How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[grubbidok]

Status: Gold
Property: Hilton on the Park Melbourne
Date: 11-16 March 2013
Booked: King guest
Received: King Exec
Rate: $155/night (government rate)

This was my first time taking advantage of the Velocity Gold status match offer. Received water all nights except one, access to Executive Lounge. No letter though. Some of the housekeeping probably could have been more attentive, but considering the whole town was booked out for Grand Prix (sadly I was there for work, not pleasure) I was expecting hiccups, and to be honest, thought an upgrade at that time would have been out of the picture on the government rate. The free wifi and breakfast alone made the status well worth it, at least from a financial viewpoint (and that's before including the free Campari and sodas in the Executive Lounge).

Overall I was pleased enough to have already made 2 more 5 day bookings for August and September trips, and have booked the Paris CDG for after a late night flight. Not a bad result for them considering my last Hilton stay before the VA match was in Portland OR about 2 years ago.

 

[Flashback]

Status: Gold
Property: Hilton Coventry
Date: 16-17 March 2013
Booked: King Guest
Received: King Deluxe
Rate: 49 GBP (+ 5 GBP parking)

Hotel was reasonably quiet which was nice and for the rate was certainly bang for buck. Received a room upgrade, 2 drink vouchers and were given 2 vouchers for breakfast in the restaurant. Buffet had a good spread and the chef was the chirpiest person I've ever met I'd have to say! Ditto for the shift leader who checked us in at reception, very clearly was happy to be there. The hotel and rooms are a bit dated, but it's otherwise comfortable. Bit odd that there was no bar fridge in there however in the deluxe rooms a nice touch is that you get 2x bottles of water, 2x small bags of crisps, 2x chocolate bars and 2x small bottles of wine complimentary.

 

[TonyHancock]

Hotel was reasonably quiet which was nice and for the rate was certainly bang for buck. Received a room upgrade, 2 drink vouchers and were given 2 vouchers for breakfast in the restaurant. Buffet had a good spread and the chef was the chirpiest person I've ever met I'd have to say! Ditto for the shift leader who checked us in at reception, very clearly was happy to be there. The hotel and rooms are a bit dated, but it's otherwise comfortable. Bit odd that there was no bar fridge in there however in the deluxe rooms a nice touch is that you get 2x bottles of water, 2x small bags of crisps, 2x chocolate bars and 2x small bottles of wine complimentary.

It's one of the Hilton's in my "Golden Circle", along with The NEC, Bromsgrove and Warwick. The wine, chocolate and crisps are a nice touch but it would really benefit from and Exec Lounge. Not bad for 49 quid though.

 

[Flashback]

It's one of the Hilton's in my "Golden Circle", along with The NEC, Bromsgrove and Warwick. The wine, chocolate and crisps are a nice touch but it would really benefit from and Exec Lounge. Not bad for 49 quid though.

Yep, looks like an easy MR to do if needed. Should be 11 stays by the beginning of May so on-track to renew Gold hopefully.

 

[smdoherty]

Status: Gold
Property: HSW
Date: 13 - 18 Mar
Booked: Relaxation Suite
Received: Relaxation Suite
Rate: $469 Govt Rate

Arrived around 10 am so room wasn't ready, was given access to the executive lounge to wait.
No comp bottles of water. Card from GM. Turndown every night.
My room was directly above the exec lounge balcony and there was no blockout blinds/curtain in the lounge section so I could see straight into our room from the balcony.

Service and meals where excellent in the restaurant (Neuvo 37) for both breakfast and dinner.

 

[smdoherty]

Status: Gold
Property: Hilton Adelaide
Date: 18 - 19 Mar
Booked: King Hilton Guest Room
Received: King Suite
Rate: $195 Govt Rate

Arrived at 10:30pm after delayed flight from MEL
Two comp bottles of water, breakfast was great in the brasserie.


I'm now 14 nights from diamond!

 

[Flashback]

Status: Gold
Property: DoubleTree by Hilton Sheffield Park
Date: 20 March
Booked: Queen Guestroom
Received: Queen Guestroom
Rate: £69

Fully booked tonight so no chance of an upgrade. No biggie, I seem to have the better amenities in my room anyway (sans the robe the deluxe room would get .. but don't need it anyway!). Emma on reception was friendly as always and nothing was too much trouble. Definitely recommend this hotel when you can get it at as good a price as I am :mrgreen:

As promised, next week I will check out the Hilton Sheffield for comparisons sake. Then back here the night after. Also helps as a MR to hit the number of stays required to renew Gold...

 

[Deewhy]

My room was directly above the exec lounge balcony and there was no blockout blinds/curtain in the lounge section so I could see straight into our room from the balcony.

