Despite the colourful hype meant to attract millennials, this hotel lacks the quality and service I've found at other Hilton hotels, and despite the relatively lower price, I wouldn't stay here again for the reasons below.
A. Cleanliness/COVID-19 safety:
1. There was no in-room coffee pot or kettle. There was a 24-hour coffee station in the lobby but the waste bin at this station is covered with a flat revolving lid, requiring guests to push it open to dispose of waste. This lid was smeared with cream/milk on the day I checked in, retained the same 'smear pattern' the next day, and was obviously not cleaned during this time.
2. The breakfast buffet didn't post any obviously visible signs requiring guest to hand sanitize before entry.
3. The buffet was self-serve, with guests milling about without physical distancing.
4. Hot and cold food items were available for guests to handle and serve themselves.
5. Although guests were directed to take back food to their rooms, there were no lids for cereal bowls, plates etc., requiring guests to transport food uncovered through the halls and elevators. There were no "to-go" containers available.
6. Unwrapped plastic cutlery was crammed vertically into containers. While the plastic knives were placed with handles up, both forks and spoons were placed with handles down, exposing the eating ends to cross-contamination by other guests.
7. Soap dispensers in the bathroom were very difficult to use, requiring the use of both hands to squeeze soap onto the bathroom counter before we could wash our hands.
B. Level of Service/Accountability -
1. The breakfast buffet had signage boasting that "TRU has you covered" for various dietary restrictions but, unlike other Hilton Hotels, could not provide any gluten-free products. When I asked the nutritionist/dietitian which dietary requirements the signage was addressing, she couldn't understand my English or answer my question. It would be reasonable to expect a hotel employee to be able to communicate pertinent information related to their role.
2. TRU assured me that the $50 hold on my credit card would be released within 72 hours of checkout but 7 days later, my card still had a pending $50 transaction from them. I stayed at 3 Hilton hotels in 1 week and the 2 hotels (before and subsequent to TRU) released their holds within 2 days after checkout. I called the hotel and the host insisted it was the bank's fault, despite the fact that the same bank was used for the other Hilton hotel credit holds which were released within the promised time frame. She also said the release can take up to 7 days (as opposed to the 72 hours I'd been told during checkout) and she wouldn't look up my name to see if she could resolve the issue. When I asked her name, she stated that she couldn't hear me and that the call was breaking up. She proceeded to ask my name, which I quite openly gave her and she interrupted me to say the call was breaking up. I found this especially interesting as I could hear what SHE was saying very clearly and consistently and I believed that she was pretending not to hear me to avoid having to follow up on the issue.
3. I proceeded to make an online complaint on Hilton's web interface but, after several tries, could not get the "submit" button to respond.
4. Then I had an online chat with a Hilton representative to whom I gave all of the information regarding the credit card hold issue and, after 20 min, she ALSO wasn't able to do anything for me. She gave me another 2 numbers to call! So after 3 attempts to deal directly with the company, they FINALLY got me to give up and here I am, posting on Yelp!
Overall, I found this hotel to be quite disappointing and, until TRU can get some experienced, professional and accountable staff to manage things, I will spend a little more to stay somewhere else. read more