How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

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Just thought I'd create a thread for this - looking back over the last year, I thought I'd done a thread here as well as on Priority Club.

I'm a Gold member.

Friday, 22 May to Sunday, 31 May (yes, 9 nights)
Property: Hilton Cairns
Room booked: King Room
Rate: Travelzoo $135 package rate (included bottle of red wine)
Received: Upgrade to King Suite, card from GM and the wine, obligatory 2 free water bottles per day

Wednesday, 8 July
Property: Hilton Parmelia Perth
Room booked: King Room
Rate: Award room
Received: Upgrade to King Suite, card from GM and the obligatory 2 free water bottles

Thursday, 9 July
Property: Hilton Adelaide
Room booked: King Room
Rate: Award room
Received: Upgrade to Exec Floor, card from GM and the obligatory 2 free water bottles

Saturday, 11 July
Property: Hilton Brisbane
Room booked: King Room
Rate: Met Package (birthday present for Mrs LW, included 2 buffet breakfasts at Atrium Cafe & 2 tickets to Qld Art Gallery for Impressionists Showing from Metropolitan Museum New York - to get some culture)
Received: Upgrade to Exec Floor, card from GM and the obligatory 2 free water bottles

Got some more travel to do to Melbourne this Friday, so hoping to fly down Thursday night to sample the new Hilton.
 
Hilton Colon Quito
booked regular rooms x 2..$125US a night
diamond
upgraded to junior suite and exec level room with fantastic view
both rooms exec lounge access and drinks and dinner

unbelievably great stay. Juan downstairs and Darwin in the lounge looked after us so well..old hotel but happy to recommend it for any one going to Quito
 
Property: Hilton Osaka
Rate: Flash sale + amex Cash back $434 per night
Status: Diamond
Booked: Twin executive suite 9 nights
Received: twin suite 6 nights, presidential suite 3 nights

Executive lounge level 3offered higher quality breakfast compared to level 2.

We were upgraded to the presidential suite after a security issue, the story is so freaky it could have from a japanese horror movie.

My friend(1M) and his wife(1F) left our room to go to family mart to buy some snacks (fried chicken and the boiled stuff) for everyone(total of 7 kids 6 adults) They returned to our room and stayed for roughly just over an hour. When it was time for everyone to leave 1M opened the door and saw this really pale Japanese lady wearing a long blue coat, long boots and a stick umbrella standing right infront of our door. She was close enough as though she was about to knock.
Since everyone was trying to get out of the room, he had to step aside as the woman wouldnt move. He was asking her if she was looking for someone and if we were too loud but she didnt respond so he called me out to ask if i knew this lady. At this point in time we had 4 adults and 5 kids in the hallway,i was by our room door, she had moved a little to the right so no longer directly infront of my door. I asked her if we were being too loud and she did not respond and her face had no expression, i looked at my friends like "WTF??" And everyone just left and i promptly closed the door.

This **** didn't sit right with me and we were chatting in our WhatsApp group and 1M and 1F had told me they were they saw her get out of the lift when they were going down to family mart. And when they came back up she was still in the lift area, they didn't see her follow them to our room but its quite obvious she did.

TThe prompted me to immediately call downstairs and i spoke to the duty manager, asked if there were any noise complaints.. she said there wasnt any. I asked her to check her security footage for outside our door between 9.55-10.05pm ( when my friends were leaving) and to tell me who it was.. after around an hour i get a call from her and she told me the timeline.
8.37pm strange lady(SL) enters front lobby and heads directly to the 31st floor. Cant tell where she is as they only have a camera facing the hallway and not the lift area on each floor
8.39pm 1M and 1F is seen leaving our room
8.42pm 1M and 1F is seen leaving front lobby
8.46pm SL is seen at front lobby doorway
8.49pm SL returns to lobby lift area
8.57pm 1M and 1F is seen entering front lobby
8.59pm 1M and 1F is seen at our door and you can just see the SL entering into camera view of the hallway
9.01pm SL is seen infront of our door, facing it and close to it.
She is standing in the same spot until our friends leave our room.
SL stands in hallway watching my friends go to lift area
SL then walks to lift area
SL is seen leaving front lobby
I forget the timeframe of when she leaves the hotel but this whole situation was freaky. I asked The duty manager to see the footage, denied to privacy reasons, but she said she can show me printouts asked if i wanted to go down or she can come to my room.. guess which i chose?

My friends all came to our floor to see the print outs.. freaky. I wanted to keep it all but she said i can't, negotiated and said I wantd to show the kids so they know what she looked like.
I requested to move rooms so that i was closer to my friends room which was the presidential suite. Moved the next day because my kids were finally asleep as it was around midnight by that time.
Room was great. Had a spa and sauna. Also the complimentary water was VOSS water!
Did you talk to her in Japanese ?
As if you spoke in a language she did not understand it is understandable her quietness.
 
Hilton Sydney (I prefer West but it was sold out)
$250 (AAA rate)
Diamond
Booked king guest, got king deluxe

Late checkout requested to 2pm and granted. No amenity. "Do not disturb" sign on door ignored.
 
