One Bedroom Suite Hilton Ageas Bowl, Southampton, UK

100   Recommended
Room 348 , Suite
November 16, 2017 by

 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton
 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended

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Room 348

Suite

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
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Room
Suite

Over the last two and a bit years since it opened (May 2015), I’ve stayed in this 171 bed hotel more than any other hotel. This review is of the suite, which in over 50 single night stays here, is the first time I have been upgraded to one! Usually upgrades for diamonds are to pitch view exec rooms with a balcony which are nice but I’ve always wondered what the suites were like and am pleased to finally be able to say!

A lovely hotel, recently built and purpose built for the cricket ground attached to the hotel. There is also a golf course here for those interested. A lovely spa (best I have seen in the Hilton UK scene) is also on site. General pictures of the hotel, normal rooms and spa are available on the hotel thread in the Hilton forum. This review focuses on the suite only.

In case it is not apparent, I’d recommend the hotel, just be aware of the traffic situation here on weekday rush hour as that can greatly affect the stay if you get caught in the long delays due to the traffic on the motorway nearby.

Check In

I had checked-in online using the app, selecting a king room (basic room I had booked) the day before the stay. I selected a room on the end of the hotel to ensure no connecting door and it was an odd numbered room (not pitch facing). At check-in, just after 23:00 (11 PM) the pleasant (and new to the hotel) chap quickly had my room key ready and just needed the usual signature and car registration information (no fee but you do need to tell them you have a car so they can make sure no one is using their car park as a free park and ride car park!). I was asked if I had stayed before…um, yes, thanks, (it does make me smile that the CRM system must have plenty of detailed info on me but most desk clerks can’t be bothered to look)…no mention of upgrade made and key simply handed over…I knew from staying here that the room was not the one I had selected but as it was late and I was quite tired, I simply said thanks and went to see where this room was and hope it didn’t have a connecting door…

Pleasantly surprised to see someone in the back office must have very kindly upgraded me after my check-in online to one of the one bedroom 56 m2 suites they have here. (I believe there are 4 on the 3rd floor, not sure about the other floors, IIRC the presidential suite is on the second floor)…So, my only guess is TDKWIA (they do know who I am! :) ) The car park was quite empty for a Sunday night so it wasn’t due to overbooking at least.

Floorplan (3rd floor):

Hilton Ageas Bowl | Floor plan detail.jp

Service

As mentioned, I arrived late and left quite early (7 AM) so my interaction was limited to the check-in/out staff and staff at breakfast. All staff were very friendly and helpful but maybe not as polished or comfortable in the role as one would hope, however, many were new to the hotel so maybe they are just learning the ropes. No issues in particular, just small attention to detail missing. Hopefully the regular, excellent staff is still here but simply away on holidays!

Dining

I only had breakfast, and very early (there at opening of 6:30 AM to avoid the traffic after 7 here) so generally everything is clean, ready and few customers so very good service and quality. There tends to be only 2 or 3 others in the restaurant at this rather early time but at least it is quiet, clean and quick. Nothing memorable but a decent Hilton breakfast with the usual hot and cold items. I had a full English breakfast. You can order hot items from the menu free of charge as well (as a Diamond, not sure about others).

Room

The room is similar to the layout and quality of a normal room which I’ve (and others) have posted pictures of on the regular thread)…the suite is basically two normal rooms with one being the living area (or lounge) and one for the bedroom and bathroom. The only points I’ll mention here that are different to a normal room are:

-a small interesting hatch to pass cables through to the balcony that is not in other rooms, see picture.

-a Nespresso machine, a nice touch, wish it were in every room, or at least exec rooms.

-a very nice large bathtub for 2 (or more depending on how up close and personal you wish to get) :)

-you can only enter and exit the suite from the living room side of the rooms, not from the bedroom. (neither the balcony glass or the bathroom have exit doors). The balcony is only accessible through the living room side of the suite, although the glass window is on the bedroom side so you can look out from that part of the room as well.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking. The usual safe, iron, ironing board, bathrobes and slippers as well as coffee/tea in the room. A guest WC is also in the living room side of the suite.

Living Area of the Suite:

View into Suite from Entrance:

Hilton Ageas Bowl | view into suite from

View back to Entrance:

Hilton Ageas Bowl | view back to entranc

 

Bedroom Area of the Suite:

 

Bathroom (off the bedroom area):

 

Overall

I like the hotel, I’m a regular (for me and my yearly hotel stay numbers) and the suite is nice, I believe it is about 2 to 3 times the price of the regular rooms to stay in one so I’d not value it at that kind of money but maybe for a special function such as the cricket, or for business it would be good value and allow some privacy between the bedroom and items there and the business use of the living area. The various seating options (sofa or table with chairs) is a nice touch and the balcony with a few more relaxed seats is also possible for more casual business or to enjoy afterwards. The space is lovely and the bathroom is indeed bigger and slightly nicer than a normal room with double sinks, a better space for showering (more closed off and less cold if out of the water spray) or for that lovely bathtub.

I’d recommend the hotel, the rooms and the facilities, whether the spa, the golf course (from a lay persons perspective) or the restaurant / bar. All are decent and of the ‘new’ Hilton style in the UK, which is refreshing as there are a lot of older Hiltons in the UK that don’t do the brand any favours, however, these do seem to be getting a rebrand to DoubleTrees so this may be changing.

Safe travels, any questions please do post and I’ll be back here soon to get the answers if I don’t know it already…

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