Must have been across the hall from you as we overlooked the balcony as well... My stay:

Status: Diamond
Property: HSW
Date: 15 - 17 Mar
Booked: Hilton City view room
Received: Yarra Suite
Rate: $199

Got lounge access, 4 bottles of water on first night, breakfast in Neuvo, std letter and turndown on first night. Sat side by side Sergio Perez (McLaren driver F1) at brekky. HH being the team sponsor, the hotel was full or McLaren staff - all with HH bag tags... they don't give those to HH members do they? Anyway, service and meals great... will be back!

 

[beardoc]

That being said I'm tempted to try the Sheffield Hilton (which can sometimes be had for £65) just to compare.

As a diamond on my first visit they gave me an upgrade to their largest bedroom (the one in the middle with the huge balcony), a bottle of wine, and a chocolate and fruit platter which said "Welcome to Hilton Sheffield" in chocolate, and free parking, and a free full breakfast for 2. Well worth it I thought.

 

[Flashback]

As a diamond on my first visit they gave me an upgrade to their largest bedroom (the one in the middle with the huge balcony), a bottle of wine, and a chocolate and fruit platter which said "Welcome to Hilton Sheffield" in chocolate, and free parking, and a free full breakfast for 2. Well worth it I thought.

Look forward to trying them out next week then.

 

[beardoc]

Status: Diamond
Property: Hilton Sandton (north of Johannesburg), South Africa
Date: 12-14 March
Booked: 2 x King Guest Room
Upgrade: 1 room remained King Guest, other room was upgraded to a 1 Bedroom Suite
Rate: 2250 ZAR (approx $232) per room, advance purchase rate
Extras: Bottle of wine in King Guest Room, Executive Lounge Access for both rooms, choice of full breakfast in Executive Lounge or full breakfast in Restaurant, wi-fi for 6 devices.

The hotel here is very nice, and although the corridors look like a Doubletree, the rest of the hotel is very nice. The 1 bedroom suites are very nice and comfortable.

There was a major issue here with one of the rooms (the suite) not being available when we checked in at 5pm. I said no problem, can I wait at the lounge - they agreed that it should be ready soon (within 20 minutes - they were cleaning it now) and that they would run the keys up to me there. We waited 90 minutes in the lounge, then I went down to enquire. They then said the room was available, and we went in, but no luggage. I called down for the luggage, and one bag only was delivered 20 minutes later. I called down again and the other bag was delivered.

As I was tired and jet lagged, all I wanted to do was sleep.

The next afternoon I went to have a chat to the front desk manager. He was apologetic, he did understand the inconvenience, and explained that the issue was that the Hotel was full to capacity and also had been accepting flight crews, which meant my room was not ready. He asked me if there was anything he could do - I said nothing specific, but he offered a full dinner in the restaurant for the entire party that evening, which I accepted. It was exceptional. We had all the food and wine that we wanted, and it was all complimentary.

I have to say, the breakfasts here were also excellent. They had steak and onions for breakfast! And the full hot breakfast was recreated in the Executive Lounge too. Gotta give them marks for that!

Overall, not too bad, and I would stay again.

 

[beardoc]

Status: Diamond
Property: Hilton Cape Town City Centre, South Africa
Date: 15-19 March
Booked: 2 x King Guest Room
Upgrade: 1 room King Guest, other room was upgraded to a 1 Bedroom Suite (after a discussion at the front desk).
Rate: 2390 ZAR (approx $246) per room, AAA rate
Extras: Another bottle of wine in King Guest Room, Executive Lounge Access for both rooms, full breakfast in Executive Lounge only, wi-fi for 6 devices (after a discussion), large bottle of water replenished daily.

I had to have a lengthy discussion here about upgrades and wi-fi access on check in, but after that was sorted, it was a lovely stay!

The 1 Bedroom suite was lovely. Really enjoyed it. Turn down services were excellent.

Lounge was also small, but lovely and staff remembered us and our preferences for canapes and breakfast. We appreciated this!

One weird thing about the hotel: The Bistro 126 and the Indian Restaurant are Halal, as is the lounge, so there is no pork products, and there is no alcohol in the restaurants. There are alcohol options in the lounge, and there's a bar on the pool deck where you can have a drink and order food as well. Nothing too much of an issue, just something to be aware of.

I liked it here as well - as Cape Town was amazing, I'll be staying here again!

 

[kpc]

Status: Diamond
Property: Hilton Cape Town City Centre, South Africa

The 1 Bedroom suite was lovely. Really enjoyed it. Turn down services were excellent.

