DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Albuquerque

I’m often at Hilton hotels and I’m a Honors Member, but this stay had a lot of problems. Most of the front desk seemed to have an attitude. I had to go downstairs for cups and toilet paper, and my room was serviced only once in four days. There weren’t enough towels for two, so I called twice, and I had to call twice about the non-feather pillows too, once in the morning and once again in the afternoon. On the first night, I couldn’t get the heat going even though I followed the thermostat instructions. I found out the next day the heater hadn’t even been turned on. What really bothered me was asking for an hour-later checkout the day before leaving and being told no late checkouts were being offered. Honors members are supposed to get that if available. The next day I learned they were selling late checkouts for $50, so if they had some to sell, they could have offered one to Honors members the day before.

I was impressed by one thing: the heater worked really well. Everything else was rough. The walls were so thin that I woke several times during the night, and when I finally gave up on sleeping and started a shower, there were no towels. I had to go downstairs to get some, and they were stained yellow. My room looked unswept, the counters seemed untouched, there was hair on the shower shelf and wall, and marks on the walls and door frame made me order Clorox wipes from Walmart. The hotel’s cleanliness, or lack of it, was alarming. There were stains on the walls, cracks in the bathroom, a lifting rug, and a broken elevator. I’ve stayed at other Doubletree locations and none were this rundown.

The room itself was fine, the shower really needs a better head, and the pillows were very soft. The front desk person was kind, but the man at the bar gave us looks and told us to sit in the restaurant after we’d sat at the bar and ordered food. We went along with it. The food took about an hour, and both the cheeseburger and enchiladas arrived cold and didn’t taste good. We also got our drinks in plastic cups. I thought this was a DoubleTree, not a motel.

We held our company Christmas party here and the ballroom was exactly what we wanted, with even more than expected. Ethan Estes managed our event, and the experience was 10/10. The whole team was welcoming and attentive, including the room accommodations and bar service. The chef’s special pasta with his homemade sauce was delicious, and all the small details were taken care of. We hope to come back. Thanks to everyone for the hospitality.