Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City, Universal City

This hotel's best feature by FAR is the LOCATION. It is literally across the street from Universal City Walk. We always walked, but there is a shuttle that could be useful for people with mobility issues, because the road to UCW is a pretty steep hill. We found a shortcut across a foot bridge and another parking lot. Service was fine. Quick and to the point, just how I like it. The room was small, but sufficient and clean. We had a view of the pool which was AMAZING. It was so cool to look out and see a huge pool surrounded by a typical Calfornia freeway and to see all the houses on the mountainside. I would assume the other side of the hotel would be even cooler because it would look out onto UCW and all it's Vegas-like neon glory. The pool was huge and the kids swam in it while we hit up UCW and shopped and had drinks. My biggest issue with this hotel is that inside it looks run down. It was ratty and old. I have never stayed in a Hilton before, and I certainly was expecting way more, considering the rooms start out at around $200 a night. I don't know what the money is being spend on, because it is certainly not being spent on the hotel. The carpet was strained. It almost looked wet. The art had been faded by years and years of sun exposure. The veneer finished furniture was peeling. The outdoor furniture was plastic resin. I'm torn on whether or not to here again. While the location and the pool are GREAT, I almost feel like I'm being ripped off. It's less to stay at a modern, updated OCEAN FRONT beach hotel than at this outdated, inland hotel with less amenties.

Wow, we loved the hotel. It's beautiful and you can walk to Universal Studios just up the hill. It's well run, friendly staff, comfortable, and we will go again. Yes, it's a little expensive, but worth it!

I've stayed at the Hilton five times on business trips. I enjoy enjoy my stays there, even though I must candidly admit to a general dislike of Los Angeles as a big city. Staff is always very attentive and tries to go an extra mile for service. It's also wonderful to see the same people working the hotel every year -- that's a good sign that management treats employees well that perform well. Beds are quite comfortable -- some of the best I've slept in for business travel. I've never had room service at the Hilton. But one of its best features are the weekend brunches and dinner buffets that have extravangant displays of almost any possible food you can imagine. With a couple of rare exceptions, everything I've had has been scrumptous (hence the need for me to hit the exercise center when I go... lol) Although I don't go for the Universal Studios entertainment, this would make a terrific hotel for families who want to stay on-site to visit. It is more pricey than other hotels I've checked -- but I think the quality is there to jsutify the cost.

The hotel was beautiful, and the rooms outstanding with very comfortable rooms. Most of the employees were nice. It's close to Universal Studios which is a plus. Upon checking out I noticed that my bill that they had left under my door seemed incorrect (not enough). I was honest and stopped by the check out counter and was reassured that it was correct. Upon returning home, I checked my Visa acct online to find that they had added another $80 to my acct. I have been in contact with the hotel, and they seem to not want to listen. We will NEVER stay at another Hilton!!

this hotel was an exapmle of how NOT to run a business. I found the staff was lacking in the basic knowledge of getting us checked in . after a half hour of waiting we demanded our money and went to best western it was cheaper and better

This is the second time I have stayed here and I love it. The staff are friendly and helpful, the food is good, and I found room service quick and good value. It's near to shopping, food, and Universal. It's also close to the Metro, for Hollywood, Downtown and Pasadena. The only downside is, I wouldn't pay extra for the executive floor. If you go early for breakfast, you're pushed to get a seat, if you go later, the choice is limited. On one or two of the days some of the bread products and cake were a little stale. Can't wait to revisit.

