Hilton Garden Inn: A Good Wooster Choice
Written: Oct 22 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Quiet area, amenities like pool, hot tub, business center, print from room
Cons: Service was not good, limited hours and food of restaurant, light on smoke detector
The Bottom Line: When staying in Wooster, Ohio consider staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. 3 of 5 stars. Comfortable stay; poor service.
|
|
|
| keithpruitt's Full Review: Hilton Garden Inn Wooster |
Recent travels took me to the quaint city of Wooster, Ohio just 30 miles west of Canton. The city is a small college town approximately 1 ½ hours from Columbus and due south of Cleveland about a 45 minute drive. My task involved doing an all day workshop at the Wooster High School, and the local representative had suggested that the four consultants spend the evening in the lovely Hilton Garden Inn. Located on Highway 83 south of the city center, the hotel is literally located at the edge of the city about 3 miles or so from the Wooster College.
The Hilton Garden Inn is built based on the typical pattern and includes a business center, restaurant, workout area, pool and hot tub. The front lobby has the typical small dining area (with limited hours) serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is a combination of cook to order and continental buffet. Most of the HGIs in which I have previously stayed have had a very crowded, full buffet breakfast bar with the ability to get omelets and eggs cooked to order. The hot portion of this bar was covered and well guarded by a not too friendly cook who served up your food with a nice frown on his face. But oh well, the food was mighty good. And the waitress was mighty nice even if a bit on the pushy side.
The rooms were well presented with the heavenly beds, although this mattress seemed a bit harder than most. It still was especially comfortable after the excursions of the day. There was a chair and ottoman, desk, television/entertainment center complete with several channels and PPV. The bed was flanked by the typical bedside tables.
One of the amenities that came in handy was the ability to print to the business center from your own laptop in your room. The explanation of how the system worked were in the desk drawer and very easy to follow. I followed those directions and printed two documents which I retrieved downstairs. It cost me nothing for the service.
The bathroom came with the general amenities-shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, towels, tissues, etc. The closet had the glass mirror that folds open. There were more than enough hangers for the one suit of clothes I brought for the Friday workshop. It was getting rather chilly outside (around 34 that evening) so I needed to put the heat on. However, the thermostat was difficult to set to allow for a comfortable sleeping condition. I am extremely hot natured, so in order to sleep at night, I generally will run the fan of the unit. But this meant the room becoming cold. So I just pulled the covers around me and hunkered down for a comfortable night sleep.
Because the hotel was out in the country, there didn't seem to be a great deal of traffic in the hotel meaning no slamming doors or noisy neighbors. Also, the lack of city lights meant it was pretty dark outside. This is important to me because I hate having light coming through the window at night. I have to have perfect darkness, which leads me to one of the only negative about my stay. Whoever designed the rooms decided that the ideal placement for the smoke detector was right above the bed on the ceiling with not one but two blinking LCD lights. And it blinked, and blinked, and...well you get the idea.
The stay in Wooster was quick and memorable for many reasons (the greatest of which was that I left my computer and had to go back the next week to retrieve it), and the workshop at the High School went according to plan. (By the way, the high school there is one of the best facilities I have ever presented in and was being used by the general public as well.) When in the Wooster area, I definitely would suggest staying at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Cost
Hilton Garden Inns are generally a step up from Hampton in the Hilton chain. This is primarily because of the restaurant and fire places in the lobby. The rooms are actually very similar with my money on Hampton Inn for comfort for the price. This particular HGI ran about $138/night including tax. This was a rate through Egencia. Given the amenities the price is not out of line. There were a few other chain hotels in town like Super 8 and Days Inn, but the Hilton Garden Inn was by far the best place for business travelers. However, one does have to include the price of breakfast (around $11 or more) when thinking of a stay. So, in reality the stay cost about $150/night. Were I paying the tab without reimbursement, I would have been down the road at Super 8.
Overall Impression
Several things about the hotel are a plus: finely presented rooms, wet area, and business center, inclusion of a restaurant, quiet atmosphere, and easy accessibility. However, there were some things about the stay that troubled me looking back on the stay. First, the clerk at check in did not ask if I were a Hilton Honor member. Usually Egencia has this on my reservations when I book. I happened to think it was not on the receipt I signed, thus, I asked her about it. Indeed, it was not on my account. So had I not thought of it, I would have not received my points for the stay. Being a Diamond VIP level member, I should have expected at least a bottle of water in my room. Nada.
Second, I really was annoyed by the cook's attitude Friday morning. I was trying to wake up. I had to get my own coffee (that usually isn't the case at HGI), and I didn't need his attitude. One of my compatriots also noticed his attitude, and her eggs were not cooked to order or otherwise. She barely touched them. The waitress never asked us if things were ok, or anything. Just came and removed our plates. In fact, I'm not sure why I left her a tip. She didn't do a thing for me except bring me the eggs when cooked and take the plate when I finished.
Their food selections were very sparse. This isn't usually true of HGI. For the price there certainly should have been more service and more food from which to select. It made me wonder what the other meals were like. Since they were open for only limited hours, I didn't find out.
And that light on the smoke detector. Doesn't it just make you want to scream?
So I will give this Hilton Garden Inn 3 out of 5 stars. I certainly would recommend it over the other two hotels if price is no problem for you. Otherwise, go with the one where they leave the lights on.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.