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I’ve never stayed at a Hampton property before and, to be completely honest, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Last week I found myself needing a hotel in Liverpool and, as I wasn’t going to be in the hotel or the city for very long, I wasn’t about to splash out on an upscale property. All I needed was a comfortable room at a reasonable price and in a central location so, from the reviews on TripAdvisor, the Hampton by Hilton seemed to check the right boxes.
Cost
The Hilton website and the consolidators (Expedia, Hotels.com etc…) all showed a similar price of around £59/$89 for the night with breakfast included – which I thought was pretty good for a city-centre hotel at very short notice.
As I have Hilton HHonors Gold status I normally do my best to book directly through Hilton to make sure I get the points and the status benefits that Hilton gives me, but this time I chose to go with Hotels.com. I have some stay credits with Hotels.com that were in danger of expiring and, as the price of the Hampton included breakfast (one of the better benefits of Hilton Gold status), I decided to forgo the HHonors points in exchange for 12% cashback (via Quidco) and keeping my Hotels.com credits alive.
Location
I’m not sure you could get a much better location:
A lot of what Liverpool has to offer is within easy walking distance (Liverpool is a very walkable city) with landmarks like the Albert Dock, the Echo Arena, the Exhibition centre and the Liverpool One shopping area all close by. If you’re in town for business I can’t imagine you’d be too far away from wherever you need to be.
First Impressions & Check-in
The lobby houses seating areas, a bar and the check-in desk and, at the late hour I arrived, all but the check-in desk were deserted:
The “high bar” areas in the lobby were well designed for getting some work done with power sockets at regular intervals.
The staff at check-in were very pleasant and check-in took no longer than 5 minutes. The hotel seemed quite new (I later discovered that it’s 6 years old) and first impressions were definitely positive.
The Room
The corridors to the rooms were pretty dark (this had little to do with the time of day and more to do with the lack of windows anywhere) – the camera makes it look lighter than it actually was.
The room itself wasn’t the largest but was more than adequate for my needs.
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
The three things I value most in a hotel room were all present:
A decent sized desk at which to work and a comfortable chair to sit on:…..
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
….and power sockets next to the bed:
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Room
The bathroom was a reasonable size and in good condition:
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Bathroom
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Bathroom
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Bathroom
I was pleased the hotel had opted to go for a good-sized walk-in shower rather than trying to squeeze in a pointlessly sized bathtub which few guest would use let alone fit into!
Toiletries were provided in the shower and by the sink:
The room didn’t have a mini-bar (well….I couldn’t find one!) but a kettle together with tea/coffee were present under the TV. The hotel also provided an iron and ironing board in the closet:
The bed was very comfortable and I really couldn’t find fault with the room. Had there been two of us in the room it may have been a little snug….but then this type of hotel isn’t designed with couples in mind. This is clearly a hotel designed for the business traveler and, for that demographic, the room is perfect.
Even the “do not disturb” sign is geared for the business traveler
Connectivity
WiFi is complimentary throughout the hotel and I found the speed to be pretty good. The room had enough sockets for my needs and all the public areas around the hotel had power sockets for anyone who needed them.
Dining
Complimentary breakfast is served between 6am and 10am and, while I was expecting a continental breakfast, it turned out it was a hot and cold buffet – not bad for something that was included in the £59/$89 room price.
Breakfast was pretty busy the one morning I was at the hotel so I didn’t take any procures while it was in progress – there’s only so many looks that say “what are you doing?!” that I can take and I’m pretty close to my yearly capacity! 🙂
Instead, I took some pictures after everything was cleared away so you can get an idea of what the space is like:
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Breakfast Area
Hampton by Hilton Liverpool – Buffet Area….you just have to imagine the food laid out!
Ok, so there are no actual pictures of the food but you should still have a good idea of what’s on offer from the signs.
The food quality wasn’t bad and was significantly better than what was offered at a recent Holiday Inn stay I had where the breakfast wasn’t included in the room and cost an extortionate £14/$21.
The coffee and juices were mediocre….but that seems par for the course in most hotels nowadays.
Other Hotel Amenities
According to the staff member at check-in and the welcome letter I was given at check-in, the hotel has a gym that’s free to guests….but I never saw it. That probably had something to do with the limited amount of time I was actually in the property.
The bar serves a “tasty menu” up until 10pm and, if you’re later than that, they also serve snacks and pizza 24 hours a day.
There is an on-site car park which is under the hotel and costs £11/$17 per night.
Overall/Conclusion
I’ve no idea if I just got a great deal or if this hotel is often available at this rate quite regularly (I’ll check when I get a spare moment) but this was excellent value. The hotel was clean, the room was perfectly good and the staff were very friendly. Most importantly, with free WiFi (for everyone), breakfast included and even a free newspaper, I didn’t feel nickel-and-dimed like I do at so many hotels nowadays (especially ones considerably more expensive than this one!).
As I said a the very beginning of this post, this was my first ever stay at a Hampton by Hilton hotel and, if more of them are like this one I’ll be staying at a lot more.
