I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Ocala for a work trip. While there were a few conveniences, my experience left much to be desired. Simply put, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Luckily, you won't have a second chance to take advantage of me like you did during this visit. This location is the worst Hilton hotel experience I've encountered, and I am a silver member, so I travel quite a bit. Things didn't start well. Upon arrival, it became clear that normalcy had checked out and left the building. The check-in process was not straightforward, to say the least. Unlike traditional hotels, the lobby is not on the entrance floor; you must take the elevator up one floor to check-in. Of the three available baggage carts, only one had a bottom that supported the luggage without causing them to fall through. The situation was made worse by an employee who thought it was acceptable to smoke cigarettes in the area, creating a foul odor. After dealing with high room rates, they further compounded the issue with parking fees--$22 per day to park outside the hotel. However, there's a catch: parking is first come, first served. If you pay for a spot and then leave for dinner, there's a good chance someone else will occupy your space when you return. This forces you to either pay for another spot or risk getting a ticket and having your vehicle towed. A parking garage across the street charges $10 per day, but it is incredibly inconvenient, and the spaces for Hilton guests are limited. It feels like someone is benefiting from those parking fees. Then you wake up the following day looking forward to breakfast that shockingly has $20 fee associated with it or you are to exchange points for a credit to be issued. Never mind that every other Hilton I have stayed at provided breakfast at no additional cost. With excessive fees like these, we elected to local small businesses rather than the money-hungry corporate scum. With all of these exuberant fees being applied, it is clear what the focal point of the management team here is. They would rather take the consumer for every dollar and not provide a balance of service for that dollar being taken. The room and hotel were relatively nice, but the conveniences you usually receive at other Hilton locations are a premium here, requiring payment and/or points to surrender to ascertain that same level of service. If you are going to reach deeper into the pockets of your patrons, I would highly recommend consider a balance with service, maybe consider changing course on the $20 breakfast or improving the overall cleanliness of the hotel, including the carpets leading to the room; they were unacceptably dirty. Additional concerns we encountered was the thermostat mounted on the wall was non-functional, so any adjustments to the HVAC had to be made at the window unit. The noise level outside of the hotel is excessive whether it is an exhibition of speed or someone revving their engines to the blairing of loud music to the wee hours of the morning. Oddly enough there is ear plugs provided which should have been a clue to how things were going to be. This is only the first night of my stay. We are pondering whether we should cut our losses and go somewhere else. Stay tuned read more

Beware the noise! Walls are super thin and there is constant loud traffic noise from the Main Street below. The room is beautiful but doesn't make up for no sleep. The hotel's solution? To give you earplugs... read more

Hilton Garden Inn Ocala Downtown - The hotels solution to noise? To give you earplugs... - Hotels Near Me - Ocala, Florida

At check-in, there were not even enough spots out front and at the drive under there were no parking signs. I had no idea where to park so I parked my car in the no parking space hoping it wouldn't get towed and went upstairs only to be told that I had to go across the street to a parking deck. Traveling alone I did not feel comfortable, but I had no other choice. The second night when I returned to the hotel to park in the parking deck, there was a group of men in the parking deck playing loud music and partying in the deck. I felt very unsafe, but had no other choice again. The hotel elevator key card feature was turned off. So anyone off the street could access the elevator and go straight up to the room levels. . The hotel was not secured in anyway. There is a club/bar next door and I could hear the noise in my room making it difficult to sleep. With bars in the surrounding area, it is even more important for the room levels to be secure. The staff has been very friendly and professional and for the most part I'm very happy with my room. I am in town for my father's funeral and was expecting to have a place that I felt safe and secure at night and where I could have a place of peace to relax in the evening. Unfortunately, I have neither. I had to edit my review to share my third night experience, there is a club/bar literally next door and the music is so loud that the wall on that side of the building is studying. It is absolutely ridiculous and the front desk just says we have no control which I get, but it would've been nice if they had disclosed any of this. I would never would've booked it if I had known I was not going to be able to sleep. What's the point of a hotel if you can't sleep in it. read more

I would 100 percent go back this place is beautiful it's in the city very nice. Comfy beds! Nice pillows! Just great customer service at the front desk! Overall wonderful experience! read more

