How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[Happy Dude]

Property: DoubleTree Melbourne
Room booked: King Guest (Internal)
Date: 26-28 June 2022
Rate: 128/night
Received: King Skyline Riverview

DoubleTree Melbourne seem to be pretty consistent at auto upgrading Diamonds. I have received this upgrade on all of my recent visits.

128? Is that Bitcoin?

 

[bits]

128? Is that Bitcoin?

128 govt rate, booked months ago before the economy reopening. Public rate was around 160 back then

 

[austgap]

Property: Hilton Sorrento Palace (Italy)
Room booked: King Garden View
Date: 25 June 2022
Rate: 314 EUR/night
Received: King Junior Suite
Excellent suite - with stunning views of Sorrento. Executive rooms and suites get access to top floor private terrace (no numbers on the elevator just need to slide your room key in and the elevator does the rest!) Pool and sunbed area + executive club (Drinks and canapés till 2000)

 

[austgap]

Property: Canopy by Hilton Madrid
Room booked: King room
Date: 17-20 June 2022
Rate: 2x 56k points + 161EUR
Received: King room

Booked the first two nights using points and third with cash. Got the upgrade email for the third night (one level upgrade for a 'city view') however nothing for the first two. Asked about upgrade for the entire stay as didn't want to change and the staff member shrugged and said the hotel must be full (it wasn't and plenty of choices for rooms online). He had no real interest in trying to be helpful and ignored my requests to look after showing him what was available online and said this was the only option. Shame as the hotel itself is great including fantastic breakfast.

 

[austgap]

Property: Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok
Room booked: Twin Deluxe Room
Date: 12 June 2022
Rate: 4248 THB/night (~$175 AUD)
Received: King Executive Room

Needs a renovation everything looks a bit warn out - you really noticed the impact of COVID lockdowns in BKK.

 

[Flashback]

Property: Canopy by Hilton Madrid
Room booked: King room
Date: 17-20 June 2022
Rate: 2x 56k points + 161EUR
Received: King room

Booked the first two nights using points and third with cash. Got the upgrade email for the third night (one level upgrade for a 'city view') however nothing for the first two. Asked about upgrade for the entire stay as didn't want to change and the staff member shrugged and said the hotel must be full (it wasn't and plenty of choices for rooms online). He had no real interest in trying to be helpful and ignored my requests to look after showing him what was available online and said this was the only option. Shame as the hotel itself is great including fantastic breakfast.

DoubleTree by Hilton Madrid Prado is our favourite, I'd check that one out next time. Also has a superb breakfast including bubbles on the buffet.

 

[boomy]

DoubleTree by Hilton Madrid Prado is our favourite, I'd check that one out next time. Also has a superb breakfast including bubbles on the buffet.

I’ve stayed at both properties and DT is better almost in every aspect apart from the price. Canopy is good value if you don’t mind the location (near Bernabeu stadium) but there is a metro station near by.

 

[austgap]

I’ve stayed at both properties and DT is better almost in every aspect apart from the price. Canopy is good value if you don’t mind the location (near Bernabeu stadium) but there is a metro station near by.

For me it was the rooftop pool (packed of wannabe-influences) that swayed me to the Canopy vs DT with Madrid being well into the 40s for that weekend. However good to know!

 

[samas]

Property: Hilton Adelaide
Room booked: King Room
Date: 10th July - 2 nights
Rate: $180/night Member Travel and Save
Level: Diamond.
Received: King Executive Room

Did digital check in that morning ~0600. Arrived at 1500 with no digital key and a snaking queue out the door, a lot of conference delegates arriving. ~20 minutes in the queue and was told "too busy to process digital key" when I queried not receiving it. Very disappointing reply..... I hope I get stay survey for this one!

Exec Lounge had reopened a few weeks ago. Current hours are 4 to 8pm only, with complimentary evening service 5-7pm.

Was recognized by breakfast staff on first morning and whisked straight to a table in the window on grote street as the staff member remembered me as diamond and didn't have to look me up.
Second morning for breakfast new staff member but instead of giving us the table right by entry, turned a table around in the corner of the convertible private dining room space. Thanked staff members both mornings for the tables away from the hustle and bustle. Both mornings during breakfast all tables occupied and turned around quickly.

 

[Stealthflyer]

Property: Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt City Centre
Room booked: Queen room
Rate: €155/night - Honors discount.
Received: Full breakfast (not just continental); large bottle of sparkling water (but only one for two nights). I don’t usually consume the free water because of the plastic waste, but the glass bottles in Germany are reused so I enjoyed the sparkling water. I was disappointed that it wasn’t replaced each day.

 

[Kayp]

Property: DoubleTree Melbourne
Room booked: Queen Guest
Date: 17 July 2022 (last minute booking due to 7pm flight cancellation)
Rate: 209/night
Received: King Skyline Riverview

Two bottles of water; a Doubletree cookie on arrival; and complimentary continental breakfast for Diamonds, +$10 for buffet

 

[WLGFlyer]

A few recent stays in June/July as Diamond:

Hotel: Hilton Sydney
Booked: King Room
Received: King Executive
Status: Diamond
Comments: Solid stay, room was ready when we arrived around 11am which was much appreciated. Full breakfast in Glass, coffee tax applied.

