Hilton Garden Inn Jacksonville

The staff were all courteous and friendly, but for what we paid, I’d choose somewhere else. The room was more worn and stained than I expected. There was a white mystery stain between the couch cushions, a tear in the couch, and stains even on the picture on the wall. I booked after comparing a lot of area hotels because the on-site restaurant was Lime & Lemon. After checking in, we went downstairs and learned it had closed two days before we arrived. The replacement bar and grill had very few choices and a poorly stocked bar. We kept hearing, “We’re transitioning,” which was disappointing.

The new restaurant is great, and the food there is very good. The rooms, though, still smell moldy, with visible mold around the AC units and on the shades. The shades don’t work, or are held up with paper clips. I’ve seen this in multiple rooms over multiple stays, and it hasn’t improved. I’ll stay somewhere else in the future.

The room itself was quiet, clean, comfortable, and dark, and I slept well. But I’m highly allergic to down feathers, so I always put a note on my hotel reservations asking for a feather-free room. I found down pillows on the bed last night and called the front desk to ask for foam or down-alternative ones. I’ve made this request at probably hundreds of hotels and have always been accommodated. The agent said they only had one kind of pillow, the same as the ones in my room. When I explained how serious my allergy is, she told me there was a Target nearby that might still be open and I could buy pillows there. I know the request may be unusual, but I know other people with this allergy too, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a hotel to have some down-alternative pillows available. A front desk worker also shouldn’t tell a guest to go buy their own.

The room was clean, the AC was quiet, and the internet was fast. Loisa and David also reached out to check that we’d settled in, which I appreciated. Still, they need to update the TVs. We needed a smart TV to connect Netflix so the little kids wouldn’t be stuck watching cable commercials. I also found out breakfast costs extra per person. My daughter wanted to eat there, but I told her we’d have to pay more, so we went out for brunch instead. Next time I’ll ask about these things ahead of time before staying at Hilton inn Jacksonville NC with my family.