Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my f...
Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my first litter of labs - moved house - guess I had better work on catching up now!
Member since:20.03.2001
Reviews:275
Members who trust:170
Getting hotels in the Milton Keynes area is neither easy nor cheap. The majority of reasonably priced outlets are usually booked up weeks ahead, and the major chains are more often than not charging well in excess of my (then) subsistence rates.
As luck would have it, my first trip to the area in many years was standing in for someone else who couldn't make it. Ding, brainwave, check the Hilton website, as luck would have it the hotel was within walking distance of where I was presenting.
Initially their website was offering me £150/night room only, but this fell to a far more reasonable £88 Bed and Breakfast a few days before arrival. =====================
BOOKING For UK Hiltons, generally, they don't tend to offer many of their outlets on sites such as laterooms and active hotels, so the recommended way to book is through the Hilton website, www.hilton.co.uk or www.hilton.com.
The process is easy; each hotel has an individual website situated as extensions of the main Hilton home-page. Simply state where and when you want to stay, and subject to availability you will be presented with more rates than you know what to do with.
Be aware that many of the lower priced offers require non-refundable advance payment, sometimes for the whole stay and others for the first night, and also do not include breakfast, which will set you back a gruesome £17.95, you have been warned.
Once you have selected your required accommodation, you will be required to enter your personal details and credit card number (to secure the booking) and will receive confirmation via e-mail. The second time we stayed here, my colleagues room was being paid by a third party, and compared to many other outlets we have used, there was minimal problems with arranging
this; this particular booking was made over the phone for this reason, and the booking rate was honoured by the centre.
HILTON HONOURS If you are booking this, or any other Hilton on their website, then I would heartily recommend signing up for the Hilton Honours scheme. You gain points for each £1 spent, in addition to which you can gain air miles for numerous different airlines (you do have to be signed up for the appropriate airline loyalty scheme first). In my case I get 1,000 miles for each night stayed up to a maximum of 3,000 miles in any one stay on the BMI Diamond Scheme..
Now a Hilton Honours Gold member I get 25% bonus points on all my stays, Free upgrades to the next best available room, and other complementary services, plus I still get air miles for each stay. The Hilton family includes Conrad, Coral Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites hotels, Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Homewood Suites and Scandic.
=====================LOCATION & GETTING THERE Anyone familiar with Milton Keynes will already know it is a myriad of roundabouts and dual carriageways. The hotel is easily accessible from Standing Way, and the AA website gives excellent directions if you enter postcode to postcode. If you are doing business at the Open University's main campus or the Kent's Hill Training centre (and unable to stay on site), then you can't really get much closer than the MK Hilton, yes you may pay a little more, but it could save you driving around aimlessly in the rush-hour traffic.
It is also worth noting that this hotel is close by the "real" ski slope, and although I haven't used that particular one, I have "done" the one in Madrid, and was stunned at how much I enjoyed it.
=====================CHECK-IN On both occasions this was efficient and friendly. In common with most other hotels I was required to provide my personal details and car registration number and the customary swipe (pre-authorisation) of the credit card. Rooms at the Hilton MK are still normal keys and you will need to insert the key fob into a slot in the wall to operate the electricity in the room.
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THE ROOMS The rooms are fairly standard fare although quite spacious. Naturally the room was en-suite with bath & shower, and several ample sized towels, shower gel and shampoo are provided and bathrobes are available for hire and purchase.
The room has a king size bed, colour TV with Sky Sports and a range of movies to buy, two telephones, internet through the TV and a mini-bar. To be fair to the Hilton they do consider those little extras which almost make the extra money worthwhile. There is Tea/Coffee making facilities, an iron and board and high speed internet access for £15/24 hours.
On my first visit here the room looked like it had recently had a flood, it smelt musty and the walls were clearly stained from some form of water damage.
On my second visit, my room was much better and a little more spacious, although on this occasion the high speed internet access didn't work.
Having spoken to colleagues, I gather that the internet access connectivity is, to say the least, ropey. I also urgently needed to print a document while I was staying there, and felt that the skills of the Business Centre staff could do with some brushing up. The young man I dealt with was extremely helpful, but I didn't achieve the required outcome, and ended up being late for my meeting. =====================
LEISURE FACILITIES There is a small pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, but a comprehensively equipped gym. During my first stay here I found the changing rooms badly needed a clean up and lick of paint, and complained profusely by letter over a myriad of different minor issues; I was glad to note than on my second stay the changing rooms had been cleaned up, and the shower painted, reassuring to know they do take their customer gripes seriously.
