How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

QF WP

Enthusiast
Moderator
Joined
Jun 20, 2002
Posts
17,495
Qantas
Gold
Virgin
Platinum
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.
 
Property: Adelaide
Status
: Diamond
Stay
: 2 nights; March
Booked: Exec King
Received
: Exec King

Bit of a disappointing stay, albeit short. No upgrades despite some suites showing free. Didn't bother to push beyond initial query as I wasn't expecting to be in room much and travelling solo. Did online check-in and snagged a corner room.

On check-in, had been moved to room next door. When queried was told could not have been possible as the corner room has been blocked/in use since February. Asked if I had proof! (who bothers to take screenshots for proof??) Wasn't accusatory but felt borderline questioning my integrity. Bit peeved so I cheekily asked in lieu of upgrade or preferred room could I get a wine delivered - no problem Sir. Spent a pleasant hour in the lounge and returned to room - no wine of course. Spoke with new person at reception - had been told of my situation and again basically questioned integrity. Anyway, ordered room service, was told wine would come and it did.

Food was fine but pricey. Breakfast in main restaurant was good but I was rushing both mornings so didn't have much. Was informed of coffee tax, even for diamonds, so declined any coffee.

Have another 3 or 4 trips to Adelaide in next few months. Will be trying other places before going back to the Hilton - though that is in part as I'm dropping to Gold so the Exec lounge benefit will be more expensive or not guaranteed.
 
Property: HSW
Status
: Diamond
Stay
: 2 nights; March
Booked: Basic King
Received
: Exec King

No suites showing in lead-up to stay, and confirmed on arrival. Did online check-in for base room, received upgrade the morning of the stay. Usual excellent quality (breakfast, lounge, housekeeping etc). Nothing out of the ordinary one way or the other.
 
Sponsored Post

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.

Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

HSP residences.
Government rate
Last night
2 bedroom residence
no upgrade but all 4 of us into EL without a hassle
Diamond


absolutely great EL experience made even better by our russian lounge angle Oleysa. Multilingual - russian(of course) with french as her 'major' and english as minor. So fluent in english when speak with us and then spoke to the young Japanese couple beside us in fluent Japanese! She'd spent a couple of years in Japan with her new australian husband so she sort of just picked up the language. I'm always in awe of people who can pick up languages so quickly..

Dinner in Salt - excellent.
 
Looking forward to my first Hilton stay at the HSW this Easter weekend as a status matched Diamond.

Got a great Advance purchase rate including valet parking.

Interested to see what upgrade I get vs IHG Ambassador upgrades.

Still seems to be Relaxation Suites available and am very keen to visit the exec lounge.

Will advise of my experience next week!
 
Property: Conrad London
Booked: King Superior Room
Rate: 320K points 5 nights deal
Received: Junior Suite

Before check in the app showed executive room (two levels upgrade) but at check in received further upgrade to junior suite which was much appreciated plus the room was ready for us at 8am.

Amenities were four bottles of water (two still and two sparkling) plus a bowl of fruit. The room wasn't very big but decent size for the region. The bed was extremely comfortable.

Executive lounge has luxurious feeling but quite small and it was a challenge to find seats sometimes. Good wine (especially the Oakridge Chardonnay ;) ), good canapés but poor sprits selection (only gin was the basic Beefeater).

We got the option to have breakfast in lounge or at restaurant. For some reason we were encouraged to dine in the lounge as "the service is more personal there". In fact it turned out to be exactly the opposite, service in lounge somewhat indifferent while at restaurant we got full table service. The breakfast rules changed recently (so we were told) and diamonds only get a few things from the menu complementary while for others there is £10 flat rate, which was a bit confusing. For example: poached/boiled/fried eggs - free, omelette/Benedict/pancakes - £10. I told the manager this is very unusual for Conrad. He apologised and said many guests are complaining about that and this time he will give us everything included so eventually good outcome.

The hotel is located 5 min from Westminster and opposite a tube station. Very quiet area and should be safe with New Scotland Yard headquarters next door.

