Hilton Austin in Austin

I stayed at this hotel last month during the Austin Marathon weekend, when the property was bringing in travelers from all over the country. Unfortunately, within minutes of arriving, I experienced something I have never encountered in my many years of traveling at any Hilton property or hotel brand.

While I was standing in the lobby area near the front desk, a man who was already sitting comfortably in the lobby chairs began aggressively speaking abusive language at me. This individual was not a hotel guest. He directed extremely hostile remarks toward me, including telling me to “go kill myself” along with other explicit insults. It was shocking and incredibly unsettling to experience something like this immediately upon arrival in a hotel lobby.

I quickly informed the front desk staff about what was happening. By the time they attempted to address the situation, the man had taken some of my bags and sprinted out the door. Despite the hotel claiming to have security, there was not a single security guard present in the lobby during the entire incident.

For a hotel hosting families, runners, and travelers visiting for a major event weekend, the lack of visible security and immediate response in a situation like this is deeply concerning and unacceptable.

The hotel did comp one night of my stay and provided food vouchers, which I appreciate. However, compensation does not change the fact that my sense of safety was compromised within minutes of arriving.

Hotels are supposed to provide comfort and security for their guests. In this case, both were threatened immediately. While the rooms themselves are nice, guests should also be aware that the property can be quite loud, with music and noise carrying through the building. Additionally, the elevators were extremely slow causing long lines and wait times of 5-10 minutes.

I sincerely hope Hilton reviews the security procedures at this property so no other guest has to experience something like this.

There were over a thousand people at least at this venue this week. They have five main hotels and three or four service elevators. Over the course of two days, most of the elevators were out of order. Lines for the elevator exceeded a half an hour wait one way. Sometimes the buttons didn't work at all. This was, just because of the elevator experience, the worst hotel stay I have had in my entire life. It made my time in Austin a lot more frustrating. We ran into residents who live at the hotel who said most of the hotels have been non-operational for four weeks. Are you kidding me? I usually have stellar experiences with Hilton. I usually recommend them. I may never stay at Hilton again after this nightmare. I will likely not be the only individual who complains about this obscene oversight by this hotel either. Like I said, it was a booked hotel. Four events. Typically one working elevator for twenty-something floors. Do not let this happen again and likely avoid this hotel for the foreseeable future until they get their act together. It's in a great location and was otherwise a decent stay but lol I would never recommend because of how terrible the elevator situation was.

I will be honest, it was the worst hotel experience I ever had.

No parking available or any valet parking when I got there. It took over 45 minutes to check us in after struggling to find parking in a parking garage that is completely full. No elevators worked, I get to my room after waiting forever for the elevator and then there is no microwave and am told to go back down to floor 1. I can't even get down 15 flights without walking up and down.

Next day still no elevator use and had to walk 15 flights and after running a marathon go back up 15 flights of stairs and then back down again with all my luggage as well. I wasn't even the only one, tons and tons of families are all forced to do the same thing.