MO Kansas City Hilton MCI Airport

[Welldone Rumproast]

This hotel is very conveinent to the MCI terminal complex (about 2 miles). A free shuttle service is provided (note: the shuttle does NOT come at regular intervals, however, there are free phones near the baggage exit to use once you have collected your bags).

Due to the remote location of MCI relative to the main city attractions (downtown, Country Club Plaza, Crown Center, etc.) you would need a rental car to get around.

THe hotel itself looks to be about 20-25 years old, but seems well-maintained. The building is maybe 10 stories high.

Check-in was efficient and friendly. I asked if I could include my HHonors number but was (gently) turned down (this was expected as HH policy is adamant about NO HHonors credits on prepaid stays ).

I was assigned a first floor room which turned out to be an accessible room. The room itself was quite small, with only a full-size bed (in order to allow wheelchair access on the sides - a larger bed would have precluded any wheelchair movement). So you may want to check with the desk before receiving your room assignment if this will be a problem (I was by myself so it didn't matter).

Although the room was not labeled as non-smoking, there were no ashtrays present and there was no residual smoke odor :)

Otherwise, the room was OK - window (with security bar), two comfortable armchairs, clock radio, TV with lots of channels (ESPN, ESPN Douche, HBO, Cartoon, History, CNN, Headline, etc). Web-TV style internet for $9.95 for a noon-to-noon period. No high-speed access for laptops, only dataport on the phones. Nintendo games available as well.

Bathroom was large and equipped with grab bars for accessbile use. Coffee maker annd hair dryer were in place. Shower head was a wand-style, however, the water pressure was only "moderate" :) Good-quality Neutrogena soaps and shampoos, and plenty of towels were provided.

Housekeeping/cleanliness was very good. Iron and board was available in the closet.

I had dinner in the restaurant - a scallop/shrimp fettuchini dish was quite good (needed just a bit more spice - the portion was generous). Very good service. I didn't have breakfast - the full breakfast buffet is $9.95 and a la carte options are also available).

Overall impression: Well worth the PL price, but keep in mind the location if you don't have access to a rental car.

The bidding information can be found at the following link:

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?act...T&f=109&t=1082&

[AlSleet]

We've stayed at this Hilton a couple of times before flying out of MCI. It seems to come up frequently with both Priceline bids and Hotwire. The rooms have always been nice. We've had the steak and eggs more than once in their restaurant before heading over to the airport and quality and service have always been good.

[cntrfieldsmom]

Stayed in March of 2005. Would add that the pool is great for the kids. It's indoor/outdoor. They can swim under the glass wall into the heated outdoor pool. Jacuzzi area could use some updating. Nice sauna also.

The small fitness center was proabably adequate (i'm no expert). There is a tanning bed free to use. Also coin laundry available.

Internet access in the business center, but charge to your credit card.

We ate the Easter brunch and it was unbelievable! It was excellent food but also presented as an art form! $20 for adults.

[grram1]

Even though our stay was nearly 3 years ago (August of 2003 for 2 nights) our experience was so bad that I had the folllowing attached response saved on my computer for future referrence (posted orignially on Tripadvisor). Our opaque bidding experience is now up to approx. 40 rooms and this was the only Hotel we ever felt this strongly against. Looks like the other posts had better experiences... maybe things have improved since (or we just got stuck with bad timing, bad luck, and the wrong people). Just wanted to share this with the board.

The ONLY positive was the low price we got through Priceline ($39/night before tax and booking fees). The hotel looked dated and worn out both inside and out. We were given a smoking room down a hall on the first floor next to a conference room that was being used (I've smelled used ash trays that didn't smell this bad). When I asked if there were any non-smoking rooms available the fact that we booked through Priceline was immediately thrown in my face and we were denied. From the room I called the manager to again request a non-smoking room and instead of politely denying me and apologizing the manager stated that we were lucky to have gotten a room with 2 beds and argued that they went "above and beyond" (like another post said we already paid for the room... how are we "lucky" to then actually get one?). We too were lied to and told that the hotel was full (the parking lot was maybe 20% full, and if business was booming why would they sell a room to us for under 40 bucks?). While it is true that the hotels can assign rooms at their discretion when booked through sights such as Priceline and Hotwire it has been our experience (in over 25 hotels) that they will do their best to accommodate you when possible, and when not possible they politely decline your request with an apology. To further complicate things there was a Jr. boxing tournament in town and our floor was full of loud, rough, and foul-mouthed teens. They ran up/down the isles screaming and yelling all of which was overlooked by security until we complained at midnight after about 3 hours of this. We were on the first floor down the hall from the check-in desk at the lobby so I know that this behavior was simply ignored by the staff until we complained. While I will admit that airline noise was not an issue... we could hear EVERYTHING going on inside the hotel from our room. Other problems were: there is no ice on the 1'st floor, the wall paper was peeling, the shower head leaked and the tub drained so slow that you could only take a shower for about 2 minutes before you were in about 3-4 inches of water. Even with the $39/night rate that we got I would have gladly paid more to stay at a Motel 6. While I fully understand that hotels booked through Priceline have no obligation to honor special requests, they do have an obligation to be courteous. While I admit that not all of the employees were rude, there were enough rude ones to make it clear that this behavior is tolerated by management. I've read several comments where the staff (front desk in particular) was overtly rude and even argued with the customers... VERY unprofessional. I go out of my way to treat others well and I was shocked at the indifference and rudeness I was faced with through the staff. This is the only property we've ever stayed at that made us feel unwanted for having booked through Priceline. If they don't want the low-rate business then they shouldn't accept the bid. I guess had we been fortunate enough to have been assigned a decent room I would have felt differently... but having been given a wreck of a room (the room itself wouldn't even earn a 1 star rating due to the filth, odor, and aforementioned broken items) and then having been met with such rude indifference from the staff I will definitely avoid this property at all cost. Had this been my first Priceline experience I would have never used the service again.