Milford, CT Hilton Garden Inn is a Good Place to Rest on Your Head on the Connecticut Shoreline

If you are looking for an upscale hotel with relatively inexpensive prices, check out the Hilton Garden Inn located in the Connecticut shoreline town of Milford.

I and my girlfriend recently stayed at the hotel on a Saturday night in the spirit of pretending we are on vacation without actually doing so due to limited finances.

The four-floor hotel features 120 rooms with 12 suites with both king junior and king suites featuring separate living spaces.

The front desk agent said suites feature private Jacuzzis.

The price difference of about $60-$80 between rooms and suites prompted us to book a room.

Upon walking in the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn, we saw an open-air dining room of the hotel's restaurant, The Great American Grill, on the left and a beautiful fireplace with furniture and a flat screen television on the right.

Perhaps my only negative first impression of the lobby was the powerful smell of chlorine emitting from the direction of the indoor pool.

The front desk staff greeted us and gave us directions to our room which met my preferences of having a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed on the first floor near the hotel lobby.

It was quite convenient staying on the first floor since there are several doors at the end of the hallways leading to the well-lit parking lot.

Also, all of the Hilton Garden Inn's common areas, including the pool, fitness center, business center, restaurant, lounge, meeting rooms, and hotel convenience store, are on this floor.

For a base rate of $98 with my AAA member discount, I definitely thought I got a really good deal for the money.

The hotel has a non-refundable advance purchase discount for those wishing to save money along with a bed and breakfast package allowing up to four people to enjoy a full breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. For a romantic getaway consider the romance package featuring sparkling wine in the room along with a full breakfast. A senior rate also applies to those over 62 years of age.

In comparison, hotels throughout eastern Connecticut, even ones as far as one hour north of the casinos had prices much higher and offered much less.

Upon entering the room, it was already cooled providing relief from a warm and humid day.

The room featured a 32" LCD screen panel TV with a number of channels including several HBO channels, CNN, and ESPN.

I and my girlfriend were quite impressed with the extensive channel line-up and while there was no on-screen channel guide, a box does come up with channel identification.

The room also features a small kitchenette area with a microwave, mini refrigerator, and coffee maker.

Additionally, the room also featured a hairdryer, iron and ironing board, a work desk with an ergonomic Mirra chair by Herman Miller, and an arm chair with ottoman.

A 24-hour coin laundry service is available for $1.50.

There is plenty of room to bring a laptop computer and you can tie into the hotel's Wi-Fi network for free and send print jobs to their 24-hour business center.

Each room features two dual-line phones with data port and voicemail.

Since I have Internet on my mobile phone, I elected not to bring my laptop and some difficulty connecting to the AT&T tower via my phone at first but later was able to log on.

The business center features several computers and a printer and is located next to the lobby and for part of our visit was used by kids playing computer games.

For the business traveler, faxes can be made for $1 and a photo copying service is available for 10 cents a copy.

Also located next to the lobby are a board room, several meeting rooms, restrooms and a pre-function area with windows.

In total, there is over 2,400 flexible meeting space and the hotel offers audio/visual equipment rental, business phone service, complimentary printing service, meeting specialists, catering, and complimentary high-speed and wireless Internet.

In my room, the comfortable king-sized bed featured four pillows and a long skinny pillow.

The room's window overlooked the hotel's parking lot but I did not choose the hotel for its view, so that really was not an issue.

While the bathroom was a little bit small with the bathroom door hitting the adjacent shower door and a leaky sink causing the counter to easily get wet, it was otherwise elegant and lined with the basic bathroom amenities.

It was easy to get additional towels and washcloths at the front desk.

The Great American Grill offers both breakfast and dinner.

I visited the dining room at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night and at 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning and failed to see more than three families at either time, not an encouraging sign.

As for dinner, the prices on the in-room dinner seemed reasonable and they had quite a variety of food but I and my girlfriend agreed to have a nice dinner at the local Olive Garden instead.

The hotel offers room service until 10 p.m.

It was surprisingly quiet at the hotel for a Saturday night and the hotel did not seem too busy at all.

The hotel also features a small hidden bar called the Pavilion Lounge but when I and my girlfriend went there at 10:15 p.m., we were informed by the front desk that it closed at 10 p.m., quite odd since most bars do not close early on a Saturday night.

Next to the front desk is the Pavilion Pantry, a convenience store offering beverages, foods, over-the-counter medication, sundries, and ready-to-cook meals and anything else that you may have forgotten from home.

Despite Connecticut's last call for alcohol at 2 a.m. rule on the weekends, the gentleman at the front desk said the hotel has special permission to sell wine and beer 24 hours and I ended up buying a Corona Light for $5.88 and charging it to the room.

We were discouraged from having the restaurant's extensive breakfast buffet for $12.95 realizing that we probably would not eat that amount of food and settled on going to the local IHOP to get a breakfast that would fill our appetite for half the price.

The hotel not only features an indoor pool but also an adjacent fitness center along with an outside patio with tables and chairs.

Both the pool and fitness center are open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and while we passed on the fitness center, we enjoyed going to the pool both Saturday and Sunday.

In the pool area, there are complimentary towels, lounge chairs, a water fountain, and restrooms and a view of the television from next door in the fitness center.

The pool has a shallow end of three feet and a deep end of five feet and there is no lifeguard on duty.

Saturday night, we were surprised by the number of people especially kids, in the pool at even 10 p.m. but were able to enjoy some alone time when we came back the next morning at 10 a.m. when hotel guests were busily moving their belongings out of their rooms and getting ready to check-out.

Hilton Garden Inn features a Zip-Out Check-Out allowing you to check out via telephone.

Each morning at about 5:30 a.m., a member of the hotel staff puts copies of statements under hotel room doors and it includes charges from the night before.

If you signed up for the HHonors program, a free membership card giving you rewards based on the number of times you stay at Hilton hotels, a statement of how many points you earned on your stay is included on the second page.

During the week, complimentary issues of the USA Today are delivered to each room.

While you can still charge things to your room before check-out and get an updated statement in person or request one mailed to you, I had no additional charges but decided to check-out the old-fashioned way and visited the front desk.

The staff was very friendly and asked me how I enjoyed my stay and all in all, it was a very nice hotel which I would recommend for couples and families.

Several companies are located near the Hilton Garden Inn including ADP, Sikorsky, Milford Hospital, Yale Hospital, Assa Abloy, Enthone/Cookson Electronics, Hubbell Inn, Bic Corporation, Schick Wilkinson Sword, Newport Corporation, UTC, and Subway Headquarters.

Nearby is the Westfield Shoppingtown Connecticut Post Mall with a National Amusements Cinema De Luxe 14-screen movie theater, Chatters Restaurant and Bar, Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant and Bar, and Krazy City, a restaurant and kids arcade.

Other local attractions include AMF Milford Lanes, Downtown Milford, Milford City Center, Great River Golf Course, New Haven University, Yale University, Silver Sands State Park, Walnut Beach, Gulf Beach, Middle Beach, the Milford Town Beach, and The Edge Fitness Center.

Also close by is the Metro North Train Station with connections to Amtrak train service to New York City.

The hotel, which opened in 2009, is conveniently located off exit 40 of Interstate 95 and is located at 291 Old Gate Lane in Milford.

It is located next door to a Lowe's Home Improvement Center and offers complimentary parking.

Reservations can be made by calling 1-203-783-9988 or 1-877-STAY-HGI, faxing 203-783-0799, or visiting www.Milford.HGI.com.

Check-in is at 3 p.m. and check-out is at 12 p.m., however inquiries can be made to check-in early or for late check-out.