Uber service from Conrad to Heathrow was £33, good value if traveling more than one person, especially with luggage.
 
Great upgrade for a 5 night stay boomy.

Sadly in the world today being near a law enforcement or other official building is no guarantee of safety - if anything it's the opposite, at least in terms of a major incident.
 
Property: Auckland
Status
: Diamond
Stay
: 2 nights; March
Booked: Basic Guestroom
Received
: Basic Guestroom

Hotel seemed close to full in the week or so out from stay, so not surprised at lack of upgrade. Arrived very late so I'm sure the one or two bow and deluxe suites which were available would have been taken by others. I did manage to get a corner room on top floor via online check-in (and it stuck) which had extra balcony space, view of city and some water.

Usual bottle of pinot noir plus several waters and turn-down service. Drink vouchers for the bar but for the first time I was shown the specific drinks you can actually use the vouchers for.

Full breakfast, no coffee tax, excellent staff throughout the hotel.

In spite of the high cost and occasional very poor room (no view, uncomfortable easy chairs, and especially when a cruise ship is berthed alongside!) this is one of my favoured hotels.
 
2nd stay at H-ADL after the less than pleasant first stay experience which I wrote to the GM. The GM responded back to my feedback and informed me that I'll be upgraded to a Junior Suite for my next stay. When I arrived at the suite, there was a full bottle of Veuve Clicquot and 2 plates of strawberry coated chocolates and truffles waiting, as well as a note from the GM. What a service recovery! Anyway, it was very heartening to notice that they actually took on-board some of the feedback I provided for the check-in service and the Coal restaurant.

Reading Kermatu's comments above, I reckon there is a particular individual at the front desk that needs some additional training (I believed I was served by the same person the first time). Luckily I wasn't checked-in by that individual this time.
 
2nd stay at H-ADL after the less than pleasant first stay experience which I wrote to the GM. The GM responded back to my feedback and informed me that I'll be upgraded to a Junior Suite for my next stay. When I arrived at the suite, there was a full bottle of Veuve Clicquot and 2 plates of strawberry coated chocolates and truffles waiting, as well as a note from the GM. What a service recovery! Anyway, it was very heartening to notice that they actually took on-board some of the feedback I provided for the check-in service and the Coal restaurant.

Reading Kermatu's comments above, I reckon there is a particular individual at the front desk that needs some additional training (I believed I was served by the same person the first time). Luckily I wasn't checked-in by that individual this time.

Name them to the GM.
 
I was too incredulous to take names (I'm generally poor at that anyway). Will be more alert next time. Though for me I just won't be staying at Hilton Adelaide again unless it's dirt cheap or the most convenient for my needs.
 
Name them to the GM.
I couldn't remember his name but would certainly recognise him if I see him next time! I've got a habit of remembering the names of those who are exceptionally good rather than the other way round but if I see him next time I would take note and report if it's still the same lousy treatment. :p
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Property - Sydney
Status - Diamond
Stay - 1n
Booked - King Guest $170
Received - King Exec 38th flr, South views

Booked the day before and had immediate availability of rooms on 22-26. Upgraded on morning of stay with choices on 36-38. Checked in at Exec floor and given pre-allocated room

No welcome amenity. No bottles of water (two dropped off 10min later)

Room clock 10min out (and I didn't have a screwdriver to fix).. Exec lounge moderately busy - some very nice chicken skewers on offer
 
Conrad Bali of Sofitel? decisions!
Am Hilton Hhonours Diamond, and Accor Platinum. Whilst the Sofitel appears cheaper, it doesn't seem as good as the Conrad? Can anyone pass on comments? We are really in a quandary! Will get half price Food at Accor with AccorPlus...but the Conrad seems nicer?! Can get a room with a plunge pool at Sofitel...10 day chill out required for a hard-working old cought and his much better half. October this year, with beach, chill out, good food and drinkies, and book reading under palm trees. Any positive suggestions and recent experiences greatly appreciated! Decisions/decisions.
 
