President Abraham Lincoln Springfield - DoubleTree by Hilton

The regular staff were wonderful to deal with. Higher management, though, were unhelpful, hard to work with, and unqualified. They didn't seem professional or capable of running a hotel effectively or efficiently.

The room bathrooms look dated, with issues like cracked floors. The biggest headache was parking. The garage is attached to the hotel and convention center, and listed for both hotel and convention parking, but the hotel doesn't own it. The scan pass from the hotel never worked for us or anyone else at our conference. Each time, people had to sit and buzz for an attendant. Hotel staff weren't helpful and kept saying they didn't own the garage, so couldn't assist. We understood that. We were only asking them to pass the problem along to the parking company, since they clearly have some arrangement for guests. If guests aren't getting the service that's been agreed on, you'd think the hotel would want to send that feedback along. Apparently not, lol.

The building is beautiful, the rooms are clean and well-appointed, and the staff are friendly. Lisa at the front desk was especially understanding and handled the parking trouble really well, which wasn't a fair problem to leave for her to solve. The hotel itself has no parking, so you have to find street parking or pay to use the city garage. Its ticket machine was broken, there's no valet, and the garage meters warn about theft. The huge hotel across the street is boarded up, which makes the area feel blighted and unsafe. The garage belongs to the BoS, and Hilton and the BoS should have a contract or some arrangement to give hotel guests a place to park during their stay. That matters especially at night and on weekends, when the hotel is open but the BoS isn't.

The cookies alone might bring me back, but Guin & Kyle are the real reason. They were warm, helpful, and went out of their way to look after everything we needed. I’ll stay here again next time I’m in town.