I've stayed at the Hillpark a number of times and I keep coming back because:
- the location is great for getting into town (though the Mombassa Road is always v. busy). You can actually walk into downtown area if really bad.
- the rooms in the new part at very good. if there's three sharing, its cheaper taking the excellent and spacious penthouse
- the staff are always very friendly
- there's an incredibly good gym / health club out the back
- always cold beer

Not so good because
- wifi not great - sometimes off for extended periods
- reception staff are not very welcoming, but great once you get talking with them
- food in the hotel is at best average - sometime poor. a member of our group had a bad fish. we always had to wait so long.

This is a great place to stay for a night or two. The rooms are well equipped and clean and the service is friendly. But I could not believe that none of the rooms have air conditioning or a fan, in a location where it is pretty hot for most of the year. This is a bit of a bugaboo in my book. Free wifi though which is great.

First night (or rather early morning) I got there at about 3am after an 18 hour journey - desk staff very surly and didn't seem to want to check me in - eventually things happened and I got a room.

Room looked interesting with stone shower cubicle and claw foot bath, but in the shower, the tap fell off and i couldn't get hot water. So I went to sleep on the stone-like mattress for a few hours until......the gym opened at about 6.30am!! All the gym windows wide open, directly opposite my room window which was also open!! so thumping disco music and a personal trainer shouting his head off. Had to shut the window, but could still hear the gym at high volume.

I did get moved after a few days, which was marginally better, except the the room now overlooked the carpark at the front of the hotel, so every night we had the symphony of the car alarms. Every night, from about midnight onwards, a never-ending cacophony of car alarms of many different noises. Always left for at least 5 minutes until someone bothered to disarm it or whatever, by which time sleep was suitably disturbed.

By leaving the windows open I got bitten badly by the mosquitoes - no mosquito net provided.

The bar by the poolside was ok apart from the television which seemed to be on all the time with some sport at high volume - not very relaxing.

I've saved the best bit till last - the restaurant. Put simply: avoid at all costs. The food was really very poor. Breakfast was just about passable, but the evening meals, especially the buffet was quite disgusting. In 14 days I had food poisoning three times. I once ordered a burger from room service and it was absolutely revoting - having been shipped off to boarding schools as a child, I've learnt to eat most things, but this really was horrible. Greasy stringy meat, cold soggy chips.

As someone else has commented, the staff were very unhelpful and always looked as if you were inconveniencing them by asking for something. Their website says you are treated not as a guest, but as family. All I can conclude is that it must be family who don't like you very much!

This hotel costs a fair bit, so you'd expect a fair bit. But no, the ruins are pokey, the restaurant is complete rubbish, and the worst bit was the service. No smiles, the staff look annoyed when you ask them a question. And the worst bit is when we asked for a nearby shop, the one recommended was suggested by reception we took a taxi that cost 1000 shillings. Turns out it was a 3 minute walk away! Never again.