Tru By Hilton Goodyear Phoenix West, AZ

I travel for work every other week, and the service here stood out. I was a few minutes late for breakfast, but Josephine waited until I got my food before cleaning up. Marco greeted me twice in the lobby, introduced himself, and asked if I needed anything. I'll be back again.

We needed a room for the day during a family emergency, and this place worked out really well. It's easy to reach and close to the hospital we were visiting. The hotel smelled fresh and clean, and our double queen room was clean throughout, with comfortable beds and pillows. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were provided in the shower, and the water pressure was great for my thick hair. There were plenty of outlets, and we couldn't hear other guests leaving their rooms or watching TV. Restaurants in the parking lot gave us options. We also saw a first floor gym, a giant Connect Four game, a pool table, spacious lobby seating for breakfast, and TVs showing different things. Breakfast was good, coffee and tea were available 24/7, and there was a computer and printer to use. I highly recommend it.

I've stayed at hotels from all the major brands more than 100 nights a year, and this Hilton location was a frustrating visit. At first, parking by the entrance to unload and check in seemed straightforward. Then I was told cars left there overnight would be towed, and I had to move mine to the side or back. I've never run into that before. There are Diamond spaces up front, though, and the parking pass they give you has no room number or license plate on it, so you could use one of those for free front row parking. The shower leaked badly and soaked the floor. The bathroom floor was already swollen from water damage, and the door scraped a path into it. They'd shaved the door so it would close. I worry this could lead to mold or may already have affected the structure. I've seen that sort of leak in 70 year old motels in Kentucky, but not in a new Hilton branded hotel. For a similar price there's a pretty nice Marriott next door, or a decent Super 8 one exit away with bigger rooms for half the cost. I know Tru aims at younger guests, but Hilton should leave the finishes, colors, and silly shampoo names to the kids and have experienced designers and contractors build the place with some quality in mind. This Tru feels like a teenager got a Lego set and their first bottle of whiskey for Christmas and tried to finish both in one sitting. It's anything but "Joy Inducing".

I came to see my sister graduate from GCU, and since she lives in Goodyear this turned out to be a really good find. The beds, pillows, and blankets were cozy, and the room smelled nice. It was small and quaint, but fine, with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the bathroom. Our body wash ran out, but staff refilled it quickly. Rooms are cleaned every other day, and the staff were nice. Breakfast had lots of choices: eggs, hard boiled eggs, toast, bagels, English muffins, cereal, yogurt and toppings, pancakes, juice, hot tea, and coffee. The layout was open, and there was a pool table and games. The gym was decent, though I had to remind staff each morning to put out towels and sanitizer wipes. The yoga mats probably need replacing. There's a gas station and places to eat in the same plaza. They also had a water bottle refill station and bathrooms in the lobby. Great find overall.