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.

 

[justinbrett]

Booked at Hilton Sydney last night (King Deluxe). No auto upgrade in the app.

Got a call around 11am from the exec office, welcoming me and asking what time I’d arrive.

When I did, no special welcome, wasn’t advised of an upgrade and app didn’t display one. However it was a room on the 40th floor so I think that’s an Exec King, not sure why the app didn’t show the upgrade. No welcome letter or amenity.

Lounge food was very mediocre for a Friday night and a busy hotel.

 

[justinbrett]

Property: Conrad Hong Kong
Nights: 2
Status: Diamond
Room booked: Deluxe King Harbour View
Offered: Peak King Suite
Received: Exec King Harbour View
Welcome Amenity: Chocolates, Dried Fruit, Nuts and NZ Antipodes still and sparkling water (in addition to the regular bottled water provided). Bear supplied.

First - yes I voluntarily downgraded myself. Whilst the suite would have been good I wanted the harbour view as it was my first visit to HK.

I booked under a spring in the city promo, which gave HK$1200 a night F&B credit. Travelling solo this was quite immense - more than A$500 in value. I wondered how I’d get through it but thanks to some heavy thunderstorms on my middle day I cancelled a planned day trip to Macau and hung around the resort for the afternoon. I managed to use the full credit both days.

The room itself was a little dated but the service was exceptional. The EL was OK, I expected more from a Conrad in a global city but it wasn’t bad. One thing I did like is they did coughtails as part of happy hour for free.

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[Happy Dude]

Property: Singapore Hilton Garden Inn
Date: April 2024
Nights: 3
Status: Diamond when booked, Silver when checked in
Rooms booked: 2 x Twin Guest rooms
Received: 2 x Twin Deluxe Guest corners on 16th (top) floor

Received emails prior to checkin advising upgrades available at a cost. No acknowledgement anywhere of any sort except during checkin when one room still had me as a Diamond. That was promptly amended to Silver to match the other reservation. Was given diamond room key holders.

Rooms were small but functional, very comfy beds/linen. AC was terrific and didn't stop at night, contradicting expectations based on previous posts. TV system sucked. The windows on our side of the hotel were frosted due to the gov restrictions, effectively negating any point of an upgrade to a higher floor.

I asked if they'd provide Diamond benefits, mainly breakfast, as that was the conditions at the time of booking and it influenced my decision to book. No dice, as the system wouldn't allow it apparently. Couldn't care about the "rules" especially if they disregard recent, still warm loyalty and actively disincentivise it for the future. Same with airlines. The app said "no benefits available" for silver members and had I not booked a non-refundable rate, believing I'd be Gold due to HH emails, then I would have cancelled. Genuinely, can't think of a reason to stay at a Hilton if not Gold or above.

 

[Gold Member]

Genuinely, can't think of a reason to stay at a Hilton if not Gold or above.

Agreed. While the top tiers of each hotel chain offer an obvious benefit, the Return On Investment doesn’t stack up for most guests.

The Hilton sweet spot seems to be Gold - many Hilton properties offer Golds a full breakfast and a modest upgrade. But it is of course very property specific. For those properties that don’t even honour the bare minimum Loyalty standards, we should be calling them out and voting with our wallets.

 

[Ryan Bingham]

The room itself was a little dated but the service was exceptional. The EL was OK, I expected more from a Conrad in a global city but it wasn’t bad. One thing I did like is they did coughtails as part of happy hour for free.

This is the only Conrad we've stayed at and our first Hilton (I received Diamond status as a Virgin Plat) and Mrs Ryan always compares every Hilton with the Conrad HK as the benchmark. We received a modest upgrade (pre-Covid), but bc we stayed 10 days I wasn't expecting anything huge. The biggest challenge with the lounge we thought was space in the kitchen food area -- it was a real scrum at times. Service was good though bc we were familiar faces towards the end.

 

[justinbrett]

Property: HGI Seoul Gangnam
Nights: 2
Status: Diamond
Room booked: Twin
Received: Family Queen (included dining table and kitchenette)
Welcome Amenity: Korean Confectionary (don’t ask me what they were)

Really nice hotel, only opened in 2021. My room looked like it had never been used, TV still had the protective film on it. Nice area close to the metro and plenty of dining options in Gangnam (it’s actually closer to the next stop of Yangjae which is actually a more convenient stop if you want to go to the tourist areas via line 3). Views of Lotte World Tower from my room.

It has a rooftop pool with awesome views, but unfortunately they’ve got a silly booking system with 90 minute slots, and you have to wear a cap (although they do allow a baseball cap). There is a very limited bar service but only canned beer. I didn’t swim, I only went up to take photos of the skyline.

Staff acted like I was the only Diamond to ever visit the hotel, could not fault them.

 

[Springthing]

Booked at Hilton Sydney last night (King Deluxe). No auto upgrade in the app.

