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.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Property: West Hotel Sydney, Curio

Even though the rooms were small I would definitely stay at this hotel again. Staff were very friendly and obviously enjoyed working there.

What happened to IC-SYD, Fifa? Have they done something to upset you?

 

[Fifa]

What happened to IC-SYD, Fifa? Have they done something to upset you?

The prices for club rooms have skyrocketed!
Now I only stay there when we use our respective Ambassador free weekend night certificates.

 

[moa999]

Couple of Sunday night stays at Hilton Sydney as Diamond, taking advantage of Amex Promo.

1.
Booked - Hilton Guestroom (not Plus.) For $192
Received - Deluxe (not Plus even)
Checked in downstairs and got an overbearing upgrade speech, knowing it was cough. They really shouldn't have bothered with a bath in these rooms, makes the bathroom ridiculously pokey.
I suspect the cough upgrade was related to only having a Guestroom booked.

2.
Booked - Hilton Guestroom Plus For $215
Received - Relaxation Room
Upgrade on app morning of stay.. No room choice (which stupidly means you cant see what you've been upgraded to).

This is a decent upgrade. Effectively a double room with a massive spa bath.

In both cases EL was similar.
Vege Gyoza, Vege Pizza on night, meatlovers the other.
All the salads seem to have quinoa for sone reason (including a greek salad). Fresh salmon gone it appears.

TV system appears to have been upgraded recently. No Foxtel available on the secondary TVs in the Relaxation Room.
And despite ringing magic the 'engineer' was unable to let me watch FoxSports5 (506) (IE live F1) on a Sunday night when it was the only live sport showing (you only have 501-504 available.

Had to go across the road to the pub, at least until Max blocked Dan.

 

[hydrabyss]

Couple of Sunday night stays at Hilton Sydney as Diamond, taking advantage of Amex Promo.

1.
Booked - Hilton Guestroom (not Plus.) For $192
Received - Deluxe (not Plus even)
Checked in downstairs and got an overbearing upgrade speech, knowing it was cough. They really shouldn't have bothered with a bath in these rooms, makes the bathroom ridiculously pokey.
I suspect the cough upgrade was related to only having a Guestroom booked.

2.
Booked - Hilton Guestroom Plus For $215
Received - Relaxation Room
Upgrade on app morning of stay.. No room choice (which stupidly means you cant see what you've been upgraded to).

This is a decent upgrade. Effectively a double room with a massive spa bath.

In both cases EL was similar.
Vege Gyoza, Vege Pizza on night, meatlovers the other.
All the salads seem to have quinoa for sone reason (including a greek salad). Fresh salmon gone it appears.

TV system appears to have been upgraded recently. No Foxtel available on the secondary TVs in the Relaxation Room.
And despite ringing magic the 'engineer' was unable to let me watch FoxSports5 (506) (IE live F1) on a Sunday night when it was the only live sport showing (you only have 501-504 available.

Had to go across the road to the pub, at least until Max blocked Dan.

I have had a few issues with the new tvs recently so not sure how many bugs it has but have had a few. The worst was when it came on at 2 in the morning to mention daylight savings time change. Funny thing it was the next day.

 

[straitman]

Here's the problem:
... Time travel ...

Fixed. (Took a while for anyone to notice)

I think I'll send Conrad Singapore a link to this discussion.

 

[WLGFlyer]

The whole lounge issue at the Conrad Singapore is ridiculous. I checked in last week and was told I had been upgraded by 1 category "as I was entitled" and access to the level 4 lounge. Having played this game before I asked what happened to the lounge on level 31 and was told this was the Club lounge. After pointing out that the information in their app specifically mentions access to Level 31 I was given access to both.

Anyhow, I didn't even have time to make it to either lounge so that's not the issue. Provide the right information when booking so people know what to expect and don't have to argue on arrival. I overheard another Diamond with the same issue at the front desk so clearly they are upsetting a lot of people. Best part is that Club rooms aren't even bookable last time I checked...

 

[ALH]

Hilton Noumea
5 - 7th May 2018
Status - Diamond
Booked - 1 Bedroom Apartment
Received - Deluxe 3 Bedroom Apartment with Ocean View on Highest Floor

Included Breakfasts as Diamond Guest, but no Executive Lounge. Nothing offered in lieu of EL.
Quite a good spread for breakfast. No coffee tax, as no espresso machine!
We were given 6 bottles of water on arrival and were kept topped up for the three days we were there.
Fabulous views and huge apartment.
Full size kitchen, so the fridge was handy for keeping the champagne cold.

Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

NB. 3 bedroom apartment totally wasted on 2 people, but it was a fabulous gesture.

 

[boomy]

Hilton Noumea
5 - 7th May 2018
Status - Diamond
Booked - 1 Bedroom Apartment
Received - Deluxe 3 Bedroom Apartment with Ocean View on Highest Floor

That’s a fine upgrade!
You could Airbnb the other two rooms and cover the trip cost

 

[moa999]

Provide the right information when booking so people know what to expect and don't have to argue on arrival

So who is currently entitled to L31?
Just those who book Exec?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Best part is that Club rooms aren't even bookable last time I checked...

Are they actually referring to these new rooms as "club" rooms, or "executive" rooms?

 

[kermatu]

I have an upcoming Executive room booking and have been assured I will have access to floor 31. Unfortunately booking is a couple of months away so won't be able to confirm for a while - if I even keep the booking.

 

[WLGFlyer]

So who is currently entitled to L31?
Just those who book Exec?

Good question, I don't know. Guess they will eventually create a new room category that includes lvl31 and use lvl4 for Diamonds and upgrades but that's just my impression.

I still like the place, location is good and the refurbed rooms are nice. Breakfast is good as well and no silly games trying to limit you to a continental selection.

