is generous in the evening and morning. I remember enchiladas con arroz in the evening --- you could make a full meal of it. And the breakfast was hot with scrambled eggs, etc. It can be crowded (I suspect a few that don't qualify learn about it).

It's a little hard to find off I-10, but worth it if the rate is good.

El Paso/Roswell/Lubbock properties?
 

I searched and found nothing on the Roswell HI, and little on Lubbock or El Paso (especially recently for El Paso.)

I have a business trip coming up to Roswell NM, and due to my desire to make it more of a MR on Delta and to see the area, I'll have three nights to spend in that part of the country. I'll fly into either El Paso or Lubbock (spending nights #1 and #3) and spend the night in between in Roswell. I believe the drive to Roswell will be better from El Paso, but the reviews of the HH properties are putting me off. The Lubbock ES sounds grand, but it will be fewer MQM and not as scenic a view (correct me if I'm wrong in that regard).

Also, there's only a HI in Roswell, should I choose that or go Marriott?

I'm a woman traveling alone, if it makes a difference. I travel alone a good bit, but safety always has to be a concern. Your thoughts? TIA.

Hey there. As one who has stayed in all three cities extensively over the past year (the length of my sentence in El Paso :D ), I would definitely recommend starting in ELP. It has 3 HH properties, although I would only stay at the HI (definitely NOT the ES :td: or the Hilton :td: :td: ). The drive to Roswell is very nice...you can either go immediately West through the Guadalupe Mountains (and an especially dramatic drive within 1/2 mile of Guadalupe Peak), then past Carlsbad Cavern :-: , through Carlsbad, Artesia, then to Roswell.

The best route would be to drive North through Alamogordo (a HI there, but best to avoid it), up to the high country and Ruidoso. If you get a chance, stay at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Hotel-Casino...one of the best non-Vegas hotels around! :-: I stayed there last night and had a great time....plenty of things to do other than gaming. Try to make the drive up Sierra Blanca to Ski Apache. (Even when there's no snow, it is a nice, if a bit harrowing drive. Great hiking up there too). From Ruidoso, it's only about 1 hour to Roswell. In fact, I would fly to ELP, stay in Ruidoso, then go on to Roswell. However, one can make the drive ELP-ROW in about 4 hours. ROW has a nice commercial airline graveyard, which is worth an hour or so....after you visit the "authentic" UFO museums. :p The HI Roswell is the standard new HI version....very nice property, great pool w/ hot sub and sauna, I almost always get the UG to a mini-suite, and the have a good Mexican food restaurant next door called Tia Juanas. Farley's down the street by NM Military Institute is a bit more fun, but about a 10 minute drive.

DL doesn't serve LBB directly, I believe that you would need to fly codeshare CO from IAH, but you could fly DL metal directly into ELP from SLC and/or ATL.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your trip!

Hi KatJ,

I'm from New Mexico and I don't think that there's any properties that I can recommend for you down there... New Mexico isn't the best place for Hilton (except for the new Embassy Suites in ABQ) and I've never stayed at the HI in Roswell.

Here's my 2 cents.

1. Forget about Lubbock. Blech. Really.
2. Consider either El Paso (ELP) or Albuquerque (ABQ). Both are good gateways into NM. ABQ might be a bit tight because of the upcoming balloon fiesta that starts this Friday. Hotels in ABQ are also probably already booked up too. I'd check though, because Roswell is not a bad drive from ABQ and the balloon fiesta and Santa Fe are fun to visit.
3. If you do fly into ELP, get out and head up to Las Cruces, into the Gila Wilderness, or up to Truth or Consequences. TorC is kind of a hole, but the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa (www.sierragrandelodge.com/) is wonderful.
4. If you are going to be in NM this Saturday, you can tour the Trinity Site (site of 1st A-bomb detonation) this Saturday (7 Oct).
http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/trinst.htm

Send me an email (dmteter at gmail dot com) if you would like more info.

Dave

Oh, Roswell is safe. El Paso/Albuquerque, YMMV.

Thanks for the help. My trip won't be for a few weeks, but this has been very insightful! ^