munitalP
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- Oct 10, 2006
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The Hilton Surfers Paradise.
Technically the hotel is open, reality, there’s work that needs doing.
Monday 12 Sep
Pulled up out the front of the hotel into a construction site. I was actually unsure if this was the main entrance as it is very under whelming for a new hotel! Apart from the construction tape and work platforms, there is a small curb side entrance. No canopy if its raining, and the concierge box seems temporary. The kerbside is not policed either, so it’s first in best dressed if you want to get your car parked fighting the tradies across the road or shoppers around the corner!
I didn’t bother parking myself as there was a truck blocking the entrance to the hotel carpark – meh! A surfy dude in converse sneakers, board shorts, a grandpa hat and long sleeve tee shirt meandered over asking if I wanted him to park the car. On second glance, he was the concierge – I was a little shocked at first with the attire, but as a couple of days have passed, I realise its actually quite a relaxed dress, and appropriate for surfers paradise. If I had not been here a couple of nights, the dress code would have left me pondering...
Typical courtesy flowed with the concierge that one expects at a Hilton and he led me to a side door rather than the roundabout door which is a single person event (another meh! And I’m not even inside yet!) as I had 2 carry on sized bags with me.
Once inside, again I was under whelmed by the entrance into the hotel. There is way too much slate happening, with a solid wall down one side, a quite narrow passage was (3-4 meters wide) lined with a convenience store (kind of), a coffee shop, some chairs and tables then the lobby desk. Above the shops is level 1, there are glass panels where restaurant guests can sit looking down the 4 meters into the lobby. The lobby is also high ceilinged and noisy – echo noise. The check in is quite small and I could see this being a problem on a busy day!
The check in people were dressed similar to the concierge except the pit boss who was in typical “I mean business” Hilton attire. On check in, I was welcomed warmly, and apologies given I had to use a brown room key card instead of the usual gold (I smiled) as their stocks had not arrived.
I was offered an escort to my 15[SUP]th[/SUP] floor room – this is the same level as the executive lounge, however, I turned them down and said I could probably find my own way. Two independent elevator systems can whisk you up to max level 15, or level 16 and above. This delineates the apartments from the hotel proper.
The room key cards are proximity cards, and you need to clear the elevator to take you to your room, another security door from elevator lobby (on 15[SUP]th[/SUP] floor) to the hallway to a handful of rooms (4 or 5) on this level. The remaining floor space is taken up by the exec lounge, but I’ll come to that later.
Onb entering my room, my immediate first impression was another Hilton room. Nothing in this exec room is outstanding, there are no features I have not had in any other Hilton I have stayed in, and I would happily say that South Wharf wins hands down for a stylish room compared to this except – and its a big one, this room has a balcony that looks south with a decent easterly view as well. Winner!
The room – brand new, never slept in, shining and smelly (new room smell) but bearable. The bathroom is huge and the shower is big enough for a party or emergency landing of a 737. The toiletries were very nice, all Peter Thomas Roth stuff and the bathroom well lit and functionable.
The bed – Hilton Heaven, huge down pillows, a well stocked mini bar, typical iron and ironing board, safe and good room lighting. The LCD TV is very responsive – i.e. it changes channels when you press the button, not a second or two later and the standard “docomo” internet available wired or WiFi (with full signal strength on my laptop).
A knock on the door had a waitress and a bucket of beer (Burleigh Heads lo carb) on ice – a welcome to the hotel gift. Nice touch.
I then headed into the exec lounge. Darn, should have gone there first up, I would have been the first paying customer 5 minutes earlier, as it turned out, I was the second. Not to worry, a fact easily forgotten once I saw the view! In some part or the lounge, you can see in every direction. The lounge is three quarters of the floor and impressive. It is made up of 6 separate areas, each area with its own view through floor to ceiling windows and each area functions differently.
There is a board room area – a 12 seater table in a private area that a door can be closed to keep a meeting private, a computer work bench area – similar to the island dining areas in the Qantas lounges and the rest is made up of lounge areas that are connected through hallways for want of a better description. The kitchen sits somewhat in the middle of the lounge, has two small fridges, a centre food server, and a bench where there are hot dish areas.
