[uggboylovestravel]

July 2016, our 3 night/4 days stay experiences

We decided to stay at the Hilton Innsbruck in July 2016 for three nights, since we wanted to earn our Gold status at the Hilton Honors loyalty program.

We arrived by train from Vienna via Salzburg. Please see also our reviews of the Hilton Vienna, the Palais Coburg Residenz, Clementine im Glashaus, The Rote Bar, Steirereck im Stadtpark and the Meierei im Stadtpark which are all part of the same journey we enjoyed in July 2016.

The train station and Old Town are around ten minutes’ walk from the Hilton in opposite directions and both the hotel and the entrance were easy to find.

During the summer months the terrace in front is used for BBQs and to relax in the sunshine.
The Hilton is located in one of the highest buildings in Innsbruck and there is also a casino.
Check in was a breeze and the receptionist recognized it had been my milestone birthday a few days earlier, so we were upgraded to a Deluxe Room with views over the Bergisel ski jump, the city and the mountains on the 11th floor. The views were dramatic, beautiful and we liked the simple, understated designed room.

At check in we were given two vouchers. One was for two items from the Snax Shop in the lobby, i.e. drinks, sweets and chocolate bars. The other was a drinks voucher for two at the Alpenstube.

The color scheme of the hotel and our room was in different shades of brown.

There was a large king size bed, a credenza, a seating area with checkerboard upholstery, a large writing desk, a mini fridge, a wardrobe, coffee table and a flat screen TV. There were many Sky Tv, local and international channels available.

The artwork was Alpine inspired and there were two magazines “Hello Innsbruck” and “Welcome Innsbruck” on our room.

The bathroom was unusual shaped and tiled in yellow and white which we actually liked.
There was a shower/bathtub combination, a sink, toilet and Peter Thomas Roth amenities.
The room was comfortable and relaxing.

Overall reception was friendly and helpful and the back of house did an excellent job. Unfortunately internal communication seemed not to function, though.

A large convention was taking place. On our first evening we wanted to have dinner at Konrad’s Austrian Steaks and the conventioneers were already dining there, when we arrived. Unsure if it was open to other hotel guests we checked with the reception, who told us the restaurant was open to all.

Returning to the restaurant we were told it wasn’t, so we went back to reception and told them. We received a sincere apology and were offered to go to the Alpenstube.
The restaurant was on the ground floor and not full at the time of our visit. As the name implies it looked very traditional Austrian.

We felt we were disturbing the waitress, who brought us to a table for two. There is nothing wrong with it in itself, but we asked to have the neighboring table for four, because we thought the table offered was too small for what we wanted to order and our camera we had with us. We were outright refused.

This had not happened before in any hotel that we can remember and stayed in. Since we were already tired from the journey and it was late by now we decided not to make a fuss. We were right, though, the table was too small when all the dishes arrived including a bread selection.

Overall the dinner didn’t go the way we had planned it. The service was very slow. I think we spent alone on waiting an hour. It left us frustrated and the quality of the meal was only average.

We ordered one large bottle of still Voeslauer water, one Wiener Schnitzel, a Riesling risotto, a side salad, one “Fantastic Banana” ice cream sundae and a “Komplett Steirisch” dessert. The majority of the ingredients came from Styria. It was a very large portion of cream, berry compote and ice cream with a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil.

Other things we didn’t like were the quality of the cut used for the Wiener Schnitzel and that the risotto was on the one side too dry and some parts too oily and the side salad was drowning in dressing.

We also received different types of bread and condiments which we liked.

The bill was 55.20 Euro or ca. 58.90 USD.

In fact we were so fed up with our experience that we didn’t have dinner at any of the outlets at the hotel on the other two evenings.

Later we found out that the convention had switched venue on very short notice from France to Innsbruck. This might explains why the standard of service and quality of the food had been not as good as expected.

The only other meals we had at Konrad’s Austrian Steaks was breakfast, which was included as Hilton Honors Gold members. The greeter was extremely friendly and wished us every day a good morning with a warm smile, invited us to enjoy breakfast and hoped we would have a lovely day.

Afterwards we were left to our own devises, which is a pet peeve of mine.

Unfortunately it wasn’t obvious for us where we could sit and the tables in the nicer area, which was filled with daylight, were set for families or larger groups.

The other area was for smaller parties and couples, but in a part without natural daylight, so it was darker. The booths were comfortable, though.

On the other side it felt a bit awkward occupying a table for eight, when we were only two.

The breakfast was served buffet style and of good quality. There was a “fruit of the month” promotion.

During our stay it was figs.

There was a wide selection of local produce available including cold cuts, cheese, yogurt, bread, fruits, cereals, one type of fish, which was changed daily, some hot items like fried or scrambled eggs and much more.

Now to the all-important question? Would we return to the Hilton Innsbruck? There are some elements we liked, for example the central location, the overall friendliness of the staff, the quality of the breakfast and the comfort of the room.

A reason why we wouldn’t return is the issues we had at dinner. It’s very important for us that the venue we want to visit has open or at least that we get informed in a timely manner about closures. The food quality plays also a major role and if it is not the level we expect it to be it’s unlikely we will go there again, since we feel it’s a waste of our time and money.

The conclusion is we would stay at the Hilton Innsbruck again, if we planned to have a comfortable room and plan to eat outside of the hotel.

Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? Maybe, this depends on what our friend was looking for.

Would we want to stay again at this hotel in our future? Yes/Maybe, again this depends on what we’re looking for in a hotel/destination.

Thank you and safe travels.

[1nfrequent]

Thanks for the review, Uggboy. I’d been looking at this Hilton for a trip I’m planning to Austria next year but on the basis of what you’ve said, I’m going to check out some other options.

1F

[uggboylovestravel]

@1nfrequent, thanks for your compliments and I’m glad you like our review, it’s good to hear that you plan a visit to Austria next year and yes, we had been somewhat surprised by ourselves for of the difficulties encountered during our stay especially with the food/service/details at the Hilton Innsbruck. Overall, it’s a good hotel, but it’s also more difficult to recommend this particular hotel wholeheartedly while visiting the beautiful city of Innsbruck. Having said this, we liked the location, our room and the welcome/reception/Hilton honors recognition incl. breakfast quality at this hotel.

Cheers & Safe Travels.

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