I postponed writing this review as I wanted to give it some time to properly evaluate our stay. The property is gorgeous & such a statement to the hotels of old. However, our stay was not the best. (some of this will be directed to Hilton Diamond members only). We waited over 30 minutes to check in upon arrival due to a large group that was there for a corporate event. The lobby doesn't have anything welcoming upon arrival like fresh fruit-infused water or treats. No bottled water either for Diamond Members in the lobby, no special desk, etc. We were assigned an absolute closet of a room in the corner of a side building. No chair in the room, no overhead lighting, and one beside lamp. No place to sit other than the bed. No luggage rack, 2 hangers, etc. No slippers, robes or anything that should be presented to Diamond Members when booking at a hotel that is upwards of 95,000 points per night. The "view" was of the roof & the parking lot (fine, I get it - we are using points for a "standard room" with obviously no guaranteed upgrades). The room was less than what we would have received at a Tru property or a Spark, in our opinion. The 2nd day of our 5 night stay, after several very disappointing promises for service that never came to fruition, we requested a move to a different "standard room" & were given a nicer room on a lower level floor that at least had some lighting, a luggage rack, 2 chairs with a small table & some hangers.
The hotel property is lovely, however, they cater to "events". During our stay, every day/night was at least one corporate event, 1 or 2 weddings & wedding-related events. The only Air-conditioned bar space is the Canary Room, a beautiful small room where you can read, sit & have a drink, etc. On 2 different days, we were asked to leave the space because they had "Groom Parties" in the room. The guest beach space was squished in for the corporate events and/or weddings & these areas were blocked off for our use. (I get it, but still irritating). We also had dueling band rehearsals during the afternoon beach hours.
Now the big thing: Lily Pulitzer Fashion Event. So on our 3rd day of our stay, Lily Pulitzer took over the property. They squished the beach again & had photographers, stylists, models, etc on the beach for a fashion shoot. They completely took over the Canary Room for the staging area so the one room for guests to enjoy outside of the lobby was closed to guests that were not associated with LP. On our last full day, we were chilling on the beautiful beach around 2:30pm only to be absolutely slammed by loud night-club DJ music being blasted. They were setting up the main palm-lined walkway to the beach from the hotel area for the fashion show. After 30 minutes of this, we left our quiet, relaxing chairs on the beach & headed back to the room. This is totally unacceptable! You do NOT promote a Hilton hotel as a relaxing, tranquil beach vacation, charging a lot of money for stays, only to blast club music across the entire property. At no point, were we notified of any of these events, offered even a free drink for our nonstop inconveniences or comped a meal at one of the restaurants. It was ridiculous. We had to navigate wedding receptions, cocktail hours, corporate gatherings & Lily Pulitzer events just to get to our room every night. The 'quiet spaces" were taken over by event people, who were also probably hotel guests, but it left nowhere for guests who were not involved in these events to relax & enjoy the property. It was very disappointing. We would not recommend this property to anyone,
Lastly, I will add that the staff that works out at the beach was phenomenal!! The pool & beach equipment & towels guys, the food runners, the waitstaff - all went above and beyond& beyond. The food at the beach restaurant (Dorado) was always delicious & served hot. It is expensive, but given the location, it is understandable. The management at this hotel needs to figure out how to serve all the clientele, not just the event guests.
