Just back from a 3 week trip through Europe with Lady Lenny, Hilton's in 3 of the 4 cities we visited (now who do we speak to in order to get a Hilton in Salzburg??) and this is my first Europe trip as a Diamond thanks to VA Platinum status match.
Munich: Hilton Munich Park
Booked: King Park View Room
Received: King Park View Room
Stayed for 6 nights over New Years, so upgrade availability for this length over this period was sketchy, wasn't expecting anything.
Fruit and chocolate raisins/nuts in the room in addition to the usual water bottles, standard welcome letter from the manager. I had emailed the property earlier as we were arriving @ 06:00 into Munich, and were at the hotel just before 07:00 and was able to ensure the room was ready and stocked for us on arrival for showers etc. and breakfast was available. Decent property, a bit far from the centre of things, but an unparalleled view of the NYE fireworks from the rooftop terrace and a 5 course dinner with included champagne, wine & beer in their top floor restaurant/function rooms - for which they comp'd Lady Lenny as it was her birthday which was unrequested and a lovely surprise.
Vienna: Hilton Vienna
Booked: King Guest Room
Received: Junior Suite with City View
This was the first (and so far only Hotel) to pro-actively contact me prior to arrival, apart from the automated email of course. The executive lounge manager emailed whilst we were in Munich to welcome me, suggest some dinner options and offer a gin tasting in the bar. Very generous chocolate and fruit bowl in the room on arrival, 2 bottles of water (replaced daily) plus the upgrade. Excellent hotel although the breakfast in the dining room was a bit chaotic, small Executive lounge that we used for breakfast once, and for Happy Hour once which ended up being dinner as the hot food on offer was a tomato pasta that went very well with the small schnitzels that had there too and paired deliciously with Austrian wine. Would definitely stay again, and was very handy for the Airport train when it came time to leave.
London: Hilton London Hyde Park
Booked: King Deluxe Room
Received: King Deluxe Room with Park View
Whilst I hear there's better options just down the road in Kensington, and I personally prefer the Hilton London Paddington Lady Lenny loves the location of this one, so it's become our go-to option when in London. View of Kensington Gardens from the window, decent breakfast in the French Restaurant on site, and literally right above Queensway tube. It may have changed owners since we were last there as the staff seem to be younger and more enthusiastic than our last stay (around 18mths ago) and would always say hello or goodbye by name when we left or came back. It is a more limited property in terms of facilities but it does the job well for us.
