free101girl
Feb 23, 01, 9:32 pm
Thanks to olafman's post about the Fast Track to Gold promo, I upgraded to Gold VIP earlier this week and decided to defect from Starwood, at least until I get the 50K bonus. It's always nice to try something new occasionally. Here's how it's going so far:
Spent last night at Hilton Costa Mesa and was very impressed with the value! Desk clerk had my folio ready when I arrived at 2:45, apologized for not having an executive-level room available and gave me a card key so I could access exec lounge. Room was fine, two comp bottles of water. Nice exec lounge with a great spread of hot & cold appetizers from 5-7 pm - enough to make a light dinner. The "continental breakfast" in the lounge included two hot items (pancakes and breakfast burritos) in addition to the usual cold items. I felt as if I'd gotten two pretty decent meals with my room for -- get this -- $65! Amazing. Chatted with another guest in the lounge over breakfast and he was also raving about the great deal (he got the same rate) and the food.
Staying at the Hilton Pasadena tonight. Nice lobby, room a notch nicer (on HHonors floor) with ice already in the room and bed turned down, but either they have no exec lounge or they aren't letting me get to it (there is one floor above me). I wondered what was up with the continental breakfast, so I called the desk to ask and was told they don't comp continental breakfast. Huh? I politely mentioned that I understood this to be a Gold VIP benefit. No, they don't do it. They finally said they'd send up a drink coupon. One.
Well, 45 min later - no coupon. "Happy Hour" with "free hors d'oeuvres" had started in the lobby bar by this point, so I wandered down to the desk and inquired of the desk clerk. Oh, she had forgotten to "make" my coupons and send them up. She went in the back for nearly 10 minutes and emerged with a couple of photocopied, cheesy coupons, each for a free well drink, gratuity not included. Hardly worth the wait. Obviously they don't often give these out. The bar hors d'oeuvres were minimal and not too great.
I will say the room service meal I ordered was tasty, delivered quickly, and they accommodated a special request, so all is not lost here. And the room rate is only $89, so I hate to kick too much about anything. Still, I reviewed the benefits for Gold VIP, and it clearly states that continental breakfast is provided. Anyone else run into a Hilton that won't do it?
*****
Updated to say that things only went downhill from here with the Hilton Pasadena. In the morning I asked the front desk for change for a $20 bill so I could tip the valet parking attendant. No change, and a really snotty attitude. I went off to try my luck at the shop and restaurant. Desk clerk offered to have the bell captain watch my bags, scoring a few points, at least.
Bad attitude and no change at the gift shop. Restaurant hostess was pleasant and happy to make change. On my return to the main lobby, I crossed paths with the bell captain, who won't make eye contact, seemed in no hurry, and wasn't carrying anything. So who was watching my bags?
No one, as it turns out. My suitcase and laptop were sitting in the middle of the floor with no one keeping an eye on them. As I collected them, the desk clerk reappeared. I said "I see the fellow who was watching my bags just decided to take off!" She shrugged.
I won't be going back to this property, obviously...
[This message has been edited by free101girl (edited 02-25-2001).]
Spent last night at Hilton Costa Mesa and was very impressed with the value! Desk clerk had my folio ready when I arrived at 2:45, apologized for not having an executive-level room available and gave me a card key so I could access exec lounge. Room was fine, two comp bottles of water. Nice exec lounge with a great spread of hot & cold appetizers from 5-7 pm - enough to make a light dinner. The "continental breakfast" in the lounge included two hot items (pancakes and breakfast burritos) in addition to the usual cold items. I felt as if I'd gotten two pretty decent meals with my room for -- get this -- $65! Amazing. Chatted with another guest in the lounge over breakfast and he was also raving about the great deal (he got the same rate) and the food.
Staying at the Hilton Pasadena tonight. Nice lobby, room a notch nicer (on HHonors floor) with ice already in the room and bed turned down, but either they have no exec lounge or they aren't letting me get to it (there is one floor above me). I wondered what was up with the continental breakfast, so I called the desk to ask and was told they don't comp continental breakfast. Huh? I politely mentioned that I understood this to be a Gold VIP benefit. No, they don't do it. They finally said they'd send up a drink coupon. One.
Well, 45 min later - no coupon. "Happy Hour" with "free hors d'oeuvres" had started in the lobby bar by this point, so I wandered down to the desk and inquired of the desk clerk. Oh, she had forgotten to "make" my coupons and send them up. She went in the back for nearly 10 minutes and emerged with a couple of photocopied, cheesy coupons, each for a free well drink, gratuity not included. Hardly worth the wait. Obviously they don't often give these out. The bar hors d'oeuvres were minimal and not too great.
I will say the room service meal I ordered was tasty, delivered quickly, and they accommodated a special request, so all is not lost here. And the room rate is only $89, so I hate to kick too much about anything. Still, I reviewed the benefits for Gold VIP, and it clearly states that continental breakfast is provided. Anyone else run into a Hilton that won't do it?
*****
Updated to say that things only went downhill from here with the Hilton Pasadena. In the morning I asked the front desk for change for a $20 bill so I could tip the valet parking attendant. No change, and a really snotty attitude. I went off to try my luck at the shop and restaurant. Desk clerk offered to have the bell captain watch my bags, scoring a few points, at least.
Bad attitude and no change at the gift shop. Restaurant hostess was pleasant and happy to make change. On my return to the main lobby, I crossed paths with the bell captain, who won't make eye contact, seemed in no hurry, and wasn't carrying anything. So who was watching my bags?
No one, as it turns out. My suitcase and laptop were sitting in the middle of the floor with no one keeping an eye on them. As I collected them, the desk clerk reappeared. I said "I see the fellow who was watching my bags just decided to take off!" She shrugged.
I won't be going back to this property, obviously...
[This message has been edited by free101girl (edited 02-25-2001).]