There is also a shower, so late check outs or early check in can make use of the shower and freshen up. The lounge is temporary managed by the exec lounge manager from Cairns – lovely Scottish lady, and all the staff are typically 5 star friendly and helpful, and they don’t forget your name or what you are drinking.
Happy hour kicked off with a very poor selection of beer – Tooheys New, Hann light and one othe local – very under whelming considering I was drinking Budweiser at SW and Crown at ADL with other choices like Corona, James Boag, ++. Spirit selection was meagre with the usual lower shelf offerings. Snacks comprised of 3 or 4 types of cheeses, cold cuts, a hot dish with rice – food was nice. I didn’t look at the wine selection so can’t comment, but based on what I have seen so far, you may be hard pressed to find a good one.
The lounge has some failings, the major being no power points except at the work bench for a computer. This in my opinion will need addressing as not everyone is blessed with 7 hour batteries. There is also no free WiFi in the lounge at the moment. The waitress was unsure if this would change or not.
I left the lounge after a little while later and headed down to Salt Grill – Luke Mangan, and had the waitress choose 4 tapas randomly for me for dinner. I also had desert, fresh fruit thingy with a parfait and Frangellico sauce – yummo!
All but one impressed and I enjoyed my meal. Back up for bed – and from experience in other Hilton’s, the turn down service was a fail as well. The bed was turned back, no chocolates and only a printed card telling me the benefits of not changing my sheets daily! Also, my wet towel from my shower prior to going to the lounge was still there, and the curtain left partly open. For what it’s worth, this was the better of the turn down services as well :|
End of day 1 score card:
Human interface 10/10
Product 8/10
Lounge ambiance 10/10
Lounge food 7/10
Lounge drinks 4/10
Hotel restaurant 9/10
Value for money 8.5/10
To be continued...
BTW - just having some image issues uploading. There's a heap of pics at Flickr - search munitalP_Photos
Technically the hotel is open, reality, there’s work that needs doing.
Monday 12 Sep
Pulled up out the front of the hotel into a construction site. I was actually unsure if this was the main entrance as it is very under whelming for a new hotel! Apart from the construction tape and work platforms, there is a small curb side entrance. No canopy if its raining, and the concierge box seems temporary. The kerbside is not policed either, so it’s first in best dressed if you want to get your car parked fighting the tradies across the road or shoppers around the corner!
I didn’t bother parking myself as there was a truck blocking the entrance to the hotel carpark – meh! A surfy dude in converse sneakers, board shorts, a grandpa hat and long sleeve tee shirt meandered over asking if I wanted him to park the car. On second glance, he was the concierge – I was a little shocked at first with the attire, but as a couple of days have passed, I realise its actually quite a relaxed dress, and appropriate for surfers paradise. If I had not been here a couple of nights, the dress code would have left me pondering...
Typical courtesy flowed with the concierge that one expects at a Hilton and he led me to a side door rather than the roundabout door which is a single person event (another meh! And I’m not even inside yet!) as I had 2 carry on sized bags with me.
Once inside, again I was under whelmed by the entrance into the hotel. There is way too much slate happening, with a solid wall down one side, a quite narrow passage was (3-4 meters wide) lined with a convenience store (kind of), a coffee shop, some chairs and tables then the lobby desk. Above the shops is level 1, there are glass panels where restaurant guests can sit looking down the 4 meters into the lobby. The lobby is also high ceilinged and noisy – echo noise. The check in is quite small and I could see this being a problem on a busy day!
The check in people were dressed similar to the concierge except the pit boss who was in typical “I mean business” Hilton attire. On check in, I was welcomed warmly, and apologies given I had to use a brown room key card instead of the usual gold (I smiled) as their stocks had not arrived.
I was offered an escort to my 15[SUP]th[/SUP] floor room – this is the same level as the executive lounge, however, I turned them down and said I could probably find my own way. Two independent elevator systems can whisk you up to max level 15, or level 16 and above. This delineates the apartments from the hotel proper.
