I have so many good things to say about this hotel that I will just start at the beginning! My husband and I traveled from Nassau, Bahamas for a computer training course that was being held at the Hilton Garden Inn Midtown, Phoenix, Arizona in January 2007. We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel on Sunday afternoon. The check in was very pleasant and easy. We went to our room and unpacked and unwound after our long day of traveling. The room was very clean and had all the amenities we needed for our 4 night stay (which they replenished everyday). We had a very pleasant night sleep that night.
The next morning we went to the gym that the hotel has access to. It was very nice because instead of it being a small "room" with only a few pieces of equipment they have an arrangement with a local full service gym that is attached to the hotel. The people there were very pleasant and the facility was very clean (note: you have to present your ID as well as your room key and you have to have a room key for each person wishing to use the ). After our work out we went back to the room and got ready for the day. The bathroom amenities they give you are Neutrogena and are very nice. Shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, sewing kit, soap and a shower cap. It is very nice quality stuff. My husband went to class and I went to the breakfast buffet there in the hotel. The food was very good and they had pretty much anything you could want for breakfast. I was very impressed.
Over the course of the next few days we went to several of the area restaurants with in walking distance and one night we used the hotel's shuttle service to take us to The Biltmore shopping area where we walked around a bit and then went to dinner.
The shuttle service was very convenient and the driver was very friendly. He was a little late picking us up, but it was not that long.
During our stay at the HGI we did not encounter one single rude or unfriendly person. My husband made a comment to one of the ladies who were setting out the refreshments for his computer course that he liked the tomato juice they had given them on the first day but he did not see it on the 2nd day. She informed him that it was put out on the first day by mistake, that they did not normally serve that. The next day when he went down to class there was tomato juice there again. Only this time it was not put out by mistake! The lady he had spoken to put it out there because he had stated that he liked it. To me, that is great customer service.
On our last day my husband had his last day of class which was to last until 6:00pm. Our flight was not until midnight that night so I had a lot of time to kill. We asked at the front desk what time checkout was and they told us noon. Before we even had a chance to ask for a late check out she asked us what time our flight was and when we told her she arranged for us to have the room until 1:00. At 1:00 we had them hold our luggage for us. I parked myself in their very cozy lounge and plugged in my computer where I occupied myself for the rest of the day. There is a TV there in the lounge so I was able to keep myself entertained. Oh, and the free wireless internet access through out the hotel comes in very handy!
Even though we had already checked out the hotel made reservations for us at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for 7:15 that evening and also arranged for their free shuttle to drop us to dinner and pick us up again at 8:30 that night to bring us back to the hotel. They then made arrangements for a shuttle service to pick us up from the hotel and take us to the airport to catch our flight. Considering we had already checked out, this was way above and beyond our expectations.
Just when we thought they could not get any nicer one of the front desk employees had overheard that our flight was not until midnight that night and offered for us to hang out in one of their rooms until we were ready to go the airport. Wow! We declined the offer since we really only had a couple of hours before we were going to dinner and I was very comfortable in their lounge watching TV and writing this review on my computer. (yes, I'm still here in the lounge while I am writing this, I did not want to take any chances on forgetting anything when I went home!).
Overall, I have to say this is one of the best hotel stays I have ever experienced. I don't know if or when we will ever be back in this area but if we ever are we will definitely stay here. There are a lot of hotels in the world who could learn quite a few things from the staff here. The things they did for us might have seemed like little things to them but they were huge to us. If you are considering staying here I highly recommend it. The only downside is that there is not very much to do or see with in walking distance. So if you do come and you want to explore Phoenix then I do recommend renting a car. But if you only want to go a few places then I recommend the shuttle service they offer (it will take you with in 5 miles of the hotel).