Doubletree by Hilton Montreal

Imagine you need to take a long multi-part international flight. Because you need to be fresh, you book business class on the airlines website (no third party). The day before, you call the airline to confirm your reservation. When you get to check-in the agent doesn't say a thing but just hands you your boarding pass. When you get to your seat, Surprise! The agent put you in economy class for the entire flight! You rush out to complain but the agent says "we overbooked". The agent doesn't offer you a refund for the difference in price, you have to ask. The agent doesn't tell you that while the first leg of the flight is overbooked, the other legs still have business class seats; he still booked you economy the whole way. That's basically what happened with us. We traveled from Vietnam to attend my godson's graduation (yes, business class). Our godson said DoubleTree was the nearest "good" hotel. We booked (on the Hilton website) a large corner room for a special graduation ceremony. A day before our very late arrival I called to make sure our special room (Corner King) was going to be held. (They said no problem). Despite this, when we arrived at exactly the time I told them , the hotel had given away the special room and put us in a regular room. Of course, we didn't find out until we went upstairs to the room and found it out ourselves, we had to go back down to find out why. The agent had to be asked if we would be given a refund for the difference. He didn't tell us that our original room was available the following nights but instead our entire reservation had been changed. No notice had been given, no call, text or e-mail, they just changed it. After a sleepless night thinking what do we do?, we had to cancel our plans for the ceremony and couldn't even attend the graduation. My partner, in frustration, even left the hotel and got a room with another hotel nearby. Finally when I spoke with a supervisor did I learn that the original room was available the next night but by then it was too late. While they said it was an "accident" and there was "a mistake", I strained to hear them say the two most important words: "I'm sorry" or apologize as if their mistake was due to some reason beyond their control. Note, despite repeated meetings with their supervisors, I never received a written apology or even written acknowledgement that we would be paying the price for a normal room (and not what we had booked). What bothers me more was that their Doubletree's representatives were like polite professional robots, never taking responsibility, never trying to resolve problems (or even to try to understand why this meant a lot to their customer). Instead they just seemed to be like A.I., carefully spouting the corporate line but having no agency or taking pro-active measures. (Our company does a lot of A.I., that's the problem, unlike humans they don't have any initiative). In 10 years, I'd be suspicious that they actually were robots! So we moved to the Intercontinental. Instead of a cookie on arrival, service here is great (they called us as soon as we got into our room to see if everything was okay). They don't promise anything special (no late checkout) but what they do promise they deliver. I guess like "beware Trojans bearing gifts" you should "beware hotels giving cookies". Read less

My wife and I are Hilton Gold members and recently stayed at the DoubleTree Montreal with our two children. We booked two rooms in advance and specifically requested connecting rooms, which we made clear during the reservation process. Unfortunately, not only did the hotel fail to provide connecting rooms, but they also gave us rooms on completely different floors—one on the 20th and the other on the 17th. For a family traveling together, this was extremely frustrating and unacceptable. Another major issue was the elevator system, which is by far one of the worst we've encountered. To even get to the street level, you need to use two separate sets of elevators located in different halls. And to access the guest room floors, there are only four elevators—which are constantly overloaded. We often had to wait 10–15 minutes just to get in. Even then, you must tap your room key card to select your floor, which slows things down even more when multiple people are trying to go to different levels. The system doesn’t function properly—guests end up riding up and down aimlessly because they either can’t tap their card in time or their floor gets skipped due to restrictions. It's inefficient, chaotic, and frustrating, especially with children or when you're on a schedule. To make matters worse, the parking garage underneath the hotel is disgusting. It smells absolutely awful, like a mix of marijuana and urine. Not only is it unpleasant, but it also creates a feeling of neglect and lack of basic cleanliness. Overall, this experience was far below Hilton standards. Between the room assignment failure, the terrible elevator logistics, and the filthy parking garage, we will not be returning to this property and cannot recommend it—especially for families. Read less

What a wonderful stay we had at this hotel. My granddaughter was in a dance competition close by and we stayed at the Doubletree. From the moment we entered, the staff was so friendly and helpful. We arrived earlier than check in time and were so pleased that since our room was ready, we could check in immediately. We found the hotel extremely clean and absolutely loved our corner King suite. Bed was one of the most comfortable I’ve slept in at a hotel and the room was extremely quiet. Complimentary coffee, tea and water. The warm cookie we received when we checked in was delicious. I saved a bit for my granddaughter and was then on a mission to get her her own cookie (she and her Mom were in a different hotel for the dancers). The lady on the desk was an absolute sweetheart and provided me with not just one cookie but an extra for me as well…..lol. Trust me…..the cookies are gourmet level. Great location…..access to a beautiful mall. Oh…..and the air freshener in the lobby is very nice. I would stay in this hotel again in a heartbeat. Read less

Worst customer service, from check in to the pool staff. You are watched. While swimming the attendant tried to yell at my kids so my husband had to step in ( they didn't realize my husband was there) . All because we had a bottle of water! No drinks allowed in the pool area so dont go here planning any fun! The pool guy screamed at my oldest to remove his glasses ,after he had been in the pool for days already! He cant see , is it really a big deal. People are here trying to get away from stress, all we found here was stress! Check in was awful, treated with disrespect. Definitely stay away , it's a hotel with beds not worth the hassle honestly! The cost is ridiculous! I feel bad for the people who work here it must be difficult. Best part is you can walk to have meals, parking is expensive in Montréal so walking is always a nice option to have. In my opinion stay away , I did reach out to the hotel never heard back so posting here for future travelers! Read less