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.

 

[foggy]

Hilton Niseko- What season? If peak snow, it's always full so be lucky to get 1 cat. If not, possibly panorama room. 10 stays? Maybe 12ish.

from the 4/1 - 11/1, is that peak? or is towards end of jan / early feb considered peak?
What do you do for lunch/dinner there? is it $$$ like at thredbo/perisher?

 

[Cynicor]

from the 4/1 - 11/1, is that peak? or is towards end of jan / early feb considered peak?
What do you do for lunch/dinner there? is it $$$ like at thredbo/perisher?

December to March is peak. The hotel will be at, or close to, 100% and you are lucky to get any upgrades. There are little to no diamond benefits anymore, mostly swallowed into the massive 20% resort fee.
I don't eat lunch, I board all day! Dinner depends, I often book half board or drive into Hirafu or other areas for food. It's expensive everywhere in Niseko compared to other parts of Japan but it's not as expensive as AU normally, let alone AU ski fields.

 

[kyle]

Property: Hilton Waikoloa Village
Date: End of Nov 2017 for 5 nights
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Palace Tower using points.
Received: Twin Makai Tower
Comments: Only had the continental breakfast in the morning after the first night. Overly crowded for my liking. No resort charge charged on the full points stay.

Property: Hilton Waikiki Beach
Date: Early Dec 2017 for 4 nights
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Guestroom using cash and points.
Received: Deluxe King Oceanview
Comments: The executive lounge is in the basement. Looks like they've converted one of the function rooms. Must have been the worst EL I've ever been to. Again, only had one breakfast there. Only one attendant and very slow in clearing tables. And there's a sign on the table with alcohol charges. Used the digital key for the first time. Very slow compared to using the RFID room keys. Problematic when the lift was full and you're still waiting for the app to unlock the floor button.

Property: Hilton Auckland
Date: Dec 2017 for one night
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Deluxe Oceanview
Received: King Deluxe Oceanview
Comments: No upgrade was given and I didn't ask. Checking the app on the day, only one room left of each type. Initially the agent said they only normally do 1.30pm late checkout, but managed to get for a 4pm late checkout after mentioning that my QF flight was departing at 8pm and perhaps due to no upgrade being given. No EL, but received full breakfast in Fish (charges apply for barista coffee) and two drink vouchers in the bar. Also received a bottle of red in the room.

 

[ALH]

Property: Hilton Sydney
Date: 16th December 2017,
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Guest Plus
Rate: $ 268
Received: King Relaxation Suite
Executive Lounge and Breakfast in Glass Brasserie. 2 bottles water.
On arrival I noticed a strong smell of air freshener in the suite and arranged for the ozone machine to do it’s work removing the smell while we dined. The smell was still overpowering when we returned at midnight.
The Manager came and introduced himself while we were checking out and gave me his card to email him before I come back next week. He’s made a note of my fragrance allergy for future Sydney Hilton visits. He also offered to contact Nairobi Hilton to arrange a driver ahead of my visit on Boxing Day.
Very happy with the service

 

[mini2]

Property: Hilton Beijing Wangfujing
Date: 14/12 - one night
Status: Gold
Booked: Exec twin
Received: Exec twin, higher floor
Comments: Two rooms booked against this membership but only one got bumped to a higher floor. Well we've worked out why at Conrad...
Oh the breakfast is great with plenty of local dishes and the staff are wonderful to deal with.

Property: Conrad Beijing
Date: 15/12 - two nights
Status: Gold/Diamond
Booked: double deluxe room
Received: Gold - higher floor, Diamond - premier room
Comments: One room was bumped to 17th floor while the other was on the 6th floor, we asked why, got told benefits are only extended to one room per member per booking. Ok just remembered +1 have her own Honors through the MQ card, pleasantly surprised to be told she's Diamond so got a room upgrade, EL access and both rooms were given the breakfast. As an aside, 5 out of 5 taxi drivers have no idea where the hotel is and trying to fetch a taxi at the hotel is difficult as hell. Maybe that explains why it's half the price of Wangfujing.

 

[foggy]

no upgrade at hilton osaka :*(, no suites available for the dates I'm here. I lesson learned to book a suite when its high season instead of expecting an upgrade.

