I am currently experiencing something I have never encountered at a Hilton property. The hotel has apparently booked rooms for hundreds of hockey players participating in a tournament, and the result is absolute chaos throughout the entire property.
Groups of boys have essentially taken over the hotel. The pool is practically unusable, with kids splashing, screaming, and behaving as though they have exclusive use of the facility. The hallways are filled with boys running, yelling, and screaming. Entire teams are moving through the hotel with seemingly no parental supervision whatsoever.
To make matters worse, they are deliberately pressing every button in the elevators so that the elevators stop on every single floor, inconveniencing and delaying every other guest trying to use them. This isn’t simply the normal noise associated with children staying at a hotel. It is a complete lack of supervision and consideration for anyone else staying here.
What makes the situation even more outrageous is the response from the front desk. When we bring our concerns to their attention, we are essentially told that nothing can be done until 11 p.m. unless the children are actually damaging hotel property.
Let that sink in. Apparently, guests paying to stay at this Hilton are expected to tolerate screaming in the hallways, children running throughout the building, a pool overtaken by unsupervised teams, and deliberate misuse of the elevators because, according to management, none of this warrants intervention unless something is physically broken.
Since when did damaging property become the threshold for hotel management to enforce basic rules and maintain a comfortable environment for ALL guests?
The issue isn’t that a hotel accommodates hockey tournaments. That’s perfectly understandable. The issue is that Hilton chooses to book hundreds of children without putting any meaningful plan in place to manage the groups, communicate expectations to parents and coaches, or protect the experience of its other paying guests.
Families, couples, and other travelers book hotel rooms expecting to be able to enjoy the amenities, sleep, use the elevators, and move around the property without dealing with this level of disruption. We are paying for a hotel stay, not a weekend in the middle of an unsupervised youth tournament.
Hotels have every right to host sports teams, but they also have an obligation to ALL their guests. That means enforcing quiet hours, requiring adult supervision, addressing disruptive behavior, and ensuring that common areas remain accessible to everyone.
This is a failure of management, not simply a group of energetic kids. The children need to be supervised, and the hotel needs to have the staff and policies in place to handle a tournament of this size.
Hilton needs to understand that the guests who aren’t part of the tournament deserve the same consideration as the hundreds of players they book. Telling paying guests that nothing can be done until 11 p.m. is not acceptable customer service. It is an abdication of management’s responsibility.
Extremely disappointing experience. I would think twice before booking this property again, particularly when a hockey tournament is scheduled.
