Hilton Garden Inn Myrtle Beach/Coastal Grand Mall

The worst customer service I’ve ever experienced from a Hilton hotel! I have been with Hilton for 10+ years, and have lived in Hilton Hotels for months at a time while working as a nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs which is a branch of the Federal Government. I booked a stay at this hotel from 4/26/24-4/28/24 for work purposes, and received an email from their staff on 4/16/24 letting me know of their government rate requirements and if I didn’t possess the proper identification, they would not honor my military rate. In all my years of traveling with Hilton, I have NEVER received such an accusatory or disrespectful email in my life. For the government rate, they required two of the three: a valid federal ID which I possess, a government credit card, and official travel orders. During my entire career and thousands of stays with Hilton for work purposes, I have only ever had to show them my valid government ID. I would have had no issue supplying them with official travel orders, but I decided to cancel my stay because of the audacity and accusatory nature of their email. Never has a hotel reached out to me ten days in advance of my stay to list their government rate requirements. I asked them if they email every government employee ahead of time with their government rate requirements, or if they just happen to be sold out this particular weekend and don’t want to lose revenue by having a government employee stay at their hotel. I look forward to their emailed response and/or answer on this negative review. It seems based on other reviews that I’m not the first person to experience this issue with customer service and I suspect this is an individually franchised property because Hilton owned properties never act in the manner that this hotel does.

I would like to add that I understand there are specific rules and policies associated with the government rate, and I’m not disputing that this is Hilton’s policy. My issue is not with the government rate, it’s with the rude and accusatory nature of their email. I suspect their hotel is sold out this weekend, and with the government rate being much lower than the regular rate, I suspect their reason for emailing me so far in advance of my stay is because they wanted me to cancel so they make more money. I look forward to them answering if it’s their policy to email all government employees in advance of their stay, because I’ve never received such an email during the thousands of stays I’ve had with Hilton.