Hilton Austin {US-TX}
Jul 8, 2014, 8:58 am
Like previous posters to this thread, as a Diamond, only allowed breakfast in the Executive Lounge. If given the choice of EL food or Texas roadkill, I'd opt for the roadkill. Absolute cheapest quality items to be found. Coffee that was more water than coffee, bagels that were most likely Sysco supplied, etc. Asked if I could apply my breakfast benefit to use at the in-house coffee spot (they look and feel like a Starbucks and serve Starbucks, but they're not), was told no, EL only.
My upgrade was a recently renovated room on the 17th floor, no view to speak of. Bed was a bit too "squishy" for my taste, not too much noise. The property was almost sold out due to RTX (gaming/gamers) convention happening that weekend. Given the nature of the conference, the property was overrun with 20 somethings; swimming pool was a no-go with that many young people. Although it was fun to watch the pool-side antics with such a young crowd...oh to be 22 again.
Housekeeping was good, so no complaints there.
From my perspective, this property is a very "by the book" Hilton. When I checked my points for this stay online, I discovered that I only received points for the rate and no points for taxes, fees, etc. I almost always receive points for every $ charged at the property...not here though. Overall, I wasn't very "wowed" with this place, felt very sterile. If I ever return to Austin, I'll probably try out the W or the FS.
Nov 15, 2014, 7:10 pm
***Any updates on Austin Hilton lately? I booked a stay right after New Year's, figured I'd see what's up with the Lounge quality, if that's still meh or not. Saw a couple good reviews on Tripadvisor, but they'd been sent to get snacks at the bar while EL was being renovated.
TDM
Nov 5, 2015, 3:40 pm
Hilton Austin
500 E 4th St Austin, TX US 78701
Hilton Austin {US-TX} (0 Photo)
Hilton Austin
I'm here now. So far, nothing good to report. Diamond member. Given one bottle of water at check in. Shouldn't we get 2? Happy hour from 5-7pm only includes snacks, drinks cost $. No upgrade offered. I'm in a regular King which is what was booked.
Room wasn't ready at arrival (that's fine I arrived at 2pm). Front desk agent didn't remember me and kept going over same exact check in stuff he did one hour earlier. They texted when room was ready and when I came back I told the bell boy I was going to check in and gave him my bag receipt. He waited with the bags at the bell station and didn't bring them to me at the front desk. And for that he wants a tip?
Capital Metro bus from Airport let's you off on the corner for $1.75. Cheapest and easiest way to get here. So far, that's the best part of my trip. But it's early and I'm hopeful my stay gets better.
EDIT: It just keeps getting worse. I have my dnd on the door so I can take a nap... and... knock knock knock. Ignoring the sign and wanting entry. I ignore them. 15 minutes later... phone rings. Are you kidding me? The CS here is terrible. I hope some of the hard product makes up for it. We shall see.
EDIT2: Room is normal size, views of downtown. Bed is super comfy with pillow top and nice pillows. Small sitting chair and desk in room with outlets by desk and bedside (very nice). Decent size bathroom but missing a shaving mirror.
Lounge breakfast (only free option for Diamond) is poor. Scrambled eggs only hot option (no meats, no cheeses). A few breads and fruit. That's it. During the afternoon cookies, waters and soft drinks on offer. Newspapers as well.
CS continues to be poor. I went to the front desk to ask a question and rep didn't even look up from his computer when he said, can I help you. I waited 10 seconds and he finally looked up and said, oh hey, can I help you? Weirdest thing ever.
I also cannot get room cleaning before 3pm... which for me is annoying because I tend to do work in the late afternoon in the room. Cleaning lady didn't replenish anything during cleaning. Had to ask for water and call down for tissues.
Hotel is near all the other hotels but is 2 blocks on the wrong side of them (as you want to walk West for all the goings on). Still - all hotels are basically in the same area.
Overall I'd likely try the Westin next time. Nothing particular that stands out here - and the CS is very poor.
Last edited by TravelinSperry; Nov 7, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Nov 21, 2017, 8:33 am
Other than that, it's been a pleasant stay overall. I'll likely use this Hilton again in future Austin business trips.
Jan 13, 2018, 11:48 am
Mar 31, 2019, 5:37 pm
I stayed 1 night, a day before night cert expired. Point cost standard award was 60k, Cash cost $340.
I selected a room with e-checkin on 23rd, facing north. When I arrived room had been moved to 22nd facing south. Didn't find any rooms north facing except floor ~10..... I was moved to one on a corner -- not really a different room, but only 1 neighboring room. I asked about breakfast if there was an option in restaurant and if the one in lounge was <hampton inn or better, as I've seen variation at Hiltons, especially with lounges and would skip if it was Hampton Inn or worse. Was offered restaurant buffet vouchers for buffet, since the room was changed (I didn't demand or anything
, I was assuming it was still continental and asked and told it was full due to the room being changed on me).Room facing south: Can see a couple larger buildings only at night, highway, and river (river not really visible at night). And looking down you see mainly the roof on the lower portion of the hotel. Room was surprisingly loud to me for being so high up. Traffic/siren noises all night from outside...
Room was clean, not in disrepair or anything, AC was fully functional and quiet although it seemed to have a big variation between set-point and cutting on/off. Overall, no complaints really. Boring but nice hotel room. I maybe should have measured the bed though, seemed shorter than a Queen size bed in the 2x Queen room. There was a power transformer (for what, I couldn't tell) plugged in right to the bed though that was emitting a very high pitched sound that I unplugged.
Lounge: Closes at 10PM. I was too late for the "hors d'oeuvres" which ended at 7pm. They put some cookies out at 9PM. There was chex mix, m&ms, soda, and a coffee machine otherwise, plus an "honor bar"(?) that required staff to unlock (?).
I was curious and asked what the 5-7pm food was that day, it was "chicken spring rolls, vegetables, and hummus". I stopped by in morning just to see what the breakfast in lounge looked like. Cereals, yogurt, 1 cut fruit, apples/oranges/bananas, a scrambled/clumped egg dish in a hot tray, some breakfast sausage, OJ, and some pastries.
Restaurant: Continental on menu was $14, Buffet $22. Buffet was pretty good
. Included a couple hot dishes (Potato hash with a few small cubes of brisket that was good, and also a scrambled egg dish with potato chips), bacon/sausage, pastries (but included a donut-like fresh-made pastry and the croissants were also much better looking), several jams, several fruits, packaged yogurt, smoked gouda cheese, and a cook-to-order egg station. The omelette was very good, and some over medium eggs were also very good. Included most drinks, like coffee. I also had a nitro cold brew, but I think that was ~$6.50 on the menu, not supposed to be part of the buffet.Parking: Self park or valet. Under the building. Garage directly has $32 for 24hrs with no in/out for self park. Hotel is $32 per day of stay using keycard with in/out. On check in, they added the parking charge. After check-out, the garage actually had the exit station disabled so it would have not cost anything if I hadn't added it to the hotel card..... Around the city, most of the parking seems to be free on the weekend. I don't know if the garage is always free on the weekend except charged for hotel guests. If you go on a weekend, I would probably NOT add it to the room unless you need in/out to avoid having to pay $32 anyways when it's set to "free parking".
Last edited by B3nder; Mar 31, 2019 at 5:53 pm
Nov 17, 2019, 9:24 pm
Although I'm not sure what the views are like from the north-facing rooms, I have to think that the rooms that face west / northwest have the best views because they directly face all the downtown buildings.
Nov 17, 2019, 9:25 pm
Although I'm not sure what the views are like from the north-facing rooms, I have to think that the rooms that face west / northwest have the best views because they directly face all the downtown buildings.