It is located in Anderston, 8 miles (13 kilometres) from Glasgow Airport, on the edge of the city centre, and close to the M8 Motorway.

It stands on a site within the Anderston Commercial Zone, an area cleared during the 1960s and designated by the then Glasgow Corporation for "comprehensive development".

As well as being Hilton's first foray into Glasgow (it later took over the prestigious Stakis Grosvenor in the city's West End, and a third hotel was added to the portfolio in Finnieston), the hotel was notable for being the first high-rise building over 20 storeys to be constructed in Glasgow since its tower block building boom of the 1960s and early 1970s.

[1] The local actor and comedian Billy Connolly is also a regular guest, and was born a few streets away in the (now demolished) tenements of Anderston.

When American boxer Mike Tyson had a match at nearby Hampden Park, he booked 150 rooms for himself and his entourage.