Spark by Hilton Waldorf

Service quality: Staff members are friendly and professional, with check-in and check-out staff being super friendly

I stayed 2 nights at this Hilton Spark hotel for a work trip. It is run down and old with a paint job. The rooms do not have coffee or conditioner in the shower. My room did not have a hair dryer. When I called the front desk to request one, they asked me to come down to pick it up. I had just showered, so I asked for it to be delivered. The person who delivered it seemed put out. Breakfast is free, but this consists of cereal and oatmeal packets. No fruit or protein. There is no elevator, only stairs, so for disabled or older people this could be a deal breaker. There is no mention of this on the website. And, it is close to a busy intersection, I could hear traffic constantly. Thankfully I packed earplugs. Very, very disappointing. I cannot believe Hilton would put their name and brand on this place.

Upon arriving at the property, I noticed how the appearance of the place was not good. It was dirty looking from the time I saw it. I arrived at night and there were people hanging out in the parking area playing music (not family friendly music), drinking and smoking (the green stuff and yes you could really smell it). In my opinion, that's not a good look. It gives the appearance of people loitering and that could deter guest from coming. In fact, we didn't get our luggage out the car because we wanted to get inside as we were not sure about those people hanging around. The next morning, as I was going to the car to get our luggage, I noticed that the grounds had trash and liter that had not been picked up and disposed of. There were cigarette butts, beer bottles and cans, plastic red cups, etc. in the parking area and grass area. There were people working on vehicles (literally with the cars jacked up, tool boxes, etc.) This is not a good look for a business to have in my opinion. However, I just grabbed my luggage and went back to the room. The room was spacious. However, you could tell that it was not cleaned. In fact, it was as if they only cleaned places that was common. The lamps were dirty and dusty. Parts of the desk/dresser was dirty and dusty. The TV hadn't been cleaned and dusted. The inside of the refrigerator and microwave were dirty and I had to clean them the best that I could. The carpet hadn't been vacuumed thoroughly because there were crumbs and little paper pieces on the carpet that was clearly visible when I walked into the room. The carpet is very old by the looks of it and probably should be replaced or at least kept as clean as possible. The sofa in my room was old and would sink in when I sit on it. Perhaps it's time to let it go. The breakfast is just ok. It's nothing to write home about. The menu was standard for these types of hotels (fake eggs folded, sausage patties, cold potatoes, etc.) The problem was how it was executed. The equipment used to serve breakfast was old. The serving dishes holding the food had stains on it and cracks. If you are like me and expect things to look good and well kept, then you wouldn't like this breakfast for that reason alone. The staff was nice and very helpful. They greeted me upon arrival and spoke with me as if we were old friends. I like that type of service especially these days. Overall, I don't know if I would stay here again. However, If I did decide to go back, they would need to address these issues and correct them. I'm not saying that we were in any danger, but I would like my family to FEEL safe when arriving to a hotel property. I would most certainly have them thoroughly clean my room before I officially check in and I would just go out for breakfast if they can't do any better than what they did.