Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central hotel review

As part of our summer mini Scotland roadtrip, we started off in Glasgow for a couple of nights. The aim was to explore the city and use it as a base for nearby attractions we wanted to visit. I struggled to find twin rooms that were available throughout our trip with parking. Looking around Glasgow hotels that were available, I decided on the Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central hotel.

We do love a Doubletree by Hilton hotel and we had a good 2 night stay at this Glasgow one. Being central, it does mean it’s in the low emission (LEZ) zone. You can check your car beforehand to see if you’ll need to pay (my 2016 diesel AWD Volvo was ok).  They also have their own car park which is always a big draw for me. There’s a hotel guest rate of £12 a night. You just enter your registration number at reception and number of nights you’re staying on arrival which allows you to go in and out with no issues during your stay.

The hotel is only 5 minutes walk from the nearest subway station. So you could arrive by train to Glasgow Central, then get the subway or bus.

The welcome was friendly, and our room was really a bit earlier than standard check in time.  The hotel lobby is lovely (making up for the ugly outside that most city centre hotels are) and totally instagramable areas. There’s a nice lounge area, and bar and restaurant areas.   

We were on the 7th floor – it is a huge hotel. Thankfully the lifts are fast. Each floor you need to tap your room card to enter making it feel very safe too.

I do wish more hotels would have the local street maps they pull off the top paper layer to hand out, meaning they can annotate the hotel and answering any questions you have with the location. I asked for a street map, and got handed a tour bus route map with only a handful of named streets. It didn’t even show where the hotel was.

Our hotel room at Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central

Our room was a standard double and single (might have been a triple room). N’s single bed was a wider size which he was happy about. The beds were a nice firmness. With 6 pillows between us there were plenty to not have to worry about how soft they were. I had a relatively decent sleep although I do always wake several times a night in hotels.

There were the usual warm cookies from reception on arrival (although that did mean you didn’t have any biscuits if staying more than one night). The tea tray like most hotels didn’t have hot chocolate which was a little sad. 

We also had a desk chair and a small table and comfy chair to relax on which I always like for the evening rather than being stuck sitting on the bed.

The bathroom had shampoo, conditioner and washing gel in, but none of the extras I’m sure they used to have. Maybe increased costs mean they’ve reduced down what they’re giving for free. The hairdryer didn’t work which was annoying the one time I wanted to use it, but not annoying enough to warrant getting a different one sent up.

It was quite a high sided bath to get into for a shower, but the shower pressure was decent and there was plenty of room without feeling cramped.

The view, like most city centre hotels wasn’t just of more buildings. We had the noise of hotel generators going all the time, but this wasn’t noticeable at night with the windows closed and air con on.

The swimming pool

We had to book for the swimming pool and adults needed to be in the pool with children.  The booking system was confused. We booked in for 4pm one day, but on the morning that day decided to move it back to 5pm. But when we asked, we were told it was actually on the half hour slots, so we had to move it to 4.30. All very odd.

The pool was really busy too as there was a lane blocked off for children’s swimming lessons, and then obviously there are gym members who can also used the pool at any time.  Luckily there were 4-5 men in the jacuzzi while we were in the pool otherwise there wouldn’t have been room for everyone. There were 2 other families and us, then 3-4 others trying to swim up and down down.  I got chatting to one of the other ‘swimmers’ who lived nearby and was a member there, and she said they just let whoever in. We didn’t even know how long our slot was. Luckily 30 mins in it did quieten down a little.

The changing rooms are fairly small as most hotel changing rooms usually are, with a couple of toilets and showers. We were given padlocks for the lockers to use. The lack of a spinner to dry swimwear was surprising for such a large hotel. At least they had enough towels to provide for everyone.

Hotel breakfast

The restaurant is large at the Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central. Breakfast is all buffet service which we love. Although it was fairly busy, it was fine to get what you wanted without interruption due to the size of the stations.

There were different juice offerings, a few hot drinks machines. Continental breakfast including cereals, toast, mini pastries and muffins, meats, cheese and kippers, and yoghurt and a good selection of fruits. There was also a self serve pancake machine, but I couldn’t work that out. There were different alternative milks out, although I didn’t notice any gluten free bread.

For hot breakfast there was the usual offering plus haggis. We only spotted scrambled egg, although someone did have a fried egg, so we presume he’d requested that. We enjoyed what we chose, and the scrambled egg was tastier than the previous hotel (Holiday Inn Lancaster) we’d stayed at.  The restaurant has a nice relaxed vibe. The decor was more striking in contrast to the pretty blossom trees in the hotel lobby area.

Check out was just as easy as check in. I would prefer to see the receipt/invoice at the time rather than afterwards by email so I can check that the correct costs for the car park were added on.

I’d definitely stay in the Doubletree by Hilton Glasgow Central again. Even though one afternoon we totally got lost after putting in the wrong previous location in the satnav, then struggled to get around the city due to new bus gates and all the one way systems, the hotel is generally easy to find. It’s always handy having a car park underneath the hotel rather than having to trust a separate one nearby like other hotels in the area seem to do.

It’s also walkable into the main areas of the city centre. Assume you’ll be walking back up hill at some point to return to the hotel. If you want the hop on hop off red tour bus, there’s a stop not far along from it. You’re also near the concert and theatre areas of the city, so you could meet music students heading off to the Scottish Conservatoire.

Have you stayed in Glasgow before? What hotel recommendations do you have?