We were told we would have an early check in at 3:00p.m.-but had to sit in the executive level lounge for 1 hour while we waited for our room to be ready. It was ok for 30 min, but after that we just wanted to rest in our room. The front desk clerk told us we could go walk down City Walk while we waited, but who wants to do that when you've been sitting in a car for the last 5 hours. We wanted to unpack, put our feet up and relax for a bit in our room. We paid extra to stay on the executive level but that was mistake. You do get to go to the executive lounge which has a free continental breakfast, hors d'oeuvres and drinks, which don't get me wrong-was a nice perk, BUT...the room this is in is very plain and out could really use some updating. It's nothing special. The main problem with staying on this floor was that our room keys and elevator keys never worked. We'd either get it to work to ride the elevator to the upper level but then couldn't get in our room or we'd get into the elevator and it would start up but wouldn't go up to the executive level. It was very annoying to have to keep going to the front desk to have them re-activate the keys for us. Between my husband and myself-in the 2 days we stayed at the Hilton we made 7 trips to the front desk. They never gave apologies-just said don't hold them next to our cell phones, which we never did. Just ask for a high up room, don't pay extra for one. One other thing is our room had an ajointed door. We could really hear everything going on next door. Make sure that no matter where your room is that you don't have a room that has an ajointed door. On a good note, Starbucks is in the lobby, the shuttle was always quick and takes you right to Universal Studios/City Walk, the room service was fantastic as were the valet parking attendents.

I didn't get to the hotel from the airport until about 9pm, so was ready to get to my room and relax. Checked in (I am a HH member but was told it hadn't been marked in the computer, clerk explained that I needed to call in advance and make sure I was listed as HH even though I had said I was when I made the reservation) and was given a room directly above the lobby. I asked if I could get a room higher in the hotel and was told no, there were no other non-smoking rooms available. The room was clean, but when I walked into the bathroom I was hit with a horrible odor, one look in the toilet told me why. Went back to the lobby and requested any other room, even if it had to be smoking, clerk seemed irritated by this and basically insinuated that I was lying. Turned out they DID have another non-smoking room on the 6th floor. Went back up to this room, walked in and thought I had the wrong room! The beds were stripped, sheets piled in the corner, half-eaten food cartons lying on the dresser, water bottles all over the floor, etc. Went BACK down to the lobby for the third time!!! I actually took a picture of the room with my camera phone because I was afraid the desk staff wouldn't believe me again! Finally got a room right next to the lobby, at least it was clean! Also, the Business Center was a joke! The laser printer didn't work and just spit out crumpled, smeared pages, so I had to pay double to print using the color printer (and of course I was paying for Internet minutes the whole time I was trying to get the printer to work). Then the copier stuck an extra blank page in the middle of the copies I was making, so I ended up paying for 75 extra pages. Tried to complain to the front desk and showed them the pile of crumpled pages and blank extras. They said there was nothing they could do but I could try calling the 1-800 number if I wanted. Needless to say, I was not refunded for any of this and will not be staying here again!

There has been a significant recent change in the quality of this hotel in the last few months. They managed to squeak out a 4-star rating but I think it's drastically gone worse than before. It is definitely NOT a 4-star hotel! The staff has changed and those currently there seem to have lost their spirit and/or seem nervous for their jobs. The strange fishy food smells along with the garish unmatched carpets give you the impression of being in a different country...and unpleasantly so. We encountered a number of maintenance issues that the staff didn't seem to know how to resolve. Other than being close to Universal Studios, I can't think of a reason to want to stay at this hotel anymore.

When I arrived on a Friday at 5:35 PM for check-in there were a large number (6+) of people waiting in each of the two regular check-in lines. I am a HHonors Members so I decided to use that check-in process. I was fourth in line. By 6:00 a few folks had queued up behind me, given up and gone to the other lines. They were long gone into their rooms. By 6:30 I was finally being issued a room key and off to the room. 55 minutes, can only get better from here. And it did! The room was on the 19th floor. It was a `corner' room overlooking Universal Studios with a wonderful view of the SF Valley and the mountains. The room and bath were clean and very well appointed. The spacious bathroom was tiled in travertine as was the shower walls and countertops. My wife loved the separate vanity area. The Hotel was close enough to walk over to the City Walk for dinner, but after the concert we took advantage of the convenient tram for our return. I was very disappointed in the check-in process, but I do recommend the Universal Hilton anyway and will most likely return if my travels take me back to the area.