 

[Aeolus]

H-PER
Booked: King Guestroom
Received: Queen Suite on OLCI
My fav room type for this hotel, excluding the penthouse which I haven’t stayed at. Very personable service as usual. @QF WP , you were being enquired at breakfast, I was asked if I’ve seen you in my trips lately and how you were, said they haven’t seen you for a while!

 

[albyd]

Conrad New York
3 - 7th May 2018
Status - Diamond
Booked - Deluxe Suite with one King Bed
Received - Hudson River View Suite with one King Bed
We checked in around midnight with other accommodation having fallen through while we were in the air. Great Hotel and service. Paid cash for first 3 nights and were allowed to use our Macquarie Hilton Visa weekend night reward certificates for the final 2 nights. They allowed us to keep the same room even though the reward certificates only applied to base rooms.
Received 2 breakfasts (wife and I) each day is the restaurant on the main lobby floor or $US20 credit towards anything on the menu that wasn't on the 'diamond' menu. No charge for coffee.
Was a shame to leave - we always love staying at Conrad properties.

 

[QF WP]

H-PER
Booked: King Guestroom
Received: Queen Suite on OLCI
My fav room type for this hotel, excluding the penthouse which I haven’t stayed at. Very personable service as usual. @QF WP , you were being enquired at breakfast, I was asked if I’ve seen you in my trips lately and how you were, said they haven’t seen you for a while!

@Aeolus, he was away on an extended holiday when I was last there in Feb: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

 

[boomy]

Conrad New York
3 - 7th May 2018
Status - Diamond
Booked - Deluxe Suite with one King Bed
Received - Hudson River View Suite with one King Bed
We checked in around midnight with other accommodation having fallen through while we were in the air. Great Hotel and service. Paid cash for first 3 nights and were allowed to use our Macquarie Hilton Visa weekend night reward certificates for the final 2 nights. They allowed us to keep the same room even though the reward certificates only applied to base rooms.
Received 2 breakfasts (wife and I) each day is the restaurant on the main lobby floor or $US20 credit towards anything on the menu that wasn't on the 'diamond' menu. No charge for coffee.
Was a shame to leave - we always love staying at Conrad properties.

Glad you enjoyed your stay. I’ve been there for 5 nights not long after the rebranding from Embassy Suites. The service was unprofessional, decor in our suite (got same upgrade as you) looked cheap and the bathtub was more like a sink size. I’m big fan of Conrad hotels but found this property to be the worst I’ve seen. From you report seems like things improved so maybe when I was staying it was still in the transition period.

 

[dsotm]

I've nearly gone blind looking at TripAdvisor reviews for an upcoming London trip. I've come to the conclusion that Gold HH doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you are staying in a mid-range Hilton in London. There are so many negative reports about Gold status recognition, coughpy service, poor rooms, etc, etc, that I reckon it's just better to book a nice independent boutique hotel with breakfast and be done with it. I had a great experience at the Conrad last year (no upgrade available) but this hotel is above the majority of London Hilton's. Had a horrendous stay at the Hilton Kensington. Tiny rooms, narrow corridors, noisy with paper-thin walls.

 

[Moopere]

The whole lounge issue at the Conrad Singapore is ridiculous. I checked in last week and was told I had been upgraded by 1 category "as I was entitled" and access to the level 4 lounge. Having played this game before I asked what happened to the lounge on level 31 and was told this was the Club lounge. After pointing out that the information in their app specifically mentions access to Level 31 I was given access to both.

Anyhow, I didn't even have time to make it to either lounge so that's not the issue. Provide the right information when booking so people know what to expect and don't have to argue on arrival. I overheard another Diamond with the same issue at the front desk so clearly they are upsetting a lot of people. Best part is that Club rooms aren't even bookable last time I checked...

I've only stayed at Conrad SIN once and I won't return. They were refurbing the lounge on 31 at the time, earlier this year, and the temp lounge down by the pool wasn't up to scratch _and_ they gave my mrs a hard time whenever she tried to go in for some reason. We were relying upon the diamond benefit to get into the lounge as we didn't receive any upgrade from the room we booked and the staff were plainly unhappy about us going in.

We'll continue to go to the orchard road hilton, a much older hotel, but the staff are great there and starkly different from those at the Conrad.

 

[Moopere]

Good question, I don't know. Guess they will eventually create a new room category that includes lvl31 and use lvl4 for Diamonds and upgrades but that's just my impression.

I still like the place, location is good and the refurbed rooms are nice. Breakfast is good as well and no silly games trying to limit you to a continental selection.

I never bump into this silly game in Asia. I have been disappointed a couple of times, some time ago now, at SYD where we were barred entry to Glass for breaky and redirected to the EL instead - never once seen these silly shenanigans in any Asian hotel.

 

[mel-world]

Just leaving after week in NY. Cannot afford the Conrad so stayed 4 nights at the Hilton Times Square in a standard refurbished room - I only ever book the base level so not sure if I got an upgrade or not. I like the location and the fact that the rooms start above the 22nd floor so it is quite quiet. Got breakfast vouchers and water but nothing else. Nothing cheap although the rate was different every night over the weekend. Be prepared for 4 taxes added every night - State, City and Occupancy Tax and $1.50 to pay for a Convention Center that may never be built!!

Then moved the the 2-y-o Hilton Brooklyn - quite a bit cheaper and convenient to several Subway stations if you want to get out of the Manhattan rat-race. Received water, breakfast with freshly cooked options and vouchers for the restaurant as no lounge. Quite modern and good for access to JFK and LGA without having to cross the Hudson. Saw the QF crew arriving so must meet their standard. Good WiFi too.