Spark by Hilton South East Corpus Christi

I actually like the Spark near my house, which made this stay an even bigger letdown. The WiFi setup was frustratingly complicated, and several things in the room were broken or badly maintained. The shower filled with water because it wouldn’t drain properly. The manager offered another room, but its tub looked dirty too. In my room, there was hair on both the bed and in the shower. The manager came to address it, but had no cleaning supplies, so the shower stayed dirty. The cleaning company needs to be replaced. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone, not even my enemy.

We’d had a lovely day working and enjoying the area, then came back hoping to rest. Instead, our first stay here turned into an upsetting encounter with the front desk clerk, Levon. I’d accidentally booked a day early. We were willing to pay for a new room, and asked him to arrange one, but he raised his voice, waved his hand in my face, and tried to snatch my phone. We weren’t arguing over money. I understand he may have thought we were in the wrong, but that didn’t give him the right to yell and then blame us for escalating things. It felt like he was trying to prove his masculinity. The manager did eventually offer us a room, but we didn’t feel comfortable staying after seeing how Levon handled his anger. He’s a 6 foot old man who argued with two young women and said we were lying about him, though everything was on camera.

The lobby seemed fine and the front desk staff were friendly, but the hallway carpet was stained, dirty, and smelled awful. Our room smelled different from the hall, though it had its own problems: holes in the walls, mildew and stains in the shower, and a dirty ice bucket. The sheets were dirty, very thin, and barely reached the edge of the bed. The bed was hard and the pillows flat, leaving my shoulders, neck, and hips sore as a side sleeper. I asked around 9AM for clean bedding and help with the smell. When we got back about 5PM, someone had sprayed air freshener, but the room hadn’t been cleaned. The bed wasn’t made, and there were no clean sheets, towels, or linens. We found a maid cart and got supplies so we could make the bed ourselves. With a non-refundable booking on a holiday weekend, we had nowhere else to go. I’d thought any Hilton was a safe bet. I was wrong.

I was at a conference and my company paid for the room. I expected something nicer, since the Georgetown location was updated and really nice. This one needs so much attention that I won’t come back. They said breakfast was free, but the choices were extremely limited and cold. My roommate had to use towels to freshen up after a shower. I had to work out how to use the shower knob before I could get the water running. I told the front desk, but they didn’t seem concerned. That’s fine, because I’m not concerned about staying here next month when I return to Corpus Christi.