Has the HSW gone downhill in Elite Treatment?

[Deewhy]

My recent stay from 15-17 March during the GP was excellent. First stay as a diamond, having previously stayed in Sep as a gold. Booked a city view king, got a suite. Four water bottles, lounge, neuvo brekky, and Internet plus turndown. No personal note, but got the standard letter and everything explained thoroughly at checkin. Late checkout to 2pm, no hassles. Based on that I'd go again. However, compared to BNE, did miss the welcome gift but that as I understand is up to the hotel and not a stated benefit of the program.

 

[Cynicor]

You already know my issues Bill.

No upgrade, poor greeting, didn't even get pointed to the lifts until I asked. Lounge ran out of alcohol and no staff in sight. Never been before so nothing to compare it too. Compared to the rest of the world it was pretty poor, especially for a new build with an ok hard product.

 

[Fifa]

I have just checked in HSW.
Excellent service at reception, upgraded to a Relaxation Suite and 2 x bottles of water in room.
This is my third stay with the first two being upgraded to Yarra Suites.

And as a bonus I caught up with Straitman when we arrived at the lounge .

 

[Sprucegoose]

I have just checked in HSW.
Excellent service at reception, upgraded to a Relaxation Suite and 2 x bottles of water in room.
This is my third stay with the first two being upgraded to Yarra Suites.

And as a bonus I caught up with Straitman when we arrived at the lounge .

that could well have been why you were so well treated...the halo effect.

The question is if and when will it rub off?

Many are questioning the standards of HSW and the market will always get it right!!

 

[turtlemichael]

I have just checked in HSW.
Excellent service at reception, upgraded to a Relaxation Suite and 2 x bottles of water in room.
This is my third stay with the first two being upgraded to Yarra Suites.

And as a bonus I caught up with Straitman when we arrived at the lounge .

I'm going to say I know Fifa and Straitman on my next check-in.

 

[Katie]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

I was at HSW last week and it was as awesome as ever. Booked double room got 2bd suite, got 4 ppl into the lounge without any probs.

100% upgrade rate there in over 10 stays in the past year.

I think as we discussed there at the Xmas do, either you have a special charm there, or some of the AFF female forum members do not, at least just in that hotel. While I didn't have the sexist issues I had at HSP at the mid-year do, you gave me info on the Exec lounge & breakfast, etc, which the person at checkin didn't even mention. It was my first stay at the hotel.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

I think as we discussed there at the Xmas do, either you have a special charm there, or some of the AFF female forum members do not, at least just in that hotel. While I didn't have the sexist issues I had at HSP at the mid-year do, you gave me info on the Exec lounge & breakfast, etc, which the person at checkin didn't even mention. It was my first stay at the hotel.

Yes that could be just bad service delivery or a bit more telling ??

 

[tuapekastar]

And as a bonus I caught up with Straitman when we arrived at the lounge .

Is straitman ever not at the HSW lounge?

 

[serfty]

Is straitman ever not at the HSW lounge?

Yes - when he's at the HOP lounge ...

 

[straitman]

Is straitman ever not at the HSW lounge?

Yes - when he's at the HOP lounge ...

Come on. It's 15 days since we have been here :!:

Actually, living 2.5 - 3 hrs from Melbourne causes a lot of stays that otherwise would not happen. Tonight we went and saw Jersey Boys which finished at nearly 9:00pm and then shared a bottle of wine with Jessica Tam. Fifa and +1 were invited but went missing.

 

[mella2007]

Re: How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

I think as we discussed there at the Xmas do, either you have a special charm there, or some of the AFF female forum members do not, at least just in that hotel. While I didn't have the sexist issues I had at HSP at the mid-year do, you gave me info on the Exec lounge & breakfast, etc, which the person at checkin didn't even mention. It was my first stay at the hotel.

Agreed with you there Katie. I'm the same...male or female I never give it another thought on who we are as people...however after the stay and the comments made towards me, they really do need to retraining staff in how to treat guests right across the board, regardless of how they're dressed, male/female, types of credit cards used...stuff that is frankly none of their business to comment over.
Hilton Sydney in my case get it right every single time. I am on good terms with one of the Managers now who emails me prior to a stay and cannot do enough to assist should I ever need it (and I am extremely easy going and never ask for anything). And bottles of wine get returned to them as I don't drink.

