Grand Rapids, Michigan: DoubleTree by Hilton GRR airport

February and March 2019, Weekend, 1-night each, Executive king guestroom #322 and #156

I have stayed at this property several times from 2010 to the present. I stayed when it was a Hilton, when it was transitioning from Hilton to DoubleTree, and since it has fully changed to DoubleTree. You can find previous posts with additional hotel and room details (guestrooms 114, 300, 356, and 411) by using the search bar above, or by clicking on labels at the end of this post.

Copy of text conversation with hotel during February stay

Diamond perks and check-in

In February, I chose king guestroom 449 on the app when I checked in before arrival. We had had a guestroom in this hotel with a fridge before; however, none of the information on the app told me if the rooms had a fridge, so I asked about this when I received a welcome text before my arrival. At that time, I was told I had been upgraded to an executive king guestroom. When I arrived at the hotel, my room had not been assigned, and the agent said something about two queen beds. My February reservation was for one king bed, so I did not understand why she said that. I mentioned the text from the day before, which said I had been assigned an executive king room. The agent looked like she did not know anything about the text conversation. She assigned me guestroom 322. I received two beverage coupons, and would have also received breakfast, except we were leaving early in the morning.

In March, my reservation had been made for two queen beds. When I tried to check-in online, the only choices showing were that room type, even though I tried to apply other filters. I did not complete check-in, and I did not receive a welcome text before my arrival. The agent assigned me a king executive guestroom on the bottom floor when I arrived. We arrived after the 4:00 PM check-in time, and she told me that was the only king executive room currently available. In addition to the beverage coupons, I was able to enjoy breakfast the morning after my March stay.

Guestroom 322 at DoubleTree GRR

King executive guestrooms 322 and 156

Both of these guestrooms have a small fridge, and there were two bottles of water in the room. Neither of these rooms had been assigned to me before my arrival, so water must be standard in the executive guestrooms. The window from both rooms faces the courtyard.

View from guestroom 156 at DoubleTree

Guestroom 322 is on the south side of the north wing in about the center of the hall. Guestroom 156 is on the east side of the west wing.

Guestroom 156

Both guestrooms have a connecting room door; guestroom 156 has two connecting doors. The  furnishings were pretty much the same, although there was no coffee table in room 156. The entrance area where the closet and beverage area are located is very dim. There was a safe in the  closet across from the beverage area in both guestroooms.

Beverage area located outside bathroom at DoubleTree GRR

Guestroom 156 is in a high traffic area, so the sleep quality was not very good. There did not appear to be many guests in the hotel the night of this stay, yet we heard guests overhead, TVs in guestrooms, loud voices in the hall, doors slamming, and kids running down the hall until after 11:00 PM.

Food & Beverage

The beverage coupons I received could be used for a beverage in the gift shop or in the lounge. The value of the coupon in the lounge will cover a domestic beer or a glass of Canyon Road wine. If you want a mixed drink or craft beer, you can pay the difference--$2 to $4 more per beverage.

Braised pork benedict at Ganders in GRR DoubleTree

My breakfast experience in March was fabulous. The food was good, and the service was excellent. I arrived a few minutes before the restaurant opened at 6:30 AM. I expected to sit down near the entrance and wait, since it looked like everything was still being set up. The host told me to go ahead and take a seat inside the restaurant. After she asked if I am a gold or diamond member, she brought a menu, offered a beverage, and set a HiltonHonors card at the end of my table. She said the breakfast buffet was almost ready, and that I could have that for no charge with a beverage, or I could order something off the menu up to $14. When the server greeted me, I decided to try the braised pork benedict, which is served on jalapeño cornbread. Other than the pork being a bit fatty, this dish was delicious. This experience was quite different from the aloof assistance we have always received in the evening lounge.

Airport shuttle and misc.

On the morning of our first stay, the 6:00 AM airport shuttle to the airport was overbooked, and some guests who had signed up the night before had to wait for a second run. Part of the reason this happened is that two guests who had not signed up boarded the shuttle bus. We arrived in the lobby about 10 minutes before departure, and the guests who were not signed up had somehow gotten the driver to already load their luggage. When the male guest in this group returned to the lobby from the front desk, he told the female that they may have to wait until the 6:30 AM run. Then, I heard them discussing the fact that their luggage was already on the bus. When the driver started loading the rest of the luggage, he ran out of room because of the extra bags that had already been loaded. The last two [signed up] guests did not get to board, because there was no room for their luggage. There were still two seats left though, so the guests who had NOT even signed up got to board the bus with their luggage! I do not think the two guests that got left behind fully realized what had happened.  

We got lucky when we returned and called for pick up at the airport. I was told the driver was already on his way because other guests had called before me. He arrived about two minutes later. During this trip, we learned that the guests waiting before us had called for the shuttle driver while they were still on their plane, before arriving at their gate! The driver had actually driven to the airport then, and then waited 30 minutes. He received a call while waiting, and had to leave to pick up a guest who had made a prior reservation for pickup (the driver had forgotten about this guest while he was waiting at the airport). I was amazed to learn the driver would have waited that long at the airport. He then returned to the airport after he dropped off the scheduled rider.

I took the airport shuttle with two other guests after my second stay at 7:30 AM. This trip was quick and uneventful.

Guestroom diagram

This hotel does not have any executive guestrooms listed on the hotel website, so I assume when staff refers to executive rooms, they mean the guestrooms described as 2 queens or 1 king with mini-fridge. I was surprised to observe peeling paint and wallpaper in the guestrooms, along with stains in the bathrooms, when this hotel had been remodeled in 2015. The beds and bedding are comfortable, and if you get a room in a quiet area of the hotel, you should be able to get a good night's sleep. I received a survey from the hotel about my March stay, which I filled out. I received a sincere letter from hotel staff after that, which improved my perception of this hotel. I also learned the hotel is getting another remodel, and the guestrooms will be redesigned so that all include a small fridge and microwave.

Let me know if you have any questions!