I stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hull during my recent trip to the city, the hotel is generally…read moregood value, and often falls below £100, making it a useful hotel to book if you need a couple of stays to secure status for another year, or if you fancy a trip away and don't fancy booking a cheaper Hampton.
The hotel opened in 2017, and it still feels fairly new and modern, it is in a good location within the city centre, and it's just a couple of minutes down the street from the Hull Paragon (railway and bus station) and St Stephen's (shopping centre).
I stayed at the hotel for one night, towards the end of September 2023. I was pleased to be upgraded to a Junior Suite as a Diamond Hilton Honors member, I did find the room to be a little small for a suite, but still, I was reasonably impressed with my room for a one-night stay, but may not have wanted to be there much longer.
Being a corner room, the bed and TV were at an angle, and the sofa, while comfortable, was at the end of the bed, which would make it impossible to sit on the sofa and watch the TV.
I was unimpressed with the amenities within the room, especially for a suite. The room didn't have a fridge, and there were also no slippers (strangely robes were provided).
The bathroom was also a huge negative, it was difficult to use the shower without the glass panel swinging into me as it wouldn't stay still. They also seem to use wall-mounted toiletries now which seems to be the new norm, which I just think is cheap and tacky. Bring back the little bottles and bar soap! Combined with the water pressure, it easily became one of the worst hotel showers I've used.
The hotel did seem reasonably quiet considering I stayed on a Friday night, with average hotel noise. My bed was comfortable however the pillows were on their last legs, and even after requesting extra ones, they weren't comfortable at all.
Do be careful when visiting the hotel due to the early times for their fire alarm and check-out, the weekly fire alarm test is at 1130 on a Friday morning, and check-out is at 11 a.m, I do feel the fire alarm test especially should be in the afternoon.
The staff seemed to be what made the hotel, they were very friendly and helpful and assisted me at numerous points during my stay. I was offered my bottled water and the Doubletree cookie when checking in at the front desk. They also offered me the use of a communal fridge at Reception for my milk, again not a great solution as having to go downstairs whenever I wanted it was annoying when I wanted to relax.
I was also given a free drink voucher to use in the hotel bar, which entitled me to a glass of beer, wine, or a single house spirit and mixer (which I opted for), the bar didn't have much atmosphere, but I did visit in the afternoon before getting my train. The bar tender used a full coca cola as a mixer, meaning I couldn't even taste the Jack Daniels, it just tasted like sweet cola and nothing else.
I ordered breakfast to the room, which came at a £5 tray charge, the hanger to order Breakfast in the room only goes up until 10 - 1030 am, even though they serve Breakfast until 11 am on a weekend, even after calling Reception they were unsure if they'd be able to do breakfast in the room at that time, eventually I had to stress it was my only option and he promised he would personally take care of it when the catering team arrived in the morning - he did deliver on this promise, but I felt uncertain.
The portion size at breakfast was poor, I was given two small glasses of orange juice, the food quality was fine, and the hash browns were particularly good. although I didn't like the bacon.
3* - Overall, some positives for sure about this hotel, all in all for the price it's reasonable, but a lot of flaws, and I wouldn't return, at least until they put fridges in the rooms. All in all, if you're unlucky enough to be in the city of Hull (I wasn't a fan of the city as a tourist), this is probably one of the better places to stay out of a limited bad bunch.
