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.

 

[SponsorSFC]

Had my first Diamond paid upgrade offer today.

Booked a base room at the Doubltree Northbridge.

Pre upgraded in the app to a Deluxe Panoramic King.

When using online check-in there were either the offered room or 2 paid rooms for junior suites at $55 per night.

Not the worst deal but also not a great sign of things to come.

Hopefully free suite upgrades haven't gone completely the way of the dodo.

Not that it will affect me much anyway as there is no way I am requalifying this year.

 

[Berlin]

When using online check-in there were either the offered room or 2 paid rooms for junior suites at $55 per night.

Not the worst deal but also not a great sign of things to come.

This is exactly what I had feared when I first saw those paid upgrades on the app. If you're Diamond and they obviously have junior suites available, you should get them FOR FREE, not being fleeced for another $55! If you're only one status down-perfect, great idea. But as a top tier- just outright awful.

What do others think- am I missing something here?

 

[kyle]

This is exactly what I had feared when I first saw those paid upgrades on the app. If you're Diamond and they obviously have junior suites available, you should get them FOR FREE, not being fleeced for another $55! If you're only one status down-perfect, great idea. But as a top tier- just outright awful.

What do others think- am I missing something here?

I think it really depends on the room I booked and if I see value in the paid upgrade. Like the DT MEL, I booked the Queen room. The balcony room was on offer for $111 extra, which I found it to be great value as it was warming up in MEL and I wanted to see how good the view was from the top floor.

If I'm booking the basic one, I don't have an expectation of getting a suite. I've only got it once in HKG as a diamond.

 

[dairyfloss]

This is exactly what I had feared when I first saw those paid upgrades on the app. If you're Diamond and they obviously have junior suites available, you should get them FOR FREE, not being fleeced for another $55! If you're only one status down-perfect, great idea. But as a top tier- just outright awful.

What do others think- am I missing something here?

I've been offered the nor1 upgrades at hotels across the major and minor chains for years - it's just another part of the hotel's revenue management toolkit. I've never used them.

I tend to book what I'm going to be happy with nowadays, and if get better than that, that's great, but it's not often expected (especially if I book higher up the room/suite type list), particularly with occupancy as it is, post-covid restrictions. Upgrades are great, but if you are happy or at least 'ok' with what you've booked, then there's still more to the status than the room, and I'd value the welcome amenity (often a bottle of something), lounge or b'fast and early check-in / late check-out equally as high if not higher. Everyone's different though!

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[Berlin]

If I'm booking the basic one, I don't have an expectation of getting a suite. I've only got it once in HKG as a diamond.

Suit yourself but that is EXACTLY why I continue valuing my status with the hotels- even if you book the lowest category, you still get a decent room (that's what I've usually gotten even as a mid tier "Gold" member at most properties) and sometimes even a junior suite. Charging me for it totally devalues the whole game in my eyes- especially when we're talking highest tier here.

 

[sudoer]

Property: Conrad Tokyo
Nights: 3
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King City View
Room received: King City View
Rate: Amex FHR with complimentary 3rd night (avg $380pn after all taxes & charges)
Comments: Hotel had plenty of availability in higher categories until the day prior when it all dried up.. so unfortunately no upgrade. Turns out the All Blacks were in town and staying at the property.



Welcome gift consisted of 7 blueberries, a single slice of youkan, and a box containing 4 small chocolates. No welcome card.



Tried breakfast at both the EL and Cerise restaurant. The EL had views of the bay & Hamarikyu Gardens, but Cerise won in most other areas with a wider selection of made to order eggs options, barista coffee, and about double the buffet selection.


View from EL


Cerise made-to-order options


Fricassee lobster omelette (Cerise only)


Scrambled eggs with uni (EL only)


Eggs benedict (available at both)

We were also advised a continental room service breakfast was also available, but I'm not sure whether this was a Diamond benefit or also extended to FHR guests.

At check-in I was advised the US$125 FHR credit converted to 18054 JPY which was quite a reasonable rate. We used this towards lunch at Kazahana restaurant. The view was great (same aspect as the EL but 10 floors down) and the food was tasty, but the experience felt very overpriced. Think $18-20 soft drinks & juices. The favourable USDJPY rate would enable two people to dine within the $125 credit if they went for the cheapest lunch set options and drinks.



The FHR rate included a 4pm guaranteed late checkout. After confirming there were still bookable rooms on the day of checkout, I called the Conrad Service line to ask if I could have this extended to 5pm or 6pm as a Diamond member - they would only extend for a fee, but otherwise no. I argued that I had already paid for the 4pm checkout and am just asking for an additional 1-2 hours, but was still given a firm no. My partner (a native Japanese speaker) asked again in person at reception and was also told no. The same room category was readily available for purchase, and they were willing to sell me the extension, so clearly not an availability issue. I thought this was a little mediocre considering the lack of other Diamond recognition.

Would I stay here again? Not at the prices they are charging at the moment, and certainly not using the FHR rate unless it beats the hilton.com price, there wasn't any additional benefit from FHR over included Diamond benefits except the property credit which is usually factored into the rate. I'm staying at Hilton Tokyo in April and look forward to comparing the two.

 

[Danger]

This is exactly what I had feared when I first saw those paid upgrades on the app. If you're Diamond and they obviously have junior suites available, you should get them FOR FREE, not being fleeced for another $55! If you're only one status down-perfect, great idea. But as a top tier- just outright awful.

What do others think- am I missing something here?

But unlike the superior loyalty program World of Hyatt, Honors doesn't require a top tier to be upgraded to a suite.

