Hilton Garden Inn Starkville

The indoor pool and hot tub were out of service. I called and asked about this specifically. These two amenities was the reason we chose this hotel, only to learn out of order once we arrived.

I called a couple of days before we came and asked if the pool was open and the lady said yes. I called the day before to make sure and the lady informed me it was and we get there the next day and pool was closed. That was the main reason we were coming so our kid could swim. We also downgraded our room and they still charged us for the original room we had instead of lowering our price.

Exceptional

Clean and quiet!

Nothing

Breakfast was great. The chef was friendly and accommodating.

Application of my Diamond benefits was challenging.

Hotel was clean and convenient. I did not appreciate the fact that I was told complimentary and when we went to the breakfast area the next morning I was told by a severely pushy and wired employee that it was $15 per person as if I was trying to steal breakfast. I spent too much time having to go back and forth clearing it up. She even had the nerve to ask for a tip! But I will say the night time bartender/server was very nice, friendly and deserving of the tip he received.

Hotel is showing its age and has a safety issue. The keys to the rooms do not work. This is a safety issue if you needed to quickly get in your room for medicine or medical equipment. We received new key cards 3 different times and they didn’t work. Maintenance gave us a key card to use, and that didn’t work either. This also happened to other people on our floor. Our bathroom lighting was terrible and the sink stopper was not functional. In room refrigerator door does not close completely which has caused the freezer portion to be iced over. Location to the football stadium is good with a great shuttle service to the stadium.

The Hilton Garden Inn has a lot of really good qualities but does show its age in a few minor ways. First, I have to commend the staff. From the housekeepers and all but one front desk agent to the servers and chefs, whomever did the hiring knew what he/she was doing, and it shows! The new GM, Reid, is on the property and interacts with the guests regularly. The breakfast server, Ann, is attentive, friendly, and know the food well. The breakfast cook, Richard, does a great job and is fine with special requests. You can't beat Theresa, the group sales and special events planner who couldn't be more helpful. Every housekeeper was respectful and friendly, as were all but one of the front desk agents (who happened to be the one that handled by night-time arrival check-in and didn't even acknowledge my Diamond status, let alone know what benefits Diamond members receive). The rooms are spacious and comfortable, with really good beds, nice pillows and soft linens. Temperature control worked perfectly. The televisions have a seemingly endless choice of channels, although the remotes are a bit different (I never did figure out how to use the channel guide properly, so I found myself always scrolling through every channel). I requested a room facing away from Highway 12 and got one. It was very quiet and easy to fall into a nice sleep! One thing that did concern me was the mini-refrigerator. It was in desperate need of defrosting. I'm sure that the missing door to the freezer area contributed to this. There was no retaining bar on the inside of the door, so the door shelving was useless. I reported the issues and they took the fridge outside and left it in the bright sun -- and that failed to completely eliminate the caked on ice! The door bar was replaced, which was good. I was surprised that they did not simply replace the refrigerator with another one, but perhaps the age of the property is such that with an impending renovation there are no extras. The bathroom had plenty of towels, an upper tier hand/facial soap, and shower gel, shampoo and conditioner in plastic container bottles with pump action. The conditioner was empty when I checked in, but quickly replenished after I reported it. If you stay here -- and you should -- do not miss the breakfast. The hot items are well prepared, you have real oatmeal (not from a packet), a nice variety of bulk cereals, wonderful fresh-cut fruits, better quality bagels and other breakfast breads, etc. I don't eat bacon and sausage, but the folks around me said the ones they had were really good. The only negative is the orange juice -- in a word, it was awful! I tried it on different days and the same result: very little taste, watered down, and nothing vaguely resembling the real thing. I mentioned it to the GM (Reid, in his second month) and he agreed, saying "orange juice is a major issue with guests and one of the first things I want to change is an upgrade to a better product." The breakfast server, Ann, is great, and I want to share something that truly impressed me: one of the guests had a very friendly dog and Ann went over to pet it. After giving it some attention, she walked straight over to the trash can, removed her gloves, and dropped them in -- and then put on a new pair. I know that this is what the server should do, but seeing her do it impressed me! I got to sample quite a few items at a banquet and I can tell you that the quality of the dinner buffet for that event was top-notch. Everything was fresh and house-made, from the potato salad to the sliced turkey, and the cabbage to the cobbler. I would be remiss if I did not mention the sweet and unsweet teas: deep tea flavor, steeped for the right time, and among the best I've had during my 32 years in the South. This is a really good property right now, and when the 2025 renovations are completed, it will be excellent!

The Starkville Garden Inn had clean rooms and very good service. But the building is worn down obviously ignored by it's investors/owners. Overall the stay was nice, the room was quiet, and I slept well. But so many small things add up to be very disappointing. I am going to list examples and some are trivial but they all add up to bothersome. I left my first room within a few minutes to go to another room because: - The bar on the fridge door was missing so there was less storage in the fridge. - The clock did not work - Loud water pipe in the bathroom - Handle was off one drawer. In my second room and in the rest of motel - TV did not work, Clock did not work - Fridge freezer had deep frost - Shower soap dispensers were laying around meant for shower wall - Bathtub plug was broken and set aside. - Bathroom mirror plastic edging was stained and peeling - the clock in the second room did not work - Key cards would not open the fitness room or business center - Fitness machines are rusty and some options did not work - Disinfectant towels in fitness room were dried up and could not be used. It may be that Hilton Hotels are ignoring maintenance and upkeep on the small town Garden Inns and focusing on the fanciers motels.

Close to everything we wanted to do. Clean and friendly staff

Had some trouble with door locks- door seemed to be hard to open