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Hilton Dresden

Florian Buechting Hotels & Accommodation No Comments

Hilton Dresden

117.40 EUR
Hilton Dresden
3.8

Rating

 3.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great location
  • Beautiful (but a bit of outdated) spa area

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Stressed staff with lack of attention
  • A bit too old-fashioned
  • Weird breakfast

The Nacht der Gitarren concert series with Jim Kimo West took me to quite some nice places in late 2023. I had two nights in Dresden to visit the show there. For my stay, I chose the only Hilton option which is currently available in town, the Hilton Dresden. There was a rather wide range of thoughts about this place in my frequent traveling contacts, so that I felt that – apart from the points and status support – it was a good opportunity to have some own thoughts. Here is my review.

 

Hilton Dresden – Location

It is definitely hard to argue against the location of Hilton Dresden. It is indeed at the heart of the city. The famous Frauenkirche is simply next to it and there are several interesting museums and key attractions of the city in short walking distance. There are several nice dining options around and the shopping district is also just a few steps away.

The great location comes with a downside if you arrive or depart from the hotel, though. Quite a majority of the streets around are cobblestone pavements. Tus, if you have more luggage, you will likely go for a taxi to connect to one of the national rail stations, Dresden Main Station or Dresden Neustadt (on the opposite side of River Elbe). The next tram stop is Altmarkt, which is unfortunately not connected to the main station without transfer. The best option for that is Dresden-Synagoge, where two lines have direct connections to the main travel hub. From the train stations, commuter rail S2 also connects to Dresden Airport, which is some ten kilometers away from the hotel.

 

Hilton Dresden – Room

I had a two night stay in early November 2023, Friday to Sunday. The rate for two nights, refundable, for a standard room was 234.79 EUR including city tax. My Hilton Honors Diamond status granted free breakfast and lead to an upgrade to the Executive Floor. The room had a good size. The room design was a bit of traditional, but rather functional. The desk was quite nice and there was sufficient power supply to work and recharge my equipment.

Whole I would still rate the living and sleeping are as “traditional”, the old Hilton room design is simply not that attractive any more. The cleanliness of the room was fine, though. Amenities were given in dispensers and the combined shower and bathtub got its job done, even though it was a bit of slippery.

 

Hilton Dresden- Executive Lounge

In general, Hilton Dresden offers an Executive Lounge. From outside, the lounge also looks rather cozy and spacious. However, during my stay (I wouldn’t see beginning of November als a key travel period…) they felt to be afraid that the demand will break the capacities of the lounge. Thus, they offered lounge service in the same room I had breakfast he first day in. More space, less atmosphere. On top of that the staff loved to have meetings and discussions in that room, which was rather bothering. The “proper” lounge seems to be used on weekdays, though.

 

Hilton Dresden – Breakfast

I heard quite a lot of strange things about breakfast for Hilton Honors members, but the whole setup at Hilton Dresden in the morning was weird. Their ground floor restaurant does not have the capacity to accommodate all guests in the morning. Thus, there was a sign suggesting that you have to go to the ground floor to the other restaurant for breakfast. There, you should ideally get the same as on the ground floor from a buffet located in front of the lounge and the upper level restaurant.You could have a seat in both places, in case you had lounge access. Unfortunately, the two services were simply not the same. For example, egg dishes made on request were only available on ground floor. There were also some healthy options which you could not get next to the lounge.

I tried out the upper floor option on the first morning and lower floor on the second one. While the first morning was bothering with rather long walks, the staff on the lower floor was quite disrespectful. Even though I did not spend that much time for breakfast, they crossed my way right in front of me several times. Furthermore, there were some really weird things, which made you feel that they don’t really love to be hosts out there in Dresden. The second last picture shows three different kinds of cheese, one on top of the other. I just cannot understand how these things can happen on a Hilton Hotel – you of course had no chance to grab a slice from one of the two lower layers. At least, there was omelette made to order – even though it was at most an average one.

 

Hilton Dresden – Spa / Sports

Even though the pool and spa area does look a bit outdated as well as the hotel, it is in fact one of the gems of the hotel. There are some sauna facilities, a major pool and – especially – and outdoor whirlpool. As the latter one is surrounded with parts of the building, you do have a lot of privacy and can enjoy the stars in the sky in the heart of Dresden. That’s really nice. The gym, which also allows locals to buy a membership is rather large (or a hotel gym, not compared to proper gyms) and looks more modern.

 

Hilton Dresden – Service

Checkin-in at the Hilton Dresden did not really work out well. My experience was in line with what I wrote about second day breakfast: I did not feel fully welcome. I had to wait rather long in line, also because the guests before me had obviously explored rather long lines the days before and now wanted to got some services done for the following days of their stay. I would also not see the wording I see that you are Hilton Honors Diamond Member (nothing more…) as an act of appreciating my loyalty. You see that so much better in several other outlets.

I liked the sigh in the elevator advertising dining options outside the hotel. It states Here you can feel comfortable – I still question whether that should indicate a lack of comfort at the Hilton Dresden? There were technical issues with the WiFi and I was told that they will not charge me for standard WiFi (which would be 7 EUR per day…). However, as a Diamond Member, I am of course entitled to use premium WiFi for free (which I finally did and which worked out without charging).

Before check-out a couple with a stroller for their kids just could not make it to the reception, as the management of the three elevators is a bit of lame and strange (sometimes, they just passed without stopping) and the elevators were always packed on fifth floor already. My check-out went smoothly and was also much more friendly than my reception experience two days before.

 

Hilton Dresden – My View

Wow, the hotel is coming with such an amazing location. The interior is a bit too outdated, I feel, but still the hotel has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, you too often felt that the staff is stressed and also too poorly coordinated. It felt to me that the hotel management is not realizing that they are operating a potential gem of hospitality. The rating of this hotel should definitely be higher than my experience finally has been.

 

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