Hilton Scranton & Conference Center

I had to be in downtown Scranton for business early one weekday, and this was the closest hotel. I also had some Amex quarterly Hilton credits that this stay allowed me to use. Ordinarily I stay at a nearby Marriott branded property, which is a relatively new construction and has been just fine. I arrived shortly before the ordinary 3 p.m. check-in time, and the room I selected in the Hilton app was not cleaned or ready, so the front desk assigned me to a room on a lower floor, a view on the opposite side of the building from what I had selected, and a room much closer to the ice machine and the elevators (meaning more noise and traffic walking down the hallway). The room I received ostensibly had been "cleaned" -- except for a prominent hair in the shower and a piece of cereal or snack food that the vacuum didn't pick up under the desk. The bathroom has two rolls for toilet paper, but housekeeping left a roll with only FIVE SHEETS of toilet paper on one roll, while the other roll was only 25% there. Even worse, there was no extra toilet paper on the shelves of the bathroom, so I had to go back down to the front desk to ask for more because what was there was bound to run out soon. The bed was fine, although the pillows were thick but SO SOFT that they provided no support whatsoever, and the pillow cases looked a bit yellowish. Everything in the bathroom worked fine. However, one of the two bath towels had a HORRIBLE SMELL, both sweet and as though it had been used to mop up a spilled cup of coffee (I can still experience that horrible smell in my mind). It also, upon closer look, seemed to feature a blood stain and some other stain that the laundry had failed to remove. It was completely gross, enough said! On the plus side, the buffet breakfast was very good, with an omelette station and very pleasant staff. The Hilton Honors Gold benefit covered the cost of the meal. And the parking garage just down the block allowed for unlimited in-and-out after the hotel's front desk validated the parking ticket. Finally, the front desk happily accommodated my request for a 1 p.m. checkout, which is not guaranteed at Hilton properties. I realize that times are tough, that this hotel is rather inexpensively priced, and that Scranton is not some fancy destination. Nevertheless, this hotel room disappointed me in numerous respects, all of which would seem to have been easily avoidable -- make sure the bathroom is stocked with toilet paper, that the towels are clean and not smelly from being still dirty, etc. There are plenty of perfectly fine hotels nearby, such as the Fairfield Inn and SpringHill Suites (both Marriott properties) nearby at Montage Mountain, and next time I will be back staying at one of those.

The pickup and drop off by the hotel's shuttle was quite prompt and reliable. Which was a great start to the experience. However the front desk staff was a cold as the weather and the room. Eventually had maintenence fixed my heat. I really enjoyed the spirit of the season decor. But my highest point was the breakfast as well as the chef and the hostess at breakfast. Their customer service was awesome! I certainly would go back for that.

I spent four nights at The first room I was given was dirty. The heating vent was covered with grime, the furniture was dusty, and the carpet badly stained. Even the hallway had debris that needed to be cleaned up, and Housekeeping was there. I asked for another room. They kindly gave me room 701. It was quiet (there was a lare conference and at no time was it loud, or even noticeable), comfortable, and most importantly, clean. The bed was comfortable, and what I really appreciated was there were two levels of firmness of pillows, a firm one and one a bit softer (two of each). Traveling it is not always easy to have a pillow that is just right. With that being said...I think of Hilton as being a cut above of hotels, on that luxury level. It has the reputation of being "Hilton". And yet, in reality it is no different than most hotel rooms, nothing special. Same layout, same amenities. The gentleman in the bar was very kind to bring me ice cream when I needed something just a tad sweet. Thank you. The park on the corner was very much worth taking the time to walk to and read the various monuments. Nav Aug park is also in walking distance and well worth the walk. The neighborhood felt very safe.

I arrived in this downtown location and could not find a place to park to let me walk into the building to check in. There was a sigh that said “Hilton Parking- 100 feet”. I drove to the parking garage and the chain gate was closed and there was no way to enter the garage. I could not find any other place to park so I left the area and booked into another hotel. I’ve been a Hilton Honors member for years and stay in their hotels several times a year. I called and asked them to waive the cancellation penalty for no show explaining there was no place to park. No luck. They would not refund my money. I’m not happy about this as they closed their parking garage and I had no place to park. Stay away if you need to park a car. Poor customer relations on this one.

The staff here were extremely accommodating!! We ran out of dental floss and the front desk person found some for us. We also had a hangover in the morning and had a hankering for some apple sauce. There wasn’t any at the buffet, but Angela went in the kitchen to find some for us. Bravo to the staff!