Hilton Brighton Metropole hotel rebrands to DoubleTree after refurbishment

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• Karl says:

  10 May10 May 04:32

  This has been long overdue. Presumably the willingness of people to pay often eye-watering rates for a clapped out hotel has been a disincentive for a refurb. The location is great and you’d rarely find such grandiose in a new build.
  Hopefully the customer service will improve with the rebranding. Once (as a Diamond member) I requested a 2pm check-in to put some birthday presents/balloons in a room. Was told they couldn’t guarentee this until noon of the same day. This was mid-week in November.
  On another occasion water was leaking through a light fitting in the room at 2am. Took about half an hour before someone turned up with a key to a new room. Not a single apology was offered from the 5 members of staff who dealt with that incident.

• John says:

  10 May10 May 05:59

  After one staff member made a racist assumption about me, I won’t be able to stay here again, even if that person is long retired.

  However Rob’s point about the semi decent rail connection means I don’t really see the point of staying in Brighton anyway. I only stayed that time because on that trip I hadn’t come from and wasn’t going back to London.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    10 May10 May 09:28

    Bit hard to have a weekend away if you go back home every night!

    • Londonsteve says:

      11 May11 May 11:55

      I appreciate these things are personal but I struggle with the concept of a weekend in Brighton when I can (still) fly to beautiful, charming and much cheaper places across Europe for quite literally less than the rail fare to Brighton. If Brighton was a truly great place to visit, something akin to Porto perhaps, I wouldn’t be saying any of this, but it’s very much a curate’s egg. For me the place is nothing more than a cheap day return destination for a train ride, as I suspect it is for most people.

• Chrisasaurus says:

  10 May10 May 06:40

  Now why is this going down to a Doubletree? It’s huge, it has all the facilities for a Hilton so what’s the thinking behind the change I wonder?

  • Rob says:

    10 May10 May 07:06

    Likely to be some brand standard they no longer wish to offer, or cannot (aircon? room service?).

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      10 May10 May 07:14

      Tried to think of them but couldn’t – must be something obscure. Stayed in March and looking good – some of the rooms are really nice though as anyone whose stayed there knows some of them out the back are less so

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        10 May10 May 09:01

        There’s no executive lounge. Last year I stayed in a refurbished room. The bedroom was very nice, the bathroom wasn’t refurbished. It does seem that most of the older Hiltons are gradually becoming Doubletrees now. The Hilton in Rotherhithe lost its full service leisure facility (pool, gym with changing rooms, etc) when it rebranded and was replaced with a smaller gym without changing rooms.

    • Brighton Belle says:

      10 May10 May 07:37

      The pool must be costing a bomb to run. Stayed here multiple times on mattress runs but the pool has eluded me. Certainly been swished up and Diamonds get a free drink at the bar which wasn’t always the case. If you can tolerate the winter blasts it can be a £70 throw some nights to tick up your Hilton stay count. I invariably get a big seafront room which feels OTT. I use the place to top-up to 30 annual stays to keep Diamond alive.

      • Matty says:

        10 May10 May 08:10

        Same here but I’m seeing those cheap day rates and other rates ticking up. My cheapest work rate has gone from £55 to £115.

      • Richie says:

        10 May10 May 08:38

        A pool may never get close to the cost of the bomb.

    • Memesweeper says:

      10 May10 May 09:03

      Minibar? Costs money to run empty fridges.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        10 May10 May 09:35

        A fridge is just about de rigueur in anything than the most basic hotel rooms these days.

    • brian says:

      10 May10 May 10:09

      As far as I’m aware, aircon has been added to all rooms as part of the refurb.

    • His Holyness says:

      10 May10 May 12:50

      It’s still managed, not franchised. The fees are lower than a Hilton.

  • Tom says:

    10 May10 May 15:01

    Some DoubleTrees are better than some Hiltons.

    I have stayed as a DT with an Executive Lounge, for instance, and at at least 2 Hilton’s that don’t have them.

• John says:

  10 May10 May 06:47

  Stay in The Grand.

  • Gasbags says:

    10 May10 May 07:26

    The Grand is horrible. The Metropole was the least worst option (the Holiday Inn is vile) so a refurbishment is good news.

• Craig says:

  10 May10 May 07:32

  The Mercure is also a good options for those collecting points. The Holiday In. Is absolutely awful but currently going through a refurb as well – wouldn’t hold my breathe yet on that one!

• Ryan gill says:

  10 May10 May 07:46

  O/T.. Does the Double Tree by Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach have an executive lounge? Appreciated as booked recently as diamond for October.

  • Blenz101 says:

    10 May10 May 20:40

    No exec lounge at the Doubletree. The Hilton’s at the other end of The Walk do offer it and Diamonds are treated well.

    Similarly the new Hilton round the corner on Palm West Beach has a good lounge and upgrade prospects. .

• VALittleRed says:

  10 May10 May 08:50

  Stayed in the Staybridge Suites Brighton a few weeks back and yes the rooms are typically small for a Staybridge but well furnished. I could just smell the paint when I went into the room. Unfortunately I checked in late in the evening and had the night staff at the front desk who seemed a bit confused when I was checking in. Maybe a points reservation through him off, he had to grab his manager. No recognition of being diamond unfortunately and I had to remind him sadly as I requested a room upgrade to a room with the bathtub which the manager overheard (It’s uncomfortable having to do this and makes you feel entitled) and processed after giving me a key to a different room. Apart from not the best check in, breakfast was ok, nice pastries but limited hot food offerings. Very convenient to the station. A little tip if arriving by train, don’t come out the front entrance of the station and instead go to the left exit (or right if you’re facing the platforms in front of you) for the taxi rank and then it’s down some steps on the right and you’re there, could not be closer to the station.

• Justin says:

  10 May10 May 09:06

  Was surprised to hear of the downgrade to Doubletree when it was first announced a while ago. I stayed here in August last year in the middle of the renovation and had one of the new rooms – and it was what I would expect from a full service Hilton. Certainly no comparison with the “full service” HI just down the road (will NEVER stay there again). It was also being used as crew base for JetBlue at the time and spoke to a couple of them at breakfast one morning, who couldn’t believe their luck in the quality of the hotel and the location.

  • brian says:

    10 May10 May 10:11

    I stayed over the weekend and there were plenty of JetBlue crew around so I assume it’s still used as a base.

    • AL says:

      10 May10 May 22:10

      HfP keeps on giving. Today, I learned B6 fly from LGW!

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