Hilton Aberdeen TECA - Detailed Review
/The Hilton Aberdeen TECA is Hilton’s newest Hotel offering in Scotland, having opened in September 2019. Damon and I wanted to check out the new hotel and we found a great one night rate at £66. As Diamond Hilton Honours members, we were preparing to take full advantage of a room upgrade and access to the hotel’s executive lounge.
Where is The Hilton TECA Aberdeen?
The TECA is located just south of Aberdeen Airport, on East Burn Road, just off of the A96.
The hotel, connected to the TECA event complex and only a short drive from Aberdeen Airport, is well situated for business and leisure travellers.
In reasonable driving distance from the TECA, you’ll find
Aberdeen TECA Event Complex (connected to the hotel)
Aberdeen Airport (2.2 miles or 7 min drive)
St Machar’s Cathedral (4.2 miles or 12 min drive)
Old Aberdeen (4.7 miles or 13 min drive)
Pittodrie Stadium (5.1 miles or 14 min drive)
Union Square Shopping Centre (5.2 miles or 15 min drive)
Getting There
From Aberdeen Airport
The Jet 727 bus departs from Aberdeen Airport every 10 minutes. It’s only a short distance to the TECA (around a 6 minute drive).
If you’re picking up a rental car at the airport, you’ll find the TECA is only a 3 or 4 minute drive away. From the airport, take the exit off the roundabout to Argyll Road then turn left on to Dyce Drive on the approach to the hotel.
From Aberdeen City Centre
The Jet 727 bus departs from Union Square Shopping Centre (connected to the rail and bus station) and stops at numerous points in Aberdeen city centre. The journey to the TECA takes around 40 minutes from Union Square.
By car, the journey is around 5 miles and takes around 15-20 minutes (dependent on traffic).
From North or South of Aberdeen
The newly opened Aberdeen City bypass (A90) has cut journey times to the airport/TECA area west of Aberdeen.
Are Uber or Lyft In Aberdeen?
Neither Uber nor Lyft are currently available in or around Aberdeen.
Check In
The first thing that struck me about the hotel was the almost space-age, icelandic-esque exterior. This was largely down to the abundance of glass and clean, straight lines which reminded me of the Harpa Concert Hall on the Reykjavik waterfront.
The check-in area mirrored the outside of the building. It was open, fresh and stylish, relying on both plain and patterned designs.
Even though official check-in wasn’t until 3pm, we managed to check in at 1:20pm with no issues. Thanks to the Diamond Hilton status, we were actually pre-upgraded to a One Bedroom Suite. We tried to get an upgrade to the Presidential Suite on the day but we were told this would have cost an extra £150.
The staff member at the reception desk was very helpful. The whole check-in process only took a couple of minutes and she showed us to the lifts and even called one for us.
One Bedroom Suite
We were allocated a One Bedroom Suite (Room 103 - The Glover Suite) on the 1st floor of the hotel facing the car park. Our first impressions were great. The room had plenty of space with an inner hallway, a bedroom, a living room and two bathrooms. All with a contemporary design, as was the case with the rest of the hotel.
Both the living room and the bedroom had views over the temporary car park (soon-to-be-hotel-space) outside. But neither side of the hotel had particularly great views. However, we gave this a pass since views weren’t the primary purpose of the hotel’s location.
That said, if enjoying the view of departing aeroplanes is your thing (like it is Damon’s) then you won’t be disappointed.
Furniture
The bedroom had a well-sized, but slightly firm, king-sized bed. A comfortable armchair (with stool) sat in the corner of the room next to the window. There was also a desk with 3 drawers under the TV on the wall opposite the bed.
The living room came with a swivel chair, a breakfast table with 2 dining chairs and a couch.
storage
As was the case with both the Hilton in Venice and the Waldorf in Edinburgh, I’d be both impressed and shocked if you ran out of storage in this room.
You could find a large wardrobe in the inner hallway along with cupboard space, a safe and a mini-fridge. There was a second large wardrobe in the bedroom, plus three drawers in the desk and two bedside tables.
The living room had three more cupboards, two more shelves (with drawers) and a coffee table.
power outlets
With a grand total of 14 accessible plug points in this hotel room, you’ll probably struggle to be short of places to charge your phone. Here’s the run down:
1 to the left of the TV (bedroom)
1 underneath the TV (bedroom)
1 next to the chair (bedroom)
2 underneath the temperature control unit (bedroom)
1 on either side of the bed (bedroom)
2 next to the chair (living room)
3 next to the couch (living room)
2 shaving plug points (bathroom)
amenities
You could find the tea and coffee station in the living room and I’ve got to say this was the neatest and most well-organised I’ve seen.
There was a coffee maker with 4 capsules. A range of tea, instant coffee and sugar packets sat neatly stacked in a box at the back of the tray. A couple of UHT milk pots were also provided.
The room came with 2 large, wall-hanging Samsung TVs. One was placed in the living room opposite the couch and the larger or the two sat opposite the bed in the bedroom. It was in the desk underneath the TV that you could find the hairdryer.
In the bedroom wardrobe you could find an iron, ironing board, 2 dressing gowns and a removable luggage rack
Temperature Controls
Both the bedroom and the living area had separate wall-mounted temperate controls. And I’m happy to say they worked without a hitch. We only had to turn up the heating once (I suspect the building, as it’s new, is very well insulated) and the room came up to temperature quickly. But importantly, the fan was also nice and quiet.
