DoubleTree by Hilton Livermore

I've stayed here a couple of times and plan to return. The hotel is very clean and the rooms are quiet. On my last visit, the heat wouldn't turn on, but the front desk moved me to another room right away. The next night my key stopped working. I went to ask for a replacement, but that one failed too. A maintenance person stopped me on the way back, asked about the lock, figured out it needed a new battery, and fixed it immediately. I didn't even have to go back to the desk. That's five-star service.

The cookies were the only good part for me. I'm a Gold member with Hilton Honors, but when I got to check in there were no staff around and I waited about ten minutes. None of the staff were friendly, though the housekeepers did say hi to guests. Sorry to say it, but there were also lots of bugs in my bathroom.

The restaurant food and service were outstanding, thanks to a great cook. The rest of the experience was bad enough that I'd tell people to avoid the hotel. In our first room, the safe was broken, the digital key wouldn't open the door, and the sink was backed up. Maintenance couldn't resolve any of the three issues, so we switched rooms. There was no hot water in the second room, and we were told the whole hotel was affected. Its toilet was backed up too. I also left my glasses in Room #1 when we moved. I wasn't allowed back in until after the cleaning crew had been through, and then the glasses were gone. The unhelpful cleaning staff and missing glasses were the final straw. Do NOT stay here.

The hotel itself is fine, but the customer service left me unimpressed. After checkout, my security deposit wasn't refunded and the final bill still showed both charges. I spotted that while reviewing business expenses three weeks later and called. The first woman was nice and said they'd switched software; she put the deposit through for release. Weeks passed and it still hadn't arrived. The email address on the website bounced because the inbox was full, so I called again. The second woman was unhelpful and acted as if I was lying. She asked for the name of the first person, which I couldn't remember four weeks later, then gave me an employee's email and said he'd follow up. He never did. The next day she said they couldn't see the charge. I sent screenshots from my Chase account showing the two charges along with my receipt. In the end I disputed it with Chase, and they sorted it out with a refund in under 24 hours. I've told coworkers to stay elsewhere on future Livermore trips. At check-in, the first room I was assigned was dirty, with towels on the floor and a crate of White Claw. I honestly thought I might be walking in on someone. You're supposed to get cookies at Doubletrees, right? I had to ask for them, and the concierge made me feel weird about it.