pazza2000

So much the same as before! I had wondered if it has seen a refurbishment also, and if they were still offering beyond beer and wine in the evenings?

adobbing

From what I understood, it’s no longer in the windowless cupboard, it’s now in the main reception area.
So there will be some natural light and a view of sorts.
Although I’ve not been there yet.

kkong42

I saw some lounge guests ask for Talisker whisky, which the young lady obligingly brought from the bar - not sure if that is official policy as I've never seen a Talisker bottle in any Hilton lounge I've ever been in!

Lost Orchards Scottish cider bottles in the ice buckets (self service) along with some beers.

A choice of platters served to your table - meat, vegetarian or dessert.

I had the meat and it was good - ham, chorizo, pates, olives, biscuits, bread sticks, hummus.

adobbing

Any recent experiences here?
Possible midweek trip next month and comparing Hilton options.
Particularly interested in lounge, breakfast and parking.

BlueThroughCrimp

Last week, gold upgrade, no time to use the lounge, and didn't park.
I enjoyed the cooked breakfast. It was fresh, and not overly dried out, even though I staggered down to have it at 9:30.

lifetimeblue

Every time I’ve been recently, upgraded to a refurbed Exec room, big difference from the old rooms. Generally good service and nice breakfast.

Lounge was still only offered 6-8pm in one half of the restaurant, in my view not a proper lounge but fine I suppose if you only want the evening service. Drinks offering changes each time I’ve been with the weather, generally in the downward direction. No spirits last time I was there, pretty dodgy wine on offer and some cheap beer/cider. Platters on offer can also vary in quality.

Overall between this and the Doubletree I’d probably favour here assuming no massive difference in price. Cleaning and service at the Doubletree very ropey. The lounge on my last visit was… interesting. Plenty of drinks, and exactly zero food on offer outside of chorizo on a stick served by one by one to us. The lounge guy was hilarious but clearly didn’t care at all 😂

adobbing

Thanks both.

I’ve checked prices for the two dates I’m looking at 21/28th April, there must be an event on, as it’s £235 for 21st and £167 for 28th.

I’ll probably pass, as it’s me paying this time.
The DT and HGI are considerably less and with the free/ cheaper car parking…..

chrism20

Little Mix are on at the Hydro on the 28th so expect there to lots of youngsters in the area if you go to the HGI.

adobbing

Thanks, it’s starting to look very DT!

cjd

Had a recent 3 night stay here at the Hilton Glasgow. Booked standard King room and upgraded to Executive King room. Chose an 18th floor end room online the day before check in. Room very pleasant following the refurbishment and think these end rooms are slightly larger than the other rooms. Certainly very quiet and although hotel was very busy over the weekend with several late functions, we heard no noise. These Exec rooms seem to have gold bathroom fittings and light fittings compared to a previous stay on the 14th floor where all fittings were chrome. In the bathroom, the walk in shower was a good size with a hinged door so no flooding of floor. Operation of shower was by push button and there were soap and shampoo dispensers on the wall, although they were slightly high. Air conn worked well in the room. Exec lounge, as previously discussed, served drinks and canapes from 6 to 8pm. Drinks included spirits, wine, beer and cider, but no sparkling. On our last evening, instead of the canapes, we ordered from the restaurant and had dinner in the lounge. Exec guests could also take breakfast in the Exec Lounge instead of the adjacent breakfast room. At check out, not sure why, but we were not charged for car parking even though car was registered. Underground car park has 2 levels and space is usually available on the lower level, unless there are several functions, when we just managed to find a space on our return at 6.30pm! A good stay and think this hotel has actually improved with all the refurbishment. Was informed that they still have work to do improving the reception area and ground floor.

hugolover

Is the space next to the restaurant really the executive lounge? I thought it’d just a stop-gap.

cjd

Not sure if it's permanent, but it's been located there since we were there last September. Hope it doesn't move back to the depressing windowless room where it used to be located. Quite a pleasant location where it's currently situated.

hugolover

I've stayed a few times since the refurbished rooms so I can give a few comments.

I agree the refurbished rooms are wonderful, I love the shower and bath arrangement and I think the bathroom looks great, in general. Its a disgrace Hilton allow their hotels to end up as dumps in the first place. They need a massive shake up regarding owner relations and their contracting skills. (They need better lawyers!) The hotel was built to a high standard and doesn't suffer from noise issues given the small number of rooms per floor and proper fitting fire doors. This is vs the DT Glasgow Central which was built to a poor standard, huge gaps underneath the door and generally a bit shoddy.

During the night, a crashing sound coming from the bathroom woke me, I thought something terrible had happened. I went to the bathroom to find the shower gel and shampoo had fallen off the wall. They're fixed to the wall with only glue at the Hilton. Interestingly, I understand the maintenance at the DT foresaw this issue and had them screwed to the wall instead of the recommended glueing.

Both hotels are using Zero% from Gilchrist and Soames (Sysco fake brand) which is a new brand standard being rolled out, replacing Crabtree and Evelyn. https://hoteliers.gilchristsoames.co...nt-collection/

I found the breakfast and lounge extremely disappointing.

There is still no lounge, a happy hour from 6-8 is not a lounge. A lounge is more about free bev, which many guests aren't even interested in. Its a place to visit during the day, to work from, especially as guest rooms get smaller and less work friendly, to have a cup of tea or coffee. This hotel does not have a lounge. Nothing is provided outside 6-8PM. The offer during those hours is very poor, a smidgen of meat, veggie or dessert, I left most of it. One small (side portion) of chips cost £5. Cheap pate, loads of bread sticks. It's the bare minimum. They really need a proper lounge and to cater it properly.

I'd like the Hilton management to visit the DT and to keep it quiet from the DT management, incase they should get an idea to cut the service . Remember, Hilton is managed, DT is franchised.

It was obvious how much was missing from the breakfast buffet as so much had been replaced by bottles of water and carefully spaced yoghurts to take up the space. There wasn't even smoked fish of any kind, during my stay, and when asked, I was told it wasn't provided anymore. Not even mackerel for Concorde Room lounge lovers. Yoghurts "handmade" in pots were just prepared from the same big dish of natural yogurt and compote on the buffet. Just to take up more space.

This just comes down to poor management. They had a good excuse for years about the rooms, but F&B is entirely under their control.

I noticed that like their buffet tactics, they pan their TripAdvisor out with countless afternoon tea reviews (which shows occupancy).

Just as a comparison, the DT hard product is well reported here and its obviously not as good as the newly refurbished Hilton. I will only mention the breakfast and lounge.

The lounge is operational since a few months. Soft drinks and coffee during the day with many biscuits, crisps, and various other snacks. There was easily 10 different types of snacks. During the day its obviously empty and you can hang out there in relative peace. At the time of my stay, there was still no evening self-service food buffet, but the canapés provided far exceeded the quality and creativity of the Hilton. For example, a small salmon Cesar, stuffed ravioli, a Haggis bon bon with sauce and a dark chocolate dessert. Another night was couscous, brisket, chicken stick and a crumble. Wine, two white, one red, and four beers (two of which were non-alcoholic) were available as well as spirits served by the staff. Staff were excellent and those who wanted more were provided with more. I was informed the spirits were moved to waiter service to prevent theft, not to limit consumption.

The lounge also caters breakfast in the morning. At the restaurant breakfast, you can order smoked salmon, eggs Benedict, etc. There was clearly more on the buffet and the hotel had not padded out space with bottles of water or silly yoghurts. It was pre-Covid as far as I could see.

The bar in DT has more of a pleasant vibe, it was busier, cheaper, and doesn't feel as stuffy as the Hilton bar.

I'm a bit torn to pick between the two hotels. On the one hand, the Hilton has superb rooms, but its really let down by F&B and the lounge. Moreover, its a taxi job to get into town every time, whereas the DT you can walk to places with ease. The deluxe rooms at the DT have a bath and shower, and they're spacious too.

Should management choose to invest in the lounge and breakfast the Hilton would have an advantage, but the DT can still pull its weight because of its location and also very decent F&B plus lounge.

redpalmetto

Staying here now. Nicely refurbished although not many rooms have baths apparently. Nice new exec lounge BUT the drinks and nibbles from 5 to 7 are now done via waiter service, only beers and wine laid out. Very slow to get food due to need to order.

adobbing

Is the lounge back in the ground floor cupboard, where it was since they moved down from the top floor?