How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[jetlagger]

jetlagger - see my post #1073 in this thread for some perspective on this. The building was not intended to be a hotel, according to what a staff member told me on Sat night. I can only presume from his comments and seeing the place that when the Hilton came in, building was sufficiently advanced that it couldn't be made into more of a regular hotel.

Mmm.. Sure saw that comment. But IMO there was sufficient time to consult & realign the void deck as it was, with ample space to a standard conducive to an International Hotel.. Hilton or otherwise. Thanks for pointing it out though.. Look forward to others thoughts..

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Hilton Surfers Paradise .... in-room WiFi - but wasn't sure how to access it, and frankly didn't have enough time to try.

Did you happen to notice the coffee shop down in the lobby had a blackboard sign saying "Free Internet", yet if you happen to be a non-status guest paying $500 a night you're expected to cough up another $29 a day for internet access...........
....any bod off the street = free for you
....Hilton hotel guest = bleed 'em 'till they drop.

I cannot see the marketing logic there.

 

[Moopere]

Then during breakfast I had a young waiter ask "Are you waiting for anything darling?"

Yikes!

That is awfully poor. I'd write to management about that. I wouldn't necessarily point out names and staff numbers or anything, but this type of thing is very often a mode of someone's speech, they don't mean anything by it, but the restaurant in a 5 (or 4) star should be watching and training their staff a bit better than this. I hate being called mate or bloke or dude in restaurants (yes, dude!, its happened).

I'm getting a pretty clear picture of HSP after several posts now, and frankly, I doubt I'll bother to stay at this property.

 

[jetlagger]

Yikes!

That is awfully poor. I'd write to management about that. I wouldn't necessarily point out names and staff numbers or anything, but this type of thing is very often a mode of someone's speech, they don't mean anything by it, but the restaurant in a 5 (or 4) star should be watching and training their staff a bit better than this. I hate being called mate or bloke or dude in restaurants (yes, dude!, its happened).

I'm getting a pretty clear picture of HSP after several posts now, and frankly, I doubt I'll bother to stay at this property.

Funny.. Had a couple of ladymen ask me the same question the other day in Brisbane CBD in broad daylight.. :shock:
But in a Hilton Hotel at breakfast.. Perhaps.. the waiter could & should have been more articulate in approach..
Hospiltality training is so very different today.. & HSP had in excess of 2000 applicants for positions, & apparently the 'best" & 'most talented" were chosen.. Though every time I'm at HSP there are new staff.. Friendly yes.. But certainly not the most experienced.. Refined & improved service levels should be delivered & maintained. as in most Hilton Hotels.

 

[Ausbt]

Ausbt, do you have a link for that website, sounds interesting.

...and wouldn't you know it, no bookmark. What a shame, I'll have to keep searching. I dug these up while looking though:

health on the go, weight managment, airport food, fit business traveler, business travel health

Flying Coach

@Flashware, I went for the Bikila model and I really like them. Now I need to clarify I haven't done any hard surface running, just treadmill, but they feel great. Circa 4 months use and no soreness or issues noted. A few strange looks in the lift though!

 

[oz_mark]

Status: HH Gold
Property: Hilton Surfers Paradise
Date(s): 30 June
Rate: Flexible
Booked: King Hilton Deluxe
Upgraded: King - Exec Floor
Received: Access to breakfast in Salt Restaurant, 4 beers and 2 bottles of water, and later another 2 bottles of water.

 

[dfcatch]

Funny.. Had a couple of ladymen ask me the same question the other day in Brisbane CBD in broad daylight.. :shock:
But in a Hilton Hotel at breakfast.. Perhaps.. the waiter could & should have been more articulate in approach..
Hospiltality training is so very different today.. & HSP had in excess of 2000 applicants for positions, & apparently the 'best" & 'most talented" were chosen.. Though every time I'm at HSP there are new staff.. Friendly yes.. But certainly not the most experienced.. Refined & improved service levels should be delivered & maintained. as in most Hilton Hotels.

That said - I found the front desk staff to be immaculate (I don't just mean in looks).

