Hilton, Swindon

Destination: Hilton Swindon, Swindon, England

Duration: June 22nd-24th 2004



Swindon, England

Swindon is a vibrant, lively town situated along the M4 corridor in the South of England. Entertainment, History, and Shopping can all be found in this bustling town, with such delights as the McArthurGlen Designer outlet store, Museum of the Great Western Railway and a beautiful countryside surrounding ...
...with excellent transport links running into the city, and is merely an hour away from the Capital, London


Swindon Hilton Hotel

The hotel is located minutes of Junction 16 of the M4, conveniently placed for easy access for business visits, and social/personal events. I was actually arriving at the hotel by car, with a friend of mine; as we were due to attend a 3 day Team Building event along with the other members ... more

Destination: Hilton Swindon, Swindon, England

Duration: June 22nd-24th 2004

Swindon, England

Swindon is a vibrant, lively town situated along the M4 corridor in the South of England. Entertainment, History, and Shopping can all be found in this bustling town, with such delights as the McArthurGlen Designer outlet store, Museum of the Great Western Railway and a beautiful countryside surrounding the town.

Reaching Swindon is very convenient with excellent transport links running into the city, and is merely an hour away from the Capital, London

Swindon Hilton Hotel

The hotel is located minutes of Junction 16 of the M4, conveniently placed for easy access for business visits, and social/personal events. I was actually arriving at the hotel by car, with a friend of mine; as we were due to attend a 3 day Team Building event along with the other members of our team.

Entering the car park becomes slightly confusing as the narrow turns, and busy area makes it slightly difficult to navigate into the parking spaces, but with this eventually down its easy to cross the car park and enter the main foyer of the hotel.

With the main foyer you have the reception area directly in front of you, with lifts and side door access to the 171 rooms of the right hand side. On the left the small bar area and larger seating area can be seen with the restaurant tucked away into the far corner. Approaching the reception desk we were greeted with a smile, despite them being rather busy, and were asked whether we wished to check in using credit card or cash. Checking in with a credit card brings only one advantage, and this is the use of the bar facilities after hours. Clients paying with cash are not allowed after 11pm this is designed to ensure that only paying hotel guests are using the late night facilities.

After checking in we waited in the seating area for a while, before being asked to move to the dedicated business floor. This has been provided by the Swindon Hotel, to allow privacy and space for business customers using the premises for meetings, conferences etc. We had been allocated a large meeting room, which consisted of standard chairs and tables, a projector, a nice welcoming supply of coffee, tea and biscuits. The room was air-conditioned and had a rather spacious feel to it.

There is also a dedicated business reception desk, which is there purely for clients assistance with any business requirements.

Accommodation
As we were at the Hilton on business we had elected to use the standard rooms. These were either double or twin bedrooms, depending on our individual requirements.

I had elected to choose a smoking room so was actually placed on the ground floor of the hotel, below the dedicated business floor. Several of my non-smoking colleagues were above the business floor, as they had elected not to have smoking rooms.

Despite it being a smoking room, there was no unpleasant smell within the room, and had obviously been cleaned only a few hours earlier. Standard accompaniments were provided, such as a bible, hairdryer, glasses, ashtray and several small brochures on the surrounding area, as well as information on the hotel itself. Also included was interactive television, Playstation games, high speed internet access and refreshments.

I found that the rooms were quite light and airy, but also had heavy curtains designed to block out all light filters, enabling a good nights sleep. The windows were also double glazed limited the amount of outside noise heard.

We paid GBP 75 per person, per room for our accommodation, and at the time were entitled to a 10% discount for a block booking. This was arranged directly by our companys personal travel agent. This also entitled us to a buffet breakfast in the morning, although despite my best efforts, the allure of the bar the night before prevented me actually making it to breakfast.

Check in time is from 3pm, whilst check out time is 12pm, regardless of your time of departure, although your luggage can be stored with reception if the need arises.

The Swindon Hilton also provides rooms for less-able guests, and when booking guests can choose such requirements as ground floor access, or near an elevator for example.

Restaurant and Bar

Situated to the left of reception is Minksys Bar. A small, well contained bar ideal for relaxing after a long day. Seating is plentiful but there is just about enough room in the surrounding areas to be comfortable. Drinks are quite expensive, as are most hotels, and we were paying upwards of GBP 2.50 for the majority of our alcoholic drinks. The service was very good and drinks were bought direct to the table once they had been ordered. As mentioned above however, the bar staff will not serve cash paying customers after 11pm, this is hotel policy, and designed to prevent non-guests abusing the bar privileges.

Behind Minksys bar is Minksys restaurant a buffet style restaurant. My colleagues and I had reserved a table at the restaurant, purely because there were a large number of us, but normal business guests will find spaces are available without the need for reservations. Again the service was good, however this time we were let down by the food available, and the quality of that food. My manager, who is a vegetarian, was left with barely anything to eat, apart from soup and salads, and whilst the rest of us had the choice of 3 meats for a roast dinner, found the accompaniments to the meal rather bland and tasteless.

The meal was reasonably priced, and came to around GBP 200 for 15 persons, although this soon increased when we approached the bar for a couple of after dinner drinks. I believe if memory serves correct, that I actually staggered into bed around 2am that night.

Living Well Facilities

If you are attending the Swindon Hotel for a social visit then you may wish to enquire into their Living Well Facilities. Here you are provided with indoor swimming pool, steam room, sauna and spa. Several of my colleagues ventured into the pool, and came back feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and actually commented on the warmth of the indoor pool.

Parking facilities

The hotel has around 170 car parking spaces, but unfortunately these are chargeable, after 2 hours (GBP 3.00), up to a maximum of 12 hours plus (GBP 24.00), however those attending the hotel as a conference delegate or hotel guest pay just GBP 3.00 per day/night.

Summary

The Swindon Hilton is a reasonably priced, conveniently located hotel, well placed for surrounding business needs. Although accommodation is standard, it is warm, clean and comfortable and provides the basic amenities for all concerned. I was pleased with the comfort of the bed and the room I was allocated, and although I didnt want to get up and leave, I think that was more due to go to bed around 2am that night.

I was disappointed with the restaurants buffet, however the meals provided during our team building conference was plentiful and quite tasty. These were all included within the price of booking the conference room, as was a continuous supply of tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes.

I was also a little surprised at the car-park maze, but once navigated isnt too bad to handle.

Overall, I would use the Swindon Hilton again, or one of the other hotels located within my surrounding area as I find them reasonably priced, welcoming and very convenient.

Further information

Swindon Hilton Hotel
Lydiard Fields
Great Western Way
Swindon
SN5 8UZ
United Kingdom

Telephone: 44 (0) 1793 881 777
Website: www.hilton.co.uk/swindon
 

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