The leisure facilities are supposedly open until 1030 in the week for guests, so I was a bit vexed to be told that if we did want a swim we would have to be quick as there was a children's party there in ½ hour. Also, on this visit the Jacuzzi was out of operation with no explanation as to why. =====================
EATING & DRINKING The first time I was strictly on room service and had a reasonable choice of meals from burgers and curries to steaks with prices ranging from around £7 up to £18. On the second visit there was a group of us and we ate in the restaurant. I had a very tasty starters from the salad bar which included mackerel, cold cheeses and hams, followed by chicken chow mein, cost was around £19, not bad for a 4 star hotel in this area and comparable with outlets I have stayed in far 'cheaper' cities. My colleague, a veggie, was not keen on anything on the restaurant menu, but they did allow her to have something from the bar menu and to eat with us.
Breakfast was a superb selection of fresh fruits, yogurts, juices, cereals, pastries, different types of bread rolls, and a hot selection of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, beans, sausages, mushrooms and omelettes made to order. There was also pancakes and syrup on offer.
One issue with staying in Milton Keynes is that the city is not designed for walkers; therefore you need to ensure that you know what you want before you get there.
The drinks here are NOT cheap, a glass of house red will set you back around £8, a pint of lager over £3 and a double G&T spins in at a staggering £8 or so. My colleague and I bumped into people we knew putting paid to our rather sensible idea of a healthy swim, nice meal and an early night, and we ended up drinking in the bar until well past 2am (so long as there are customers there the bar will stay open) .
Herein lies the health warning; getting into rounds in this hotel is NOT a good idea; we were charging everything to our rooms, and ended up with a £160 bar bill between four of us.
In contrast, the Milton Keynes Novotel charges slightly more for its rooms, but offers a greater selection of food at far better prices and MUCH cheaper alcohol.
===================== CONFERENCE FACILITIES The Hilton MK has 16 meeting rooms the largest holding 300 people, the smallest just 16, with varying degrees in between, so something for everyone.
=====================
COST The first time I paid £88 bed and breakfast booked through their website, (www.hilton.com), the second, £78 B&B booked directly with the hotel. In contrast, a colleague staying as a guest of the OU stumped up a staggering £120 room only (discounted rate!!) while another colleague paid £65 dinner, bed and breakfast through the Hilton website, so in reality, difficult to provide a definitive rate, other than to say cover off all the angles.
You may recall that I mentioned swiping a credit card for pre-authorisation on arrival; this is common practice in 99% of hotels I stay in; however, on departing on the second occasion, reception claimed my card had been declined, swiping twice to prove the issue. As well as being highly embarrassing, they were completely unhelpful on the issue. I settled the bill with another credit card, and proceeded to contact the CC company, who advised me that the card had not been declined, and that the hotel had kindly charged me twice for the stay on this card, and once on the other. It took around 5 days to resolve this issue after talking to one of the supervisors, and I can quite honestly say that the receptionist dealing with the matter was quite DISGUSTING, She was adamant that I was in the wrong and treated me like a complete imbecile and made no attempt to apologise. I was seriously unimpressed. To add insult to injury, as the driver, this resulted in me and my three colleagues turning up over an hour late for our conference.
Whilst I liked the hotel sufficiently to stay here twice, this little incident left a seriously bitter taste in my mouth, and hence, despite being a Hilton Honours Gold Member, it will be a long time before I stay at the Hilton MK again, and for the record, there is a much newer, more modern and cheaper Novotel a mile or so around the corner, that also offers good leisure facilities. =====================
CONTACT DETAILS Hilton Milton Keynes Timbold Drive Kents Hill Park Milton Keynes MK7 6HL United Kingdom Tel: 01908 694433 Fax: 01908 695533.
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Advantages: Very convenient location, free high speed wireless internet throughout, comfortable beds Disadvantages: Single rooms VERY small, food choice limited and expensive, doesn't strike me as the safest of areas at night
Advantages: Good location, excellent service, air conditioning in rooms, fabulous views, mini-bar, high speed internet access Disadvantages: Few niggles with room, pricey, always full
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exceptional by (17%):
very helpful by (83%):
