A really curious hotel, this one. It gets a lot of things spectacularly right, but other things wrong.
To start with, you enter a reception area which is plain and simple, but nonetheless large and attractive looking with a lot of water features. You genuinely do feel as if you've just arrived at a high-end hotel. Then you get your key from the courteous staff member, head up in the lift, and enter your room… the first thing that strikes you about it is the sheer size. There's such a sense of space that it's easy to stretch out and unwind after a long train journey.
Aside from that, though, the furniture and decor in the room is nothing special. With its hard right angles and simple design, it's equivalent to the decor you'd expect to see in a cheaper, mid-range hotel. The bathroom is similar - spotlessly clean and of a good quality and offering nothing to complain about, but slightly mid-nineties in its feel. If you compare this to other chain hotels of a similar price elsewhere in the country, even other Hiltons in fact, there's an immediately noticeable difference. There's nothing lush or luxurious or attractive about it, it's just at the smarter end of functional.
Nonetheless, I got a good night's sleep on the extremely comfortable bed, my room was brilliantly sound-proofed, and the air conditioning worked properly meaning I could maintain a comfortable temperature. Big plus points.
The second problem was the cost of the wi-fi. This is the 21st Century and I'm used to staying in hotels where this is offered for free or incurs a very small, nominal fee. At the Hilton it's £30 for three days, which if you've already paid £109 a night for an ordinary looking room is a little rich. I gather this isn't a problem unique to this particular Hilton, but it's a very dated policy.
Breakfast was good, though, and the staff were helpful and friendly. If the cost of staying here had been average for the area, I'd probably have been more generous with my review - but while officially graded as one, it doesn't quite feel like a four star hotel at the moment.