Hilton Sydney (I prefer West but it was sold out)
$250 (AAA rate)
Diamond
Booked king guest, got king deluxe

Late checkout requested to 2pm and granted. No amenity. "Do not disturb" sign on door ignored.

What's a triple A rate?
What's a GE rate?

People say these things to me and I'm just living my own dream over here.
 
What's a triple A rate?
What's a GE rate?

People say these things to me and I'm just living my own dream over here.
AAA is something like american automobile ..something ... the car club memberships in Australia (Like RACV, RACQ etc) have an AAA number associated with them. Generally a little bit cheaper than HHonors rate, but more importantly, flexible with cancellation (generally 3 days before or something without penalty).

GE can't help you!
 
... What's a GE rate?

People say these things to me and I'm just living my own dream over here.
Are they mostly Americans saying these things to you? There is a General Electric (corporate) rate, for GE employees.
 
Generally a little bit cheaper than HHonors rate, but more importantly, flexible with cancellation (generally 3 days before or something without penalty).

I'm a bit confused. Are you comparing it to HHonors advance booking rate or the HHonors fully flexible rate?

The places I've looked at its only about 1% cheaper than the HHonors fully flexible rate. Possible that the discount varies for different destinations though.
 
I'm a bit confused. Are you comparing it to HHonors advance booking rate or the HHonors fully flexible rate?

The places I've looked at its only about 1% cheaper than the HHonors fully flexible rate. Possible that the discount varies for different destinations though.
Very much depends on the destination. Always worth checking all rates you're eligible for.
 
AAA is always a tiny bit cheaper than fully flex ......... it's often not really cheaper than AP however you do get a fully flex rate, so it's quite useful, especially when booking late!
 
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Property: Hilton Jaipur
Date: January 2020 -- 3 nights
Status: Diamond
Booked: 3 x Executive rooms, regular view
Received: 2 x Executive twins (adjoining, requested) with Range view; 1 Deluxe Suite - all on the same floor.
Benefits: Several waters; early check-in; fruit in the Suite; chocolates delivered to the Exec rooms; newspapers and turndown service for Suite only; full breakfast in
main restaurant; premium internet for 99 devices.

Decent hotel and overall a good stay. Lacked some polish. Everything was good, but not outstanding.

Nice upgrade for our room and the adjoining rooms / same floor was appreciated. Booked exec rooms for all (i was only member of travelling party with Diamond status). Suite pics:

IMG_0268.jpg

IMG_0267.jpg

IMG_0270.jpg

IMG_0269.jpg

IMG_0276.jpg

Don't think the lounge did breakfast so the restaurant breakfast for all was good. The live stations (western and Indian) were excellent but the general buffet was poor by Asian standards.

Lounge was small and a bit dull during the day.

IMG_0265.jpg

IMG_0264.jpg
But by night, the evening service was very good (sorry no pics) Very well staffed (professional and friendly); a stack of cold salads, sandwiches and snacks; three hot items (two spicy, one not) and sweets; beer, wine and basic (but decent) spirits.

Only one problem - the premium internet dropped out after 24 hours and the entire booking reverted to another room (no status). Took about 20 minutes to sort out, with a charge which was removed at checkout.

If looking for a reliable, safe chain hotel - recommended. About 20 minutes drive from the airport, and 15 minutes from the old city, so pretty well located.
 
Property: Hilton Jaipur
Date: January 2020 -- 3 nights
Status: Diamond
Booked: 3 x Executive rooms, regular view
Received: 2 x Executive twins (adjoining, requested) with Range view; 1 Deluxe Suite - all on the same floor.
Benefits: Several waters; early check-in; fruit in the Suite; chocolates delivered to the Exec rooms; newspapers and turndown service for Suite only; full breakfast in
main restaurant; premium internet for 99 devices.

Decent hotel and overall a good stay. Lacked some polish. Everything was good, but not outstanding.

Nice upgrade for our room and the adjoining rooms / same floor was appreciated. Booked exec rooms for all (i was only member of travelling party with Diamond status). Suite pics:

View attachment 206702

View attachment 206701

View attachment 206704

View attachment 206703

View attachment 206705

Don't think the lounge did breakfast so the restaurant breakfast for all was good. The live stations (western and Indian) were excellent but the general buffet was poor by Asian standards.

Lounge was small and a bit dull during the day.

View attachment 206700

View attachment 206699
But by night, the evening service was very good (sorry no pics) Very well staffed (professional and friendly); a stack of cold salads, sandwiches and snacks; three hot items (two spicy, one not) and sweets; beer, wine and basic (but decent) spirits.

Only one problem - the premium internet dropped out after 24 hours and the entire booking reverted to another room (no status). Took about 20 minutes to sort out, with a charge which was removed at checkout.

If looking for a reliable, safe chain hotel - recommended. About 20 minutes drive from the airport, and 15 minutes from the old city, so pretty well located.

I seem to have found the same with breakfast at Hilton chain (inc. DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn etc.) hotels in India. Breakfast at the options in Gurgaon (Delhi) were OK but unmemorable. However Crowne Plaza and JW Marriott have had what I'd consider to be outstanding buffet breakfasts.
 