The manager saw me outside a few hours after checking out (waiting for my ride), came up, "Mr Dfcatch isn't it? Can I get a taxi or car for you? I hope you enjoyed your stay. We look forward to seeing you again. "

I was impressed, she seemed genuinely concerned that I was out the front with my rollaboard, and perhaps abandoned by my people

 

[Katie]

That said - I found the front desk staff to be immaculate (I don't just mean in looks).

The manager saw me outside a few hours after checking out (waiting for my ride), came up, "Mr Dfcatch isn't it? Can I get a taxi or car for you? I hope you enjoyed your stay. We look forward to seeing you again. "

I was impressed, she seemed genuinely concerned that I was out the front with my rollaboard, and perhaps abandoned by my people

Yes, the front desk staff when I spoke to them were very good. I spoke to a different lady about the welcome card to the one I'd checked in with & she didn't even need to ask my name to look up the computer at the primary/secondary guest thing.
I ended up chwcking out with her on Sunday & mentioned the other name issue & she was very apolgetic. Another friend has now suggested that I only add the 2nd name after checking in, that might help in the future. It's obviously a sore point with me.

 

[oz_mark]

As they were both prepaid and billed separately, hoping that I get double points on 1st night and triple on 2nd night.
​

My Saturday night stay seems to have squeaked into the double QFF points (my double dip) timeframe.​

 

[TonyHancock]

My Saturday night stay seems to have squeaked into the double QFF points (my double dip) timeframe.[/INDENT]

Yep mine too.

 

[Cynicor]

Why add a second name at all? I book for two guests but never add the second name. I am the only one that checks in, however.

 

[serfty]

My Saturday night stay seems to have squeaked into the double QFF points (my double dip) timeframe.

Yep mine too.

Me too, but it was a points bonanza for me:

It involved other promos, but a 2 night stay netted the following starting with the Q2 promotion:

Base Points - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel                             3,855
DIAMOND VIP BONUS - 50% 2011 - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel            1,927
DIAMOND MYWAY BONUS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel                     1,000
HH DOUBLE DIP - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel                           1,927
2011 ANY WEEKEND ANY WHERE BONUS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel        1,000
2012 Q2 DOUBLE YOUR HHONORS - DBL PTS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel   3,855
HILTON HHONORS 24 HOUR BONUS EVENT                                      2,500
                                                                       ------
                                                                       16,064
                                                                       ======

 

[Qld4101]

I frequently have an issue checking in if the booking is only in one name and there are 2 of us (often arriving separately) - If I book under my name and diamond number and only my wife checks in, is this an issue, sometimes I may not arrive until the second night of a stay?

 

[straitman]

I frequently have an issue checking in if the booking is only in one name and there are 2 of us (often arriving separately) - If I book under my name and diamond number and only my wife checks in, is this an issue, sometimes I may not arrive until the second night of a stay?

In that case I would nominate, in the comments, her as be the one who will be checking in.

 

[serfty]

... If I book under my name and diamond number and only my wife checks in, is this an issue, sometimes I may not arrive until the second night of a stay?

It would probably be an issue if you tell them you won't be there until the second night - [Diamond] bennies are supposed to be available only when the [Diamond] Member is present.

Other than that if you don't tell them they'd likely never know.

I frequently have an issue checking in if the booking is only in one name and there are 2 of us (often arriving separately) - ...

In this case you do need to employ the comment box on booking and even contact the hotel to state who would be checking in.

Other than that, see this thread for some advice when staying with your spouse: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....spouse-stays-free-34657.html?highlight=spouse

 

[QF WP]

Yes, looks like mine also got the 2x, so it must have been check-in date that was important towards which offer period we were in.

Not as many bonuses as serfty :

Base Points - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 11,592
GOLD VIP BONUS - 25% 2012 - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 2,898
50% BONUS ON BASE POINTS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 5,796
2012 Q2 DOUBLE YOUR HHONORS - DBL PTS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 11,592
Total: 31,878

Numbers are different as the $ spent on accom and F&B were different (plus our parking).

Will go nicely towards my trip to USA later this year.

 

[serfty]

11,592!! Wow - that's a lot of base spend - 18% of the Annual required for HH Gold on base points (and 11% of that for Diamond).

I would have scored 2900 points more If I hadn't presented my MAQ card ...

