Hilton Garden Inn review: Hilton Garden Inn Irvine Spectrum – unreasonable charges and terrible customer service ( 1 comment)

After being a loyal Hilton Honors customer for many years, this experience has convinced us that it is time to reconsider staying with Hilton properties.

Following our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Irvine Spectrum/Lake Forest, we were charged $76 for towels, washcloths, and a bath mat that the hotel claimed were permanently damaged by staining. We strongly disputed that assessment.

At our request, the hotel returned the supposedly “damaged” linens to us. After laundering them ourselves, the staining was substantially reduced, raising a very obvious question: Were these linens truly ruined, or did they simply need to be properly cleaned?

To make matters worse, the bath mat we were originally charged for was not even returned with the other linens. After we pointed this out, the hotel agreed to remove the $10 bath mat charge.

Then there was another charge for $4 bottled water that we did not consume. The hotel also eventually agreed to remove that charge.

That left a $62 charge for the towels and washcloths, which management continued to defend on the basis that the linens had been removed from the hotel's usable inventory. But once we actually received and cleaned the items ourselves, we found it very difficult to accept the claim that they warranted being discarded and replaced at our expense.

This isn't primarily about $62. It's about how customers are treated when they challenge questionable charges.

A longtime Hilton Honors customer should not have to scrutinize a hotel bill for items they did not use, dispute charges for items that weren't even returned, and then fight over ordinary linens that appear capable of being cleaned.

Hotels are in the hospitality business. Towels and washcloths are expected to require laundering. Charging a guest replacement cost should be reserved for items that are genuinely destroyed or permanently damaged, not simply stained and in need of proper cleaning.

Management had multiple opportunities to resolve this reasonably. Instead, they chose to defend the remaining charge.

So Hilton can keep the $62.

They have also lost our future business.

After years of choosing Hilton properties, we will now be looking elsewhere when we travel. Losing longtime customers over a disputed towel charge seems like a remarkably poor trade.

Future guests: Check your bill carefully before leaving this property and question any unexpected charges.

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