I stayed at the Hilton Anatole over the 4th of July weekend with my children, ages 8 and 3. At first glance, the hotel appears to be a beautiful and well maintained. But our stay on the 14th floor with inoperable air conditioning and no windows was downright brutal. Needless to say that it was a very restless night for everyone.

The Anatole did not have basic television channels for children such as the Disney channel, Nickelodeon, etc. They did graciously give you the option to purchase 30 minute kids' shows for $3.95 per show. Or you could purchase a kids' movie for $13 per movie. This was new to me and I thought it was a complete rip off.

The $17 self service overnight parking fee was also an unexpected charge that took me by surprise. WOW! Needless to say that if I am in Dallas ever again, I WILL NOT be staying at the Hilton Anatole. It is beautiful on the surface, but don't look too deep.

We booked the hotel for a conference and gave our credit card numbers to hold the rooms. The conference was not until mid June, but upon reviewing my credit card statement, the hotel had charged me a room deposit of $228, three different times (once in May and twice in June weeks before the conference.) I called the hotel, I faxed, I called the 1-800 Hilton number, I e-mailed.... No help. I may finally have someone to assist after sending a note to the hotel manager.

I travel at least once a month, I have been to other conferences and have never had anything like this happen so check your statement. Other people in my group had a similar issue. If you have to go, pay in cash or through Travelocity or some other reputable hotel booking service.

Everything in Texas is big. This is certainly true of the Hilton Anatole. Even the art is big.

Equipped with numerous facilities for a range of activities, this Hotel is ideally suited for large conferences. We enjoyed spacious meeting rooms, deliciously catered food, and fabulous entertainment venues. There were delightfully appropriate facilities for every event held at this conference.

I have a few wishes that could have improved my experience here:
- there should really be a gym that is free for hotel guests. It's only standard for nice hotels to offer gym services
- there should be better vegetarian options at all events. It is important for vegetarian meals to have sufficient protein. Protein was almost always insufficient in the vegetarian dishes.
- the air conditioning was on too high for my preferences. I was cold during most of the conference.
- i was mistakenly charged for a restaurant bill. the front desk easily cancelled it, but still, it's not good business to mistakenly charge guests

About a thousand cardiologists descended upon Hilton Anatole in May of this year to take an annual certification exam. Check-in was smooth, and the room was adequate. My view was of a parking lot, but since I got a "group discount" rate, no complaints. Dinner in the lobby's Mexican restaurant was very good, but pricey for what was served.

The next morning, chaos reigned. My room service breakfast, ordered the night before, never arrived. Multiple calls to room service were never picked up. I spoke with many others who encountered the same problem. This was before a 6-hour intense exam where no food was allowed in the testing room. Since no bags were allowed in the testing room, all of us tried to get bell service, and the lines were long and painful, with the poor bellmen obviously unprepared and stressed. I asked the pleasant young woman at the check-out desk if I could speak with a manager but she told me he was "overwhelmed".

I eventually managed to get a very expensive cup of yogurt and a Starbucks coffee at a kiosk in the hotel, but there were some very angry doctors in line.

Clearly not the place for your convention, but seemed adequate for an overpriced night in Dallas.