anaggie

Anyone stayed at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque? Is it clean/nice? Or is it old and run down?

mecabq

No, it's new (probably three years old now). Probably, after the Hyatt Regency, the second nicest full-service hotel in the city.

Do a search -- I and others have commented on it.

craydot

Have spent a lot of time here on business. ES is the only choice. The other Hilton Corp. products are so-so, with the Albuquerque Hilton being the worst of the lot... a total dump. The Hyatt recently preformed some upgrades, but still remains in an early 90's time warp. The Starwood products are all below normal standard. ES is clean, well run, with solid chain standard ES-type rooms. PS - I do not work in the hotel business. But I do stay in hotels two hundred nights + per year. I mostly stay in Hilton, Conrad, Westin, Sheraton, Hyatt, Taj, LHW, SLH, Ritz and Doubletree. So, this hotel fits within that acceptable spectrum.

anaggie

perfect...works with me...i will book it then.

Buffaloflyer

The Sheraton in ABQ is rather nice except for the fact it is undergoing renovations. The Exec floor and club room were nice and will be even better when the renvations are over with...until then it is not so nice right now...

silverthief2

FWIW I've found the Albuquerque Hilton to be just fine the two times I've stayed there. The ES is obviously much newer and I'll likely book that next time I visit, but the Hilton is far from a dump.

craydot

Newer does not always mean better, but read most of the reviews from TripAdvisor regarding the Albuquerque Hilton. I had the same experience. Checked in, and checked out ten minutes later. To be somewhat objective, and as I expect a certain satisfaction level from brand name hotels, I base my opinions on chain standard. That is, does the property meet the brand standard for the chain? For me, this Hilton failed to meet "brand standard" on several levels. Therefore, it is a "dump" in the Hilton realm. Front desk was also clueless as to my Hilton HHonors' Diamond membership perks. Hotel could pass as a Comfort Inn or similar.

CObigtimefan

No, it is not the second nicest, it is THE nicest in ABQ. It's a great hotel. My only complaint, though sometimes can be amusing, is the paper thin walls. I've had conversations with coworkers while speaking in a normal voice. No kidding. You'll hear everything.

jrpaguia

Stayed here on a point-stretcher...

After making my reservations last month, I called the concierge (a very friendly professional named Cody) who arranged a balloon ride for my gf and I. He also volunteered to pre-stock our suite with complimentary chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.

The property is within 10 minutes of the airport and very easy to get to. Great facilities that still felt new. Check-in was efficient with good VIP recognition.

Chocolate and champagne were delivered to us within minutes of our arrival, along with a personal note from the concierge. Excellent.

The room seemed bigger and a bit more upscale than the typical ES. Only one minor glitch...there was only one robe. Called down to the front desk to have another sent up...just to make sure they don't bill me for one after checkout. Smiling housekeeper arrives with second robe within 5 minutes.

Too busy to check the internet connection.

Next morning, at around 6am, we waited at the lobby for the balloon ride operator to pick us up. Coffee shop and restaurant was still closed. I asked the front desk clerk if there was anyplace nearby where we could get some coffee. She said, "Sorry, no there isn't. But wait here for a couple of minutes." With that, she walks across the atrium to the kitchen and comes back with fresh brewed coffee for me and my girlfriend. A real lifesaver!

Very nice stay and quite an impressive level of service. ^^

cblaisd

Fantastic stay.

Government rate.

Free internet for Diamonds (and multiple computers on the room were fine).

Very good restaurant and not overpriced.

Excellent staff and clearly the ownership takes pride in maintaining the place. Much better than average breakfast buffet (except for the melon-fest which was the only fresh fruit).

Diamond turndown gift every night (popcorn, candy bar, water, etc.)

theblakefish

Wasn't ABQ the first place that Conrad Hilton opened his first Hilton-branded hotel? Since the chain has such ties to this area, I would think that they would do better with this area. I'm not sure if its still there, bt there was a great DT downtown in ABQ...renovated about 4 years ago and quite the place.

jfe

This was a first for me, and I am old, although not as old as some of the other members that I've met in FT

My family and I decided to take a roadie from ELP to ABQ, see the aquarium, zoo, etc.

I decided to book a room at the Embassy Suites Albuquerque, since it has an indoor pool, the other Hilton properties had outdoor pools, and it wasn't warm enough to be able to use them

Well, it looks like everyone else had the same thought, as the place was packed

We went Friday to jump in the pool, around 4 p.m. and the pool was packed, when I saw this sign



There was a very nice old lady telling me that there was a waiting list to get to the pool, which I've never heard of before.

We put our names down, and over an hour passed, at that point, told the kids to get dressed, and let's go for dinner. The phone rings. Too late, as were almost out the door.

I know that they were following rules, as it is unsafe to have the pool overcrowded, I've received numerous elbows before.

My main gripe is that their pool is way too small for a hotel that big. According to the breakfast staff, they had over 770 guests, and they have seen as many as 1,100.

So, word of warning, if you are going to stay there during a holiday, don't expect to have easy access to the pool

Other than that, and the fact that the bathrooms looked a little old, the hotel is fine.

I told them about this, and I got a whopping 1,000 HHonors points

dormy

I have seen this a few times, usually at weekends when families are mainly travelling. The capacities are set by the local authorities and hotels must abide by those regulations. Its unfortunate but in no means the fault of the hotel, it seems that they manage the problem quite well.

pinniped

Wonder if the property was originally built as something other than an ES. I've stayed in Embassies that had way-too-small breakfast areas...so small, in relation to the size of the property, that was very clear the hotel was not designed expecting breakfast-included rates to be the norm.

I'm struggling to fit this explanation onto the indoor pool, but *shrug* I don't have anything better. The hotel may be properly abiding by the law, but it *is* their fault that you can't use the pool, and 1,000 points is a pretty crappy response.

On some stays, I don't care at all about pools. On other stays, it's a driving factor in my choice of hotel. A nonfunctioning or inaccessible pool would, in those cases, have me looking for another hotel. Did the front desk alert you to the pool capacity issues at check-in? I mean, the presence of the sign and "doorman" makes it sound like they were aware of the problem and probably deal with it often.

jfe

No, they didn't

But at check-in would have been too late anyways.

Sometimes when you do a reservation, there is a red warning about the condition of the hotel, such as pool being closed for remodeling.

They should add something like that

The staff was friendly enough, breakfast was crowded one day, but that was expected.

My intention is to give people a heads up, as I've never seen that before.