Westchester Hilton
Photo Source: Hilton
I know that my readers come from all across the country – even Canada and other countries. I post about New York things (events, places…) because sometimes readers find themselves in New York, whether it’s for business or pleasure. I like to post about New York things so that you have some suggestions on what to do and where to stay while you are in the area.
Last weekend my husband and I spent the night at the Westchester Hilton located at 699 Westchester Avenue in Rye Brook, New York 10573.
Westchester County is located just north of New York City. It’s a great location that allows you to easily get in and out of New York City without having to stay in the city (hotels in NYC can be very pricey). The hotel is located approximately 30 miles north of Manhattan. There is train service available into the city and you can drive (it’s approx. 45 minutes depending on traffic).
There is a lot to see and do in Westchester County, as well as places to visit that are not too far away.
- Bronx Zoo
- Westchester Broadway Theater
- Hike the Aqueduct Trail
- Rye Playland Amusement Park
- Empire City Casino
- LEGOLAND Discovery Center
The area also has many historical sites and cultural centers. In addition there are plenty of trails and outdoor activities you can immerse yourself in.
Westchester is also home to many fabulous colleges and universities. If you are planning a college visit in the area and need a hotel to stay at consider the Westchester Hilton.
My husband and I arrived at the Westchester Hilton around check-in time (3:00 PM). The hotel was easy enough to find. It’s also set back from the main roads by a long drive way.
We were surprised by the massive parking lot. It was huge and to our surprise there were plenty of cars parked in the lot as well as several buses that appeared to be picking people up to take them somewhere. I’m assuming the group was staying at the hotel.
Depending on where you park it can be a bit of a walk to the front door of the hotel. We intentionally parked away from most of the cars because we were using a loaner car and wanted to make sure no one dinged it.
The hotel lobby is huge. There is a very large lounge area, complete with a beautiful fireplace. There is also another seating area with a massive bookcase that spans the entire wall.
The people in the reception area seemed “perky” and were pleasant towards us.
Our room was located on the 4th floor, not too far from the elevators.
The room was very large. It featured a king size bed, nightstands, dresser, desk and a lounge chair with ottoman. It also featured a huge closet. I have never seen a closet so big in a hotel room before.
Bathroom – features a shaving mirror and comes with a hairdryer, shampoo, conditioner and a massage soap bar.
Soft and comfy bed.
Nice lounge chair and ottoman
Desk and dresser.
Dresser features a mini fridge and a coffee maker.
Really big closet with iron and ironing board. Plenty of storage.
Phone, alarm clock, lamp (with outlets) and remote control.
Large room.
Shampoo & Conditioner
Nice massage soap bar.
Plenty of mirrors.
Mini Fridge
The bathroom was fairly large. I like that it had two different lights. There is nothing worse than a super bright light in the middle of the night when you have to use the facility. The light for the bathtub area was much gentler on the eyes.
The bed was SO COMFORTABLE. It was like sleeping on a cloud. My husband and I lied down and didn’t want to get up. My husband even did “snow angels” on the bed. LOL!
Even the pillows were soft and comfortable. It was one of the most comfortable hotel beds I have ever slept in.
Outside our window we noticed a walking path. We decided to explore the hotel and grounds a bit before heading down to dinner.
Walking path/trail outside our window.
The hotel is a lot bigger than it appears from the outside. We only explored the 4th floor (we didn’t go to other floors) and found that there are very long hallways. I joked with my husband that we needed a map to see where we were going.
Long hallways
On our floor we found the ice machine and a soda vending machine which was handy. We also found an upstairs access to two of the ballrooms. We didn’t go into either of them because there were parties going on in both.
After exploring our floor we headed down to the lobby area. As I mentioned earlier the lounge area was huge. There is more than enough seating. My favorite spots were near the fireplace and near the bookcase.
Nice lounge area with a floor to ceiling bookcase. The indoor pool is located on the other side of this bookcase.
BEAUTIFUL fireplace and plenty of places to sit and enjoy it.
The lobby also had a huge television and computer work stations (including printers).
