DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirsk Review
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The DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirskrecently opened in 2010 and is located just a block off Lenin Square - the starting point for pretty much all the things to do in Novosibirsk.
The hotel looks brand new and the 'hard product' looks fantastic when you enter the lobby. Check-in was very friendly and the attendant was fluent in English.
I also really liked the room - it wasn't big, buthada big bathroom complete with bathtub and separate rain shower. The bed and linen were of awesome quality.
I really wanted to like this hotel, and with the first impressions beingawesome, what could go wrong?
For starters, the shower was more a drizzle - such a beautiful rain shower, but you have to first reach through cold water to get it started and once it is warm, it is just atrickle. Gosh - why? The toiletries were never replaced during my stay. The room always looked nice, but new toiletries is more important.
When checking in, I also got a personal welcome note and three bottles of water. Nice touch, but the water was also neverreplaced on any of the other nights.
The hotel offers free internet at 384kb (which is too slow!) to all guests and a premium internet of 4Mbit for a charge (I could not find out if Gold and Silver would get free premium internet, but presumed so). I fellback to Hilton Silver in March myself, so I need to get a proper Hilton status again.
While I was fine with the slow internet, I upgraded to the premium version for the last day of my stay and itconstantly went down. Out of 24 hours, it worked maybe for two hours. I called down to the front desk and my call was answered with, "What's your problem?" There was no hello and no discussion. I'm sure the front desk actually wanted to help, but it came across as plain rude. Upon checkout, I explained 'the problem' again and the agent agreed to take it off my charges.
I was looking forward to breakfast and the restaurant looked fantastic. Too bad that the breakfast service would not speak a word of English. Well, I would find an option I liked by myself. The buffet was well-presented - in fact it looked perfect! - but the quality of food was horrific. I had a similar experience at the DoubleTree Stonetown, Zanzibar). The items looked good, but the food was just inedible. I started skipping breakfast entirely at the DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirsk by day 3. Oh, well.
The gym is a small room with a couple of cardio machines, but the hotel also features a small pool and sauna.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirsk was available for just $36 for several dates and for that price I will always go back and overlook those weaknesses. The rude service and the horrible breakfast would bother me more if I was paying$100+ (which is still cheap!!!) The location and the hardware are both great, but the service is just ridiculous and the food still makes me wish I hadnever touched it.
You can book the DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirsk here.
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