Property: HSW
Status: Diamond
Stay: 4 Nights (Easter Wkd)
Booked: Standard King
Received: Exec King

Enjoyed the stay overall for first visit to this property. Disappointed not to get a suite but that disappeared the previous day. Exec Room was still nice, although other than the view I am not sure how much different it would have been from the standard room. Only bad thing about the room was the window was filthy and spoiled the view over the city.

Exec lounge was nice with plenty of good food and drink choices, breakfast was excellent although my wife didn't really enjoy the coffee, not a real biggie in Melbourne with so many cafes. Nice little touch offering Hot Cross Buns on Sunday morning.

Evening canapes were a little underwhelming for my wife also as she is pregnant and much to her dislike could not enjoy the large selection of cold meats, soft cheeses, and seafood offerings. I however enjoyed it all very much :) as well as the alcohol. The hot food was all very good!

They tried to charge me valet parking but was quickly rectified on check out as it was included in the rate. Valet parking service was excellent and prompt.

Will probably stay again depending on comparable rates at the Intercons and Hyatts.
 
Property: Sydney 28-29th march
Status: Diamond
Booked: Guestroom Plus $189
Received:King Relaxation Room
Used echeckin night before even though no upgrade showing. Pleasantly surprised to find upgrade was in the system at checkin at 11.30am.
 
Property: HSW
Status: Diamond
Stay: 2 Nights
Booked: Queen family
Received: Queen family

Fairly so-so stay at HSW this time. Attempted check in at about 10am, no room available (no biggie, luggage stored and shopping done). Received text to say room was ready. Bay view Queen family. Boring. I asked if any city view rooms were available and told yes, but they're not ready. OK no problems we'll shop some more.

No more text, but called back about 2 and told room was ready. Queen family, city view. Arrived in room to find no water (or card etc...), no water or turn down either night, but hey, no dramas about EL or Breakfast for 3 so I'm not that worried.....swings and roundabouts.

Possibly the only thing that irked me a little was the fact a few staff members have told me the hotel is only 60% full. At that occupancy, what would it have hurt them to give us an upgrade rather then insulting with a bay view room of the type that I booked? I didn't expect it mind you, and a queen family is a difficult upgrade but I did wonder briefly (given the PF report from H-SYD) as to why some diamonds are a bit more sparklier than others. Obviously number of stays at the particular hotel is one factor, occupancy is another and I'd assume OnQ worth is another. Given the low occupancy and the fact I spent a reasonable amount of USD with Hilton last year (hovering around the US$20k mark), I'm also wondering if the rate plays a role (I'm on a promo rate).

All in all, it's not a whine as the HSW Queen Family is OK regardless, and they do extend the benefits quite considerably, but it does make me wonder.
 
Property: Hilton Barcelona
Booked: King Guest Room
Rate: 120K points 5 nights deal
Received: One Bedroom Suite

Two levels upgrade to executive room showed in the booking the day before and at check in received one more level up to suite. I'm very happy to see hotels that treat point bookings exactly the same as cash. I know this is the way it should be but somehow I'm less confident about upgrades when the booking is done entirely on points, especially for long stay.

This Hilton is 4* hotel and it reflects in the low amount of points required for free night. I'm not sure if it was renovated recently but it feels quite refreshed.

The suite has separate living room, not very large but more then enough space for two guests. Diamond amenities were two bottles of water and a huge chocolate Easter egg.

Executive lounge was better than expected with decent selection of canapés and Spanish wines.

Breakfast at restaurant was typical buffet. There were fried and scrambled eggs but no option to order omelette or anything else from the kitchen. Self serve coffee from machine wasn't too bad. Highlight was definitely the free flowing Cava :)

The hotel is located outside the city centre, not far from Camp Nou stadium. There is metro station near by so getting anywhere is easy but the area is very quiet at night. Good thing that trains run until midnight (even later on weekends) so we could still experience the city's vibrant nightlife.

There is no Uber service in Barcelona. Taxi to/from airport cost approx €30.
 
Back
Top