How do Hilton treat you as an Elite?

[Ausbt]

I must admit to being a bit confused about it. I've got HHonors Gold expiring 03/13, but an offer available as a DJ Plat to take up Diamond Elite. I was going to wait until March and exercise it (presuming it will be for six months). And given my patterns I'd say I'd do only 4 stays (4 nights) at Hilton per annum.

 

[markis10]

I must admit to being a bit confused about it. I've got HHonors Gold expiring 03/13, but an offer available as a DJ Plat to take up Diamond Elite. I was going to wait until March and exercise it (presuming it will be for six months). And given my patterns I'd say I'd do only 4 stays (4 nights) at Hilton per annum.

Activate it before your first stay in the next year (so long as its 2013) and you will max the benefit. I don't use mine as Hilton does not offer the coverage or rates anywhere near the IHG properties in the cities I visit, so I activated mine purely out of curiosity, given the questions being asked here!

 

[serfty]

I must admit to being a bit confused about it. I've got HHonors Gold expiring 03/13, but an offer available as a DJ Plat to take up Diamond Elite. I was going to wait until March and exercise it (presuming it will be for six months). And given my patterns I'd say I'd do only 4 stays (4 nights) at Hilton per annum.

Going by anecdotes, if you activate it in April '13, and your card should show an expiry of March '15.

You will need the four stays in six months after activation or your status will be canceled before the end of 2013.
Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[Verde]

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Hilton Sydney
Booked: King Guest Room
Rate: AAA $227.00
Received: King Guest Room. 1 water, cheese plate, an apple and a bottle of red wine. Temp EL access and full breakfast in Glass for 2.

Friday and Saturday night over long weekend. Usual good service at the temporary EL, shame you cannot check-in there at the moment as the ground floor check-in staff are so-so at best. Hotel full on Saturday so no upgrade, or so I guess. Got a very blank look and no response at all when I made a courteous inquiry about the possibility of an upgrade.

Similar experience for me Monday night. At least the lounge had a decent range in the evening, I was pretty disappointed by what I experienced in the UK/Germany earlier in the year when I tried a few Hiltons out (Frankfurt in particular) - at least these are worth visiting. I don't like to complain, but a full sized bottle of wine for a single person staying in a room for a single night - especially when you can have drinks in the lounge - seemed a bit over the top.

I did like the room design though, the frosted glass that let some light through and given I dislike shower/bath combos, it was nice to have them separate. Mirrors seemed a bit over done (two big ones), the blackout blinds were very good too (I tend to wake up early if it is light, so sleeping in to a bit past 7am was nice after a week of waking up at about 6). Only odd thing was the phone making a noise (I think, it woke me up anyway) and lighting up its screen at 3am to tell me I should press the magic button if I wanted anything... really don't know why it needed to wake me up at 3am to do that but it only happened once and I went back to sleep immediately so it was more puzzling than a problem.

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Hilton Sydney
Booked: King Guest Room
Rate: AAA $189.00
Received: King Exec Guest Room (40th floor). 1 water, cheese plate, an apple and a bottle of red wine plus a small packet of chocolates. Temp EL access and full breakfast in Glass for 2.

 

[Deleted member 26544]

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Hilton Seattle
Booked: King Guestroom
Rate: AAA $179
Received: King room with partial bay/city view, Executive lounge access (lounge only open from 3-9pm) with discounted wine/spirits between 5-7pm. Turndown service with chocolates and a bottle of water. Buffet breakfast in the restaurant on the top floor of hotel.

Great location, service okay and I would probably return.

 

[turtlemichael]

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Conrad Hong Kong (2 non-consecutive stays Sep-Oct - total 5 nights)
Booked: King Superior
Rate: HKD2350
Received: Executive King with Harbour View both stays 58th and 60th floors. Reasonable size room which I think, but don't know for sure, is a standard size. Good finishes though no power point/shaver point in bathroom. Excellent views. Daily chocolates, fruit, water. Nespresso style machine. Executive lounge is the best I've been to in Hilton or IHG. Excellent Breakfast and evening coughtails. Also breakfast in Garden restaurant but thought the EL superior and less frenetic. Impeccable service. Good hotel gym/sauna complex. All up, my new favourite hotel.


Hotel: Hilton Millenium Bangkok
Booked: King Executive Suite (3 nights)
Rate: Bt4690 Great Getaway Sale
Received: King Executive Suite Plus. 18th floor. Same size as standard suite but with better river/city view and probably a different shape. Fruit on arrival, bottle of Prosecco, large box of chocolates. Read the card on the second day and the wine was for someone else! Very comfortable and spacious two room suite. Liked hotel and location on the river. Easy boat access to Skytrain. Major dislike - the Executive lounge. Offhand service, very poor food both for breakfast and in the evening, except for the egg station in the morning, and questionable food hygiene standards. Too many kids and tour groups. Liked Flow restaurant and the pool area. Will try Conrad next time.