I stayed here in Oct over last year, and spent a night in the 1 Bedroom suite...when I came back a week later for a 4 nite stay, I was only upgraded to standard executive room . I had a long chat to the front desk manager....breakfast in the restaurant downstairs in lieu of the lounge for Diamond members is not an option as "it is too small and they need to keep it available for other paying guests who did not have executive lounge access:shock:

One weird thing about the hotel: The Bistro 126 and the Indian Restaurant are Halal, as is the lounge, so there is no pork products, and there is no alcohol in the restaurants. There are alcohol options in the lounge, and there's a bar on the pool deck where you can have a drink and order food as well. Nothing too much of an issue, just something to be aware of.

This hotel was previously the Coral Cape Town hotel, a fully halal Muslim hotel before it was rebranded a Hilton.

 

[beardoc]

I stayed here in Oct over last year, and spent a night in the 1 Bedroom suite...when I came back a week later for a 4 nite stay, I was only upgraded to standard executive room . I had a long chat to the front desk manager....breakfast in the restaurant downstairs in lieu of the lounge for Diamond members is not an option as "it is too small and they need to keep it available for other paying guests who did not have executive lounge access:shock:

It did help that I came armed with information that there was the full range of suites available on the dates that I was staying - it did go in my favour.

This hotel was previously the Coral Cape Town hotel, a fully halal Muslim hotel before it was rebranded a Hilton.

Ah, that explains it. As it happened, it didn't worry me - my in-house meals were at the pool deck lounge, and they were very good about allowing you to order from the Indian restaurant and have it up there so you could have a drink if you wanted.

 

[mella2007]

Status: Gold
Property: HSW
Date: 21/22 March
Booked: 1 x King Guest Room
Received: Twin Guest Room
Rate: $240

Worst Hilton stay in 3 years of any Hilton hotel worldwide. Where do I start? (and some of you know the story already so I'll keep it brief)
*No King Bed in entire hotel available, so Mr Mella and I "dormed" it up in a Twin Room
*Rude Duty Manager who told me hotel status doesn't mean anything and my fault for booking so late
*Wouldn't call HOTP for me to check their availability until I pushed the point
*Room door needed whole body to push it open and close it
*No water, no nothing
*Insulted at check out when handing over my CC that "is that your husbands" with a laugh...when 1. He was not mentioned in the booking 2. He wasn't with me at that time and an apology by the guy at the desk when he knew he stepped over the line with his comment.

Last stay for me at this hotel Rooms are looking shabby, corridors tired and staff look unhappy to be working there. Email sent to the GM, so awaiting his response, and also to let him know that there are many unhappy customers choosing to move their hotel business elsewhere.

 

[Fifa]

Status: Diamond
Property: HOTP
Date: 23 March
Booked: King Guest Room
Received: King Relaxation Suite

This is the second time (out of 2 stays) we have received an upgrade to a relaxation suite. (The upgrade was showing on-line last night)
Efficient check-in. 2 bottles of water and a welcome card waiting in room.
Afternoon tea is a bit miserable - danishes, shortbread, nuts and bread sticks. But, the attendant made a delicious cappuccino for me. I like the fact they have a decent espresso machine in the lounge instead of the self-serve ones.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Any of you good people had experiences with upgrades at Hilton Singapore?

I have to overnight there en route to PVG May 4 - made online booking for cheapest available room yesterday - at end of process a list of payable room upgrades appear which you can choose and then take up on check-in if you desire.

Is this normal? I am Diamond and would have thought auto upgrade at check-in if rooms available. Would appreciate any thoughts.

 

[straitman]

As a Diamond they will upgrade you to Executive level and the lounge is pretty good. The upgrade process you mention is normal as they always offer 'possible' discount upgrades.

Personally I would pick the Conrad which surprisingly is often cheaper. A brilliant lounge with excellent staff.

I hope that helps a little.

Any of you good people had experiences with upgrades at Hilton Singapore?

I have to overnight there en route to PVG May 4 - made online booking for cheapest available room yesterday - at end of process a list of payable room upgrades appear which you can choose and then take up on check-in if you desire.

Is this normal? I am Diamond and would have thought auto upgrade at check-in if rooms available. Would appreciate any thoughts.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I hope that helps a little.

Helps enormously thanks so much.

Hotel choice basically out of my hands - rarely do I book Hilton and had not seen that before - so thanks again.

 

[Fifa]

Status: Diamond
Property: HSW
Date: 24 March
Booked: King Hilton Guestroom
Received: Relaxation Suite
Rate: $204 (AP)

Efficient, friendly check-in. 2 x bottles water in room.
Lots of goodies served for afternoon tea including a delicious chocolate orange cake, various cookies, muffins, danishes, dried fruits, fresh fruit, pretzels & nuts.
Looking forward to evening drinks soon.