Are they mostly Americans saying these things to you? There is a General Electric (corporate) rate, for GE employees.

Yes! But we don't work for GE and I'm not sure any of them are in the AAA.
I mean, surely they don't give a preferred rate to people who just call up and say they work for a particular company without some proof?
 
Yes! But we don't work for GE and I'm not sure any of them are in the AAA.
I mean, surely they don't give a preferred rate to people who just call up and say they work for a particular company without some proof?

It's very rarely checked, that includes AAA too. I've never once been asked when using the AAA rate or the corp rate of the company I am consulting for at the time.
 
It's very rarely checked, that includes AAA too. I've never once been asked when using the AAA rate or the corp rate of the company I am consulting for at the time.

Surely the rates can't be that good then, given how miserly Hilton are about some of the other loyalty "perks"
 
Surely the rates can't be that good then, given how miserly Hilton are about some of the other loyalty "perks"

Not always, no. But it *should* always be cheaper than the fully flex rate and usually provides exactly that; so if looking for fully flex rates it makes sense.
 
Yes! But we don't work for GE and I'm not sure any of them are in the AAA.
I mean, surely they don't give a preferred rate to people who just call up and say they work for a particular company without some proof?
There are probably hundreds of corporate codes that are bookable with Hilton. Most people would obtain their code through the employer. Some are here (there’s many more):

Some of Hilton corporate discount code list | Hotel Corporate Codes

The thing is, the entitlement to use a code may need to be produced to the hotel. Failure to satisfy the hotel may have consequences. Also, hotel guest details may be forwarded to the corporations whose codes are used. So, red flags may arise.

Regarding using the AAA/CAA member discount, this is available through motoring organisations throughout the USA, CAN, AU and probably elsewhere.

Anyway, all moot if there’s no entitlement.
 
Property: Conrad Centennial Singapore
Date: January 2020 -- 1 night
Status: Diamond
Booked: Base room
Received: Exec Room - top floor corner (3126).
Early check-in / late check-out: Yes to both. 7am; 3pm.
Benefits: Several waters, bowl of fruit, chocolates, turn down service, full breakfast in Oscars (all standard). No note, no newspaper.

Upgrade to Exec room showed approx 24 hours out so did online check-in for a corner room on floor 26 from memory.

Arrived very early. Incoming flight landed 6am and was at the hotel bang on 7am. Zero problem getting a room - in fact got the same corner suite but on the top floor which was convenient. This is where status pays in my view.

Able to have (a champagne) breakfast too on my arrival.

Everything else was good and as per many other stays. Suspect the early arrival threw a couple of things out of whack. But nothing to complain about.

IMG_1236.jpg
 
There are probably hundreds of corporate codes that are bookable with Hilton. Most people would obtain their code through the employer. Some are here (there’s many more):

Some of Hilton corporate discount code list | Hotel Corporate Codes

The thing is, the entitlement to use a code may need to be produced to the hotel. Failure to satisfy the hotel may have consequences. Also, hotel guest details may be forwarded to the corporations whose codes are used. So, red flags may arise.

Regarding using the AAA/CAA member discount, this is available through motoring organisations throughout the USA, CAN, AU and probably elsewhere.

Anyway, all moot if there’s no entitlement.
So if you're a member of NRMA / RACT / RACV etc. in Australia, you can access the AAA/CAA member discount rate?
 
Property: DoubleTree Trieste
Date: February, 3 nights
Rate: Honors member sale
Status: Gold
Booked: Queen Guest Room x 2
Received: King Historical Deluxe Room (for me, the card holder), and King Deluxe Room for my travelling partners. Complimentary breakfast for two, two free bottles of water (I don't usually drink these, but being Italy one of them was sparkling, so I drank that), a complimentary drink at the bar, welcome note, wifi.

The DoubleTree Trieste only opened in November. It's an absolutely stunning building. They spent two years restoring an old insurance building in the centre of the city that had been empty for many years. The room upgrades were very generous. The King Historical Room was so interesting - they've done a good job of retaining the old while introducing the new. The staff are exceptionally nice, polite and helpful. At 83 euros a night, it's very reasonable.

The breakfast was very nice. It was standard Italian breakfast buffet fare, including fruit/yoghurt/cereals; cold cuts and cheese (including a massive wheel of cheese and some divine aged salami); bain marie eggs, bacon and sausages; terrific bread; a spread of cakes and pastries (I love that Italians serve chocolate cake for breakfast!); espresso coffee on request; and... prosecco!

Entrance statue:
DR-entrance.JPG
DT-stairs.JPG

DT-library.JPG
Hotel bar:
Bar.JPG
The King Historical room. The bathroom and other new features sort of 'float' in the centre of the room so as not to affect the historical features (like the original parquetry floor and built-in bookcase):
KHroom.JPG
KHroom2.JPG

KHroom4.JPG

KHroom3.JPG
 
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So if you're a member of NRMA / RACT / RACV etc. in Australia, you can access the AAA/CAA member discount rate?
Yes. You may see the AAA logo on the back of your motoring organisation card, along with a 3-digit code (e.g. NRMA code is 307, which may need to be quoted during the booking process, but not always).
 

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