Spark by Hilton Wilmington Carolina Beach Rd

The staff were wonderful and deserve credit, but they don't have much to work with here. The gym is very limited, with half the machines broken and no ventilation, and the bathroom is so tiny you can't shower with the door open. The rooms smell weird, and the A/C has no remote. There was a cockroach in my bathroom. I understand that can happen, but I've stayed in countless other hotels in the South and never encountered one before, so take that how you will. I know it's a budget place, but this is below bare bones. It was cheap, just not nearly inexpensive enough.

The bathroom setup felt odd, with the sink in the room, and there wasn't a shelf in the shower for soap or anything. The hotel was clean, though, and it had been some other chain before. My wife and I wanted a quick getaway to Wilmington, so I used my Hilton app and saw a Spark listed at $80, the cheapest hotel in the area. After I went through the booking steps, it asked me to log in, and then the price jumped to $99. I canceled and called Hilton reservations. They said demand had changed the rate. Bullcrap. I went back to the app and booked with points, and that price hadn't changed. The hotel was practically empty when we arrived, which makes sense in January with light snow in the forecast in a tourist town. There are plenty of hotels, so I don't have to put up with Hilton's bait and switch crap.

The cold breakfast was put together pretty well, and there's also a little shop where you can get beer, wine, sandwiches or entrees to heat up, and toiletries. Rooms are clean, comfortable, and adequate. It would be nice to have a microwave in the room, though there's one in the lobby to use. I love this hotel, and everyone is very friendly.

Vanessa was awesome and helped us with everything we needed, and the room was spacious. We enjoyed the heated pool and had no other problems during our stay. The one disappointment came when we checked out. Our wedding cake was too big for the room fridge, so we asked for it to be stored somewhere else. When we got it back, someone had gotten into it, half the top layer was missing, and our flowers and topper were gone. We called, and the staff apologized a lot, but we never heard anything further. That was the only hiccup in an otherwise great experience.