PHL airport / Hilton Philadelphia Airport

June 2012, Weekday, 1-night, Queen deluxe #940

Status perks

I received a coupon good for an appetizer or beverage in the lounge/restaurant. The agent was going to give me a free breakfast coupon until I said that I needed to leave before the restaurant opened at 6:00 AM. She then provided the evening coupon instead. This location does not have an executive floor. 

I observed several HHonors key packets already prepared when I arrived; however, my key packet was not ready. I thought that was poor customer service since the employee had requested my name when I called from the airport for the shuttle over 1/2 hour before I checked in. I had actually called twice, and my name was requested both times.

Guestroom

I made my reservation at this hotel the morning of my arrival, and there were no king rooms available other than suites. I reserved the deluxe queen room instead of just the queen room because it was only a couple dollars more. I am not sure what the difference is between the two room types. The description online is the same for both rooms, and this guestroom looked like a basic non-deluxe guestroom to me. The only extra item that I could see were two bottles of water with the ice bucket.

The guestroom contained a desk and chair, soft chair, one queen bed, flatscreen TV on an armoire, two night stands with lamps, and one floor lamp. An individual serving coffee maker was set up in the corner of the bedroom area. There were hardly any electrical outlets in the guestroom. Other than the plug at the desk, there was only one spot with the coffee maker under that counter, and another in the bathroom. The lamps were all plugged in behind the bed (including the floor lamp behind the chair), and I was not about to pull the bed out to see if there was a spare outlet there. I had not packed my long Apple laptop cord, so the only place I could work while also charging my laptop was at the desk, and that seat became uncomfortable after a while.

The bathroom was small, and the door had to be shut to enter the tub/shower. The tile floor was nice, although it was kind of yucky around the area where the tile met the carpet. I included a photo to show this; however, the grime does not show up well.

This guestroom is located close to the elevator, and I easily heard the elevator bell dinging while seated at the desk in the guestroom. Fortunately, I did not hear it after I went to bed that evening. My Hilton profile is for a room away from the elevator; I am not sure if the fact that I had made my reservation the day of my arrival had anything to do with that request not being honored. I did not think guestrooms were assigned before 6:00 AM, although I do not actually know how this works.

The sunset view was great from this guestroom.

view from room 940

Food & Beverage
The bartender let me redeem my free beverage coupon for ANY beverage of my choice; not just bar brands--nice! I had a wrap to eat, which unfortunately, I do not remember all the details about because I did not complete this entire review right away. I do recall that the portion size was generous, and that it was delicious. I think it was some kind of turkey avocado wrap. I know there were not many menu items of this type, so if this is something you are interested in, you would be able to easily find it on the menu. It came with a side of fries, and when I asked if I could get something no-fried, like cole slaw, the bartender was happy to oblige.

Business center
The business center is located next to the lounge, and across from the Starbucks cafe counter. I had no trouble finding an open computer and printing a couple documents. I was surprised that the paper my items printed on was high quality photo paper! Seems like an expensive item to be providing to guests, to me.

Shuttle service and misc.
This hotel is close to the airport, and the shuttle claims to run every 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes is pretty close, although if you are deciding which time to depart for the airport, I would suggest the earlier time. I waited 1/2 hour at the airport when I arrived (even though the employee had told me 10 - 15 minutes), and we departed for the airport five minutes late in the morning. The airport was chaos on the Thursday morning of my flight. After checking my bag, I had to search for the hidden priority lane, and then it took me 40 minutes to get through security. Passengers waited in the regular security line 1 1/2 - 2 hours, and many people missed their flights. I observed several people trying to get ahead of people in line, or trying to get the security officer to let them cut--no one had any success. I let three passengers go ahead of me, who had been able to finagle priority line entrance; however, their luck ended about five passengers ahead of me.

Even though my stay at this hotel was not excellent, I thought it was satisfactory for the price I paid. I had found an excellent AAA rate at the last minute, which was less than the Hampton Inn and the Holiday Inn Express. I do not think this hotel is as nice as most Hiltons I have stayed in, and I don't think a room is worth more than $150.