I travel often for business. I will typically choose Hampton Inns because they hit a perfect point of price and quality for my tastes and preferences. And, they are typically consistent. I’m not picky, I like clean, I like consistent.
This was my first stay at a TRU by Hilton. It’s hard to criticize a hotel that’s only 1 month old – everything is fresh and new. But if I look past that I could give you a long list of things that Hilton did right with the TRU business model:
I don’t mind the slightly down-sized room. And I don’t mind the lack of “drawer-ed” furniture like a dresser or night stands. I don’t typically unpack small clothing items unless I’m staying for a week. I think the area where you hang clothing could stand to be a bit larger with a few more hangers. When traveling for business I typically iron once, then hang it all up and use it for however the long the stay is. That’s a bit of a challenge with the TRU rooms if you’re staying for more than maybe three days. You’ll be living out of your suitcase for whatever you don’t hang, and there’s really no place to leave that case open, so you’ll be opening and stowing it quite often.
The bathrooms are finally updated! By this I mean no more tubs and shower curtains. The 80’s are finally dead. They have a wonderful modern shower stall with glass doors. If you are an average-to-tall person you will love not having a shower head positioned squarely between your pecs. The shower heads are up nice and high, there’s no curtain wrapping around you, and there’s ample room to shower. Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
The beds are finally updated. No more box spring. A clean platform bed with a very comfortable king-sized mattress. I think Hilton beds are generally very comfortable, they did not appear to change that in the TRU brand model. It appeared to be a quality mattress that hit that sweet spot between soft and supportive. I was very happy.
There was an in-room mini fridge. A nice touch, though I didn’t use it. What was missing was an in-room coffee maker. Initially, I didn’t think the loss of that would bother me, after all there’s coffee and tea available 24-hours in the lobby. I was very wrong. This did bother me. I jump out of bed and instead of brewing a coffee and listening to the news while I wake up, check emails, and get ready …I found myself scrambling to put on some clothes, fix my hair so I didn’t look like Sasquatch, grabbing the key, going to the elevator, down to the lobby… well you get the picture. It definitely stunk, especially when you’re used to in-room coffee. Look, we all know it’s not the finest coffee – but it works. And when it’s not there, it’s really missed.
This led to another missing item I didn’t consider until I needed it. Cups. Sure, still easy to pick up downstairs. But you don’t think about that until you’re undressed, ready for bed and you have a mouthful of toothpaste after brushing – where’s the cups to rinse your mouth? Sure, you can do the sideways head maneuver under the sink faucet with your mouth …but, this really enhances that college dorm experience. A few cups in the bathroom would have been a nice touch.
Bottom line, I really liked staying at the TRU for business – it was almost perfect. Nearly everything you need, and nothing you don’t; and the price point is very expense report friendly. The slight reduction in space is almost unnoticeable. In many respects I was reminded of the efficiency you find in a Cruise Ship state room, including the bottled liquid soaps and conditioners. This is a compliment. The modern styling, USB charging everywhere, digital keys, key-card required elevator, electronic check-in and check-out, all worked flawlessly. The large lobby area was well appointed with places to work or socialize, the room too was set up well for laptop work. However those two areas mentioned above are the only things that kept me from saying this was “perfect”. I would stay at a TRU again.