How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[QF WP]

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.

 

[cgoh]

That said, James at the exec lounge (the Asian bar tender) deserves a very big compliment. Been there twice a week apart and he could remember me, even without my glasses on. Happily made my Lemon lime bitters for me without me having to prompt him.

 

[tuapekastar]

Status: Gold

Date: 29 June 2013

Property: Hilton Sydney

Booked: Guestroom Plus

Received: Executive Room

Rate type: AAA - $227 - 20% (cheers oz_mark)



Standard letter outlining executive room benefits
Welcome back letter (and quite a lengthy one at that) from hotel mgr and hotel HHonors mgr.
Two bottles of complimentary water
Late checkout and newspaper offered but declined

I got upgraded in stages. Booked guest room plus, checked booking on morning of stay and had been upgraded to deluxe, then upon checkin had been upgraded to exec room.

Couldn't access room, they had changed most floors to proximity card room keys from traditional in slot ones the day before but had issued me.(and others near me) with the old cards - sorted soon enough.

Also took some time (and help from Serfty, who fortuitously dropped by) checking out at exec lounge when trying to use a Macquarie discount card kindly supplied by oz_mark), but again, sorted with not too much trouble.

Nice breakfast at a very busy glass.

This property seems to polarize opinions somewhat but I'm 3 out of 3 for good stays.

 

[doubleplatinum]

What is the NOR1 upgrade being referred to?

 

[Ewing]

What is the NOR1 upgrade being referred to?

The cash upgrades that are offered when viewing your booking, eg:

 

[doubleplatinum]

Cheers thanks for that

The cash upgrades that are offered when viewing your booking, eg:

 

[Ausbt]

Rowdy in the HSW lounge tonight, with a large bunch of old-enough-to-know-betters carrying on and dropping f-bombs. Interesting to see the lounge staff come around and ask me which room I'm staying in. Checking up on interlopers maybe? Anyway for the record I booked a Queen and got a relaxation suite - very nice.

 

[Moopere]

Rowdy in the HSW lounge tonight, with a large bunch of old-enough-to-know-betters carrying on and dropping f-bombs.

Mmm, yes. I noticed this a little while ago in a lounge at Sydney. Roudy blokes treating the lounge as a pub, drinking too much and letting rip with some pretty inappropriate language and general behaviour. I guess all good hotels must have protocols to curb and control this, but its got to be tough for the staff.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?......................like cough if you stay at The Waldorf Hilton in London - talk about Fawlty Towers - if this mob could stuff anything up they will certainly find a way.

eg: Left hotel at 10am this morn and just returned after walking all day at 4pm and room not serviced as yet - and it goes on and on and on.

IMHO place this hotel way down bottom of list if considering London digs.

 

[MYT105]

We stayed at The Waldorf Hilton in London in late May for 5 nights and had no problems, other the none day room wasn't serviced but all it took was a call and it was done with in a hour. The lounge was good and they were very helpful and friendly, same with the concierge. We enjoyed our stay and would stay there again.

 

[doubleplatinum]

Status: Diamond
Date: 2-4 Jul 2013
Property: Hilton Sydney
Booked: Guestroom Plus and executive room 2 separate bookings 1 night each
Received: Relaxation Suite for 2 nights
Rate type: $287 prepaid for exec room, $259 best available rate for Guestroom plus room

Welcome back letter stating diamond benefits. Two bottles of complimentary water. Breakfast downstairs.

Quite surprised to get this one from all the comments lately re lack of upgrades at sydney. It was originally only slated for my 1st night booking, on checkin I advised of the separate booking for the following evening and after a call to a manager confrimed it was ok to remain in that room for 2 nights. Still yet to sample a lounge breakfast am convinced (without having tried it haha) that the restaurant offering would always be superior, any comments on that one?

One more question how are you guys scoring this 20% discount I see frequently mentioned? Is this through your company or a government discount? Cheers in advance

 

[markis10]

One more question how are you guys scoring this 20% discount I see frequently mentioned? Is this through your company or a government discount? Cheers in advance

Hilton Macquarie - HOME

Its a benefit from having a card.

 

[doubleplatinum]

Hilton Macquarie - HOME

Its a benefit from having a card.

Cheers Markis

 

[tuapekastar]

Still yet to sample a lounge breakfast am convinced (without having tried it haha) that the restaurant offering would always be superior, any comments on that one?

My recollection is that the info sheet stated a 'continental' breakfast is served in the lounge - if that is the case then definitely glass, though often busy, would be better. Unless you just wanted a continental breakfast of course.

 

[Cynicor]

My recollection is that the info sheet stated a 'continental' breakfast is served in the lounge - if that is the case then definitely glass, though often busy, would be better. Unless you just wanted a continental breakfast of course.

In a hotel that offers full breakfast in their restaurant you are almost always better off eating there than in the lounge. But some only offer free continental breakfast in the restaurant. In these hotels the lounge offering may include some hot items, made to order eggs or even al a carte food options.

