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.

 

[moa999]

At the same price. Hilton. Better location and bigger rooms.
For elites better chance of upgrade (curio only has four large rooms/suites) and a lounge at Hilton

 

[Aeolus]

At the same price. Hilton. Better location and bigger rooms.
For elites better chance of upgrade (curio only has four large rooms/suites) and a lounge at Hilton

Agree with moa999, except that I don’t think the room is any bigger but the location, lounge and other additional facilities give HSYD the advantage.

 

[Daver6]

At the same price. Hilton. Better location and bigger rooms.
For elites better chance of upgrade (curio only has four large rooms/suites) and a lounge at Hilton

Yikes! I never thought I'd hear someone say the HSYD had bigger rooms than somewhere else.

 

[kermatu]

Any updates on the Conrad Centennial Singapore top floor lounge situation for Diamonds? I have two possible upcoming stays, and have had complete opposite information from staff via email. One said Diamonds in general rooms, level 4 lounge only. Another said Diamonds will always be able to access level 31. I have kept her email so reckon I'll be fine but appreciate any further intel from AFF'ers

 

[kermatu]

Property: Hilton Resort Whistler, Canada
Date: Sept 2018
Status: Diamond
Booked: King Room with balcony, one night
Rate: $100, one night, booked about a week out.
Received: 1 Bedroom Harmony Suite
Extra benefits: Bottle of red wine and a white wine in fridge (full bottles), platter of still sealed cheese slices, cold meats, olives (in fridge) and crackers. With welcome back note (even though it's been 7 years!). Late checkout granted on request.

Just one night and after peak season so the upgrade was terrific. Not quite their best room but the Harmony suite was excellent. Massive space. Nice views, full kitchen, laundry. We did't make use of most of it but no hesitation in returning and recommending.

 

[kermatu]

Can't edit my above post re Whistler. But they were half bottles of decent wine, not full. My apologies. The platter comprised fairly standard produce (from the supermarket - but was decent, clearly fresh and much appreciated).

 

[liamsal]

Conrad Hong Kong
September 2018 (4 nights)
2 x rooms

Room #1
Booked: Deluxe Double/Twin Room
Received: Double/Twin Harbour View, highest floor available (41ish)

Room #2
Booked: Deluxe King, peak view
Received: Executive King Harbour View, floor 59

Even though only I was diamond, both rooms received Diamond benefits (usual free buffet breakky, comp pressing of 4 items etc). Late check out of 2pm granted upon request, didn't arrive until after 6pm so didn't need an early check in.

Overall service was pretty hit and miss, especially in the lounge bar. Had to constantly wave down servers who were busy talking behind the bar when we wanted refills and to order food. Had several drinks come out as the wrong thing too. Similar experience in the Garden Cafe (where breakfast is served, near the pool). Service in the lounge was great but pretty disappointed about the service elsewhere. Sent in feedback after receiving an email asking how the stay was and got a pretty generic reply saying we will train staff better.


DT Melbourne
September 2018 (2 nights)

Booked: Internal King Room
Received: Flinders Station View King Room

Was really pleased with this stay, had two previous stays that were average so was giving it one more shot before staying elsewhere. Great upgrade and all the usual diamond benefits. Only received 2 drink vouchers on checking in and when I asked Paige for me, she sent up about 10 to the room. Late check out of 2pm granted. Waters replaced daily (along with extras, maybe they know I drink ridiculous amounts of wine the night before) which I haven't had a diamond previously.

 

[mitchsaunders]

DT Melbourne
September 2018 (2 nights)

Booked: Internal King Room
Received: Flinders Station View King Room

Was really pleased with this stay, had two previous stays that were average so was giving it one more shot before staying elsewhere. Great upgrade and all the usual diamond benefits. Only received 2 drink vouchers on checking in and when I asked Paige for me, she sent up about 10 to the room. Late check out of 2pm granted. Waters replaced daily (along with extras, maybe they know I drink ridiculous amounts of wine the night before) which I haven't had a diamond previously.

Always had no complaints with DT Melbourne. Great hotel, great staff.

 

[Daver6]

Any updates on the Conrad Centennial Singapore top floor lounge situation for Diamonds? I have two possible upcoming stays, and have had complete opposite information from staff via email. One said Diamonds in general rooms, level 4 lounge only. Another said Diamonds will always be able to access level 31. I have kept her email so reckon I'll be fine but appreciate any further intel from AFF'ers

Interesting situation. MrsDaver6 and I are both gold. First two nights booked second from the cheapest in her name and next three nights one below exec room in my name. Arrived last night and checked in. Upgraded to an exec room on the 22nd floor. Access to level 31 lounge given and no mention of the level 4 lounge on the printout. At check-in we were told we could have breakfast in either lounge though (print out also mentions Oscar's).

Went to the EL lounge about 7pm last night and they tried to direct us downstairs as it was busy (they hadn't asked room number so didn't know who we were at this stage). We were told identical offerings. Then some tables freed up so stuck around upstairs. Also had breakfast upstairs. Checked out the level 4 lounge by the pool as well last night. Not quite as nice. Food was identical, but spirit offering seemed more extensive. Champagne was Laurent Perrier NV. Also available at breakfast.

Updated pool area looks nice.