Got a call around 11am from the exec office, welcoming me and asking what time I’d arrive.

When I did, no special welcome, wasn’t advised of an upgrade and app didn’t display one. However it was a room on the 40th floor so I think that’s an Exec King, not sure why the app didn’t show the upgrade. No welcome letter or amenity.

Lounge food was very mediocre for a Friday night and a busy hotel.

Great property in an even better central location.... As a HH Diamond member, I'm rarely acknowledged by staff or provided a worthy bump in room type, especially on weekend stays (even when higher room types are still available).... Doesn't really bother me, as I book the room type that suits, but the whole deal is a far cry from the experience of stays in South East Asia. While agree it gets crowded at evening happy hour, its one of the better exec lounges in Oz.

 

[justinbrett]

Property: Hilton Guam
Nights: 1
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King Ocean View
Offered: Junior Suite
Received: Premier Exec Suite ($42 extra)
Welcome Amenity: None (this is the US after all)

Like most of Guam the hotel is very dated and this one has that tight/stingy feel you get at Hawaiian Hiltons. The premier suite though is really nice and has great views. It’s huge at 91sqm. Lounge was OK with hot food and by request spirits. No F&B credit here, breakfast is in the lounge.

 

[kpc]

If you are upgraded and get all the Diamond benefits at checkin, what would happen if you drop back from Diamond during your stay?

 

[Springthing]

If you are upgraded and get all the Diamond benefits at checkin, what would happen if you drop back from Diamond during your stay?

Can't imagine it would affect your current stay. It's not like you'd be asked to move rooms. Once you've checked in, they'd just see your status at that point.

 

[justinbrett]

If you are upgraded and get all the Diamond benefits at checkin, what would happen if you drop back from Diamond during your stay?

It’s possible you’d lose access to the executive lounge.

I’d be fairly certain you’d also lose the diamond points bonus on the entire stay, as that is usually determined by the check out date.

 

[lovestotravel]

Property: Conrad Singapore Centennial
Nights: 2
Status: Gold
Room booked: 2 Bedroom Family Suite
Offered: 2 Bedroom Family Suite
Received: 2 Bedroom Family Suite
Welcome Amenity: Chocolates in both rooms, Dried Fruit, Still and sparkling water - A big apology that no upgrades were possible due to booking the 2 Bedroom Family Suite. Sent up a mid-range bottle of white wine for us as an apology for no upgrade.

No bears

Amazing service, but the rooms are starting to show a bit of wear and tear around the edges, with the last renovation in 2018.

As always, great AC, reasonable pool for Singapore standards and great poolside service

Breakfast one of the best quality ones, as always.

 

[DC3]

If you are upgraded and get all the Diamond benefits at checkin, what would happen if you drop back from Diamond during your stay?

I doubt that anything much would change mid-stay. Anyway, this is conjecture on my part.

 

[Springthing]

Following on from a recent lacklustre experience at Hilton Sydney, just had a one nighter in Melbourne, and was a step up...(even on a weekend)

Property: Hilton Melbourne, Little Queen Street
Nights: 1
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King Guest Room
Received: King Heritage Room (nice high room, some minor room trimmings)
Welcomed acknowledgement at check-in and check-out.

The exec lounge is a nice space to relax, and offers nightly drinks/nibbles. But still expect complimentary continental breakfast (as per outside USA benefits). Optional $10 extra buys you full buffet option.

 

[justinbrett]

Property: Hilton Yokohama (Tokyo)
Nights: 1
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King Premium
Received: King Exec
Welcome Amenity: Japanese Snack

Absolutely love this hotel. It only opened September last year so it’s super new. I really love the decor it’s really modern and suits the Japanese theme.

The staff are over the top friendly and helpful, the executive lounge is really good, only con is they don’t have hot food but they have a good range of spirits and high quality aperitif snacks.

Absolutely fell in love with Yokohama - chose the location to be close to HND for my early flight back to SYD but the area is really nice and not touristy at all.

 

[Flashback]

Hilton Addis Ababa.
Where is my bed?

Oh... it's up there.

 

[Flashback]

Is this an .... upgrade?

 

[kyle]

At checkin it was noted they "wanted to upgrade my room" but couldn't as we'd booked two beds.

Hmm... thought they'd still upgrade my default.

 

[Gold Member]

Is this an .... upgrade?

Don’t feel too bad. I haven’t stayed at that property, but I find Duplex Suites at other properties quite impractical with the stairs and often lacking a TV in the bedroom. There’s often no view from the bedroom so it feels isolated up there. Single level hotel rooms for me.

 

[Flashback]

Don’t feel too bad. I haven’t stayed at that property, but I find Duplex Suites at other properties quite impractical with the stairs and often lacking a TV in the bedroom. There’s often no view from the bedroom so it feels isolated up there. Single level hotel rooms for me.

This one has a TV both upstairs and downstairs, I suppose there's a partial view from bed if you look down towards the window.