Hilton Garden Inn Palm Springs / Rancho Mirage
The Hilton Garden Inn Palm Springs / Rancho Mirage is located at Highway 111, approximately 15 to 20 minutes by car from Palm Springs Airport. Adjacent to the hotel are a number of restaurants. The Westfield shopping center is five minutes by car and offers department stores Macy’s, JC Penney, Sears and outlets of chains like Hollister, Aeropostale, GAP, American Eagle, Foot Locker, T Mobile,
Barnes & Nobles among others. But you will need a car if you stay there, as there is not that much to see and to do in the close proximity of the hotel. Parking is free.
The hotel is a typical Hilton Garden Inn with the main entrance at the pavilion part of the hotel which is set apart from the wing with the rooms. Lobby, restaurant and check in are in the Pavilion part of the hotel. The lobby has a number of sofas, arm chairs and tables on the left side, while the restaurant is on the right side. The check in desks with two desks to check in and out guests are across the entrance. The Hilton Garden Inn Pavilion Pantry is located between check in desk and restaurants.
As mentioned above the wing with the rooms is set back from the entrance Pavilion. The hotel has only two floors and one has to pass the front desk to reach the hallway to the rooms. All other exit doors have a keycard controlled door. There are two elevators leading to the second floor. The wing with the room is shaped like a ‘H’ with an extension of the ‘-‘ to the right.
The Business Center is located on the ground floor and open 24 hours and offers printers, computer and photocopying services.
The gym is also located on the ground floor next to the exit to the outdoor pool and open from 06:00 to 23:00. One treadmill, a bike, and cardiovascular machines are available in addition to equipment for body training and weights.
The outdoor pool is shaped like an L. A small Jacuzzi for four people was also available. Like the gym the pool is open from 06:00 to 22:00.
The restaurant is part of the lobby as mentioned above with a number of tables and the open buffet with an open kitchen, where the hot items of the Hilton Garden Inn All American breakfast are prepared. Breakfast is served from 06:30 to 10:00 on weekday and 07:00 to 11:00 during the weekend.
visited on: Mileage Run to SJU - USA and Canada with LH & BA
stays: June 28, 2011 - June 05, 2012 -
direct link to hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Palm Springs / Rancho Mirage
Arrival Date: June 28, 2011
Departure Date: June 29, 2011
Room type booked: Standard King Bed Room
Rate Plan: AAA Rate
Room Number: 224
Room Rate: 63.00 USD excl. taxes
Status of Guest Program: Diamond
I arrived at the hotel around 15:00 and was greeted by the agent at the front desk. My ID was verified and a voucher for breakfast was given. Not further explanation was given and I had to ask for breakfast times and opening tines of pool and gym. I was also offered two bottles of water as HHonors Amenity.
My room was located on the second floor (first one if you use European counting) and above the main entrance with the view blocked by the roof of the Pavilion.
The room was the standard one of a Hilton Garden Inn. After stepping in the room there was a walk in closet to the left and the entrance to the bathroom on the other side.
The bathroom was small to average with a sink with a lot of space to store utensils like razor, toothbrush, etc. A big mirror was placed behind the washbasin which becomes foggy after taking a shower. Two lamps were on both sides of the mirror and the lighting was sufficient. The bath was placed opposite the washbasin with a curved shower curtain and a wall mounted shower head with massage function. Shower curtain and shower head were in good condition. The toilet was opposite the entrance door. The area around
the bath had no tiles but some sort of water proofed plastic-coated elements, which looked a bit cheap. The hairdryer was one of these cheaper wall mounted ones. The tap / faucet was impractical in terms of design and the way it was placed. It was hardly possible to place anything under it to fill it or even to wash hands.
The room features the usual area with fridge, microwave and coffee machine close to the entrance. On a sideboard was the TV and the desk was placed in front of the window, which could be opened. The bed along with two bedside tables was on the opposite site of the room. The Hilton alarm clock and the telephone were placed there with the second phone on the desk. A small table with an arm chair and another lamp was in one corner of the room.
The air condition was controlled automatically with the unit placed under the window. Unfortunately this means one was constantly having a cold stream of air from the air condition unit blowing on one back while working at the desk. In so far it was either working or air condition but not both. It does not really help, that air condition was controlled automatically. If the air condition was one, the noise was that high, that one had to increase the volume of the TV or difficulties to make a phone call. I think
there are units with a lower noise level, but on the other hand this is no high end hotel.
The room was clean; hidden corners were also clean.
The design was like in every Hilton Garden Inn, using a warm color scheme with dark brown colors for carpet and furniture and a light brown for the walls, which also had two paintings with no local relation, just flowers. But both fit well to the design of the room.