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Yes, looks like mine also got the 2x, so it must have been check-in date that was important towards which offer period we were in.

Not as many bonuses as serfty :

Base Points - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 11,592
GOLD VIP BONUS - 25% 2012 - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 2,898
50% BONUS ON BASE POINTS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 5,796
2012 Q2 DOUBLE YOUR HHONORS - DBL PTS - Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel 11,592
Total: 31,878

You outdid me on the base but I pipped you overall .........Base-10799, Total- 33,396.

Between HSW and HSP, I've increased my base requal by just under 30,000 in a week and have enough points for 5 nights in the Maldives so the Hilton status match is working well for us. These small spends go toward a decent holiday which seems to make pretty good financial sense (well, I have to justify Hilton stays for no real reason to my wife somehow).

On the upside, the MEL visit just about paid for itself in savings on clothes sales. One pair of $219 Brooks (which I find very comfortable) I bought for $60. That saving alone paid my retrun airfare. I won't go into my +1s savings........needless to say the CC is still shaking :shock:.

 

[anat0l]

Status: HH Diamond
Property: Hilton Surfers Paradise
Date(s): 30 June
Rate: Great Getaway Sale Rate, less 20% thanks to Member for a Stay card (thanks Lindsay Wilson!)
Booked: Twin Hilton Deluxe
Received: King Hilton Deluxe Accessible Room
Other Received: Breakfast in Salt Restaurant, bottle of San Pelligrino, bottle of Aqua Panna, 2 bottles of Mount Franklin, fruit bowl, generically name-modified welcome card. Approximately after dinner, came back to find 4 additional bottles of Mount Franklin also provided, along with turndown service including 2 little chocolates on the bed covers.

Not the best stay I've had with the Hilton group...

Two participants from the recent Mid-Year Christmas Do, including myself, booked a room with twin beds on the last day of the Great Getaway Sale. My name was put as the first guest so I could also put my HHonors details for credit, but the advance prepayment was to be completed with the second guest's credit card. All booked and got a confirmation - too easy, right?

A bit less than two weeks ago, HSP called me (the first guest) and informed me that the booking was not paid for. They wanted credit card details to complete the booking. Lucky they let me make a call to sort it out (rather than cancelling it on the spot). Called the second guest, second guest sorts out the credit card situation and was apparently told that because the name on the credit card didn't match that of the first guest, the booking was treated as suspicious.

I'm surprised that HSP didn't flag this earlier, as it seems standard for Hilton to charge advance purchase bookings to the credit card within 3 days of confirmation. Even if HSP specially intervened in any kind of way, you'd think any problem would've been flagged then!

Fast forward to check-in, which is Saturday late afternoon. At check-in the booking was kindly told that there were absolutely no more rooms left on the property. So no upgrade, but of course all the other regular Diamond perks. Member for a Stay card was scanned into the system and told that at check-out, 20% off relevant charges will be effected.

Got to the room to find the room configured as a single King bed rather than twin beds as requested. Call to housekeeping and an hour or a bit later the beds were split.

Express Check Out envelope was delivered in the late evening - also unusual IME, since I usually find that these envelopes are delivered around 2am or some quiet hour where it is very unlikely that any new charges would be added to accounts, and hence a more accurate folio can be prepared.

At check-out, the first folio received seemed to be missing several charges we expected. Was it a gift? Then we noticed that the prepaid rate had not been discounted 20%. Whilst the clerk (who was the Duty Manager) was modifying the room charge, it was discovered there was some sort of "separate" folio attached to our room. Upon inspection this was the folio of remaining charges that we had been expecting (bar drinks, etc.). 20% was removed from all relevant charges, paid and final single folio provided with nothing owing.

Overall, not a huge deal per se - everything that seemed "wrong" was fixed in a non-complicated way and not drag-through-the-mud style, either. It was also a busy weekend - our Do and the Gold Coast Marathon; a completely full hotel is both any property's dream (full yield) and nightmare (handling upgrades and the numerous patrons) at the same time.

 

[Katie]

Why add a second name at all? I book for two guests but never add the second name. I am the only one that checks in, however.

So the other person (who does not have the same surname) can sign for room service, etc.
Or is that very 1990's hotel systems??