The staff was very friendly. The room absolutely was not clean whatsoever. The shower was really disgusting. I asked for new sheets and they didn't even have them. The girl did change our room though because ours was just too gross. 5 star on the front counter lady. Zero on the rest read more

The whole experience was a nightmare. We couldn't get to the hotel because all the roads were blocked because of an event. Nobody at the hotel could give us directions and there was supposedly no manager on duty. We were traveling and had been on the road since early morning. We were driving around and circling the hotel for 2 hours trying to find a way in. It was hot and our dogs were in the backseat throwing up because we were driving in circles and it was making them sick. There was no place to stop and we were in someone's driveway trying to get someone at an 800 number to help us. We were on 2 cell phones. We booked directly with Hilton but they told us that because we got an AAA discount we had to call Triple A. After being on hold for an hour by 2 different people that were pretending to help us but barely spoke English, we were told by both that they called the hotel and there was no manager there that could authorize a refund...even though we couldn't get to the hotel because they left that little detail out when we booked it. The resolution was that we would have to pay the cancellation fee which was the room rate for one night plus tax which translated in English is the full price. One person hung up on us and the other said there was no supervisor for me to talk to before she hung up on us too. I tried calling the hotel on the off chance that I could talk to the manager but I still couldn't. The shift had changed and I got someone different that actually tried to help us. We managed to worm our way into town and get police officers to let us past the barricades so we could get to the parking garage. There was a huge street party. We were so tired and stressed. We made our way to the hotel through the crowd with dogs and suitcases in tow. My husband went into the lobby and the dogs were outside under the guest area sniffing the hedges. Some man walked up to us who was outside at the street party and told us our dogs would have to get away from the hedges and there was a pet area across the street. Just an FYI, the hedge area was full of cigarette butts. Oh and BTW, this guy was the manager!!! I told him our dilemma and I wanted to know why a hotel this size didn't have a manager on duty at all times. He practically accused me of lying. He didn't care at all. Fast forward...if you are traveling with pets this place is not pet friendly. They just want your $55 pet free. They aren't allowed anywhere in or outside of the hotel except the room. The place is like a frat house. The restaurant and bar on the 2nd floor was a mess and was loud and noisy. We accidentally got off on the wrong floor and the manager saw our dogs standing there waiting to get back on the elevator and I thought he was going to come over and we were going to have another confrontation. When we checked into our room there were orange ear plugs on our pillows so what does that tell you? The bathroom door wouldn't close and there was a dead roach on the counter top by the sink. We paid $300 + parking to stay there because we were traveling and too tired to drive home and we didn't want to lose our money. Downtown Ocala was wonderful with nice bars and restaurants and the people were great. This Hilton Gardens doesn't fit in with the historic charm and ambience with the downtown areas. Some of the locals said that this hotel was approved because of promises that were made by Hilton but not followed through on. They said the hotel is notorious for price gouging guests. But now that it's there, they are stuck with it. read more

The worst Hilton hotel I've stayed at, and I'm a Diamond member (travel a lot). Honestly, this hotel is gorgeous and I had high expectations for it. After driving 5 hours to get here for a family weekend, my husband and I check in late at night to our room. Well.... Don't forget you have to park in a garage a block away. $12 a night in a free garage. We check in, it's around 10:30pm and our room looks nice except the carpet is all wet. The AC unit was leaking. So we go downstairs to ask if we can change rooms because it smelled moldy and with me being 7 months pregnant, I just wanted a clean room. The front desk person, who was nice, did ask me if I tried cleaning the spot with a towel... I explained the situation and she relocated us to a new room. Of course this new room is directly above their outdoor patio which was basically a club on Friday night. Extremely loud music until around midnight and then all the after parties that happened in the rooms surrounding us. The walls are PAPER THIN and we couldn't go to bed because of the partiers. Then you have the cars who are street racing and revving their engines until 3 AM. I remember thinking "finally some quiet" and it was 6 AM. Ear plugs were provided for 1 person in the room because they acknowledged it's noisy. Should've been our first clue to leave. Night 2 was exactly the same, except our upstairs neighbor decided to (what sounds like) blast his TV and movie their furniture around beginning at 5 AM. I'm in Ocala often and will avoid this hotel at all costs and continue to tell my family to avoid it as well. read more