The mattress was too soft for my taste and was one of the older ones at which the softness could not be adjusted by the guest.
Like in the most Hilton Garden Inn hotels an in room safe was not provided.
The working desk was large enough to work on it with a laptop and also place papers around it. A desk lamp was there and two power outlets, so no problem to charge laptop and another device at the same time. The internet connection - wired and wireless - was okay in term of speed and free of charge. It could have been faster especially in the evening and morning when everybody connects to the internet. I lost the VPN connections in peak hours a few times, especially if the wireless connection was used.
Breakfast was served in the restaurant in the morning and it was buffet style with warm dished prepared in the open kitchen and served by staff . I had ordered waffles and they were quite good. The fruits from the buffet were fresh. Cereals were small packets and bagels, muffins and pastries were offered as well. Yoghurt was offered and Philadelphia cheese. Orange and apple juice were also available. Coffee was served and refilled by staff. The service was attentive and the one attendant on duty attentive.
Many leaf and flowers from the trees around the pool were swimming in the pool and it gave the impression that the pool and the Jacuzzi were dirty; it was not so much the mosquitoes like at the Hyatt this time. Cleaning should not really be a problem.
Check out was fast and a late check out at 13:00 was given without problem.
The folio was correct and the points posted to my account two days later.
The hotel is an average Hilton Garden Inn. Locationwise the hotel offers good access to highways and all major points of interest but a car is necessary. One of the big minuses is the noisy air condition and the dirt pool. On the other hands the room rates of the hotel are much cheap, especially in summer. I will give the hotel another try and see if and how things have improved.
Arrival Date: June 05, 2012
Departure Date: June 06, 2012
Room type booked: Standard King Bed Room
Rate Plan: Advance Purchase Rate
Room Number: 209
Room Rate: 67.00 USD excl. taxes
Status of Guest Program: Diamond
I arrived at the hotel around 15:55 and was greeted this time as returning guest. It seems, they checked if I have been there before as it was a different greeting than the one as HHonors Diamond member. My ID was checked and I received the voucher for breakfast together with the usual welcome letter. I got also the two bottles of water as HHonors Amenity and was soon off to my room on the second floor (or if you use the European counting
on the first floor).
The room was shaped like the one during my stay last year and there is not really that much difference between this and many other Hilton Garden Inn in the US.
The bathroom had the new bathroom amenities by ‘rainkissed leaves’ and small, medium and large sized towels were provided for four guests. In so far the room was okay, nothing special and nothing fancy, but you do not expect this at a Hilton Garden Inn. Showerhead and shower curtain were okay, the water pressure was sometimes a bit low.
The room features were the same as during my stay in 2011, but the old TV was now changed to a modern flat TV. The mattress was oaky, a bit too soft for my taste but okay for the most other people as I prefer a hard mattress. This was still one of the older mattresses where the softness could not be adjusted. I am not sure if older Hilton Garden Inn Hotels are re fitted with the newer ones which I have experienced in the Stuttgart Hilton Garden Inn among a few others Hilton Garden Inn Hotels.
However the wired and wireless internet connection was this time very slow and I lost my signal and my VPN connection several times with the wired connection not working at all - during peak and off peak times. The air condition unit was noisy but this is a problem of the unit used in this hotel and they cannot much to against it but to change it.
Service in the restaurant was average, one attendant was not very friendly at the beginning and she seems not to understand that I did not want to have any warm items like omelette, waffles from the menu and asked several times. Not sure, if she did not understand what I was saying or did not realize that I was not interested in having hot (and unhealthy) warm food. Anyway, her mood changed a bit later and she was a bit friendlier. She and her colleague were at least attentive and refilling of coffee was offered
as well as used dished were cleared away.
Like on my previous stay leafs and flowers from the tree around the pool were swimming in pool and Jacuzzi and therefore gave and somehow dirty impression. This is a major down for me – if you are concerned about cleanliness you would not use the pool. Again, why is it difficult to clean the pool in the morning? This had not changed since 2011 and one can assume that this is a general problem and no exception. It should not really be a problem to clean the pool more often.
A late check-out til 13:30 was given on request without problem.
The folio was correct and I mentioned the leafs in the pool during check out as not very nice. The agent apologized but he does not seem to be very interested.
Will I stay there again? I have to admit I am not sure. On the one hand, the rate was good and not very expensive, on the other hand the dirty pool and the noisy air condition unit are major minuses. I think it depends on the room rates and those of nearby alternative hotel. A Holiday Inn Express is next door, but it was more expensive as I checked the rates. In so far it might happen, that I will stay there again.
