Located in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Hilton City Center has a certain grandeur to it that harkens back to the early days of when the building was completed in 1928.

Hilton City Center Milwaukee Lobby

Even though the hotel has been through several renovations and owners, the lobby has retained quite a bit of its art deco style with tall marble columns and crystal chandeliers. Visually, it’s quite impressive.

I was given a corner room on the 14th floor, which offered views of the northwest areas of the city. The king bed dominated the surprisingly small room, which also had a wood armoire, couch and desk area. The bathroom seemed more spacious, with a long single sink marble vanity ending at the commode and shower/tub combo. Wifi was available, for a surcharge, so I opted not to use it.

Water pressure was surprisingly strong for such an older building, but that may be due to the addition of the indoor water park, Paradise Landing, several years ago. The 20,000-sq-ft multi-level water playground seems to draw a lot of families to the hotel, especially during the colder months, such as when I visited. Admission was not included in the nightly room charge.

I ate a late dinner at the hotel’s sports bar, Miller Time Pub. The food was decent, but nothing spectacular, though I did appreciate that I could get a cold Leinie Berry Weiss to go with my meal.

Hilton City Center Milwaukee - King Bed Room

I was told by the staff that a major renovation of the entire hotel was planned by the owners with a starting date of later this spring. Plans call for the addition of LCD TVs, new bedding, furniture and carpeting for all 730 of the guestrooms. I hope the updates don’t change the old-world charm of the rooms too much.

I wouldn’t mind if they found a better system of getting from the parking garage to the lobby, though, especially since they charge an outrageous $20 a night – even for guests. Walking it late at night, I felt a bit unsafe, and the signage leading from the walkway connecting the garage to the hotel’s main building was a bit confusing to follow.

The Hilton Milwaukee City Center is centrally-located downtown, a block from the Grand Avenue Mall, which would be good for business travelers. As a sightseer, I appreciated that I could walk to several museums, as well as the Riverwalk area with its chic clubs and restaurants.

But with all the surcharges and uneven levels of service (I felt like I was intruding when I stopped by the front desk at one point to ask a question and interrupted a personal conversation between the two employees), I’m not sure it’d be my first choice of hotels next time I’m in town.

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The Hilton Milwaukee City Center
509 West Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53203
(414) 271-7250

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