DoubleTree by Hilton St. Augustine Historic District in St Augustine, FL

Very Poor. Hot Water was unreliable. We were promised free breakfast and free parking was covered. We made the reservation through the hotel. Very, very unhappy.

I stayed here from August 1-2 and the reservation was under my husband’s name, Wilmer Cerrato. We were with our 2 year old and our 5 month old. The check-in was great and the room was clean. I had requested 2 cribs and they were all ready in the room for us. We took the babies out for the whole day to explore the city and didn’t come back to the hotel until almost 10 pm. When we entered the room, it REEKED of marijuana. It smelled so bad that we could barely open our eyes and my 2 year old was coughing like crazy. I ran down with my baby to request a room on a different floor. The front desk lady working there the night of August 1 was extremely dismissive of my concerns and told me that they know that a smoker was in the room right next to ours and that “there are designated smoke rooms in the hotel” and that the hotel was fully booked so the only options we had were (1) sleep in our room with the marijuana smoke or (2) check-out and get a refund. At this point, it was close to 11 pm and we live around 2 hours away and again with 2 babies. I was so upset I started crying in lobby from frustration. The lady apologized but emphasized that she was not the one that booked our room so she did not personally book a smoker next to a family with 2 babies. I went back upstairs and my husband and I called the Hilton customer service line. Nearby hotels were booked so we packed our stuff ready to drive back home at night and cutting our vacation short. After we packed our stuff and got kids ready around 20-30 min later, the front desk lady calls the room and says that they were able to find an extra room for us on a different floor. I told her that I found a sign in the room saying that the hotel is smoke free (photo attached) and she thereafter said yes it is smoke free and that the police were called twice while we were gone on that same guest smoking indoors. Given our kids, we chose to accept and move to the other room and the bellman who helped us move our belongings was so kind and helpful. Funnily enough, the first thing he said was “this room smells so strong of smoke. This is not good for the infants”. My husband and I are Hilton Honor Members and have stayed at various Double Trees across the country and this is the first bad experience we have ever had. It’s so unfortunate I am making this review but I have to spread the word to let other families know that they are lenient with their smoking policy and not good customer service. It could have just been that one bad employee but still.

Customer service was outstanding from the front desk, bartender and housekeeping staff. Unfortunately there was very limited handicap parking AND during our three day stay we never had hot water for any showers whatsoever (yes the entire stay). Seems to be a major issue that is ongoing at this hotel for quite some time. We also lost our son due to a traffic crash on our first day there so we were preoccupied with that tragedy to deal with it. I suggest contacting the hotel to see if the hot water issues have been repaired before you book. Showers with hot water are pretty important after sweating in St Augustine heat. If you are handicapped or have mobility issues, I also suggest you try to arrive super early because you will not find a handicap space to park. I am only partially weight bearing in a boot opting to pay for an Uber to go places instead of driving our rental.

I had a large group staying here in June. Are group contact Nicole Kelly was outstanding !! She stayed to meet us at 3:00AM when we arrived.She had all 40 key packets ready so my group could check in and get to sleep. Her full service was excellent. All the front deck personal were very helpful with questions about ole town and the area. I will book any of my future tours tha are coming to the St . Augustine area.

The location was perfect. Convenient to the outlet mall, beaches, and popular eateries. The hotel is in much need of updates. Some of the outlets did not work in the room, we had to request the correct amount of linen everyday. Breakfast was $15 daily for the same food items that I received at an express hotel. Parking was $24.95 for each night even though it was self park. We also had to drive around for an additional hour to wait for an open space on our last night. The water pressure was weak which made it difficult to enjoy the shower. The cooling unit had a mind of its own. When it cutoff, it was extremely hot for hours at a time.