WiFi
We actually had a bit of trouble staying connected to the WiFi. It seemed to kick us off quite a few times. This was unfortunate since when it was working we were getting download speeds of 281 Mbps and upload speeds of 294 Mbps (it felt a bit like we were straying into 5G territory).
house keeping
The TECA was probably one of the cleanest and tidiest hotels I’ve ever stayed in. The bed had clean, white sheets and all of the amenities were neatly organised where they should be. This is a new hotel, having only opened in September, so I’m hoping they retain these exceptional standards for future guests.
There was no turn down service offered in the Hilton TECA.
Bathroom
The larger en-suite bathroom was exceptionally clean and fresh with a contemporary design. There were plenty of towels to suit 2 guests, in a range of sizes. There was both a bath and a shower which had good water pressure and came to temperature quickly.
The only thing we found a bit odd was the location and size of the bath. There was a large amount of space left between the bath and the shower which would have easily fitted a larger sized tub.
The smaller bathroom connected to the inner hallway had a sink and a toilet. The only thing that was missing here was a mirror above the sink.
amenities
As is standard with most Hilton properties, there were a range of Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries provided. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion, a shower cap and soap.
Hotel Facilities
Swimming Pool and Spa
The swimming pool, open from 6am to 10pm Monday to Sunday, is one of the highlights of the Aberdeen TECA. The pool is situated in a beautifully designed room, with heated loungers, a large skylight, a Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. The Jacuzzi wasn’t working the first night we were there (Friday) but it was fixed by the Saturday morning.
With advanced booking, you can also enjoy a range of treatments in the Devona Spa. Opening hours are from 10am to 6pm Friday to Wednesday and 10am to 9pm on Thursdays
Gym
The TECA’s well-equipped gym has a range of exercise equipment for both strength training and cardio. Plus, it’s open 24/7.
Business Facilities
The TECA is well-appointed for business travellers, offering a range of event/meeting spaces as well as photocopying/printing facilities. Specifically:
7 conference rooms which hold up to 100 delegates
Meeting rooms come with 55” TVs as well as other audio-visual equipment
Executive Lounge
Access
The Hilton TECA is one of only four properties in Scotland to offer executive lounge access. The other properties being the DoubleTree Glasgow, Hilton Glasgow and Hilton Carlton Edinburgh. You can access the Executive Lounge if you’re staying in an Executive Room or if you’re a Diamond Hilton Honours member. And the lounge is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Since we were staying in the hotel when there were no events on in the TECA, the lounge was incredibly quiet. Of course, we can’t promise the same experience if you’re staying on the night of an event.
Overall Design
Like the rest of the hotel, this lounge is fit for purpose. There was a large amount of space available, with plenty of seating options (couches, armchairs and dining chairs). The design was stylish and clean. It felt almost like an airport lounge, especially when you witnessed the planes departing from Aberdeen Airport nearby.
You had access to a terrace as well which would be a nice option to take advantage of when the weather suits.
Food and Drinks
A range of hot and cold drinks were available 24/7 (tea/coffee/hot chocolate/soft drinks). You could also pick up snacks any time you wanted (crisps, biscuits, breakfast bars, fruit).
Wine and other alcoholic beverages were available between 6pm and 8pm. A few hot canapés were also served at the same time. In our case, you could choose from Haggis Bon Bons and Blue Cheese Baskets.
I would say that if you’re just serving a limited number of canapés, it might be better to select ones with more of a broad appeal.
Breakfast is also served in the lounge. However, it’s recommended that you eat in the main restaurant if you’re looking for a broader selection of food. There were a small number of continental breakfast options (meat, cheese, yoghurts, bagels etc.) plus porridge, scrambled eggs and sausages.
Dining
There were a few dining options in the TECA. The Cask and Crema bar, open from 8am to 8pm daily, served light meals throughout the day
The Quarter House Bar and Grill, located next to check-in, was open for both breakfast and dinner. We tried the former, not the latter, having ventured into Aberdeen for dinner on the Friday night.
Breakfast
The main breakfast offering was served in the Quarter House Bar and Grill. Breakfast times were 6am to 10am Monday to Friday and 7am to 11am on weekends.
There was a huge range of food to choose from. Both hot and cold. Fruit, cereals, bagels, toast, pastries, meat, cheeses, yoghurts, granola. The hot buffet offered bacon, sausages, beans, mushrooms, black pudding, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and potato scones.
Tea and coffee were offered to us when we sat down to eat.
Conclusion and Scoring
The Hilton Aberdeen TECA is a great addition to the range of Hilton properties in Scotland. And if you’re planning a stay in or around Aberdeen, I would certainly place this hotel high above the other Hilton properties on offer in the area.
Any improvements we would suggest would only be minor. For instance, making sure the WiFi works properly, so guests can access the hotel’s high speed internet connection. Secondly, we’d suggest changing the canapés on offer in the executive lounge to appeal to a broader range of guests.
Aside from that, it is hard to fault this hotel. Each staff member we interacted with went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The hotel was one of the cleanest I’ve stayed in and I hope those standards remain the same into the future.
I hope you received value from this review. If you did, don’t forget to check out our tour of the TECA on YouTube.
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