The Corona Way: Hilton Garden Inn Seville One Bedroom Suite Review

I will be first spending 2 nights in Seville before collecting my rental car. Hotel prices were thru the roof in Seville given that I am here during the New Year Day period. I am surprised by the lack of Hilton properties in Seville and the only option is the Hilton Garden Inn which is in the middle of the airport and the city. The location is certainly not ideal for tourists although you have some nearby shops and eateries and 2 to 3 supermarkets nearby. It is a distance to the city centre. There is a bus and the bus stop is just a short distance away but getting a Uber might be easier and quicker. Rides are under 10 euros and it might be a bargain if you are a Hilton loyalist to just stay here and commute. It depends on your itinerary. 

Booking Process & Pre Arrival 

I had a total of 2 nights and did a mixture of cash booking and points. I paid a total of 130 SGD and 20,000 points for my stay. The points sure came in handy as rates were very expensive on New Year’s Eve. A couple of days out, the hotel reach out to offer me an upgrade to one of their One Bedroom Suite which was certainly a nice touch since HGI is a brand that does not have to offer upgrades. This suite would have normally cost 154 Euros during my stay. Hilton Garden Inn Seville features 138 guest rooms and suites spread across 5 categories. You can find the breakdown below. 

Rooms	Bathtub	Room Size	No.of Rooms
Twin	Maybe	24 Sqm	48
Queen	Maybe	24 Sqm	29
King	Maybe	24 Sqm	53
Double Queen	Yes	32 Sqm	6
One Bedroom Suite	Yes	55 Sqm	2

Checking In

I arrive rather early in the morning after my flight. The hotel looks pretty new at least from the lobby. It was quite busy despite the early hour. The staff working the check in counters were not polished and it was not a smooth check in. First, she took a long time before finding my reservation and then she is not very good at communicating in English which leads to me keep repeating and repeating myself.

My room was not ready when I arrived at 9.45am which was fair and it will only be ready in an hour. I was then given 2 bottles of water for being a Diamond member. The lobby was decent and by the side, you have a little area where you can get some items if necessary such as snacks and water at mark up prices. 

One Bedroom Suite 

I was assigned one of the 2 suites that they have in the hotel! Both of them are on the second floor. I was assigned suite 201 just off the corner of the lift. It measures 55 Sqm. I certainly welcome the additional space. This is a full suite although it felt more like an apartment. It seems to have been converted by merging two rooms. 

Upon entering you have a small entryway before it splits to the left and straight ahead. On the left this is where you can find the living room area, this is the more spacious one of the two spaces. You have a full bathroom here which is almost a replica of the one in the bedroom. It comes with a shower and tub combo, a common sight in older Hiltons properties. Toiletries provided are from Crabtree and Evelyn. I appreciate having a half bath or in this case a full bath since it helps when hosting guests over. 

The living room comes with a wardrobe which I made useful by storing my outerwear here. I love having a space near the entrance where I can just grab my jacket before leaving the room. Inside you can find an ironing set, a luggage rack as well as a couple of hangers.

The living room is spacious and consists of an L shape sofa set that can seat 3-4 people comfortably around a coffee table.

You also have a long working desk that stretches alongside the wall. The most amazing hardware of the room here can be found here which is the Herman Miller chair which is definitely great for working. The wifi in the suite is easy to connect and fast. There is a pretty good size TV here. You can also find some packaged tea and coffee alongside a kettle. A mini fridge can be found in the cabinet below which is left empty for your use. 

Heading straight you will enter the bedroom, it is smaller than the living room and here you have a bathroom as well and the main difference is that this comes with a bidet toilet. The water pressure and temperature control are bad and I hate the tub and shower combo as well as the showering curtains. I do hope that they refresh and touch up some areas soon. You can find a hairdryer underneath the sink and I am happy to see that it is a good quality kind.

The king bed is in the middle of the room and I love that it is on the firmer side. I had a good rest. You can find nightstands flanking on both sides of the bed and outlets can be found here as well as the lighting for the rooms. I do wish that the room can be brighter, the lights are insufficient.

By the side of the bed, you can find an armchair. The suite doesn’t have much of a view given how low it sits and simply faces the nearby buildings. 

In the room, you have another work desk as well as a much smaller TV. There is a nice selection of cable tv channels but the quality of the screen is poor. Here you can find another minibar set too. The funny thing is you can’t find a trash bin in both the living and the bedroom.

Pool

The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool and this is only open during the summer period. I do have to say that Seville actually have a rather mild winter and it was blazing hot in the afternoon.

Fitness Centre

The fitness centre is located in the basement and is open 24 hours. During my stay then, you have to make a reservation to use it because of covid. It is on the basic side. A good place to get in a workout or a run in the middle of your travels. It comes with all the usual and necessary pieces of gym equipment that you might need.

Breakfast at Garden Grill

Breakfast is served in Garden Grill Restaurant. This is the typical restaurant for Hilton Garden Inn. Breakfast is served from 7am to 11am. The restaurant is located just by the lobby and you have free seatings.

The selection was decent and it is served buffet style. You can find both cut and whole fruits, cold cuts, cheese and cereals. There is also a good selection of pastries.

For hot offerings, you can find some sausages, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon and mushrooms. 

Drinks-wise they have some sort of coffee machine, juices and packaged tea. 

The breakfast was alright but nothing stand out. Items are not delicious and of low quality. The sausages were awfully disgusting. The pastries are good and the fruits. I love the cold cuts as well. This is one breakfast that you could skip, points might be the better idea here. 

Conclusion

A decent stay, at least for the price I paid it was excellent value. I was staying here during the  very peak period. It is nice to be extended an upgrade to one of their two suites given that upgrades are not exactly a benefit of the brand. Excellent elite treatment and recognition. Sometimes you do have to wish over staying loyal to a brand or better offerings that are nearer to the city centre. I do wish that the front office agent can be more polished. I do expect staff to be able to understand basic English when staying in a US international chain hotel. I might just try out another hotel in the city centre when I am ever back in Seville. You can’t fault much for a HGI and a property that cost around 60-70 euros a night in the normal season! The hotel used to provide a shuttle pre covid so it does seem to see if that will be back! I won’t mind if there is a direct shuttle to the city centre. That will change my rating.