 

[Kefci2000]

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Conrad Hong Kong (2 non-consecutive stays Sep-Oct - total 5 nights)
Booked: King Superior
Rate: HKD2350
Received: Executive King with Harbour View both stays 58th and 60th floors. Reasonable size room which I think, but don't know for sure, is a standard size. Good finishes though no power point/shaver point in bathroom. Excellent views. Daily chocolates, fruit, water. Nespresso style machine. Executive lounge is the best I've been to in Hilton or IHG. Excellent Breakfast and evening coughtails. Also breakfast in Garden restaurant but thought the EL superior and less frenetic. Impeccable service. Good hotel gym/sauna complex. All up, my new favourite hotel.

Am staying there for 4 nights late next month, so looking forward to it even more now....

 

[cgoh]

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Conrad Hong Kong 28 Sept 2012
Booked: Deluxe room
Rate: HKD2350 (Treasured moment)
Received: King Harbour view suite

Third stay this year at the Conrad Hong Kong and I must say this hotel never failed me. Arrived Hong Kong via CX early in the morning (around 7am). Whilst I was at the arrival lounge I decided to call and enquire if my room was ready for check in and what room type was allocated to my booking (~ 8am). Front desk advised room not ready and standard spiel that check in time is 2pm, and will be receiving a deluxe room per booking.

I was quite surprise with the lack of upgrade and asked if Diamond benefits no longer apply at Conrad HK. The guy then stated my booking is showing as Blue status and proceeded to double check my HHonors number. Apparently, Diamond desk keyed in the wrong number and thus the booking was never picked up by in house reservation. The guy promptly apologised for the mistake and immediately organised a suite for me, inviting me to check in anytime from now. Late check out of 3pm was offered without asking.

Overall, 3/3 suite upgrade rate for me at Conrad HK. I was very happy as the Hotel was pretty much running at full capacity due to Golden week.

Status: Diamond
Hotel: Hilton Millenium Seoul 1 Oct 2012
Booked: Deluxe King
Rate: Reward redemption 35k points
Received: Junior suite (initially executive King)

Very disappointed with this Hilton and I will never return, despite the upgrade provided later. I arrived Seoul at 6:00am and have already advised diamond desk that I require early check in, and was told that shouldn't be a problem. Upon arrival at the hotel the person who checked me in said no room was available and can only offer check in at 9am. I told him I am happy to pay extra but he firmly said no. I asked him what room has he allocated for me and he responded "the room type you have booked, we don't offer upgrade"!

I was quite cranky given I was up all night and told him to forget about my reservation and I will check in to the W Hotel instead. I told him as a Diamond member I expected a better service than this. He looked surprise and look again at my profile and said "You are a diamond member?". Apparently he didn't even bother to check my status before checking me in. He then allocated an executive king room for me and still insisted the 9am check in time (it was probably around 7am then). I got the key, sat at the lobby replying email for 1/2 hour and decided to try my luck and went to my room.

Surprise surprise, room was always ready but I just could not understand why he wouldn't give it to me. The executive room was small and old, and the bathroom was tiny. I called the executive lounge (politely of course) and asked whether it is their policy to not provide suite upgrade to diamond member. The manager at the executive lounge apologised and indicated front desk must have made a mistake. A bell boy was sent along with key to a junior suite.

Overall a very disappointing experience, and definitely not a 5 star hotel. I checked out the next day and went straight to W Hotel where everything was far superior than Hilton.

 

[beardoc]

Am staying there for 4 nights late next month, so looking forward to it even more now....

I'll be there in December - hoping for a fantastic stay now that I've heard this!

 

[Moopere]

I was quite surprise with the lack of upgrade and asked if Diamond benefits no longer apply at Conrad HK. The guy then stated my booking is showing as Blue status and proceeded to double check my HHonors number. Apparently, Diamond desk keyed in the wrong number and thus the booking was never picked up by in house reservation.

Its for reasons like this that I always check-in and show them my gold card. Every single time I get a funny smile and am told that my details are on the system already and they don't need the card ... but I do it anyway, because its a heads-up to them (I think). Its much more difficult to pretend you DKWIA if I've already handed over the gold

Its also been my experience that even if a specific hotel appears to be a bit grudging towards handing out elite bennies, the HH people are fully motivated and right onto it. Useful phone numbers on the back of your card as well as email addresses. I've contacted the Sydney office several times and they are professional and fast, looking to fix up whatever irk you might have.

 

[Kefci2000]

Reservation is showing in HH page so they should KWIA.....