The room key cards are proximity cards, and you need to clear the elevator to take you to your room, another security door from elevator lobby (on 15[SUP]th[/SUP] floor) to the hallway to a handful of rooms (4 or 5) on this level. The remaining floor space is taken up by the exec lounge, but I’ll come to that later.
Onb entering my room, my immediate first impression was another Hilton room. Nothing in this exec room is outstanding, there are no features I have not had in any other Hilton I have stayed in, and I would happily say that South Wharf wins hands down for a stylish room compared to this except – and its a big one, this room has a balcony that looks south with a decent easterly view as well. Winner!
The room – brand new, never slept in, shining and smelly (new room smell) but bearable. The bathroom is huge and the shower is big enough for a party or emergency landing of a 737. The toiletries were very nice, all Peter Thomas Roth stuff and the bathroom well lit and functionable.
The bed – Hilton Heaven, huge down pillows, a well stocked mini bar, typical iron and ironing board, safe and good room lighting. The LCD TV is very responsive – i.e. it changes channels when you press the button, not a second or two later and the standard “docomo” internet available wired or WiFi (with full signal strength on my laptop).
A knock on the door had a waitress and a bucket of beer (Burleigh Heads lo carb) on ice – a welcome to the hotel gift. Nice touch.
I then headed into the exec lounge. Darn, should have gone there first up, I would have been the first paying customer 5 minutes earlier, as it turned out, I was the second. Not to worry, a fact easily forgotten once I saw the view! In some part or the lounge, you can see in every direction. The lounge is three quarters of the floor and impressive. It is made up of 6 separate areas, each area with its own view through floor to ceiling windows and each area functions differently.
There is a board room area – a 12 seater table in a private area that a door can be closed to keep a meeting private, a computer work bench area – similar to the island dining areas in the Qantas lounges and the rest is made up of lounge areas that are connected through hallways for want of a better description. The kitchen sits somewhat in the middle of the lounge, has two small fridges, a centre food server, and a bench where there are hot dish areas.
There is also a shower, so late check outs or early check in can make use of the shower and freshen up. The lounge is temporary managed by the exec lounge manager from Cairns – lovely Scottish lady, and all the staff are typically 5 star friendly and helpful, and they don’t forget your name or what you are drinking.
Happy hour kicked off with a very poor selection of beer – Tooheys New, Hann light and one othe local – very under whelming considering I was drinking Budweiser at SW and Crown at ADL with other choices like Corona, James Boag, ++. Spirit selection was meagre with the usual lower shelf offerings. Snacks comprised of 3 or 4 types of cheeses, cold cuts, a hot dish with rice – food was nice. I didn’t look at the wine selection so can’t comment, but based on what I have seen so far, you may be hard pressed to find a good one.
The lounge has some failings, the major being no power points except at the work bench for a computer. This in my opinion will need addressing as not everyone is blessed with 7 hour batteries. There is also no free WiFi in the lounge at the moment. The waitress was unsure if this would change or not.
I left the lounge after a little while later and headed down to Salt Grill – Luke Mangan, and had the waitress choose 4 tapas randomly for me for dinner. I also had desert, fresh fruit thingy with a parfait and Frangellico sauce – yummo!
All but one impressed and I enjoyed my meal. Back up for bed – and from experience in other Hilton’s, the turn down service was a fail as well. The bed was turned back, no chocolates and only a printed card telling me the benefits of not changing my sheets daily! Also, my wet towel from my shower prior to going to the lounge was still there, and the curtain left partly open. For what it’s worth, this was the better of the turn down services as well :|
End of day 1 score card:
Human interface 10/10
Product 8/10
Lounge ambiance 10/10
Lounge food 7/10
Lounge drinks 4/10
Hotel restaurant 9/10
Value for money 8.5/10
To be continued...
BTW - just having some image issues uploading. There's a heap of pics at Flickr - search munitalP_Photos
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