How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[VPS]

Gold. I can deal with useless front office staff it's generally not a big deal to me.

I had a one night stay and was hoping for a late check out of an hour or so. I did not want to ask the nasty agent at check in so thought I would ask the next shift early the next day. Got up and headed for a run through central park around six, thinking I would hit up the front desk for a late check out and what do you know, the same nasty front desk agent was there. Kept walking and went for a run.

Came back to the hotel an hour or so later and she was still there so I asked anyway...

Me: "Hi! Would there be any possibility of a late check out?" In my best tourist foreign aussie accent.
Nasty Agent: "NO!! We don't do late check out."

I mean it's not the end of the world and my day went on without a hitch but this agent seriously needs a reality check.

I would definitely give feedback. I tend to word those things as I would like to provide some feedback on my interaction with xx_

 

[DC3]

Gold. I can deal with useless front office staff it's generally not a big deal to me …

… I mean it's not the end of the world and my day went on without a hitch …

Yes, we all get a taste of this at sometime, even without leaving OZ, and then make the most of the rest of the trip.

 

[Spacetravel]

Got up and headed for a run through central park around six, thinking I would hit up the front desk for a late check out and what do you know, the same nasty front desk agent was there. Kept walking and went for a run.

Came back to the hotel an hour or so later and she was still there so I asked anyway...

Me: "Hi! Would there be any possibility of a late check out?" In my best tourist foreign aussie accent.
Nasty Agent: "NO!! We don't do late check out."

I mean it's not the end of the world and my day went on without a hitch but this agent seriously needs a reality check.

The agent is probably upset that they have to work the desk 24 hours a day.

 

[boomy]

Property: Hilton Melbourne
Booked: King Deluxe Room
Received: King Heritage Room

I like the heritage rooms when staying solo. Spacious enough and close to the lifts that lead direct to the bar, lounge and restaurant.

Exec lounge wasn’t busy during my stay and canapés quality seemed to become better than I remember from previous visits.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Property: Hilton Melbourne
Booked: King Deluxe Room
Received: King Heritage Room

I like the heritage rooms when staying solo. Spacious enough and close to the lifts that lead direct to the bar, lounge and restaurant.

Exec lounge wasn’t busy during my stay and canapés quality seemed to become better than I remember from previous visits.





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Is that the shower or the lift?

 

[snabbu]

Property: Hilton New York Times Square
Booked: 2 Queen Beds
Received: 2 Queen Beds Deluxe High Floor

I was hesitant to book this property initially however very happy I did. After a week in NYC at three different properties this was by far the most appealing. Check in agent was brilliant with an awesome attitude and instantly granted a status based upgrade as well as explaining the F&B credits which worked out to be $71.00 per day. Room spacious compared to other NYC properties with a great view of the Empire State Building looking south towards Lower Manhattan. Not much to say about the location, right in the middle of it all. The proximity to Penn Station to jump on the LIRR was a positive compared to staying midtown.

 

[kermatu]

Property: Conrad Centennial Singapore
Nights: 4
Status: Diamond
Booked: Grand Deluxe King (floors 13-17)
Received: Exec King.
Rate: Govt
Breakfast: Yes, Lounge or at Oscar’s
Lounge Access. Yes
Early / late check-in / out: Not required.
Amenity: Bottle of red wine, packet of cookies, personal welcome note and two waters (in addition to the 4 cartons of water replenished as needed), plus turn down service. No cheese plate this time and no offer of a newspaper.

This is from a few weeks' back. Having stayed a week prior I was warmly welcomed back by the newer staff members as well as those I'd known pre-pandemic. Good upgrade given the hotel was very full. Thankfully the lounge was peaceful on the occasions I was there.

Not much to add to my previous report. Just a pleasant stay, with excellent service throughout the hotel.

 

[Spacetravel]

Property: Hilton Sydney
Booked: King Premium Room
Rate: Honors Adv Purchase $281
Received 72 hours: Exec Room
Received at check in: Junior Suite
Late checkout: 2PM

I originally booked 1 night at Hilton Sydney - it was a special occasion so I had my fingers crossed for an upgrade. 72 hours out I received an upgrade to exec room, this brought down the price of a NOR1 upgrade to Junior suite ($99) pre upgrade it was $178. As a diamond I don't think there is actually any difference to the Exec Room and King Premium room? Besides lounge access which is already included.

