We stayed at Hilton Palacio del Rio for 3 nights and we were drawn to it mainly because of its location. We were a little concerned about the reviews on here before we went but we found it to be a much more positive experience than we expected.
We arrived at the hotel before lunchtime and understandably, our room wasn't ready. We were offered a twin room instead but opted to wait for a king room so left our luggage for a couple of hours whilst we had a wander around the area and grabbed an early lunch. When we returned, our river view room was ready so we went straight up there. To our surprise, the room was very spacious and airy. The furnishings were comfortable and in keeping with the style of the area. We were really pleased to have a coffee maker as in our two previous 5 star hotels on the trip, we didn't have one! The balcony was great to sit out on and watch all of the activity on the Riverwalk below us. I was concerned that it might be a bit noisy and I had almost braced myself for sleepless nights there but it was perfectly fine and the extremely comfortable bed ensured that I slept very well. The main negative we found was the bathroom in that it was pretty small which seemed odd in a room of that size. It was functional and clean but didn't have much counter space or room to move around.
Our rate included breakfast and we had the buffet down in the Ibiza Patio restaurant. It was right on the Riverwalk and in a lovely setting. The breakfast was nice enough with lots of choice but not particularly outstanding. The day before we were due to leave, we spoke to the manager about what we could do for our last breakfast that we'd paid for, as we were leaving for the airport before the restaurant was due to open. She was very helpful and made a list of things that they would have available that early and that all we would have to do was ring room service the night before, explain it to them and they could deliver it and we could keep it in our fridge overnight ready for the following morning. That sounded perfect to us so we did just that and read out the list she gave us to room service later on, which included bagels and cream cheese, fruit, juices and yogurts etc. A few minutes later. somebody rang us back to tell us that we weren't allowed all of that food because it came to more than $25 per person which was the value of our breakfasts and that we would have to pay an extra $40!! I tried to explain that we were simply reading the list that the manager had given us and that we weren't too concerned with what we actually had, as long as we got to eat something before we went to the airport. I was then put on hold and after 10 minutes, cut off. I rang back again and spoke to the manager and tried my best to explain again that we didn't mind what we had, as they could decide what we could have to the value of our voucher and that would be fine. After 30 minutes of to-ing and fro-ing, it was eventually settled and we received 2 fruit platters, 2 bowls of Cornflakes with milk, 2 yogurts and some orange juice. That was more than enough for us and we were perfectly happy with that. We just couldn't understand why it had taken so long to sort out!!
Location wise, the hotel was perfect. It was right on the Riverwalk (there is a hotel entrance on Riverwalk level which only hotel guests can access by using a room key) and across the river (via a footbridge of course!) from the river boat tours. If our rate hadn't included breakfast. we probably wouldn't have eaten there- there are so many restaurants on the doorstep that you could almost fall over them! The Alamo was about a 10 minute (leisurely) walk and the Rivercenter Mall about the same. We did walk to El Mercado but it took a good 25 minutes which could be a little uncomfortable in very hot weather.
We found the staff to be pleasant and helpful (aside from the little room service hiccup!) and all in all, we had an enjoyable stay. The rooms could probably benefit from an upgrade in furnishing now as compared to other hotels in its catagory, it looks a little dated. However, it was clean, comfortable and perfectly functional and that was all we really needed.
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