Arriving after travelling for 45 hours from a on-site client visit in Russia, I was not thrilled that there was no doorman, and so I had to push the door open myself (with two very heavy bags), after which someone came over to help - but a little late!
Being OCD about cleanliness, I have requested that when I stay at the Hilton they provide me with extra hand and bath towels, as well as additional soap, as I never re-use anything due to my illness. Naturally this is rather embarrasing to explain constantly to hotels, so I've requested the Hilton chain to put information into my profile about this, and at every other hotel I have stayed there have been the requested extra amenities on arrival. Unfortunately, this stay began with a disappointing conversation with the duty manager, explaining what I wanted (and also being asked a little aggressively about why I wanted them!) After about 3/4 of an hour, these items were eventually provided.
Unfortunately, that brings me to the next issue, which was that the additional tea which I have also asked to Hilton to place in my profile wasn't there (I'm an avid tea drinker, nothing more) and so again a request needed to be made to the front desk, and eventually this was sent up. Ditto with my profile request to only receive complimentary sparkling, not still, water - but it did eventually arrive.
The room was of a perfectly decent size, and the bathroom very nice, with a great shower cubicle as well. The bath siding, however, was disgusting, with cracks, paint chippings, chipped wood veneer, panelling actually coming away, and water taps which moved so much when one attempted to turn them on that one was never quite sure if one had just rattled the fitting or actually managed to turn on the desired tap! I didn't experience this room for long, however as, unfortunately, when I flushed the toilet, the handle came off in my hand! After calling down to the duty manager (for the n-th time in an hour) he arrived at my room, to explain that there was no available maintenance support that evening to fix the toilet, so they would need to move me to another room. And so I was moved to an upgraded room (which also had rather shabby bath panelling, this time with what looked like water marks down the middle of it!) This room was a really excellent size, although the bathroom seemed smaller. The bed was very comfortable, but unfortunately the in-room internet and movie services, however, seemed to be broken because they kept re-setting every 30 minutes or so, and I and my partner (who was only visiting for a couple of hours, as we were both passing through London on business) finally became tired to turning back to the TV channels and internet, and just gave up.
Throughout all of this, NOT ONCE did anyone apologise for the poor service, the lack of pre-requested amenities (towels, soap, tea) or the inconvenience of moving rooms because they don't bother to keep full-time maintenance staff on hand. There were none of the usual Hilton feedback forms, otherwise I would've told them exactly what I thought of them - they boast of being one of the best kept secrets in London, but after enduring a one night stay, I can only imagine that the best kept secret is actually how disappointing a place it is to stay, and how disinterested and unapologetic their staff are towards guests. As an example, I requested late check-out at 1430, to enable me to attend church, and then lunch with a friend, but was told that 1400 was the latest complimentary check-out time. (Wouldn't you think that after messing you around and having to move your room in the middle of the night because of defective bathroom fittings, they could manage to arrange a 30 minute extension to their customary policy??)
I normally stay at Hiltons with my partner, who is a diamond member of their reward program, so that might be the reason for the far superior customer service which we've received at the London Waldorf, Green Park and Park Lane Hiltons, but quite frankly I wouldn't treat a one-time guest at an Holiday Inn this way myself. (Fortunately, the company I run arranges high end travel for American surgeons and dentists attending group events and conferences in the UK, so I shall have the last laugh over their poor customer care and lack of attention to detail, as I shall ensure all our London accomodation requirements are met outside of this property!)
Really a disappointing stay, and I would actually go so far as to say that it was unpleasant, as there was not one single really positive element to this stay. I've certainly never had such an awful experience at an hotel branded by the Hilton corporation anywhere in the world, and for anyone needing to stay in the area I would suggest the Millenium or even the Holiday Inn about the Bentley Hotel. It certainly confirmed for me, albeit much more intensely than I've ever experienced before, why I choose Starwood and Mandarin over Hilton whenever I'm traveling by myself.