MS02113

Public spaces are currently undergoing renovations ahead of the property's rebranding to Hotel Champlain, Curio Collection by Hilton.

Even after the 2020 guestroom renovations, the hotel still feels more Hilton than Curio to me, so the rebrand is somewhat, er, curious.

pauleeepaul

How do you compare Curio vs Hilton? Which is nicer, on what measures? For me Curio is undefined.

MS02113

Certainly Curio is loosely defined, as expected for a "soft" or "collection" brand. But in my experience, the properties often are architecturally significant, the guestrooms stylish and reflective of locale, and the restaurants likely to be patronized by locals rather than exclusively by hotel guests. By contrast, the typical U.S. Hilton is corporate bland inside and out, with a seviceable if overpriced restaurant that exists solely to meet brand standards. Hilton Burlington, with its 1970s-era glass mid-rise exterior and generic guestrooms, seems more closely aligned with the latter model. I imagine the fee structure is less costly for the Curio brand than for Hilton, however, which might explain the owner's motivation to switch.

arlflyer

The Curio brand is positioned as more upmarket and skewed towards higher-dollar (but not "traditional" luxury) leisure travelers. In this case it will align with the lake-industrial and wedding-industrial complexes that absolutely print money in that part of the country during the warmer months. The rebranding to "Hotel Champlain" obviously capitalizes on the location and should probably allow the property to position itself as a more premium destination ($$$$) event venue than a boring 'ol Hilton.

zkzkz

Did anyone complain to the Ambassador here about the resort"urban destination" charge on points stays? Was thinking of booking this for a one-night visit but maybe I will switch as a result.

rmontelbon

I've stayed many nights at this property over the last 3 years.

In NO WAY should that dump be rebranded as a Curio. It's as generic a Hilton as one could possibly imagine, and carries nothing of the "quirky" charm associated with the Curio branding.

Setting aside the precipitous decline of Burlington in general, as it's now a filthy, crime ridden town plagued by rampant public drug using aggressive homeless (needles are everywhere, Church street is half abandoned by business), do yourself a favor and go to Hotel Vermont which at least carries some degree of local character.

Better yet, as I advise everyone I know, go to Old Montreal, just 90 minutes north, where you can enjoy a near European capital food and lodging like experience, in a pristine, safe city rich in culture, for less than half the price of the northeast's own barren mini San Francisco.

PS: If one does stay at this property, be wary of the attached parking garage. It's been the site of numerous assaults, including shootings, in the last year.

pauleeepaul

Oof

zkzkz

Well we gave it a shot. It is indeed very generic. There is construction going on but it didn't really cause any problems except for the food service. The breakfast was a pretty pitiful effort. In general it seems like the kind of hotel where management's strategy is to do the least possible. There is a 4-7 beer and snacks thing which was actually pretty good but the staff member supposed to handle it wasn't there and there was someone from the kitchen covering who didn't really do anything. But the cheese and beer were actually really good.

They charge $16 for the parking but if you just pay the garage fees online yourself it's $8/day -- I wonder who set the higher rate and whether the difference goes to the hotel or the city... The reception said paying the garage "didn't include overnight" which seems like an outright lie as it's a daily rate and advertised as $8 per 24h and explicitly allowed to stay 7 days (or 14, I don't recall)

The pool and hot tub are ... ok... but the jets don't work in the hot tub and both seemed kind of dirty. The room was ok but pretty generic. They *did* give us a standard lake side view without asking (booked cheapest standard room) as Diamond. And included $15 vouchers but there wasn't really much to spend them on as I mentioned the breakfast was a pitiful effort. They easily covered as much of that breakfast as we could stomach.

The $28 urban destination charge wasn't charged. Not sure if that's because I didn't use the $10 voucher or if it's not charged at all on redemptions any more.

They refused a late checkout because someone "had already selected the room in the app". I guess I should have asked at check-in instead of the next morning.

I was surprised at the number of homeless for such a small town but it didn't feel unsafe. But the town definitely seemed like a shadow of what it was 30 years ago.