For this week’s review, I’m going to highlight a somewhat random hotel that I stayed at for one night a few months ago. The hotel in question is the Hilton Garden Inn in Camden, NJ, which is right across the river from Philadelphia. I think the main reason people stay at this hotel is either to get a cheaper rate than in Philadelphia proper, because of work obligations in the office park around the hotel, or to go to the aquarium.
Before we start the review, if there’s one takeaway that everyone should know before going, apparently you shouldn’t drink the water at the hotel. It tastes bad, and the front desk even said so. So yeah, not an auspicious way to start a review.
Hilton Garden Inns are not the most luxurious of the various Hilton brands, but I have found them to be remarkably consistent during my recent stays. So at this point, I do actually seek them out if the price is right!
The amenities
The only amenity to speak of at this Hilton Garden Inn is a gym. The room is actually very spacious and contains a substantial amount of cardio equipment:
And additionally several weight machines:
The amount of equipment is decent, but the space feels a bit underutilized. That being said, it was actually great to have a gym this spacious, and my room was about 4 steps from the gym, which was great for me as well!
The room
I hadn’t stayed in a Garden Inn in the United States in many years, so my only basis for the room was the Garden Inn at Heathrow (where I stayed before my BA First flight last year), and this room was huge by comparison. Admittedly, that’s true for most hotel rooms in the United States compared to Europe, but still. There was a king sized bed, a sitting area, a desk, and a large TV. In addition, there was an open closet with a full length mirror:
And a bathroom with great lighting options and a large glass shower.
The room’s carpets also don’t have the gross almost wet, almost sticky feeling that some other cheap hotels have, so that’s a big win in my opinion. (That weird type of cheap carpet is why I avoid Springhill Suites in particular) I was very impressed with the room; it felt way more modern than most lower tier hotels.
The food
The Garden Inn offers an a-la-carte breakfast, and the various options were simple and reasonably priced. The $20 food and beverage credit offered from my Hilton Gold status covered a bagel and an order of waffles.
Neither option could be considered properly “gourmet” by any stretch, but they were on par with what you’d expect to get at an lower tier hotel. And a lot of the time, a bagel is all that I need (though admittedly, it’s hard to compare this free bagel and cream cheese with the free smoked salmon bagel that I had at the Thompson in DC).
Elite benefits and recognition
I have Hilton Gold Status (which I actually did qualify for directly this year, but I also get it from my Amex Platinum card). At Hilton Garden Inns, Gold Status offers you: (1) 80% bonus points; (2) $10/day * 2 food and beverage credits; (3) potential late checkout; (4) a potential room upgrade.
The bonus points posted correctly, as did the credits. I also did get late check-out, but I didn’t get a room upgrade. That’s really all I expect these days, and I don’t think Garden Inns really have much in the way of upgraded rooms.
Summary and score
In summary, I actually did really enjoy the hotel, minus the weird water situation. I’m unclear if that’s a problem everywhere in Camden or just the hotel. The room itself was great (5/5), and everyone we interacted with was great as well (5/5). They weren’t “polished” in the traditional sense, but you don’t need that at a Garden Inn. The food was just normal (3/5), but the gym was pretty good for a hotel on the cheaper end (4/5). Garden Inns (and Hilton generally) don’t promise a lot in benefits, but they do consistently deliver them, which is all I ask (5/5). Overall, this hotel gets a solid 22/25.
