Hilton HHonors - ADAM BURKE - Lounge/Club Access Question

Adam,

There have been a couple of posts by people who have indicated they have not received "perks" that are promised to Gold members... I know this happened to me at a Hampton Inn in San Diego... nothing for my Gold Status... actually got a worse room than a colleague who checked in at the same time.. with no status.

Can you provide an official take on what each of the hotels in the Hilton family should be providing to Gold members?

Also, how do we go about ensuring we get these benefits when travelling?

William

wharvey,

I would say that one on the biggest misconceptions among elite members is that they are entitled to a room upgrade at Hampton properties. According to the HHonors web site, the only amenity we are entitled to is the "The Hampton Touch". In my experience, this has been a bag of cookies and a bottle of water.

As I understand it, Hampton Inn's are not obligated to upgrade HHonors Gold/Diamond members. If the do so, it is out of courtesy.

I grabbed this off of the HHonors web site.

Upgraded Accommodations/Amenities: HHonors Gold VIP members are offered upgraded accommodations or amenities at HHonors hotels. The type of upgraded accommodation or amenity varies by type of hotel, as follows:


At US Hiltons, and at Conrad and Doubletree hotels with Towers or Executive Levels, Gold VIPs will be provided with a guest room on the Towers or Executive Level floor, whenever possible. In cases when Towers or Executive Level accommodations have been fully booked, Gold VIP members will be offered the use of the Towers or Executive Level lounge, including complimentary continental breakfast each morning. At hotels without a Towers or Executive Level, Gold VIPs will receive complimentary continental breakfast each day of the stay. And in hotels at which a complimentary breakfast is a benefit for all guests, Gold VIPs will be offered a special amenity as an expression of our appreciation.

At Hilton hotels outside the U.S. with Executive Floors, Gold VIPs will be provided with a guest room on the Executive Floor, whenever possible. In cases when there are no Executive Floors or where Executive Floor accommodations have been fully booked, Gold VIP members will be offered a complimentary continental breakfast each morning or an alternative special amenity.

At Embassy Suites hotels, Gold VIP members will be offered "The Embassy Touch", including a light snack on night of arrival.

At Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites hotels, Gold VIP members will be offered "The Hampton Touch", including a light snack on night of arrival.

At Homewood Suites by Hilton, Gold VIP members will receive a welcome gift of tempting Homewood truffles.

CG --

I agree with you, however, I would like Adam to write something that we could all print out as there is another post by another FTer who was denied lounge access at the Alexandria Mark Center despite her Gold status. The manager lied and said that the Rules were wrong!!! and decided to interpret them as he saw fit, restricting access to only Diamonds.

That is intolerable and requires Adam to write a "global" explanation that we may present to recalcitrant hotel staff.

[This message has been edited by DOC 2 BE (edited 02-25-2001).]

I guess my concern is that when I have arrived and asked for an upgrade the front desk says that there is none available, which I can accept. When I get to my room, I call 1-800-Hiltons and I find there are rooms on the exec. floor, which are available. When I call back down to the front desk, they say, "Oh we dont have any rooms, that must be a glitch in the computer". Adam, what rights/resolution to this type of problem do I have? This has happened to me three times in the last month.

thezipper,

Wouldn't that be similar to an airline upgrade, where there are seats available for sale, but the available inventory for upgrades and comps is depleted?

I don't think so, for the HHonors rules are quite clear on this, if there is an available room, an upgrade shall follow.

At the embassy suites hotel in Indianapolis which I stay at several times a month said that since gold members raise a stink when they are not upgraded every time they check in they upgrade NONE of them (you have to be kidding me was my response). The only reason I asked about this today is that I have stayed there 10 times in the last 3 months and have only been upgraded once--before a lot of the fast track gold people were out there. There is only one person in the hotel who is allowed to do upgrades to the 18th floor--2 level suites. If you don't know him forget about it! I think that this is a horrible policy and way to run a business--I have better luck with upgrades at Starwood properties. I don't have the time when I am on a business trip to track down a hotel manager to get an upgraded room. I DO understand that I am not going to get upgraded every time I check into the hotel but I do think that 1 out every 5 times might be reasonable.

Sorry for the venting--but the girl at the front desk really aggravated me this morning!

PS--I have never received a light snack on arrival at an Embassy Suites hotel

[This message has been edited by rachel (edited 02-26-2001).]

A suite upgrade is NOT REQUIRED!!! A snack IS!!

CameraGuy,

I understand the rules... what I was indicating that it appeared as though I was treated worse as a Gold member than my colleague who was on the same rate... and without status.

