Hilton Sydney [- No standard awards to book at all???]

[ljbarry]

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is entirely the right place to post, but I was wondering if someone could shed some light on a curious predicament.

I've recently been trying to play around with booking dates for a stay at the Hilton Sydney and I do not seem to be able to find any date, even months in Advance (February) where there are standard guest rooms available. The cheapest rate always seems to be an Executive Room.

I'm a Gold HHonors member so would likely be upgraded to an executive room anyway, but more to the point is that my travel isn't going to have me at the hotel 6pm for the evening drinks every night so i don't think paying the premium for the lounge is worth it.

Does anyone know if the hotel is just genuinely fully booked constantly, or are they holding regular rooms off sale?

 

[mella2007]

Interesting you write this. I actually looked at dates tonight in November, (I always book a few weeks ahead there and have never had an issue) and my screen is also only showing Executive Rooms and above showing at ridiculous!! rates.
Perhaps they're doing a big sale soon and systems have gone to rack rates?

 

[ljbarry]

Maybe- It seems strange considering how big a hotel it is and how supposedly executive rooms only make up 1 or 2 floors. Thinking out loud maybe they have conferences/meetings on that they are holding a big swathe of rooms for?

 

[NM]

I think they regularly sell out of the "Hilton Guest Room" rate for regular paying guests, so they probably feel they can sell them anyway so why offer them on points. Poor loyalty model if you ask me.

 

[Moopere]

Maybe- It seems strange considering how big a hotel it is and how supposedly executive rooms only make up 1 or 2 floors.

Mmm. I've only stayed at Hilton SYD once but I was "upgraded" to an Exec room on the 27th floor.... out of what? About 45 floors? I thought at the time, and still think, that _any_ room at SYD becomes an executive room when they attach lounge rights to it.

Making the current situation even stranger I suppose. I guess they are feeling strong demand and the revenue system is kicking in?

 

[sampa]

Mmm. I've only stayed at Hilton SYD once but I was "upgraded" to an Exec room on the 27th floor.... out of what? About 45 floors? I thought at the time, and still think, that _any_ room at SYD becomes an executive room when they attach lounge rights to it.

Making the current situation even stranger I suppose. I guess they are feeling strong demand and the revenue system is kicking in?

MMMM! Upgraded to the 27th floor.Dosen't the hotel start at between the 20th and 23th floor.There are about 15
floors of offices before the hotel starts.

 

[Moopere]

MMMM! Upgraded to what.Dosen't the hotel start at between the 20th and 23th floor.There are about 15
floors of offices before the hotel starts.

Yes, exactly. Ultimately one can't complain about getting complimentary status based lounge access, but this type of 'upgrade' can give a false impression to customers. I wouldn't have wanted to pay $400 a night, or whatever the rack rate on the exec room was if I ended up on level 27 in the tiniest of tiny rooms.

 

[Danger]

Mmm. I've only stayed at Hilton SYD once but I was "upgraded" to an Exec room on the 27th floor.... out of what? About 45 floors? I thought at the time, and still think, that _any_ room at SYD becomes an executive room when they attach lounge rights to it.

I agree. I enjoy the Hilton Sydney but I think they blur the HHonors lines.

Status: HH Gold
Property: Hilton Sydney
Date(s): 10 August
Rate: $222.27
Booked: Hilton Guest room
Upgraded: Hilton Executive room (on Level 41). View of Town Hall and Pitt Street.
Received: Free WiFi (which worked brilliantly)/Breakfast in glass brasserie/late check out until 1PM/a small bottle of water and an apple. Offered a newspaper but didn't receive it.
Comments: I was very happy to receive what I did. My status was gifted, so anything was appreciated. The room was great for a night, glass is a great restaurant but I wasn't really hungry. I would have had access to the Executive Lounge if they 'hadn't reached capacity for Gold members' on that night.

BNEFlyer, given you didn't get lounge access, what did you get from your ugprade? My understanding of the Hilton Sydney is that an Executive Floor room is the same as a run-of-the-mill room, except it's on a higher floor. So, take out the lounge access, what exactly was the upgrade?

 

[k3nnis]

Hopefully I can redeem a King Hilton Room at Sydney at 50000 points again soon! Can't find any dates available, I even search in april 2013.

 

[straitman]

I agree. I enjoy the Hilton Sydney but I think they blur the HHonors lines.

I don't think they are alone with that one.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Did a little website enquiry and found that its pretty much only Sunday available as a standard award and possibly only a Diamond benefit, Monday the next cheapest and getting progressively more expensive as the week goes on.

The points plus pay is only available if a standard room is available


I think the weekend now starts Sunday :mrgreen:

 

[k3nnis]

Hmm possibly. I am GOLD HH.

 

[Danger]

Here's an interesting article that may shed some light on the award availability at the Hilton Sydney.

Hilton Award Availability Woes: Case Hilton Moorea | LoyaltyLobby

There's some good information in that about the T&Cs for HHonors that I was particularly familiar with. The bit about no capacity control on standard rooms is very interesting.

As I've posted before, I think this property has a fluid, slippery interpretation of the HHonors benefits. If I've read the information in the above link correctly, whenever there's an entry level room available at a property, you can book it on the entry level points which, in the case of the Hilton Sydney, is 50k. I've only searched a couple of times but it seems that the cheapest available room is 'Hilton Guest Room Plus' when the entry level room is 'Hilton Guest Room'. Of course, the difference between the two (if indeed there is one), is probably nothing more than a higher floor.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Here's an interesting article that may shed some light on the award availability at the Hilton Sydney.

Hilton Award Availability Woes: Case Hilton Moorea | LoyaltyLobby

There's some good information in that about the T&Cs for HHonors that I was particularly familiar with. The bit about no capacity control on standard rooms is very interesting.

As I've posted before, I think this property has a fluid, slippery interpretation of the HHonors benefits. If I've read the information in the above link correctly, whenever there's an entry level room available at a property, you can book it on the entry level points which, in the case of the Hilton Sydney, is 50k. I've only searched a couple of times but it seems that the cheapest available room is 'Hilton Guest Room Plus' when the entry level room is 'Hilton Guest Room'. Of course, the difference between the two (if indeed there is one), is probably nothing more than a higher floor.

From my post above, the cheapest available award room at Hilton SYD for 50K is the entry level Guest Room but only on Sundays

 

[Verde]

From my post above, the cheapest available award room at Hilton SYD for 50K is the entry level Guest Room but only on Sundays

I was looking at booking a room there on Oct the 1st (Mon night) and there was both a standard room for 50k and a discounted 47k room at the Plus level (which doesn't seem to show up on the flexible day search which is interesting). Maybe they open more rooms up getting to closer to dates if they aren't full.

I'd been accumulating points, but with this kind of range it doesn't look like Sydney will ever be much good for redemption.

Much nicer to look at Melbourne and see 40,000 listed for every day in a fortnight (except two days which are blocked out) rather than the big mess of Sydney points.