DO NOT STAY HERE! If you want to sleep DO NOT stay at this hotel. It's awful. The bar at the hotel blasts music until late into the night. Complete disregard for the customers wanting to sleep. No idea how the hotel gets away with it. I would encourage anyone and everyone to not stay at this hotel and to find a hotel that respects their customers who want to sleep. read more

A nice place to sit on the balcony and look at the Ocala square. Especially nice when the holiday lights are up! Great fried pickles and friendly staff. read more

Hilton Garden Inn Ocala Downtown - Great fried pickles - Hotels Near Me - Ocala, Florida

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4.5 stars I'd give. Very nice stay. Maybe they've improved since some of the low star ratings. Or maybe it's because we're here mid week, but my family had a very nice stay. The room was clean and modern. Appointed well. Nice bathroom. Great coffee selection in the room including organic coffee plus tea k cups plus hot cocoa my daughter enjoyed. Comfy beds. One of my fave rooms at a Hilton Garden so far. The service from Jessica at the front desk was great. Charlotte in the bar/restaurant was charming. My only complaints would be the occasional road noise (we didn't have rooftop bar noise but again it was mid week). But they do provide earplugs on the nightstand. And the a/c actually drowns out the noise outside. The other thing I wish they'd do is reduce the air freshener in the bottom part where you walk in after valet, for the elevators to the lobby. I'd stay here again. Great spot downtown. read more

Do not stay at this hotel unless you have ear plugs!! The street noise is absolutely unbearable. The noise is so loud you would think you are in the middle of the street. I was on the 5th Floor in Rooms 515-519 which face a major street but I thought was a minor street. The motorcycles, cars with no mufflers, the drag racing, the trucks - it's just insane!!! The room was very nice, spacious, clean and comfortable. The bed was nice as was the tv. Noise noise noise noise noise noise noise. Never ever will I stay here again. read more

For being Ocala, this is a step up from the typical hotels. Beds are comfortable, rooms are clean. My only reservations are that the lobby is on the same floor as the rooftop bar and there is only one elevator that goes up. So you are sharing the elevator with bar goers as you are trying to check into your room after a long drive. The self parking is in a garage across the street and is $8 a day. Also, I could hear the music playing from my room and it was very difficult to sleep. read more

The service declined drastically from my last time visit. Please read the reviews before giving your money to the place. I know I should have but I did not. I big regret read more

This is absolutely, without any doubt, the worst hotel I've ever stayed at. Although their restaurant is great, the hotel itself is lacking control. The first control is the bar area. I should explain that this hotel is in a very noisy area to begin with. If you happen to have a room on the city side the vehicle noise cannot be tolerated at night. However, if you end up on the square side you get the hotels bar noise. The bar gets out of control and even the staff said this. This is yet another hotel that desires the dollar but couldn't care less about the comfort level of the guests. The only reason I know this is because I stayed here and had to change rooms. To make matters worse I was awoken to a 6 am fire alarm resulting in a little stroll from the 4th floor to the street. I didn't expect to have the hotel alert us to when it is clear but the fire trucks leaving was a clue! I don't blame the hotel for the fire alarm but I do blame them for allowing their internal noise to not be controlled. Hint: if the hotel supplies the room with ear plugs, there's a problem!!! Don't stay here!!!!!!! read more

Hilton Garden Inn Ocala Downtown - Carrot cake!!!! - Hotels Near Me - Ocala, Florida

We had a drink on the outdoor terrace, with its view of the Square. First of all, one of the elevators was out of order; a hotel guest told us it had been broken for several days. Given that I currently have a broken patella and am avoiding stairs, therefore have to use elevators, I feel that there should have been a sign apologising for the elevator being out of order. When I went to the ladies restroom, most of the stall doors would not close/latch properly. Moms were holding doors for their children. This is minor maintenance that should be checked on regularly. In addition, there was no soap in the dispensers. It's the details that make a top notch facility, and it seems that no-one is paying attention to the details here. read more

Great stay, great service! The front desk agent at the time who checked me in, I can't remember her name, was very knowledgeable of the events in town. Hats off to you! I've worked in hospitality & you can definitely tell this is a well treated team and amazingly managed! read more

