vicarious_MR'er

I truly enjoyed the Hilton Toronto lounge. Not only did they have a great view, but the decor was excellent, it was spacious, and the space was utilized very smartly to allow for people who wanted to sit aside and discuss business, people who wanted to use the internet terminals, people who wanted to stretch out and watch the flat-screen TV, and people who wanted to sit on the couches by the fireplace and socialize.

The staff was great, too. I was there to see the Red Sox against Toronto in September, and the Patriots happened to be playing, too. We were watching the Pats game in the lounge, and the lounge assistant heated us all up cups of warm nuts to munch while we watched the game (to go with the nice beer selection on offer!).

Very welcoming place, and very accommodating to lounge-goers of all types!

nollag

Just come home from the Hilton Antwerp.

Despite the no smoking signs, people were just puffing away, and on
New Yrs Eve evening, there was a big hoard of teenage boys in there smoking, drinking, and coughing over the snacks like it was going out of fashion.

smithrh

OK, I'll chime in for a few....

Hilton San Francisco - nice staff, no attitude from anyone, AWESOME view, decent snacks (cheese puffs, chicken tenders, that sort of thing). This is from just a few weeks ago - no issues with access in the least.

Hilton Madison (Wisconsin) - also nice staff, decent kibble. (A couple of years ago they were kind enough to open the lounge up during a football game that was being rained on heavily. They even offered to bring up room service, which we took them up on. Made a miserable day very nice in the end. Kudos!)

Hilton Charlotte (Downtown) - Very relaxing and nice overall.

Hilton Charlotte (University) - Friendly staff, also nice overall.

Hilton Minneapolis Airport - Room was a bit small but not terribly so. Didn't stay long, had places to go, people to meet etc.

MilesTalk

Has to be one of the best in North America.

Also see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130675

nollag

Thumbs up:
Hilton Beijing - great lounge, and wonderful food. Good selection of booze
Hilton Istanbul - good louge, if a little dated, and the b'fast selection is poor, but the view is amazing

Thumbs down:
Hilton Antwerp - good food selection, but the non-smoking signs are largely ignored

silver springer

I will give thumbs up to both Hilton Buenos Aires and Conrad Bangkok--both had great lounges. The Conrad Bangkok is my favorite hotel and I am spoiled by the service--I special order omelets and lattes in the morning and enjoy the drinks, appetizers and snacks in the evening. There is no competition any more for computers despite the fact that the lounge now has more, as all executive floor rooms have free internet.

Nice food and good service at Buenos Aires. I loved my glass of malbec wine and snacks in the evening.

WindShear

The website now says..."Alcoholic beverages in the Executive Lounge are not complimentary." Anyone visited lately? When did this happen?

mikey1003

Also, (I haven't been there in a year) there were two separate sections...across the hall from each other...Smokers and non-smoking

Charlotte University Hilton has a very nice lounge
Ocala, Fl is very nice

isdoo

Most executive lounges have been good in my experience - Conrad in Singapore, Hilton in Sydney etc...

However I wish these hotels would impose some sort of restriction on children.

I have two young children of my own, but would not allow them to run wild in the executive lounge (Hilton in Malta comes to mind)

People go into the lounge often to have meetings and relax, and the last thing they need is to go into a playground.

DCBob

That one is called the Hilton Washington and the one downtown is called the Capital Hilton.

Fraser

It does?

I like the duplex feel and the view is alright but the offerings were a tad lame last time I was there.

tshep

I think the KL Hilton has a nice lounge. I've stayed there twice. The first time, the service was quite underwhelming, especially during evening cocktails when the lounge was packed. The root of the problem seemed to be 2 very efficient, friendly staff with the rest (probably 5 or 6 others) just hanging around chatting with empty glasses and plates in front of them. This lounge is quite big with two sections, separated by the corridor to other suites/rooms. On the second stay, the service was a bit better but we had to sit in the smoking section because it was so crowded. The food offerings at breakfast and in the evenings were quite extensive. The KL Hilton is very glitzy and could easily pass off as a Conrad in my opinion. The rooms are quite nice (even the standard ones) and to be honest, trump the ones at the GH Tokyo which have a similar design.

Another good lounge is at the Conrad Bangkok. We were there just after a refurbishment during the recent coup and it was very very quiet. According to the staff, a number of people had cancelled/postponed their trip. The service was quite patchy. There seemed to be two teams of staff which alternated day/evening shifts and one of the teams had consistently inattentive staff. The other team was just great, always making conversation and giving suggestions on places to visit. Ludi (the floor manager) was brilliant and helped us plan our itinerary when we checked in.

Osaka Hilton has the smallest and least impressive-looking lounge of the three (being the oldest) but the staff are the best that I've ever encountered and that goes for all the hotel staff, not just the ones on the Executive floor. Even the housekeeping staff greeted us with a cheery "Ohayo" in the mornings and that makes such a difference. We wanted to visit a monkey park in Kyoto but weren't able to get details in English from the web. We mentioned this to the lounge staff and they got back to us with printouts of maps and instructions on how to get there (all translated of course). Nothing was too much trouble and this was the only lounge of the three which had Moet. As with the Conrad Bangkok, staff actually took time to make conversation and proactively offered sightseeing information.

JDiver

Hilton San Francisco Financial District - crowded, weird design of an afterthought.

Bluehen1

I love the Singapore Conrad's lounge. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take advantage of it this stay... but, the hotel will pay for a continental breakfast delivered to your room if you're leaving early for the US.

By comparison, the Singapore Hilton's was weak. Easily one of the worst executive lounges for breakfast that I've ever visited. No cooked foods at breakfast.

The Hanoi Hilton Opera was great. It's a nice spacious lounge with a separate smoking area. The wireless internet works better in the lounge than in the rooms. A good choice of food for both breakfast and cocktail hour. It was a bit busy last week, but not too bad.

squeeler

Agree entirely. One warning - there was a letter in my room offering free breakfast at the fancy downstairs restaurant. I went down there and the maitre de' persuaded me to go to the exec lounge. I think the breakfast would have been better downstairs and the price was the same!