Brandon Seal Review of HILTON GARDEN INN PINNACLE PEA...
Currently staying here (July 4th weekend). Am disa...
Currently staying here (July 4th weekend). Am disabled, also do in-home tech/IT work, so this review will be centered around these things.
Check in was very easy. Booked from the Hilton app. I chose an 'accessible' room as I'm staying alone and didn't want any issues. Room is surprisingly spacious. 1x king, 32" TV - though unfortunately it seems to be 720 ('high definition') and not 1080 ('full' or 'true' HD). Bummer, but I brought my own tech, so it's no big deal. It's also got a nice amount of inputs (2x hdmi, which I'd imagine most people are wondering about) and one USB port. So you can run an Amazon Fire Stick or Chromecast straight from the TV. You will, however, need your own network to do this, be it a hotspot or a full blown router, unless you want the people in the rooms around you to be able to screw with your device. The TV doesn't remember any settings, so when it powers on it's at the defaults. This is good - no surprise HBO late-night movies for kids to find from the previous user - and bad - if you need to adjust *anything*, you will have to do it every time you turn on the TV. Be warned, this gets old fast.
The A/C unit is mounted under the window, the controls on its built-in panel are overridden by the thermostat on the wall (so don't bother poking at the unit itself). You can control the temperature and the modes (heat/cool) but not the fan speed (even though it obviously has two speeds on the built-in panel...) so it's either quiet or full-blast. I usually sleep in a room with multiple computers running near or always 24/7, so I have three fans running even during the night. This means that this unit doesn't really bother me, but I'm not the typical guy. Not a make-or-break thing, but something to be aware of.
Now, their network. This, for me, *is* a make-or-break feature, and it's crippled - at least in my room. The ethernet line (the switch it's connected to, actually, though I can't be totally sure without access to their equipment - but it could be further down the line, too) has failed. This means that, in my room, I could not hook up my mini-desktop via ethernet (wired, hard-line, for all those wondering what I'm on about) and have it share the connection with my other devices via wifi (remember, this is needed for my Chromecast, among other things). I spent literally hours testing, retesting, making sure it wasn't something with my equipment - I even asked the front desk, who called their (outsourced) support people, and I got a level 1 'down at the bottom of your screen...' tech that just asked questions about things I'd done initially, hours ago. I ended up frustrated (this is not the first time a hotel network has been terrible - 4 hotels in recent memory: from spotty wifi, to promises of speeds that were never even approached, to each device needing a separate daily subscription ($$$) for higher speeds (!?)...) and went to a local brick-and-mortar store to purchase a travel router; it connects to their wifi, then rebroadcasts the network under your own settings. But I shouldn't need to do any of this - I'm paying for comfort and convenience. Unfortunately, I'm only getting comfort.
Everything else not mentioned is positive - a bit above what I'm used to, actually.
If the network issue was fixed/non-issue, I'd give another star. It's just - these things should be working, and when they aren't, people on the premises should know how to resolve it. Not just scripted phone support, but actual people who know what to do *right then and there* for when the situation calls for it. That's a big step from 'we can call support' to 'can you buzz Steve and ask him to go by room...'. It's like asking for help and getting directions on the phone about how to change a tire, when you are way past that and have determined that isn't going to cut it, and you need real help. Above and beyond should be the norm, and it's not.
Oh, and one last thing: there is no whole milk available for purchase in the 'pantry'. Soda and booze to rival full-stocked convenience stores - but whole milk? What's that?
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