Hilton Garden Inn Milan

The hotel is clean and close to the metro, so getting around Milan is easy. But I was very disappointed by the service. There was no bottled water, towels, or toothbrush in my room when I arrived. I called reception for these basic items, but they refused to provide anything except towels, saying it was because I had booked through Booking.com. I don't expect that from a Hilton-branded hotel. Guests should be treated equally regardless of how they book. I expected much better hospitality and customer care.

Hilton Garden Inn works if all you need is somewhere close to the airport. For access to good restaurants or the city, though, it's a terrible choice. The in-house restaurant is pricey and the food is mediocre. The TV is big, but you can't connect it to Netflix or use other smart TV features. The closest restaurant outside the hotel is a 20-30 minute walk. That's manageable in summer, but I wouldn't want to do it in winter. Shuttle times are fixed, and when I called for one from the mall, a 30-40 minute walk away, they often didn't answer.

The one bright spot was breakfast. Giuseppe and Fraulir did a wonderful job, and I left them a note to recognize their service. The shuttle experience was awful. We had booked airport pickup, then I called twice to ask about an earlier ride back and got no answer at the desk. At 19:35, the reservation line said they were fully booked and only our original times were available. I checked again at 21:06, and was told nothing had opened up. The receptionist promised the shuttle would arrive at 22:35. We were outside ten minutes early, but at 22:35 I was told it would be a few minutes late. At 22:55, I heard it would be just a couple more minutes. It finally showed up at 23:08. The next evening, I called at 21:13 to confirm we were waiting. The receptionist again assured us it would be on time. I reminded her that the night before we'd been left outside in the cold for about 45 minutes. She apologized and said there had been “a crew member issue.” My wife was left out in the cold at the airport because staff gave us false arrival times. If they'd told us from the start that there was a problem and when the vehicle might arrive, we could have waited somewhere warm and safe. Being misled while our comfort and safety were at stake is unacceptable. It was the worst hotel experience of my life.

The main problem was the shift change. I had already told the receptionist I might be late, agreed to pay for extra hours if needed, and clearly said my dog would stay in the room. She said that was fine. I thought leaving him there to rest while I spent 1.5 hours at the supermarket was better than leaving him alone in the car. When I came back, another receptionist started yelling at me, called me a liar, and said I hadn't asked. She apparently hadn't been told what I'd arranged with her colleague. Finding my dog removed from the room without my consent was extremely distressing and completely unacceptable. I hope the team communicates better during handovers and respects guests' instructions. From a hospitality point of view, if the manager doesn't know what happened or what guests and employees need, it's hard to blame a receptionist for lacking good leadership. The staff were extremely rude, and this was the worst experience of my life. Thank you.