Hilton Garden Inn - Johns Creek

Elite '09

734

525

Grace K.

San Francisco, CA

12/4/2007 3 photos

I love hotels.  They make me happy.  Checking in and going up to my room just makes me happy.
Staying at a hotel usually means a variety of things:

1.  You're traveling.  I love traveling, so this is good.  You're some place new, and about to do new and exciting things, hopefully.
2.  You're going to be at a place where you don't have to clean your own room.  Cool toiletries, and every day, your "residence" is cleaned for you, like brand spankin' new and fresh, and you didn't have to do a thing except maybe leave a tip.
3.  Vacation-time.  OK, sometimes, you're somewhere for work, but even then, it's not the same place, different day.  Same work, maybe - but different location.  Like I said, new is good.
4.  Room Service:  Yeah, I know the food is not always stellar, but anything that allows me to eat while watching TV in bed is good in my book.  Just seeing those metal covers on my plates brings a smile to my face.  Hot coffee in a pot delivered by a guy in a black vest does my heart good.

Being a hotel freak - - I usually opt to stay at the best.  The extra cost is worth it to me, and it is usually accompanied by extras like good service or other amenities.
Starwood Hotels - good.
Hiltons - - sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

Well, I was visiting a friend of mine in Georgia and wanted to be close to her home location, which happened to be in a city called Duluth.  This being my first visit to the state of Georgia, I didn't know what to expect, but finding a Starwood at this location left me slim choices - - so I checked out the Hilton site.
I found one that offered a deal that was hard to beat - and booked it.  It is actually a "Hilton Garden Inn", so I lowered my expectations and figured I wouldn't be spending anything but sleep time in my room, unlike other times when I vegetate in my room for hours just because I want to.  

This hotel is actually located in an area called "Johns Creek" of Duluth - at the corner of Medlock Bridge Rd and McGinnis Ferry Rd.  Whether or not that is central to Duluth or not, I never did figure out because that city is so widespread, or so it seems.  Within a mile drive in any direction, there were plenty of fast food joints, small and large restaurants, stores, etc. which was convenient for me.  I had rented a car so getting to these places was not difficult.  A drive to Buckhead of Atlanta was a mere 20+ minutes, no traffic.

Checking in - the staff was extremely friendly and polite, and they gave me a "jacuzzi room" with a good view to the front of the hotel.  Well, as good of a view as you can get from 5 floors up, which was their top floor.  The room itself was really big and clean, with dual vanity sinks in the bathroom and a large tub, good showerhead with good water pressure.  Closet space was ample, as was drawer space - - large television, 2 phones, a huge desk, a rather nice bed (though it was no Heavenly Bed but I wasn't paying Heavenly Prices either, so this was great), a small seating area with ottoman, and nice lighting throughout.  In addition to this, one great perk of the hotel was FREE WIRELESS INTERNET throughout the ENTIRE hotel - - - did I mention FREE?  Not just that, but it was also worked perfectly throughout my entire stay.  Major points for the hotel.

Conveniently, there is a small corner reserved for "store items" including essential toiletries you might have forgotten, and snack items.  They have a good selection of soft drinks available in that corner also, and you just pick and choose what you need, show the front desk and they will just add it to your room bill.  From the hours of 6-10AM or so, they offer a pretty nice breakfast in the lobby - - some hot items like scrambled eggs, to other cold breakfast items.  Considering I came back to the hotel during breakfast time on most mornings, haha - - I took a peek but never did get a chance to eat it.  I believe the front desk mentioned that it was $9.99, also added to your room bill.  During the late afternoon, they offer a very well-stocked bar where you can help yourself to drinks (make your own) - show  the front desk, and again, it's added to your room bill.  Free coffee and tea 24/7.

There were two elevators available - both worked perfectly with minimal wait-time.
There's a pool but obviously not in use during my visit this past weekend since it was quite cold.
Parking was always easy, with many, many spaces available.
An additional plus was that unlike other hotels - - a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign placed on the door actually worked.  Nobody ever bothered me unless I took it off, and on one day - - housekeeping left a bag of new towels, toiletries, etc. outside my door for my convenience, since I hadn't left the hotel before housekeeping did.  Nice gesture.

All in all, this particular Hilton Garden Inn was impressive on all counts.  No room service = 4 stars, but you can't beat the quality and price combo!  Officially IMPRESSED!

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