 

[Buzzard]

Not too good

 

[Buzzard]

Property: Hilton Boston Downtown / Faneuil Hall
Date: 9/12 to 13/12
Status: Diamond
Booked: Standard King
Received: First night Standard King then Deluxe King

My worst Hilton (not talking about other Hilton brands) stay ever.
No upgrade until I "mentioned" something next day upon which I got an apology and upgrade.
Breakfast is by coupon, either the prison breakfast or $10 off a full breakfast. Not knowing better, first morning I took the prison (continental) option. One piece of fruit, one drink; tea coffee or juice (juice for me), small yogurt and choice of bread for toast. One slice only! If you want another slice of toast, top up your juice or a coffee as well as the juice you have to pay. For the next 2 mornings I ordered a full breakfast and used the coupon for the discount. Again no juice or coffee top up, everything has a cost. No breakfast on my last morning, left the hotel early.
On arrival at my next destination I rang the Diamond Desk and politely informed the person that took my call I was not very happy. Interested to hear my report, the agent awarded me 11,000 points which will be paid for by the Boston property. I have a file number, just need to check my account.

 

[Daver6]

Similar to my poor experience at that Hilton last year. Really not worth it for the price they charge and lack of an EL means its a poor option for diamonds.

 

[Buzzard]

Maybe we need to start a Hilton Black List. Only problem of course is when the management changes.

 

[Daver6]

Maybe we need to start a Hilton Black List. Only problem of course is when the management changes.

Perhaps a wiki? Could just list Hiltons and they are either excellent, ok or blacklisted. Or just black list most US Hiltons

 

[Aeolus]

Can’t stop laughing at the funny way you described the breakfast but looking at pic, I tend to agree and perhaps the prisons here don’t even restrict the toast to 1. That is really taking stinginess to a whole new level. Just out if interest, did Hhonors agree with you that it is unacceptable service and what should be regarded as acceptable standard in the US?

 

[Buzzard]

The photo doesn't show the breakfast that well, it was delivered to my table on a round black tray, "Here is your breakfast sir". At least they called me sir (lol). HHonors did agree that the service was poor, wrote a report and gave me a file number, said they would follow up with the property. I suggested they send someone undercover and check for themselves. It was agreed that top ups should not be charged for and that expecting a coffee as well as juice is not unreasonable.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I wonder if there is such a thing as a standard continental breakfast. From my experience, that ranges dramatically so HH may have trouble enforcing something they don't stipulate.

The risk with overly stipulating a benefit is that it may entice those properties that do better, to reduce their offering!

 

[Notyourbag]

Has anyone stayed at a Hilton in Puerto Rico? An going in April 2018 but can't find any reviews.

 

[Daver6]

The thing is, with a cookie cutter brand like Hilton, the entire concept is you can expect a certain level to be consistent across the world.

 

[boomy]

Property: Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest
Booked: King Guestroom
Received: Presidential Suite

Surprising upgrade from the cheapest room to a huge suite overlooking the Royal Palace.

We stayed in town on the day they brought back the body of King Michael who died recently in Switzerland. Had best seats watching the motorcade from our balcony and the queues of people waiting to pay last respects.

It was one of those special hotel stays that will not be forgotten.

 

[hydrabyss]

Hilton Sydney
Status: Diamond
Date: 15th & 17th December
Booked: Guestroom Plus
Received: Relaxation Suite both stays. First stay showing relaxation room which was later upgraded at checkin to a suite which was a nice surprise. Second stay I was not expecting anything higher than a deluxe plus with room rates for suites around $1600 so was a good way to finish my last stay here for the year.

Glass will be shut for nearly 6 weeks from the 1st with a few changes being made. Changes sound good but I usually avoided any stays during the first week of the year for the annual cleaning but this year it will not be possible.

 

[Buzzard]

Embassy Suites Chicago
Booked King Bed 2 Room Suite
Received as booked
Status: Diamond

Once you have booked this room there is nothing to be upgraded to.
No lounge but you get a voucher for 4 drinks per night although I was given vouchers for about 16 drinks per night!
The drinks are very basic, are served one at a time and the reception runs for 2 hours. The queue for coughtails can be length so I stuck to wine and beer.
Breakfast is a zoo. The property really doesn't have the facilities for the number of rooms available. Seating can be difficult to find, one morning I had to share which may not be acceptable to all. You may be unlucky and have to queue 20 minutes if you want a cooked breakfast (eggs to order or omelette) as I did twice or just go the buffet. Breakfast is locked down promptly on time so you need to allow plenty of time. If you arrive say 30 minutes before breakfast finishes and you haven't finished eating, you may miss out on some things.
At peak times elevators (4) can be a real problem. By the time the elevator reaches lower floors it's often chockers so guests wanting to go down, first go up.
Overall I think there would be better options in Chicago.

 

[ALH]

Property: Hilton Sydney
Date: 23rd December 2017,
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Guest Plus
Rate: $ 227
Received: King Relaxation Suite
Executive Lounge and Breakfast in Glass Brasserie which was wasted as we wanted to dine at SYD FLounge instead.
2 bottles water.
At check-in I was informed our room had been cleaned with fragrance free products