First off, I did not pay for my hotel room. I was down there on business and the government covered the cost of my stay. Secondly, I did research on the Hilton Americas and knew what I was getting into prior to my arrival.

I stayed at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston from 08-29-2007 through 09-01-2007. The hotel is located right next to the Toyota Center and approximately 3-4 blocks from Minute Maid Park. It's located off the Interstate, so it's pretty easy to find. Driving in downtown Houston is a breeze. You just have to remember that pretty much every other street is one-way.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by friendly front desk staff. I was allowed to check in approximately 2 hours early without penalty. That was one consistent throughout my stay. The staff was great. The concierge was helpful. The gentleman who drove the courtesy van was great and gave good advice. I lost my cell phone (found it later) and the front desk staff gave the impression that they actually cared. Valets were quick to help even though I did not need their assistance.

One big plus was that I was able to print off my boarding pass for my return flight home from a self-serve kiosk at the hotel. Saved me a lot of time.

The lobby is beautiful and spacious. There are a number of restaurants to eat at inside the Hilton Americas. I read that they were pricey, so I decided not to eat there on my stay. My room was clean and spacious. It was on the 8th floor, and I had a view of the roof of the Toyota Center and parking ramp. Oh well. The only complaint about my room was that it took at least 2+ swipes of the room key every time I entered for the door to open. One time it took about 6 or 7 swipes to work.

The beds are very, very comfortable. The TV was fine. This was one of the few hotels that I have stayed at that offered ESPNews as part of its cable lineup. High speed internet hookup in your room cost $9.95 a day. No thanks. There was a liter of water in my room available for $5.50. No thanks. I'll use the ice machine and tap water from the sink. I didn't even want to see how much items in the minibar cost.

This is where most people have issues with the Hilton Americas. They nickel and dime you like crazy. Parking cost $14 a day. I found that number to be high for hotel guests. I can understand having to charge for parking due to the proximity of the Toyota Center, but hotel guests should be able to get free or reduced cost parking. I was also told that internet access in the business center cost 45 cents a minute. Not exactly catering to the business crowd. The pool and fitness center cost money to access too.

I worked out at the fitness center near the top of the building. The fitness center is free for Hilton Honors members, which I am not. However, the lady at the front desk had stepped away to attend to something inside the spa next door. I had to wait for about 90 seconds for her to greet me. She felt bad about making me wait, so she gave me complimentary access to the fitness center. The views of the Houston skyline were super. The fitness center had a mix of free weights, cardio, and machines. It served its purpose.

I felt very safe in downtown Houston. Yes, there are a lot of homeless people in the area. I walked around at dusk on numerous occasions and was only approached once for money. I told him no, and he moved on. However, most of the businesses and restaurants close around 6PM. If you want Quizno's or Chick fil-a at night, you can't get it downtown. One positive was that Houston PD were present all over downtown. It appeared that they were simply assigned to a post to watch for trouble. One negative is that downtown Houston has a legit smell of urine on certain streets. If you do not feel comfortable walking around downtown Houston, the Hilton has a courtesy van that will drop you off and pick you up in the downtown area. The van dropped me off at the Hard Rock Cafe and I walked back since it was a nice night.

If you know what you are getting into, there is no reason why anyone should not stay at the Hilton Americas. It is perfect for people with business at the adjacent George R. Brown Convention Center. It's also great for people wishing to catch an NBA game at the Toyota Center or a MLB game at the Houston Center.

I just returned from a 5 night stay during a conference. The front desk staff was polite, but overall the hotel seemed incapable of handling a conference of our size, even though they knew nearly a year in advance that we would be having our conference at their hotel.

Everyone morning we had to take cold showers, and I mean between 6am and 6:30am when hot water should have been abundant. When we asked the front desk about it, they blew us off and said that the engineers guaranteed the water would be fixed before the next morning. This did not happen. The showers were cold or lukewarm at best.

The restaurant staff was polite most of the time, but they seemed unable or unwilling to deal with simple situations. One guest had a foreign object in her food and the waiter tried to explain it away as "maybe something from the grease we use popped out and landed in your food" as if that made it less disgusting. When the manager was called over, she stared at the "victim" blankly as if to say "well, what do you want me to do?" and we thought that was very unprofessional. She offered no solution.

On another night, we met friends at the bar and ordered from the menu and most of us were served but two guests did not receive their food. When asked about it, the response was kind of vague with a rude undertone. The appetizer came after the meal was completed for those of us who did receive food. One guest never even saw a menu. When one person who was drinking a beverage asked for a glass of water, the waitress filled her glass with water instead of giving her a new, clean glass. We all thought that was in bad taste--very tacky.

Our room keys didn't work most of the time and we originally thought it was because of our cell phones, credit cards, etc. but when we kept our keys away from everything we still had to go get them rekeyed several times a day. It was really inconvenient because most of us were nowhere near the first floor.

We had to ask for clean towels and other items for the room. Overall, we were really disappointed. Hilton certainly didn't live up to its name in Houston! The city is great and very clean. Lots to do. We are talking about visiting again but we won't be staying at the Hilton. I suggest the Marriot. They have always been great wherever I've stayed!

This hotel is decently furnished in the concrete jungle of downtown Houston.

Business services are seriously lacking. I stayed there for a convention and the shipping office mismarked an important package. I went back every day to check on it; each time they insisted it wasn't there. A week after I returned home, the hotel called and wanted to know why I’d never picked it up. Furthermore, they insisted I pay the return shipping. Also experienced issues with the billing for package delivery (I was double billed). I called the hotel manager to complain and the manager never bothered to call back.

Great location for my stay for a convention at the George Brown convention center. Meals were very pricey, but there are several other options within walking distance. Room was nice and clean, very quiet, rather small. Pool area very relaxing with large hot tub. I used the spa facilities for a manicure and it was wonderful. Check-in took a long time due to influx of convention attendees. The one thing my room needed was a vent fan in the bathroom.