What a difference to La Quinta. In all honesty bec...

What a difference to La Quinta. In all honesty because I was not looking for amenities just a place to lay my head, it didn't matter a great deal between the two. But the contrast in the look, feel and atmosphere - all other things being equal I would choose the Hilton. Why I wouldn't - 1) I get the impression that Hilton is a lot more interested in making money; so every area of the hotel is a cost centre. This leads to customers being nickel and dimed to exhaustion. For instance at La Quinta parking was free you were provided with a voucher to park at what seem to be a municipal parking lot. At the Hilton you paid to park - I am not sure but it seems an independent company owned the parking lots right next to the Hilton? And there is a fee sharing arrangement? 2) the people - La Quinta being a much smaller hotel could only accommodate a limited # of people. At the Hilton it seemed the floodgates opened - so many damn people and I like people but this was a mess. Think of ants at a picnic. A 15 minute wait for an elevator because they were so crowded? And this might all be related to an influx because of Caribana so not the normal or usual state of affairs. I take my hat off to the front desk workers because in their position I would start throwing stuff at the guests and asking them to leave me the alone. And what a diverse bunch - of all ages and nationalities - a little UN this Hilton. I'd rather La Quinta. Seriously . But it also made me think that whatever systems they have in place to have things running somewhat smoothly - what would be the tipping point and where would it snap to have this convert to utter bedlam. Should be something to observe as a disinterested observer. Have to give them credit because at La Quinta the machine to issue the key card for our rooms malfunctioned - and in half-an-hour it went from one person on line - me (to six or seven) very disgruntled guests with some voicing their displeasure. Those tipping points! Have to be mindful of them especially the apparently insignificant ones. Unfortunately at times that is how your success is measured. So good job managing all those people to the Hilton front and back office employees. My interactions with them was always a positive.