 

[Economy_Gold]

Property: Conrad Tokyo
Nights: 3
Status: Diamond
Room booked: King City View
Room received: King City View
Rate: Amex FHR with complimentary 3rd night (avg $380pn after all taxes & charges)
Comments: Hotel had plenty of availability in higher categories until the day prior when it all dried up.. so unfortunately no upgrade. Turns out the All Blacks were in town and staying at the property.

This seems to be the go-to hotel for the All Blacks when they are in Tokyo - we stayed there during the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the All Blacks were there then as well - resulting also in limited upgrade opportunities as Hilton Diamond for us then.

 

[Flashback]

This seems to be the go-to hotel for the All Blacks when they are in Tokyo - we stayed there during the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the All Blacks were there then as well - resulting also in limited upgrade opportunities as Hilton Diamond for us then.

They also use the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton when up in Scotland, so seems they're a Hilton group team.

 

[Princess Fiona]

This seems to be the go-to hotel for the All Blacks when they are in Tokyo - we stayed there during the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the All Blacks were there then as well - resulting also in limited upgrade opportunities as Hilton Diamond for us then.

I stayed there at the same time in 2019. Luckily we managed to score a suite.

 

[itsjackson]

Property: Hilton Little Queen Melbourne
Nights: 2
Status: Gold
Room booked: Twin Guest Room
Room received: Twin Guest Room
Rate: Corporate rate
Comments: Hotel showed most higher category rooms available until the day of arrival. Asked about an upgrade to a room with lounge access and was denied. Hotel was cosy and clean, staff were nice and very responsive via SMS, but the room had a view of a brick wall. Complimentary gold breakfast doesn't include hot food which required an additional $10 pp.

 

[justinbrett]

I've had a lot of success, where the hotel has the messaging feature in the app enabled, specifically asking for a room upgrade the day prior to a specific type if I could see they were available.

I've also found its quite rare to be upgraded once you've selected your room - as much as they say that's not the case.

Complimentary gold breakfast doesn't include hot food which required an additional $10 pp.

Which is actually the entitlement. It's a bonus some hotels give you hot breakfast for free.

 

[sudoer]

I've had a lot of success, where the hotel has the messaging feature in the app enabled, specifically asking for a room upgrade the day prior to a specific type if I could see they were available.

Yes this is my usual move as well if there are higher category rooms/suites showing as available on Hilton.com. Worked well in April at Conrad Singapore, I was surprised that Conrad Tokyo didn't have chat enabled.

 

[http_x92]

In April the full breakfast was free in Melbourne as a Diamond but I think since the executive lounge opened its now a $10 charge. Thankfully I could use the Hotel Collection credit on it, made it convenient. Also went in September.

 

[http_x92]

In terms of my experience I usually look at the Hilton website for the rooms a day out from when I depart and see if a big upgrade is available. Didn't check in until I almost got there. If there was a premium room available, I usually give them a chat and see if I can upgrade to that one. Worked for me in Melbourne.

On the other hand, there wasn't one available for Surfers Paradise so decided not to request it.

 

[serfty]

Property: Hampton Inn & Suites Seattle-Airport/28th Ave
Nights: 1
Status: Gold
Rate: USD118+++
Room booked: King Room
Room received: King Suite

Booked back in February, but hotel has been Sold out since May (turns out Big College Football game)

App check in showed a larger room - so I took a punt ...

 

[glasszon]

Property: Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa
Nights: 6
Status: Diamond
Room booked: One Bedroom Overwater Pool Villa
Room received: One Bedroom Overwater Suite with Pool
Rate: Hilton Free Night Certificates
Comments: Amazing, this hotel should be used as a case study for Hilton Corporate on how to treat elite members. They upgraded me to a suite for free, something that's unheard of in Maldives as resorts are exempt from giving free upgrades. Furthermore, my departing flight is in late evening, and the hotel gave me a free late check out of 7:30pm, again well beyond what I expected and they proactively offered it to me without me asking about late check out.

This definitely will be my go-to resort if I visit Maldives in the future, you won't go wrong with this hotel as a Diamond member.

 

[levelnine]

Nights: 6

How did you wrangle 6 FNCs? Aspire Cards plus a lot of spend on the cards?

 

[Daver6]

Property: Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa
Nights: 6
Status: Diamond
Room booked: One Bedroom Overwater Pool Villa
Room received: One Bedroom Overwater Suite with Pool
Rate: Hilton Free Night Certificates
Comments: Amazing, this hotel should be used as a case study for Hilton Corporate on how to treat elite members. They upgraded me to a suite for free, something that's unheard of in Maldives as resorts are exempt from giving free upgrades. Furthermore, my departing flight is in late evening, and the hotel gave me a free late check out of 7:30pm, again well beyond what I expected and they proactively offered it to me without me asking about late check out.

This definitely will be my go-to resort if I visit Maldives in the future, you won't go wrong with this hotel as a Diamond member.

Would love to see pictures of the room and resort. Maybe a TR

 

[http_x92]

Property: Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa
Nights: 6
Status: Diamond
Room booked: One Bedroom Overwater Pool Villa
Room received: One Bedroom Overwater Suite with Pool
Rate: Hilton Free Night Certificates
Comments: Amazing, this hotel should be used as a case study for Hilton Corporate on how to treat elite members. They upgraded me to a suite for free, something that's unheard of in Maldives as resorts are exempt from giving free upgrades. Furthermore, my departing flight is in late evening, and the hotel gave me a free late check out of 7:30pm, again well beyond what I expected and they proactively offered it to me without me asking about late check out.

This definitely will be my go-to resort if I visit Maldives in the future, you won't go wrong with this hotel as a Diamond member.

Heard the resort is well received all round. Seems to be a good alternative for FNCs if there is no standard room availability in the WA or the Conrad.