Great spot to enjoy the small downtown area of Ocala. There are a lot of restaurants and bars around the square the hotel is on. The rooms are updated and clean. The hotel has an indoor/outdoor bar and terrace that is surprisingly lively. The overnight parking fee is a bit high for somewhere like Ocala and the lot has a one way entrance that can be tricky to get back to if you don't take the right route. Friendly staff. read more

Very nice aesthetics. Lobby bar and terrace overlooking the park are very nice. But. Liquor at bar watered down (in the bottle) and do not accept a room on the east side of the hotel. The road noise is extrememly loud and is active all night. A previous review mentioned problems with cable tv feed (missing channels); that is still an issue. read more

Although this property has the potential of being phenomenal with its location and decor, it falls extremely short of Hilton standards. No flat sheet on our bed, no housekeeping staff on property, LED tv pop up would not stop on TV, "live" music was a DJ, bath door broken! After contacting the front desk about the missing sheet, they delivered one and laid it on top of the bed for us to make ourselves! Nope...on vacation, I don't do my own bed. (When I'm paying for the service). Second time to front desk, we finally were good to go. read more

What a beautiful addition to downtown Ocala. They have a rooftop bar with a DJ on Friday and Saturdays and great music playing other nights. There's plenty of outdoor seating and room to walk around and take in the downtown view. They have a big screen to show movies or sports games on. The bartenders are really friendly and welcoming. The drinks were well made and reasonably priced. They also have a inside bar. It will be great when they add the 1st floor restaurants that will be coming soon. They serve breakfast and evening cocktails right now but may add happy hour too. This is definitely my new favorite place! I highly recommend it. read more

Definitely don't stay here!!! Zero stars here!!! We were worried when we saw the reviews and it's exactly what happened to us. They are extremely rude, condescending and completely unorganized and they don't honor or even know their check in or cancellation policy's. It's amazing how we were booked then cancelled yesterday (within their policy) they were still going to charge us the full rate. So of course we kept reservation & at a whim we stopped in at 2:30 they gave our room away--- even after we called to confirm and were told the room/ time we could check in (4 pm well after 3 pm check in listed). Glad I don't have to stay there now even thought we had a balcony reserved from they day they opened reservations. Customer service sucks !! Only positive ratings I see are from the owners friends/relatives. read more

Centrally located downtown near all the restaurants and nightlife. Pretty clean and the Covid protocols were defiantly in place; the room was sealed along with all other high use items. Comfortable bed, friendly reception staff, and a nice balcony. The only knock is that the cleaning staff did not come in during the day to make the bed, restock etc. - not sure if that's Covid related or not. read more

Love this hotel... every time I go to Ocala I stay here! Always clean and friendly staff. I travel to this location 5 times a year and enjoy each stay. read more

Had a great time both at the Terrace restaurant looking at the Christmas lights with some Prosecco and our beautiful room with a view. We will definitely be back. Also the two women at the front desk and the bar were SO FRIENDLY!!! read more

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Dog owners beware. False advertising. The room was nice. That is all I can say about this place. We are Hilton diamond members, and when my husband booked online we were QUOTED $50 dog fee for our two dogs because of our diamond status. When we got there, we were first told it would be a $200 fee, then when we questioned, they said $100. It took my husband pulling up the website and showing them the online pet fee for them to honor that. We took the dogs to an amazing bar and grill across the street for lunch and TEIWS to take them to the outdoor seating for the pub at the hotel and when I tried to ask if we could take the dogs outside, the bartenders SHOUTED at my husband that it was not allowed. This place is anything BUT dog friendly. If you book here with dogs, ask for a written quote and be prepared to take your dogs to Bank Street to eat and drink. Oh - and... most of the valets were kind and receptive to our dogs, but there is no real place to dispose of dog waste. I tried to be responsible and bagged up my doggie poo.. asked where I could toss it and the DISGUSTED valet (it made me want to cry) told me to take it to a gated dumpster - not very safe at all. * Hilton - if you are going to advertise dog friendly, please be prepared to BE dog friendly . read more

