My Pandemic Hilton Stay: What Was It Like To Stay In A Hotel During The Pandemic?

Last week, I had my second hotel stay during the pandemic.

It was in a full service Hilton hotel.

I am a Hilton Gold member, so I will explain how breakfast works too.

This was my second hotel stay during the pandemic again .

My first stay was in a limited service hotel.

Here is my experience at the Hilton.

What can you expect at a full service hotel during the pandemic?

Things To Expect In A Full Service Hotel During the Pandemic

Full service hotels are all about service.

In reading other bloggers posts about staying at a hotel during the pandemic, many said this cannot be done fully during the pandemic.

Many commented that masks make everything impersonal.

Overall, a lot of people said the experience was different.

Personally, it was initially different but things like texts brought some of the service touches back.

I could text my Hilton representative about anything.

I used this service throughout my stay.

So, in general, with everything I think there was adaption.

What was my experience with breakfast as a Hilton Gold

Before my trip, I had no time to google what breakfast was like for elites at the Hilton chain.

Honestly, I expected nothing.

I was pleasantly surprised by a $20 voucher at the huge market in the Hilton Atlanta.

The Hilton Atlanta is a very big property with restaurants and a full store, among other things.

The famous restaurant was closed on the days I went but opened on the weekend.

I was told I could use my voucher at the huge store between 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. in the morning when I checked in.

The next day, I ordered a prepared egg sandwich, juice, a parfait, and coffee, totaling just over $20.

I have never bought prepared egg sandwiches.

It was awful, but I think most people would have known this.

Some Hiltons have a restaurant open, and your voucher can be used for a hot breakfast.

I don’t know if this is a big deal to elites.

I liked getting a $20 voucher, so it worked for me.

At my particular Hilton, that meant no hot fresh breakfast again though.

RELATED: 8 Credit Cards That Give You Hotel Elite Status Just For Having A Credit Card

Was it easy to social distance in hotel during the pandemic?

This was a concern I had because I was staying in a large Hilton.

I was particularly worried about the elevator as I knew I would be on a high floor (20th floor).

Some people avoid properties that are huge because of the pandemic.

Like all hotels, there was no one there.

This hotel was operating way under capacity.

At most times, I had the elevator to myself.

There were social distance markers on the elevator floor too though.

I rarely passed anyone again.

So, like the last hotel stay, there was no problem social distancing.

Did people wear masks in hotel during the pandemic?

The few times that I passed people, mostly staff, everyone had a mask on.

Again, I rarely passed anyone.

The hotel is huge and guests were probably spread out.

How clean was the hotel?

Hilton Atlanta door with “clean safe” stamp

This stood out.

The hotel looked extremely clean.

Hilton, which rates high during the coronavirus, had stickers placed on the door to show that my room had been cleaned.

The room looked so clean that I almost felt bad about doing my usual wipe down.

Like in my last post (my stay in a limited service Holiday Inn Express), I will add a quick in-depth review of the hotel stay.

This is so you can see what the hotel experience, from check-in to check-out, is like during the pandemic.

Also, you can decide if you would like to see hotel reviews on the blog later.

Quick Hilton Atlanta Review: Checking in, room, etc.

Hilton Atlanta, Seating Area

Booking the hotel

The Hilton Atlanta went for 17,000 points.

It was 23,000 points but the points decreased by the day of the stay, so it may pay to wait until the last minute.

I figured this was true.

Hotels are dirt cheap during the pandemic.

Hilton lowers the amount of points needed for redemptions during the pandemic.

The other chains don’t all do this though, as far as I know.

I think this hotel usually goes for 40,000 points without the pandemic.

Hilton points start at 5,000 points, although there are few of those in the United States.

Although this was a low amount of points, I used points + cash.

The points + cash feature did not seem as nice as it used to be in the past because I got charged more taxes than I remember from previous years.

It has been a long time since I used points + cash though.

I got these Hilton points from the survey I did last week that gave me an easy 10,000 Hilton points.

At 17,000 points, the redemption rate was $.59 when Hilton points are worth $.50, so I got just a little more than Hilton points are worth.

To get the redemption rate, multiple the price of the hotel with taxes times 100, then divide by the number of points.

Somehow, I came out to spending $50 after taxes.

It was $30 before taxes though.

Again, I have not used points + cash in years, so at 11,000 points, this seemed not as good as it used to be.

I was in a rush and just wanted to use my points, so I did not care.

You can learn from my mistake.

It looks like either paying all points or all cash would have been better.

Next time, I will make sure to have the full amount of points if it is a better point’s deal.

I used my Ibotta/Swagbucks money to cover the cash portion.

Again, this was a quick trip, and I was not spending money.

Later, I will explain how I use things like Swagbucks and other things to cover costs.

I am supposed to have started reselling to cover my travel budget but because of the pandemic, I have not started yet.

Again, I don’t believe in spending money on travel.

You can check out my other blog, Adding Pennies, to put some extra money in your pocket and use things like Swagbucks.

Hilton cash + points used to be better than the other chains.

My guess is that was not profitable for them.

Maybe, the math did not work at this hotel though.

It may be better to have the full point amount than cash + points (in some cases) though.