Conrad Tokyo comes to mind. Their breakfast is decent enough in the lounge but you only get continental in the restaurant.

 

[beardoc]

Still yet to sample a lounge breakfast am convinced (without having tried it haha) that the restaurant offering would always be superior, any comments on that one?

As someone that has done both at the Australian Hiltons, the restaurant breakfasts are vastly better than the lounge breakfasts. Do it.

There were a couple where the Lounge Breakfast was better: Hilton Sandton (near JNB, South Africa) had almost the entire hot breakfast (including steak!) and it was quieter. And they would make you coffee too for free.

A few hotels (Hilton Canary Wharf and Hilton Wembley Stadium) wouldn't allow breakfast in the restaurants, but did offer a hot breakfast in the lounge.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I agree - SYD is pretty hopeless, and HOTP is pretty awesome.

As always people make the difference and how they are managed

 

[JessicaTam]

Status: Diamond
Date: 2-3 July 2013
Property: HOTP
Booked: King guestroom deluxe
Received: Relaxation suite
Rate: $61 + 16,000 points

In room: nix, nada, zilch, zip, nothing.

When I checked in I asked if there was soy in my room and I got a blank look (as in "Why would we put soy in your room" look). Since my third stay HOTP have diligently made sure it is provided unprompted. Disappointed. There was no water or welcome note either. I asked for water when I headed out for the night and it was in my room on my return. No newspaper the next morning either. I have not had to ask for a paper for some time as like the soy it has been logged on my profile.

The breakfast room was very quiet and service was prompt and efficient. On checkout I mentioned the noted shortcomings and one comment was "But everyone knows you have soy". She will check the system and follow up. As I said to her, it was as if I had not stayed there before, and the service was what kept me coming back.

Hmmm.

 

[jetlagger]

Status: Diamond
Date: 2-3 July 2013
Property: HOTP
Booked: King guestroom deluxe
Received: Relaxation suite
Rate: $61 + 16,000 points

In room: nix, nada, zilch, zip, nothing.

When I checked in I asked if there was soy in my room and I got a blank look (as in "Why would we put soy in your room" look). Since my third stay HOTP have diligently made sure it is provided unprompted. Disappointed. There was no water or welcome note either. I asked for water when I headed out for the night and it was in my room on my return. No newspaper the next morning either. I have not had to ask for a paper for some time as like the soy it has been logged on my profile.

The breakfast room was very quiet and service was prompt and efficient. On checkout I mentioned the noted shortcomings and one comment was "But everyone knows you have soy". She will check the system and follow up. As I said to her, it was as if I had not stayed there before, and the service was what kept me coming back.

Hmmm.

One only night experience at HOTP was enough for me.

No Welcome note
No Water (except from tap)
No Newspaper
An underwhelming suite
Uninspiring lounge
Max. 1330 late check out
30 mins sitting in the lobby bar/cafe without even an recognition for request for order
But the Concierge staff were fantastic

Just my evaluation..

 

[boomy]

Status: Diamond
Date: 3 July 2013
Property: Hilton Brisbane
Booked: King Guestroom
Received: King Executive
Payed: 341$ (2x points package)

Received a welcome card and executive floor upgrade at check-in.
Nothing special this time in the room to reflect the diamond status, not even the little chocolates on the bed but it might be because I arrived late and missed the turndown service. The free large bottle of 'balance' water is a nice bonus (some hotels charge up to 9$ for it).
After refreshing a bit I went to the executive lounge. The wines on offer were, surprise surprise, the bad old Bay of Stones range. At least for the sparkling they stock a reasonable Yarra Valley Chandon. Dinner included a tasty bowl of creamy mushroom soup & excellent oysters vichyssoise. The lounge was barely half full and had a very relaxed atmosphere.
Breakfast the next day at the restaurant was good, specially loved the freshly squeezed mix fruit juice (changes daily).

All in all considering the central location, the great service by all the staff (always with a smile), ~95% upgrade rate (usually to exec high floor), good size rooms (all the rooms), large walk in shower (I'm not a big fan of baths), comfortable lounge, good restaurant, I would say this Hilton has 'the whole package' anyone can expect from a business hotel and therefore it's my 1st choice when staying in Brisbane.

P.S. In the morning I saw a huge truck parking in the front with a lot of packed boxes next to it. When I asked the valet guys about it they told me that the owner of the hotel who used to live in the unmarked room on level 23 is moving to Darwin to take over the new Hilton there.

 

[ash.1111]

Bit OT...

I am going to Singapore in October and looking at this thread to see how upgrades go at Conrad vs Hilton Singapore.

As far as I can see, Conrad is much more generous with upgrades than Hilton Singapore, who seem to give more one-level upgrades. As we are only booking the base level rooms, do you think Conrad is the better choice?