This is a hard review to write and I thought that I had already written a review considering this is my second stay. I was here from 6-7-2022 to the morning of 6-18-2022. I would consider this a "good" trending towards an "excellent" review. Of course, I will have some recommendations for improvement. Where shall I start? Reservations: I was in town for some vacation and my high school reunion. I wanted to stay at the reunion venue so that I didn't have to worry about driving around. Also, I stayed here back in December for two weeks, so I had an idea of what to expect. The reunion block of rooms was "gone" by the time I was ready to make my reservation. I called the hotel and was able to get reservations at a very favorable rate for the entire stay!! I was very pleased with that. Parking: There's no onsite parking, but there is self-parking about a block away. That's not me. I'm on vacation. So, I do valet parking for the entire stay. Special shoutout to Flavio and Ismael for their outstanding care and attention to me and my wheels. I appreciate all that you all did to accommodate me and my needs. I'm not trying to walk in the Florida heat!! My room: My room was nice. Very good water pressure in the shower. Plenty of room in the bathroom too. I had ample supplies of toiletries too. I'm happy to see that Hilton Garden Inn has individual soaps instead of dispensers. You never know what people put in those dispensers!! I appreciate the individual toiletries as they make nice gifts for others. :) I recycle!! The restaurant: VERY good. I had several meals in the onsite restaurant. All were good. Portions were huge. The ingredients were fresh! The wait staff was attentive, which I appreciate. The Front Desk: Hmmm. I met the staff that I had talked to over the phone. They were in person exactly how they came across over the phone. ;) The Reunion Banquet/Pre-meetings: I had several meetings prior to the big event because I was not about the foolishness and I wanted the event to be flawless, no fuss! I worked with Paresh C. , Jacquelynn L. and Joseph (Food and Beverage Manager) to make sure that things went according to plan. For the most part, 95%, of things went according to plan. The food was good. One of the meat dishes was a bit delayed, but it didn't stop folks from eating. The drink was good. The setup was almost right except that we were promised white tablecloths but instead we were given black tablecloths!! We managed to survive this. The servers were JoJo and Alexis who were amazing!! They were able to keep me satisfied since if any of my classmates had issues they were coming to me. I was not up for the foolishness either. The event was amazing!! Great reviews from my classmates!! Hotel/General: Overall, the hotel was nice! Clean lobby. Plenty of snack selections. A great gathering place for friends to eat and drink overlooking The Square. Plenty of big-screen televisions. Nice little office area off from the lobby. Good sized exercise room (not that I used it). LOL. Suggestions: Keep doing what you are doing. Ocala will reward you. Get some "local" information packets from the Visitor's Bureau to hand out to guests. I am from the area, but things have changed and your Front Desk staff has to know about it!! read more

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I really like this hotel, just one problem, THE HOTEL DOESN'T PROVIDE NBC! I'm saying this because when my family tried to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, NBC wasn't on there, went through all the channels and no NBC. Saw NBCSN CNBC and MSNBC, but not the local NBC affiliate. I thought it was mandatory to have the local NBC affiliate as a channel in your hotel room, guess not here! read more

Great stay as always!! The street noise is sometimes loud after hours but they provide ear plugs, so no reason to complain. Great view of the Ocala Square, great restaurants within walking distance. Come back to the "Balcony Bar" and be served by some of the best in the business, Ariane, Julia and Emily will take care of you with the greatest drinks. All management and staff have been fantastic on all my stays!! read more

Hotel is fantastic and so are the people. I want to give a special shout out to Ariane (bartender) who represents the Hilton above and beyond. Appreciate the customer service and attention to your guests. Much appreciated! read more

Disorganized front desk. Got double charged. Our room is missing a bathroom door. The terrace is playing club music at 8pm when the average age of the crowd is 40. No pool. Do not recommend. read more

I really only want to write a review on their fantastic waitress. I feel awful that I don't remember her name. She ran Sunday brunch on her own while the other staff sat around talking. She was so pleasant and always had a smile on her face. She said she was on day 45 straight! The hotel itself is nice. If you want a peaceful stay I would not recommend. It's definitely noisy downtown, but the hotel provides earplugs lol read more

Love the hotel but the bar on Sunday closes way too early!!! Espcially football season ???

Used to have valet. Now, self park but barely any spaces. And $22.50 a day. No help with bags. Not worth the hassle. Very loud. Walls thin.