Graduate by Hilton Madison

For campus business, the Graduate Madison is a great spot. It has plenty of local charm, and even though it’s smaller than some other Graduates, the service is top-notch. Amelia helped us check in and knew exactly what came with our Hilton Gold status. She was welcoming and really helpful. We always stay with Hilton, and this visit made us feel even better about that choice. Highly recommend!

For $400 a night plus a $15 “resort fee,” I expected a lot more. The room was tiny, with no closet or anywhere else to put clothes. It looked like a poorly renovated closet, and the bathroom had no counter. The website was misleading about the amenities. The HVAC sounded like a train, the walls were paper thin, and I could hear every word from next door. When I complained, the front desk offered earplugs. The sheets were torn, too. There was nothing to buy except crappy cocktails. Awful experience, a total rip-off. Hotel rooms in NYC are bigger.

Location is the only good thing about this hotel. The rooms are extremely small, barely enough for a queen bed. My first room had poor ventilation, and when I asked to move, they put me in a similar room just a few doors down, facing the same alley and still poorly ventilated. That room also had an unacceptable hygiene issue: a real spider and its web were hanging over the bed. Since I’d already asked to change rooms and was disappointed, I handled it myself instead of going back to the front desk. I removed the spider and cleaned up its web. I later told Hilton guest experience. They shrugged it off with a generic apology and 15,000 HH points, saying that was appropriate compensation. The points are no use to me because I won’t stay at Hilton hotels going forward. Management should look at its customer experience team and improve things. I naturally wouldn’t recommend this Madison hotel to anyone.

I had a great stay at The Graduate Hotel in Madison Wisconsin. Big thanks to Shawna the General Manager for going above and beyond to help resolve an issue. Already looking forward to my next visit!