After the price reducing to $99 I put in the NOR1 upgrade request to Junior Suite but 24 hours out I decided (for the first time ever) to ask directly for an upgrade. I put a message in the app to say it was a special occasion and if possible could they consider an upgrade to Junior Suite (next room type after Exec Room). They said they would note it but wasn't guaranteed. On the morning of check in day, I see my room type is now a Junior Suite. Not only this but I also was given the Junior Suite on floor 43 (top level). Initially I asked for late checkout and received 2PM without hesitation. However due to the amazing upgrade and wanting to stay longer, we enquired if the room was booked the following night because we wanted to extend. They confirmed the room was not booked and hinted to book another night on the app and they would link the bookings and I wouldn't have to change rooms.

Edit: The NOR1 upgrade was never charged to me

Night #2
Property: Hilton Sydney
Booked: King Deluxe Room
Rate: Honors Discount $330
Received: Junior Suite (existing room)
Late Checkout: Initially 12, but after pushing received 12:30.

2 nights in a Junior Suite for $660 with 50% being the on the spot price I think we did exceptionally well.

Overall I stay at Hilton Syd regularly and (almost) always have a fantastic stay here regardless of the room type I receive. Almost always receive some sort of upgrade even if it's just to a higher floor room and I have received a number of suite upgrades here, especially as a ratio to my stays. My main problem with this property is the checkout time. Pre covid I really feel like standard check out was 12? or they were so liberal with late check out even for a blue member that I was at times. Many other Hilton properties standard checkout is 12. Anyway while pre covid it was always difficult to get much later than 1 late checkout, now they give out 12 as if its a special favour. On morning #2 I asked for late checkout and they offered 12 after returning "with is 12:30 ok?", it was granted.

I do still note that post covid the service at this property isn't as great as it use to be (they took 3 hours to deliver a blanket), but that is the case with all the properties I've stayed at.

Breakfast: While I LOVE the breakfast at glass, morning 1 I just went to the lounge as I didn't feel like a big breakfast. The lounge had the basics and wasn't super busy. I just wish they included bacon.
Morning 2 I didn't have time to stop for breakfast.

 

[justinbrett]

The proximity to Penn Station to jump on the LIRR was a positive compared to staying midtown.

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Pedantic point, but I assume you mean Hilton Midtown vs Midtown in general, as Hilton Times Square is literally in the heart of Midtown.

I've stayed at both and I much prefer Hilton Times Square, I'm very happy it's reopened, I thought it was gone for good.

 

[mel-world]

Property: Conrad Centennial Singapore
Status: Gold (just)
Booked: Deluxe King - 3 nights - Points and Grand Deluxe King - 1 night PP
Received: Grand Deluxe King (Floor 20) for whole stay
Breakfast: Had to ask but, yes, at Oscar’s
Lounge Access. No
Early / late check-in / out: Not required.

Long overdue return to this property. Originally booked 3 nights on points x 60k per night. Seeing that the property was heavily booked and our flight arrived at 0530, we then took the cheapest possible pre-paid rate for the night before arrival so we could be sure of a bed early in the morning.

Received expected amenities, including 20% off laundry and a F&B voucher (that only covered two drinks really). Happy with the room and the service levels were as good as I remembered except the long line for breakfast at Oscars was very long after about 0830 (although we were there on a public holiday so I think everyone came down late).

Gone are the days of a seperate breakfast for Gold (on L4) but I do love the location being walking distance to Marina Bay, Suntec and the Esplanade.

Minor gripe came at check out (but no fault of the Hotel as they had 4 people handling the desk) but we wanted to CO the night before as we were leaving the Hotel at 0515. Each agent had to spend 10-15 mins explaining all the hotel procedures and features to guests arriving and/or arguing with guests checking out who questioned every line of the account. Could not believe how pedantic some people are.

 

[muppet]

Property: Conrad Centennial Singapore
<snip> ….. (but no fault of the Hotel as they had 4 people handling the desk) but we wanted to CO the night before as we were leaving the Hotel at 0515. Each agent had to spend 10-15 mins explaining all the hotel procedures and features to guests arriving and/or arguing with guests checking out who questioned every line of the account. Could not believe how pedantic some people are.