Hotel: Hilton Darwin
Booked: King with View
Received: King Executive with View
Status: Diamond
Comments: As said before, the Exec Lounge makes this worth the money as a Diamond. Lovely staff and great sunset views with decent food and drinks. Full Breakfast, nothing special and coffee tax in full swing. Hotel was busy and understaffed due to youknowwhat. Got an early check in before noon which was good.

Hotel: Hilton Parmelia Perth
Booked: King
Received: King Deluxe
Status: Diamond
Comments: My first stay after the renovations. Room was large and well appointed. Lounge is a nice new touch and was mainly empty during our stay. Food and drinks were not outstanding but solid. Breakfast at the restaurant was quoted at $10 and we were proactively steered towards the lounge which turned out great because we were the only guests there. Again, early checkin in without any issues.

Hotel: Hilton Queenstown
Booked: King Deluxe
Received: King Deluxe with Lake views
Status: Diamond
Comments: Picked this Hotel because I like their rooms, not so much the service. Stay was a mixed bag, room upgrade was nice but other than that almost no status recognition. Very understaffed due to covid. Received two bottles of water but no longer welcome drink vouchers. Housekeeping was not daily due to staffing issues. In room dining was quoted to take two hours. We had dinner at the Wakatipu Grill and were not seated until 25 mins after our reservation time and received a well done steak that was ordered medium. "Continental Breakfast only" is enforced and the upsell attempts to the full breakfast are very annoying every morning. Underground Parking is no longer free ($18 per day) but you can often find a free bay outside.

Overall, plenty of issues that could have been excused with a smile and a free coffee/dessert/drink but are hard to overlook at the current room rates and ongoing attempts to squeeze extra revenue. I'll come back but it's not a ringing endorsement.

I knows it has been discussed enough but things like a $5 coffee or $10 for a full breakfast are frustrating when you are looking at the overall cost to the hotel in relation to what you pay at the end of your stay. Especially when the conversation starts with "I see you are a Diamond Member so you can't have XYZ from the buffet - would you like to upgrade"?

 

[justinbrett]

I knows it has been discussed enough but things like a $5 coffee or $10 for a full breakfast are frustrating when you are looking at the overall cost to the hotel in relation to what you pay at the end of your stay. Especially when the conversation starts with "I see you are a Diamond Member so you can't have XYZ from the buffet - would you like to upgrade"?

Which is why I'm actually a fan of the US changes to replace it with a daily F&B credit, giving you more options in where you can spend it. I'm not actually a big breakfast person so when in the states I'll often use it on drinks or even dinner. Always say I'm travelling with 2 people so I get double credit.

If the benefit was hot breakfast and espresso coffee I'd prefer that, but if it's continental with paid upgrade to hot and paid coffee, give me the credit.

 

[Flashback]

Which is why I'm actually a fan of the US changes to replace it with a daily F&B credit, giving you more options in where you can spend it. I'm not actually a big breakfast person so when in the states I'll often use it on drinks or even dinner. Always say I'm travelling with 2 people so I get double credit.

If the benefit was hot breakfast and espresso coffee I'd prefer that, but if it's continental with paid upgrade to hot and paid coffee, give me the credit.

And when the credit doesn't even cover any basic breakfast item....?

 

[justinbrett]

And when the credit doesn't even cover any basic breakfast item....?

Eat breakfast somewhere else. US$30 (to US$36 in select markets) puts a nice dint in the bar tab and is enough to buy dinner at the bar usually.

 

[Flashback]

Eat breakfast somewhere else. US$30 (to US$36 in select markets) puts a nice dint in the bar tab and is enough to buy dinner at the bar usually.

Not the properties I've stayed at! Barely covered 2 glasses of wine. YMMV.

 

[Berlin]

Eat breakfast somewhere else. US$30 (to US$36 in select markets) puts a nice dint in the bar tab and is enough to buy dinner at the bar usually.

My experience too. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills a few weeks back and got $100 F&B credit per day. So in the end, we didn’t pay anything for the drinks by the pool or the (super posh) snack up at the fancy restaurant the other day.

And we slept in rather than having breakfast anyway and there was an excellent little breakfast burrito place just down the road which was open till around 3pm- sorted!

 

[justinbrett]

Not the properties I've stayed at! Barely covered 2 glasses of wine. YMMV.

And you value a coughty continental breakfast higher value than two glasses of wine?

Each to their own.

Obviously my scenario is for solo travel; value is halved when travelling with a partner.

 

[justinbrett]

My experience too. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills a few weeks back and got $100 F&B credit per day. So in the end, we didn’t pay anything for the drinks by the pool or the (super posh) snack up at the fancy restaurant the other day.

And we slept in rather than having breakfast anyway and there was an excellent little breakfast burrito place just down the road which was open till around 3pm- sorted!

Yep - and places like Hilton New York Midtown, where the resort fee covers a F&B credit, this gets double dipped. In my case I triple dipped as I had an extra credit because the EL was closed (it's back open now).

I was only in town for a night and it was an effort to get through it all! Dinner, many coughtails at the bar and I even had to buy some stuff from the convenience store to get me to the total value.

In most cases the hotel prices its continental breakfast at the F&B credit amount, IME.

 

[http_x92]

Havent tried Hiltons in the US yet but if I go there (assuming things are the same for 2023), does the F&B credit automatically get applied after the order? Or do you need to chase it up with the server/bartender?