Detailed review by sue51
sue51
Swansea, United Kingdom97%
A late afternoon meeting in Croydon, followed by an early morning one in London meant I needed somewhere convenient to stay. I also needed windows that opened, on-site parking, air conditioning and high speed internet access. The Hilton Croydon promised to comply on all these factors.
ARRIVAL
Providing you can navigate Croydon's rather complex one-way system to get out of town, based on the A23 Croydon to Gatwick and Brighton road, access to the hotel is pretty easy. There is ample free parking on site in the form of above and below ground multi-storey. Even better and considerably rarer for most Hiltons, parking is free.
The first thing that struck me was that the hotel looks NOTHING like it did on the website, and is reminiscent of a 1970s/80s build mini tower block!
RECEPTION & CHECK IN
Reception is nice, leading one way to a number of check in desks, the other to a refreshments café, bar area and restaurant. Check in was swift requiring just the addition of my Gold Honours number to my reservation, completion of my car registration details, a swift swipe of the credit card for extras and I was despatched to my room with a free drinks voucher, a promise of extras for being a Gold HH member.
I was a little cross to discover not once was I offered an early morning call or a newspaper - the latter supposedly included free with your HH membership.
THE ROOM
The hotel is over three floors serviced by lifts and stairs. The first thing I noticed on my way up is that the corridor décor is decidedly tired, and the carpets threadbare. Not what I have come to expect from what is supposed to be one of the leading hotel chains with prices to match.
The room was an en-suite twin, with a TV, large table, two comfortable swivel chairs, fridge (no mini-bar), two telephones, colour TV, wardrobe and trouser press. Aside from the chairs, for all intensive purposes, I could have been at a much cheaper and equally comfortable Premier Travel Inn.
There was no iron and board in the room as advertised, and the bedding was all feather and duck-down, despite my request for foam because of my allergies. This bedding was changed swiftly, but not exactly with the same good grace and pleasantries of the Hilton Coventry. The air conditioning was totally ineffective; the window did open exposing a very noisy main road alongside.
The Internet connection, for which Hilton charge £15 for 24 hour worked for less than one hour of my stay, and neither the hotel, nor I-Bahn (the provider) could resolve the issue, resulting in me spending £10 on BT Open zone wireless in the hotel lobby.
There were two telephone handsets in the room. one of which didn't work.
The view from the window a dual carriageway, industrial estate and other hotels. It's proximity to the road made it very noisy when the windows were open.
FOOD
Through trying to sort out the internet, it was 930 before I ordered my room service (to be fair, their menu is much more varied and priced competitively to the Ramada Jarvis outlets I quite often use). It was then I also realised my HH extras had not arrived. In all, it took three attempts to get these, and they eventually arrived, with a humble apology with my evening meal at 1015pm. This consisted of a load of Hilton dark chocolate squares, 2 bottles of mineral water (1 still, 1 fizzy) and a small bottle of white wine.
The evening meal was chicken tikka massalla and rice, an extra portion of chips and a pint of Stella. Including the room tray charge of £3.50, it came to £20 which is just about acceptable. The curry was extremely tasty and more authentic than the one at the Hilton Coventry, it was also moderately warm and chilly in parts, but having not eaten all day it literally didn't touch the sides.
DRINKS
Being this close to London, and staying in a 4 hotel, I expected them to be expensive, but at £3 (4.50 Euros) for a pint of Stella, £2.30 (3.40 Euros) for a 330ml bottle of Coke, and £8.90 (13.30 Euros) for a double gin (2 x 35ml shots) and a bottle of tonic, I have paid more in less upmarket outlets in Manchester. The fair prices at the bar were offset by the poor service received, both in terms of speed and customer friendly.
BREAKFAST
The range of food was there, including bacon, veggie and meat sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, cold meats, cheeses, fruits, cereals, pastries and cereals, not to mention eggs cooked freshly any way you like by the resident chef. I found the food difficult to eat, not properly cooked, and nowhere near as hot as it should have been.
LEISURE FACILITIES
There is a leisure centre located on the 2nd floor; unfortunately, I didn't get chance to use it on this occasion.
On offer was a good sized swimming pool, gym, sauna, solarium, and beauty treatments, all but the beauty treatment are included in the accommodation fees for residents. Opening times are good ranging between 6 & 6.30 and 10 / 1030 each day.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
There is a range of conference rooms to cope with events of all sizes, and a business centre offering internet, secretarial services, fax transmission and BT Open Zone wireless connections.
SUITABILITY FOR ONWARD TRAVEL
If you are flying somewhere from Gatwick, with early morning transport to the airport (extra charge) operated by the hotel, then you could do a lot worse than staying here. Conversely, if you want to get to London, you are looking at a £8 to £10 taxi fare to the station, and then a £6.80 return fare into the city. Trains run every 4 to 5 minutes during the day, and are clean, air conditioned and refreshing, some also offering T-Mobile wireless internet. For access to London, I would say the Ramada Jarvis, Ealing Common is a much better bet.
MY VERDICT
I've stayed in better and worse. I was disappointed at the apparent lack of care and consideration considering the promises made to HH Gold members and many things seemed like a chore for the staff, not being delivered with good grace, and sadly lacking of what I have come to expect from this chain.
I completed the customer complaint form outlining all the issues, and within a day, got a letter back from the hotel manager within a day apologising and confirming they would review their procedures. Interestingly, only three times I have been driven to complete such forms, and two of these have been in Hiltons, the one in Milton Keynes and here in Croydon.
I also had to chase Hilton Honours for my points following my stay, they initially claimed I had never stayed there, despite having responded to my customer comments form.
I think it is safe to say, than unless absolutely necessary, I will not be rushing back here again to check whether they have improved.
Hilton Croydon6
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