Doubletree by Hilton, Windsor, Ontario, Canada – loved it!

I was attending a conference in Detroit, Michigan, but had it on good authority that the hotel I was booked into wasn't that good. My travel company emailed to say they'd find a better hotel and I suggested staying on the Windsor, Ontario, side of the Detroit River. It proved to be a good move. The great thing about staying on the Canadian side of the river is that you can escape Detroit and then wander around freely, safe in the knowledge that you're not going to be jumped by some miscreant or other. Although, that said, and to be fair to Detroit, I was there for a week and never had any problems so I'll go with the notion that the city has cleaned up its act considerably (as many people say). Staying close to the riverfront you shouldn't experience any problems, it's only when you wander out into the suburbs that you might encounter problems.

View from room 526, Doubletree by Hilton, Windsor, Ontario.

So, the hotel. I've stayed at DoubleTree by Hilton before – you get given free cookies on arrival, which is fine unless you're trying to eat healthily. But putting cookies aside the hotel is perfectly located. Room 526 is great mainly because it's facing the river so you can see the skyscrapers of Detroit on the other side of the river, which is very pleasant.

Check-in was easy and while I had to wait a few minutes before my room was ready for occupation, all was well. The room itself was, for want of a better expression, 'roomy'. It was big and sported one huge double bed, which was very comfortable. There was a massive flatscreen LG television, plenty of desk space, a decent wardrobe, safe, all the usual stuff and a nice enough bathroom too. The shower was excellent although they'd run out of shower gel so I had to use shampoo, which wasn't a problem, although I suppose I could have asked, I just didn't. 

I'd forgotten to bring any toothpaste with me, but fortunately the hotel had some and it lasted my entire time there.

I never tried the restaurant for dinner as there were quite a few interesting places to visit outside of the hotel. However, I did have breakfast every day and for Saturday and Sunday morning and Thursday and Friday mornings there was a buffet style offering which I much preferred. Monday to Wednesday there was a menu service and I can't say I liked it. The main problem was the waitress who insisted I could only have one cup of tea when, with the self-service breakfast, I could go up and get as many teas as I wanted. I won't say it didn't annoy me, it was taking 'portion control' to a ridiculous extreme. On the Thursday I went to the lobby and purchased a large green tea and took it to breakfast with me only to discover that the offering had reverted to self-service.

There was a pool and a gym that I didn't use, mainly because I didn't have any trainers, and while I had brought my swimming gear, the idea never really appealed so I relied instead upon walking.

The hotel staff were friendly, which means a lot and I can honestly say that I looked forward to riding the bus into the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and was relieved to be in Canada where everything seemed a little less fraught, it was like coming home every day. 

So, hats off to the Doubletree by Hilton, I'll forgive them their rigid attention to breakfast portion control mainly because breakfast was always really top notch: pastries, toast, porridge, a hot breakfast of scrambled egg, sausage and 'breakfast potatoes', yoghurts and fresh fruit. Wonderful.

My advice to anybody visiting Detroit is this: stay on the Canadian side of the border and check in to the Doubletree by Hilton. The tunnel bus takes roughly 30 minutes from one side to the other. Yes, you'll need your passport and yes you'll have to answer a few questions, but it's really not a hassle and you'll get to stay on the calmer side of the river.