I thank Straitman for starting this thread using my post as an example for the hotel. I have to book another night next weekend which I'm yet to do so and though I've never stayed at HOTP, they will be getting my business this time.
I said in my email to the GM that I do not want any form of compensation whatsoever, but I felt strongly enough to write to him and hope he will follow through with his team on how to look after their guests better.

After reflecting about the stay the last couple of days and reading more comments from both sides of the fence...the fact is that HSW is just not consistent with everyone. Whether you are no status, silver, gold or Diamond....SERVICE and treatment of customers is so important. Once we got over the idea of sleeping in twin beds for the night, Mr Mella and I had a laugh about it. What is not ok was the inexcusable comments shown to us at check in and check out.

When you give a hotel brand your loyalty (and in my case, I only ever stay in Hilton's where possible around the world...prob 95% of my hotel stays yearly) you do come to expect in some way at least some of the benefits you try hard to achieve to make a stay just that little more comfortable.

 

[Fifa]

Fifa and +1 were invited but went missing.

:shock::shock::shock: My phone was on silent and I didn't look at it until it was quite late.
We thought the last performance of the Jersey Boys must have had a very long encore!
I feel like we really missed out.

 

[mella2007]

Just an update from my end. Have received an email from GM today in relation to the email I wrote to him. Very impressed by the long nature of the msg, which has assured that HSW are continuing to train and ensure that their team are treating all guests well and those with status getting the benefits that they are entitled to.

 

[QF WP]

I believe straitman has something to add on this matter ...straitman, to the white courtesy phone

 

[smdoherty]

Just an update from my end. Have received an email from GM today in relation to the email I wrote to him. Very impressed by the long nature of the msg, which has assured that HSW are continuing to train and ensure that their team are treating all guests well and those with status getting the benefits that they are entitled to.

Are you able to PM me the HSW GM's email address, I'd like to point out some issues we had with our stay recently.

 

[mella2007]

Are you able to PM me the HSW GM's email address, I'd like to point out some issues we had with our stay recently.

I'm not comfortable giving out email addresses, but if you call the hotel I'm sure they'll give you an email to send something to

 

[straitman]

This morning I met with the ‘Assistant Front Office Manager’ and the ‘Guest Relations Manager & Executive Assistant to the General Manager’ of Hilton South Wharf.

The discussion was interesting and frank but also cordial. They were keen to get the feedback and look forward to moving forward and improving the performance of the hotel back to the previous standard.

We discussed upgrades and who get them through to the problems that people see and why and how to fix the issues and get people back onside. I passed on the concerns that people sent to me and they are looking at all of them.

There will be more ongoing discussion with a few ideas being put forward and the hotel working to see what they can and can’t do moving forward. Suffice to say there is nothing definitive to report just yet but it is a work in progress.

So at this stage just a few additional comments about upgrades and using the AFF Christmas get together last December 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] as an example. The pecking order for upgrades is Diamonds who are regular guests, other Diamonds, Gold’s who are regular guests then other Gold’s. On the night of the 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] there was some suites booked so obviously those suites were not available for upgrades. Then looking at the AFF contingent there were more Diamonds and Gold’s than available suites to upgrade people into. That being the case they worked down the list until all the suites were being used. That meant a few people missed out unfortunately but short of extending the hotel for the night there was nothing else they could do.

I will report some more when there is more to report.

 

[straitman]

Are you able to PM me the HSW GM's email address, I'd like to point out some issues we had with our stay recently.

If you PM the issues to me I am quite happy to pass them on for you.

 

[smdoherty]

I'm not comfortable giving out email addresses, but if you call the hotel I'm sure they'll give you an email to send something to

No problems.

If you PM the issues to me I am quite happy to pass them on for you.

Thanks, I will do so.

 

[kpc]

....The pecking order for upgrades is Diamonds who are regular guests, other Diamonds, Gold’s who are regular guests then other Gold’s

Bill, did you ask whether Hilton can distinguish between comped Diamond vs earnt Diamond, and whether this is a factor in the upgrade process?