Computer
Lobby with plenty of tables, chairs and the computer/printer work stations.
Large TV in the background (4 panels) plus a large table with chairs – ideal for a meeting.
The lobby was nicely decorated.
Aside from the fireplace and huge bookcase there is also a huge interactive display with a touchscreen that gives you access to a lot of information including airline information, local weather and hotel events. My husband and I have fun touching the screen to see all the information we could pull up.
Interactive display – it was like a huge iPad on the wall.
We eventually headed outside to check out the trail we saw. We didn’t get too far before it started to rain and we had to head back inside. It’s unfortunate because I really wanted to see where the trail led to.
We went back inside and took a peek into a couple of the ballrooms (one was occupied so we couldn’t really get a good look at it). We also found the indoor pool. I wanted to go in and take a picture but I didn’t want people who were swimming to wonder why I was taking pictures. There were also a lot of little kids in the pool and I didn’t want their faces to appear on my blog for their safety.
Indoor Pool
Outside of the hotel (back of the hotel) there is plenty of seating (tables and chairs), what appeared to be a barbecue pit (or fire pit?), lounge chairs and a really nice looking pool. It was raining so we were unable to get too close to the pool.
Outdoor Pool
Volleyball court near the outdoor pool.
The hotel does have tennis courts and a fitness room but we were unable to visit them.
The grounds are nicely landscaped.
After we were done exploring we headed back to our room for a bit to watch TV before heading downstairs again for dinner. We shouldn’t have lied in bed to watch TV. We were so comfortable we almost fell asleep.
We did enjoy an amazing dinner at Harth Restaurant at Hilton Westchester, which is the restaurant located in the hotel lobby. You can read my review here – Harth Restaurant Review.
After a very satisfying meal we headed back upstairs where I was greeted by a mysterious Birthday cake. No one has come forth and taken credit for it but I do have my suspicions. Thankfully the room had mini fridge so I was able to keep the cake cool until we got it home.
We slept blissfully that night. The bed was so comfortable. Even in the morning when we knew we had to get up we tried to stay in bed as long as possible.
In room coffee maker.
The room came with a coffee maker and supplies but I opted to wait until we went for breakfast to have coffee. Harth has a breakfast buffet and other breakfast options.
We stayed for as long as we could but we had to head back home to pick up our kids to go upstate for a Memorial Day / Birthday barbecue.
Check out was quick and easy.
Overall we very much enjoyed our stay. I don’t know which I enjoyed more – the amazing meal at Harth or the super comfy bed.
The room was large and nicely appointed. The furniture was a little outdated, but I was not there for the furniture. As long as it’s comfy I don’t care how old it is.
We didn’t like the TV set up. There was a bit of a lag when you changed channels. I guess we’re just spoiled because we have satellite TV at home. There were many channels which was nice, including HBO. There are paid movie channels as well.
The bathroom had shampoo and conditioner and only one soap. It was a massage bar, which was really nice, but I wish we had a second bar of soap instead of having to use the same bar of soap to wash our hands and take a shower.
The bathroom had a shaving mirror which was handy and a hair dryer.
When we stayed at the hotel there were a few parties going on and A LOT of young children. The children ran around the hotel – up and down the stairwells, up and down the elevators, running around the lobby, playing hide and seek in the restaurant area… The kids trashed the place too. There was garbage on the floor in the lobby area and in the hallway. I DON’T BLAME THE HOTEL. I blame the parents. The children were unsupervised. The hotel staff did what they could to control them even though it was not their responsibility. For example, when we were having dinner some kids came running in to play hide and go seek behind a table near us. The waiter nicely gathered up the children and told them to play elsewhere. There were no parents to be seen.
I feel bad for the hotel because someone checking in might think the hotel was trashy when it’s NOT. It was from the children that were running a muck around the hotel. Those parents should be ashamed of themselves.
We enjoyed our stay. If given the opportunity we would stay there again. Hopefully next time the weather would be better and we can enjoy the grounds.
If you find yourself in New York or Westchester County and you are looking for a hotel, consider the Westchester Hilton.
Kimberly
*I received a free hotel stay and meals in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