 

[beardoc]

Its for reasons like this that I always check-in and show them my gold card. Every single time I get a funny smile and am told that my details are on the system already and they don't need the card ... but I do it anyway, because its a heads-up to them (I think). Its much more difficult to pretend you DKWIA if I've already handed over the gold

Its also been my experience that even if a specific hotel appears to be a bit grudging towards handing out elite bennies, the HH people are fully motivated and right onto it. Useful phone numbers on the back of your card as well as email addresses. I've contacted the Sydney office several times and they are professional and fast, looking to fix up whatever irk you might have.

In my experience the magic words to listen out for are "we've got your Hilton HHonors number on file, thank you for your loyalty" - and then listen to hear some mention of Diamond Status somewhere in the next few sentences. If they don't say "Diamond" somewhere in there and they don't start talking upgrades, free breakfast and executive lounge, then I would start checking whether things were correct.

 

[serfty]

Reservation is showing in HH page so they should KWIA.....

... if they can be bothered doing the extra clicks to Find out WYA!

Most of the time they do, but there's the odd occasion where they do not.

 

[Kefci2000]

... if they can be bothered doing the extra clicks to Find out WYA!

Most of the time they do, but there's the odd occasion where they do not.

That is when the card is flashed......Politely......."oh do you have my HH number on file?" usually works.....

And I love joining the "Platinum only" (zero wait) queue where they exist .....eg NY Midtown

 

[straitman]

That is when the card is flashed......Politely......."oh do you have my HH number on file?" usually works.....

And I love joining the "Platinum only" (zero wait) queue where they exist .....eg NY Midtown

'Diamond only?'


Sent from my legal, non technology stealing, old model iPhone using AustFreqFly App

 

[drross]

Just had a delightful stay at Hilton garden inn Albany NY. Had a silver HH travelling with me. Both received upgrades to 1 bed room suites - huge rooms. 2 bottles of water each at check in and ' have as many cookies as you want' . Staff all very young, bright, articulate, and helpful. Free gold Breakfast was down in the Recovery Bar .. Personal service .. Would you like a fresh cooked omelette etc sir. Happily go back the again.

 

[Flashback]

Just had a delightful stay at Hilton garden inn Albany NY. Had a silver HH travelling with me. Both received upgrades to 1 bed room suites - huge rooms. 2 bottles of water each at check in and ' have as many cookies as you want' . Staff all very young, bright, articulate, and helpful. Free gold Breakfast was down in the Recovery Bar .. Personal service .. Would you like a fresh cooked omelette etc sir. Happily go back the again.

What were the cookies like? It's usually only a DoubleTree that you get these at.

 

[simongr]

First disappointing experience as Diamond. Booked standard guest - was upgraded to level 2 :shock: sea view... That's here in Jeddah. Only one night - down from four but back tomorrow so will see what I get then. Last trip to JED for the foreseeable future.

Just a follow up to this. Returned to JED Hilton after a night at KAEC - I was upgraded again to a level 5 sea view room - at this point I said "Is that an executive floor room?" and was promptly moved to the 11th floor. No major difference in room but better amenities and more towels. Last stay in JED was finished with very poor concierge/baggage handling - called down at 13:40 to ask for my bags to be collected and went to check out. At 14:00 asked the concierge where my bags were - no sign of them. Finally bags arrived in lobby at 14:15. Not a happy simongr.

 

[drross]

What were the cookies like? It's usually only a DoubleTree that you get these at.

Currently at Doubletree NY and being offered cookies every time we come to reception! Garden Inn were exactly the same cookies and were delightful.

 

[deka2]

Status: Gold
Hotel: Millennium Hilton Bangkok
Dates: 22-26[SUP]th[/SUP] September
Booked: King Executive Room
Rate: Great Getaway $150.00
Received: King Executive Suite. 4 water, Executive Lounge Access, Breakfast downstairs in flow, Welcome letter from GM.

Nice two room suite at the back of the Hotel facing upriver. Shower leaked over the bathroom floor, and was really never fixed completely. Executive Lounge 32[SUP]nd[/SUP] Floor at the front of the Hotel was good. We didn’t have any problems with children in the lounge and the staff were attentive. Food offerings were a little sparse, but adequate.


Status: Gold
Hotel: Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Dates: 02-05 October
Booked: King Deluxe Room
Rate: Great Getaway $146.00
Received: King Executive Room. Breakfast downstairs optional, Welcome letter from GM.

No further upgrades were offered and we found out later the hotel was full while we were there. Executive Lounge is excellent, but split into several different areas over two floors. Food offerings at night were comprehensive and good quality. Pool area was open until 11.00pm and we spent an hour or two up there after dinner. Very pleasant.