Spark by Hilton Salt Lake City Central

The hotel looked nice, and the room was halfway decent, but we won’t stay here again. Within two minutes of arriving, I saw a homeless person going through the trash outside the main doors. It took about ten minutes for the shower water to get hot. We’d paid for a room with a fridge and microwave but only got a fridge. The hot tub was closed, with no mention of that when booking, and breakfast was entirely cold rather than a full hot breakfast.

I travel with my dogs, so it was a plus that dogs are accepted. The beds were great and the room itself was fine, but I expected more from a Spark hotel by Hilton. There wasn’t an ice bucket in my room, and the continental breakfast was just bagels, toast, and cereal. That doesn’t count as breakfast to me.

Our family stayed one night, and it’ll be the only time we stay here. The photos aren’t current. They show the hotel as a Hampton Inn, and the breakfast pictured with waffle makers and warmers for eggs and sausage isn’t what you get now. At best, expect cereal, toast, and bagels. The pool is closed, despite the listing saying it’s closed from March 30th 2025 to December 31st 2025, and the night staff member argued with us about whether it was open. They were right that the water takes 5-6 minutes to get warm, but for a shower we had to run it at least 10 minutes. That’s a terrible waste of water in a state that regularly deals with drought. The experience felt deceptive. A refund might help, but I doubt that would happen, and it wouldn’t fix the water issue anyway.

The hotel was being renovated from Hampton Inn to Spark, and the hallways were shocking. I can’t believe it stayed open during this work. We were asked to pay twice for a room we had already prepaid, as other guests apparently had been too. The front desk offered no apology. Amenities were limited, with only a cold breakfast, and the elevator was out of order about half the time. There was also noise. If a hotel can’t provide the expected service and needs a full renovation, it should close temporarily, notify guests, and refund them instead of staying open to make money.