 

[Daver6]

Forgot to post room pics. Not sure what I make of the refurbished rooms. That couch thing by the window is more comfortable than it looks. Lack of a proper work desk is not great at all. No bin in the main room either. Bed is extremely comfortable though and love the electric blinds and curtains.

Excuse the mess.

 

[kermatu]

I’ve now been told new policy has been confirmed: all Diamonds will get full access all the time. But if the lounge is crowded, people will be sent to level 30 (which looked quite nice my last visit) or level 4. First come, first served.

Agree the couch setup is even more ridiculous in their regular rooms.

 

[benjy]

Currently posting from my phone using Qantas WiFi so please excuse any typing and photo errors

Property: Alice Springs, Hilton by DoubleTree
Status: Gold
Duration: 2 nights
Booked: double double guest room base rate
Room received: double double guest room with pool view on level 3 (of 3 which is dedicated members level)
Benefits received: buffet breakfast for me and guest, and bottles of water
First time staying at Hilton etc hotels since receiving Gold Status via Amex so wasn't sure what to expect.
I checked in via app, selected my room, received what I selected so pretty happy with that.
Pleasantly greeted by check in staff thanking me for my loyalty (lol) and briefed me on the benefits.
Room was basic but dont have any complaints about it. Father appreciated the balcony overlooking the pool.

 

[benjy]

Property: Hilton Darwim
Status: Gold
Booked: Double Double Guest Room.
Reveived: Double Double Guest Room on Level 15, Ocean View. The same room I checked into via the app.

Given that this hotel was a standard Hilton hotel (not a DT) I was expecting the same service if not better of ASDT, but guess I was wrong.

Checked in: Greeted with "you made the booking for 1 person so you only get 1 breakfast per day". Even though Dad was behind me, myself explaining I have a second person with me and mentioning it's unfortunate I made the error upon booking, staff was not interested in offering the second breakfast for every night I booked... so thought that was quite rude, it didn't really matter as I was only staying for 1 night, Dad staying for another 2. The staff at the breakfast were also disinterested in offering a second breakfast, only interested in pushing the buffet at extra cost.
Can't 100% recall if we received our bottles of water but I know I didn't receive the foam pillow I requested via the app, was also no acknowledgement of the request via the check in staff.
Room was decent, clear ocean view, pillows really soft (vast difference to the firm pillows I like), also has a walk in shower.
Overall, I liked the room and the view, but that's about it

 

[Aeolus]

Generous offer from HSYD. Attended one last year but it was limited to diamonds and lifetime diamonds. Wonder how many more would turn up with Golds included this round



.

 

[justinbrett]

I've recently been status matched to Hilton Gold and just returned from a US trip where I stayed in Hilton exclusively (other than when I was in Vegas).

SFO - Hilton Union Square
SEA - Hilton Seattle
HOU - DT Houston Downtown
SJU - DT San Juan (Puerto Rico)
HNL - Hilton Hawaiian Village

For the most part I think they treat their elites well. The best part was preselecting a room so I always stayed in high floors (less than 5 from the roof) with best views possible (Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, Space Needle in Seattle etc). This requires some basic geography skills to correlate their floorplan with google maps and what you should be able to see (and what will be blocked), but if you're capable of that you can select very nice rooms.

I didn't get any free upgrades because for the most part I booked top tier rooms, although in Seattle I paid for a basic room and requested a space available upgrade to the executive lounge floor with skyline view and that was granted.

Breakfast was hit and miss - good in SFO but you had to pay US$10 if you wanted a hot breakfast. No breakfast offered in Hilton Hawaiian Village which I think is a scam. They give you a $10 dinning credit per day, and because Starbucks and their convenience store offer a $10 deal for continental breakfast (just a coffee and a pastry or something) they think that meets the requirement. I ended up just skipping breakfast and used it to buy wings and a coughtail one afternoon.

Digital Key is a nice feature - I could have gone my entire stay in Seattle without speaking to an employee (well, except for getting drinks in the executive lounge).

It would be interesting to see how the Hilton Australian properties compare - I kind of feel like Hilton has a good name here but in the US it's pretty average, not really five star. I have stayed in a few but many years ago - although I stayed in DT Darwin this year which was OK - the building itself wasn't great (old Travelodge).

 

[moa999]

Generous offer from HSYD.

And it overlaps with EL coughtail Hour.
Does the Marble Bar offering have food?

 

[boomy]

It would be interesting to see how the Hilton Australian properties compare - I kind of feel like Hilton has a good name here but in the US it's pretty average, not really five star.

US Hiltons are mostly old and stingy with benefits.
Australian Hiltons treats elites much better, their standards are somewhat in between the US and Asia.

I have stayed in a few but many years ago - although I stayed in DT Darwin this year which was OK - the building itself wasn't great (old Travelodge).

Same as DT Melbourne, also an old Travelodge.

 

[Aeolus]

And it overlaps with EL coughtail Hour.
Does the Marble Bar offering have food?

Dunno, will drop by and report back.

 

[Aeolus]

Dunno, will drop by and report back.

Great event, much better than last year’s at Glass. coughtails were whiskey sour and rose lychee martini (yum!) and very tasty canapés.

 

[moa999]

Any idea if it's a regular Wed thing?
Some resorts to weekly drinks of this sort.