Hilton Atlanta Location

The Hilton Atlanta is centrally located in downtown Atlanta near all the main attractions.

Like I said, in the other posts, sometimes $100 hotels are better with cash when international travel resumes.

I don’t believe in spending money on travel again and will address things I do to get around this again.

Honestly, in terms of Atlanta, I don’t find Atlanta to be a very expensive hotel market in comparison to cities like Boston, New York, etc.

I find it to be very affordable.

For later, as travel resumes, you may want to be aware of which cities in the United States have very affordable hotel rates.

You can get your typical Hilton or Marriott in the center of these cities for around $100 plus taxes.

Some cities that stand out as affordable are Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Memphis.

Later, when travel resumes, and you are jetting off to your next international destination, this may be important to know for a quick, cheap U.S. trip.

Hilton Atlanta check-in and lobby

Hilon Atlanta hotel lobby

Check in was smooth.

My representative did not seem helpful at first, but later through texts, was very helpful the rest of the day.

There were plexiglass shields and stickers on the floor for social distancing.

The Hilton Atlanta is huge again with several meeting areas, as are all the hotels in downtown Atlanta.

I prefer high floors and was given a room on the 20th floor again.

I am not sure if I got any upgrade as a Hilton Gold.

I have been Hilton Gold for years.

I have had good luck with upgrades, once being upgraded to the Presidential Suite in Charleston, South Carolina at Doubletree.

This looked like a regular room

Again, the representative was not initially helpful.

Maybe she was just used to texting because the rest of the trip she was extremely helpful by texts.

The room was huge but that could have been a normal room in this hotel.

Hilton Atlanta King Room

Hilton Atlanta King Bed

Unless I am traveling with company (like my mom), I always prefer a king room.

Again, the room at the Hilton Atlanta was huge.

The room had been properly cleaned.

Again, it looked flawless.

I was told that they keep rooms empty 24 hours after guests check out.

Hilton Atlanta Gym, Track

Hilton Atlanta, Track And Basketball Court

The hotel had no pool.

They said no one ever used it, so they got rid of it.

They did have a track and basketball court.

I found a track also at the Hilton Chicago years ago.

I always think this is cool in megahotels.

I don’t remember if the Hilton Chicago had a basketball court though.

Atlanta During The Pandemic

Again, the Hilton Atlanta is located near the major tourist attractions like:

• Georgia Aquarium
• CNN
• World of Coca-Cola
• National Center for Civil and Human Rights

I think downtown Atlanta is the preferred area to stay when visiting Atlanta.

I have also stayed at the Marriott Marquis in the area.

This is not my first stay at the Hilton Atlanta, though it has been a couple of years

The downtown flagship hotels (Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt) are usually connected.

During the pandemic, this was closed though.

You can also stay in Midtown Atlanta where you will be able to walk to bars and restaurants.

Third, as as location, you can stay in Buckhead with all the shopping.

Downtown Atlanta is usually empty at night.

I still think downtown Atlanta, within walking distance to all the major attractions, is the best and most popular location.

This is the location most people choose.

Personally, Atlanta is a car city, so you will need to drive or take MARTA in any case.

The area was empty at night again.

All downtown hotels will charge $30 for parking.

I don’t think Midtown Atlanta or Buckhead are much cheaper though in terms of parking.

What was my experience visiting Atlanta during a pandemic?

A lot of things were closed in terms of restaurants.

I am used to walking to Peachtree. Center, a mall and food court, to get food.

I ended up paying over $20 for wings at the Hard Rock Cafe, the only restaurant open at night.

Most things were open in Atlanta during the day (Aquarium, High Museum, etc), but my trip was very quick.

Things like the Aquarium were more expensive than I remember at $35.

Though things in downtown were closed at night, most things looked to move as normal during the day.

I had a tight schedule on this trip and did not get to all the major attractions.

So, I plan to stop with full itinerary on the next Atlanta trip.

I have had the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the country, on my list for a long time.

In general, I find it easy to avoid crowds on all my trips and the trips are similar to my normal routines at home.

Hilton Atlanta Overall Impression

Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the Hilton Atlanta.

My fears of staying at a large property were immediately put to rest during the pandemic.

Like the other hotel review, no one was there.

The room was huge and flawlessly cleaned.

I got help all day through texts.

I also enjoyed my $20 breakfast voucher as a Hilton Gold.

Maybe I had low expectations about breakfast though because I thought everything would be closed.

Summary

This is my second pandemic hotel stay.

I enjoyed it.

Since I usually only choose full service Hilton or Marriott hotels, I felt more at home.

Again, hotels are generally empty during the pandemic.

So, there is no problem avoiding crowds and social distancing.

You may want to take note of why no one is staying at a hotel now though.

I see fellow bloggers are all out enjoying empty hotels.

Are we all crazy people or what?

Keep in mind that in popular locations like Florida or California, there may be crowds though.

I felt safe.

Since avoiding crowds is no issue, the sanitization is the big concern.

I felt comfortable with the Hilton “clean stay.”

I still wipe down everything though.

I hope this post was helpful if you will stay in a hotel during the pandemic.

Know that hotels are dirt cheap during the pandemic.

Have you stayed in a full service hotel during the pandemic?

What was your experience?