Hmmm. Couldn’t disagree more, the hotel is to blame here. The invoices this hotel generates are just crazy. Everything you buy has its own line, GST line and service charge line. If you get a discount, well there’s another three lines reversing those charges. Eat at a restaurant, food and drinks are separated which means 6 lines. if you got a discount due to some promotion, hey another 6 lines.

For example, below - I stayed 1 night, had 1 meal at Oscars and did some laundry … and there’s a whole extra page of this. i have no difficulty believing people had questions. You buy a couple of things and get presented with what looks like the financial accounts of the Republic of Singapore… yeah you may have follow-up questions.

 

[Ryan Bingham]

Hmmm. Couldn’t disagree more, the hotel is to blame here. The invoices this hotel generates are just crazy. Everything you buy has its own line, GST line and service charge line. If you get a discount, well there’s another three lines reversing those charges. Eat at a restaurant, food and drinks are separated which means 6 lines. if you got a discount due to some promotion, hey another 6 lines.

I was an M&E consultant back in the '90s (which covered travel clients) and worked w a rival hotel chain. My team was tasked with some legacy integrations and the biggest challenge they had was working w the punch-card machine. OK, I'm exaggerating, but I was shocked at how basic the back-ends were (are?) and the lack of interest/investment in bringing them up to par w say FS clients, and I was working in the global HQ. I should imagine the resistance is even stronger w the franchisees... They all talk about a customer experience, but the promise is massively compromised by the limitations of back-end systems.

 

[mel-world]

Hmmm. Couldn’t disagree more, the hotel is to blame here. The invoices this hotel generates are just crazy. Everything you buy has its own line, GST line and service charge line. If you get a discount, well there’s another three lines reversing those charges. Eat at a restaurant, food and drinks are separated which means 6 lines. if you got a discount due to some promotion, hey another 6 lines.

I can see your point if you stay a while and use lots of hotel services. I only eat breakfast, if free, and use up any benefits like laundry. Too many better places to explore in Singapore.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Crikey - are these dudes on the ball or what?

 

[snabbu]

Property: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando Airport
Booked: King Bed Non Smoking
Received: King Bed Non Smoking

Arrived before 11am and was able to check in straight away, 2 x bottles of water waiting in the room and cookies offered at check in. Decent size room with atrium views down to the dining/lobby area. This property has the "message hotel" feature enabled via the app which was excellent, all communications were answered within 5 minutes.

 

[QF WP]

Wed 19 July (1 night)
Property: DoubleTree Darwin Esplanade
Room booked: King Room
Rate: $301 Govt Rate
Received: When checking-in, only 4 rooms available (only 1 on top [5th] floor), obligatory cookie and 2 free water bottles

Flew in at midnight from Adelaide (after 12 hours there). Was as tired as the room decor. Straight out of the 70’s. Which properties still have shower curtains?

The saving grace was the partial water view. If I come back though, would try the Garden Inn, given it was a tower and possibly much better views.











View from the Atrium - very similar to BNE Hilton

 

[boomy]

Wed 19 July (1 night)
Property: DoubleTree Darwin Esplanade
Room booked: King Room
Rate: $301 Govt Rate
Received: When checking-in, only 4 rooms available (only 1 on top [5th] floor), obligatory cookie and 2 free water bottles

Flew in at midnight from Adelaide (after 12 hours there). Was as tired as the room decor. Straight out of the 70’s. Which properties still have shower curtains?

The saving grace was the partial water view. If I come back though, would try the Garden Inn, given it was a tower and possibly much better views.

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View from the Atrium - very similar to BNE Hilton

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High demand and lack of properties means hotels in Darwin can delay renovations and sell dated rooms.

 

[jase05]

High demand and lack of properties means hotels in Darwin can delay renovations and sell dated rooms.

Yep, it’s a real shame as many of the hotels in Darwin are starting to look a little dated

 

[justinbrett]

Yep, it’s a real shame as many of the hotels in Darwin are starting to look a little dated

The DT next door (I think is a HGI now) is much nicer inside. Maybe they picked the wrong hotel to be a HGI.

 

[QF WP]

If I go back, I’ll definitely be trying the HGI. Darwin’s a good place for a mattress run and they are all within close proximity. @Captain Halliday would know them all well from his time there.