I was expecting something from the Hampton Inn... even a bottle of water would have been nice.

But nothing!

William

wharvey,

I found out something about the HHonors Reservations system recently. It seems that they lag behind the HHonors system by a cople of months.

So, if you recently made Gold, Hampton may still have you listed as Silver.

I am surprised that you have not gotten the water and cookies at the Hampton Inn's. I have over 20 stays since I made Gold and I can think of maybe one or two instances where I have not gotten that amenity.

That would probably explain why my FF preference on the Hampton reservation was listed as CO instead of NW. I changed it recently so that I would qualilfy for the NW 10,000 miles promo!

CameraGuy,

They knew my newly obtained status prior to check-in. I had called them directly to let them know... and it was also on my check-in information I had to initial.

So, not sure why they would not know.

Does seem like a lot of discrepencies in what Gold members are afforded.

William

I checked in to the Danbury Hilton last night and asked to be upgraded to the Concierge level as a gold memeber. I was told the Concierge level was for Diamond members only, and that no rooms were available anyway. I then asked for a pass to the Concierge floor, and was told again that the Concierge level was for Diamond members only. At this point I pulled out a printout from Hilton web page describing Gold level benefits, and was grudgingly given my pass. (Funny thing was, she never even looked at the printout. As soon as I showed her the page, she forked over the pass. I think she knew, she just didn't think I knew!)

I was just too tired to call and see if any rooms actually were available on the Concierge floor.

That kind of stuff really eats my gritter.

Originally posted by hreamer:
I checked in to the Danbury Hilton last night and asked to be upgraded to the Concierge level as a gold memeber. I was told the Concierge level was for Diamond members only, and that no rooms were available anyway. I then asked for a pass to the Concierge floor, and was told again that the Concierge level was for Diamond members only. At this point I pulled out a printout from Hilton web page describing Gold level benefits, and was grudgingly given my pass. (Funny thing was, she never even looked at the printout. As soon as I showed her the page, she forked over the pass. I think she knew, she just didn't think I knew!)

I was just too tired to call and see if any rooms actually were available on the Concierge floor.

That kind of stuff really eats my gritter.

Would somebody at HHonors please address the benefits issue here?

Too many loyal HHonors members are having to insist on benefits which should be automatic.

It is a shame that we have to go through this when checking in.

Bringing back to the top.... for Adam's review and comment.

William

Adam,
I too would be interested in some clarrification on this question. As you know, some hotels are great about providing upgrades and services for Gold/Diamonds. Other properties seem to feel they don't have to provide these services, or it is at the hotels discretion. For example, do we have any resolution with regard to the Hilton Old Town Alexandria refusing to upgrade people to the soveirgn level (which is the properties club level). This one is my worse ever upgrade experience. Also at the Hilton Boston Back Bay they knew nothing of free breakfast, and asked me to fax in the copy from the web page. Though I have read on this board that the BOS property now has an HH floor. At other properties like the BOS Logan Airport Hilton, or Capital Hilton I have had no difficulty upgrading, and am usually pre-blocked into an upgraded exec level room.

A trick I have heard of is to walk up to the desk and ask for an exec level room or a suite before you tell them you have any reservations. Since they think you are an off the street customer who will be paying the full rate, they will give you an honest answer. Once they tell you the room is available, give them your reservation number and ask to be upgraded to that room. They will have a hard time denying the rooms are open then, since they just told you they were available.

Hello all. First of all, thanks to CameraGuy for pulling the relevant section off of our web site. Let me reiterate what I've said in other posts -- all HHonors hotels are supposed to honor the benefits as highlighted in that section for both Gold and Diamond VIPs.

We work closely with each of the brand teams to ensure that recurrent training is in place on all aspects of the HHonors program -- including the enhanced on-property benefits available to Gold and Diamond VIPs.

Having said that, I recognize that there are instances in which the benefits are not being delivered as promised. While we monitor that through our own internal property evaluations, your feedback is the best resource we have in addressing these issues as they arise.

I completely agree with you that you shouldn't have to fight to get the benefits to which you're entitled. Should you encounter a situation in which you are denied the benefits as stated, please e-mail me the relevant details, and we'll take it up directly with the hotel in question.

I do honestly believe, however, that the vast majority of hotels recognize the value of your business, and are making a sincere effort to properly deliver program benefits. And when issues arise, we're committed to addressing them immediately, and to continuously improving our service delivery.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience and frustration some of you have described. And thank you in advance for your continuing feedback.

Best regards,

Adam Burke
Vice President, Marketing - North America
Hilton HHonors Worldwide
adam_burke@hilton.com