The worst Hilton I have seen... (Hilton Bracknell)

Member Name: zOOm

Product:	Hilton Bracknell
Date:	21/08/01 (431 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: it has a bed

Disadvantages: too many to list here

I stayed at the Hilton Bracknell for 4 nights while attending some technical training in Wokingham.

I have to admit that I only booked the Hilton because it was the Hilton. Well, was I in for a shock!


General
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The Hilton Bracknell is probably one of the worst hotels I have stayed in. The building itself is very old and stuffy. I went into my room on the second floor and found a stuffy room which was smaller than what I usually expect from Hilton and there was NO air conditioning!

The room had a work desk, 2 arm chairs that looked like they were left over from 1872, a king size bed (pretty good), a TV that was basically 20cm above the floor. So if I was to lie down on the bed, I could not watch the TV properly! There were the 5 UK channels and 4 other channels 1 being Eurosport, the other Bloomberg in German (like any good that is to me) and the other 2 just normal German TV channels! Brilliant – NOT!

There is tea & coffee making facilities and a wardrobe with no doors!!! An iron and an ironing board are stored in that wardrobe as well.

The wallpaper seems like it is left over from the 60’s or the 70’s – it is in good shape, but it is a dirty shade of yellow.

There were sockets to connect my laptop into, but for some reason these didn’t work, so I unplugged the telephone and plugged the cable into my laptop, then it worked.

At night and I am amazed at how hot the room can be even though I have the window open and it’s raining outside! I also hear this humming type of noise, which is actually so prominent that I can hear it even though the TV is on (just thinking about it is giving me a headache).


Bathroom
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Walk into the bathroom and found it reasonable size. The wash basin had the cold and hot water taps separated (I am sorry, I know it’s some kind of UK tradition but I absolutely HATE that! Why not c
atch up with technology currently implemented in the third world and get warm water? :-)).

Anyway, turn the tap on and I get this very loud whistling sound… So, I go down to the reception and report the whistling. The man behind the counter looks at me with a look in his face that says “don’t all taps whistle?” and actually says, “yes sir, that is normal, it’s the pressure of the water”. It’s not just the pressure of the water you *&^%^*, but it is also the fact that the tap needs replacing!

You’ll find the usual amenities, soap, shampoo, shower gel, but don’t expect anything extra. There is a bath with a shower head. The hairdryer was actually in the room and not in the bathroom.


Food
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I didn’t have breakfast at the hotel, only had dinner. The dinner was OK. The restaurant is large (should fit 150 without any problems) and the food tasted OK. A buffet dinner and a glass of house wine cost me about £25, which wasn’t too bad I guess.

There is a bar located within the lobby and it was rather full every night. I can’t tell you about their service or prices though because I did not have a drink there.


Other
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The LivingWell health club seemed reasonably new (I think it was recently renovated) and the pool looked very inviting (it was a good size pool). There is also a jacuzzi. However, the gym was small and didn’t have much equipment.

There is a lift, but I recommend you don’t use it. It is very small and very slow and does not feel safe. I only used it once and used the stairs every time after that.

The hotel does have its own parking place.

The hotel is about 10 minutes drive away from most of the major corporations there. They also have an agreement with a private hire company, so, every time you ask for a taxi they call you one of these and the private hire
company charges you almost double of what a normal taxi would charge you. :-)

They say LegoLand and Coral Reef is nearby, I can’t say because I was only there for the training and didn’t bother going anywhere.

Overall
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The service was friendly but the place is no good. They also charge premium rates as if they are a 4 star hotel! My booking cost £120 per night and that was with a one night penalty should I decide to cancel the booking. Avoid if you can!

Summary: