Hilton HHonors - No More Turtle Bay Hilton

It was reported by a local TV station in Honolulu that Hilton is pulling out of Turtle Bay Hilton in the near future. No specific date given in the report.

Midnight, August 31. No word on what company will take over management...

http://starbulletin.com/2001/08/13/business/story1.html

Looks like I won't be getting HH points for my stay in Dec. '01. Anyone know if the new owners can change the rate I got from Hilton ($149) to something higher?

Thank god for FlyerTalk. I have a reservation for August 30-September 2.

Several questions:

Do I get points/miles at all? If so, for which night(s)?
Will the management cutover cause me heartburn in getting the points/miles to post?
How about upgraded rooms as a Diamond? Will I be kicked out of my nice upgraded room as of midnight 8/31?
Is my reservation even any good any more?

Dammit.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Mikey likes it:
Is my reservation even any good any more?
</font>

It should be. I had a similar experience a few years back. I booked a Hilton property in Breckenridge, CO about 10 months ahead of time (using HHonors points). A few months before my arrival, the property ceased to be a Hilton. Since my reservation was made before the change over, the hotel honored my reservation and took the HHonors certificate as payment.

I stayed in a property in May in Scotland which never posted my points after I left. After faxing and emailing HHonors, I called about 8 weeks later. After some research I was told the property was no longer a Hilton. They had to manually look up the hotel's code since it had been purged from their system. Then they submitted my stay information into the points system and told me that if the stay happened AFTER the magic transition date that my points would be rejected. Apparently my dates were okay because they posted into my account. If you have a stay near the end of Hilton ownership you may experience the same problem with your points not posting. My room was pre-paid to Hilton several months in advance under special package discount so I was prepared to fight for the points if they did occur after the ownership change since I paid Hilton up front and it was non-refundable.

After reading about the changeover of Turtle Bay to a non-Hilton property on this board, I contacted the HHV where we are staying our first five nights on an ALON in 12/01 and asked if we extended our stay for four nights beyond the ALON period if they would give us the same rate that we had for the next four nights at Turtle Bay ($149), since we preferred to stay in a Hilton hotel. They responded by saying that, because the holiday period was peak time, they would extend us for $365 a night...what a deal! For now, we'll stay at Turtle Bay.

I am not surprised that this property is no longer a Hilton. It was, at least two years ago, very run down, with poor service. The improvements they seemed to have made over the years, seemed superficial, as the outside building themselves seem to be eroding away and the interiors are in bad need of replacement and upgrading. Still, it is a great location and hoping that the new owner's do a lot of work.

Well, pooh--

We stayed there 3 years ago on a rewards stay and loved it--while it was a little bit out of date and older, the snorkling was superb there, plus we had the place nearly to ourselves during the week (first of May trip).

I have now accumulated enough FF miles and points that we were planning to "do it again" next summer, and we were going to try to stay at Turtle Bay. Thus, I am disappointed at hearing this. I guess I'll have to seek other arrangements.

Oh well!!

Michael

Wow! This is NOT good news folks...that leaves only TWO other Hilton properties in the Hawaiian islands? Am I correct?

That means MORE peple fighting for FEWER available Hilton rooms in Hawaii...yikes!

Does anyone know if hilton plans to make a move to acquire another property somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands? How about Kauai? How about Maui?

HELP!!!!!!!!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Hilton should obtain more Hawaiian properties, and my recommendation would be Kauai.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by E:
Wow! This is NOT good news folks...that leaves only TWO other Hilton properties in the Hawaiian islands? Am I correct?
</font>

There is another property on the border of Waikiki, the Doubletree Alana Waikiki. Smaller, boutique-style hotel that I like a lot, but I seem to be in the minority on that http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I seem to remember there were also 2 Embassy Suites Resorts in Hawaii. One was in Kauai and the other at Kaanapali Beach Maui.

To JamesD10

I recommend that you check out other rates for the HHV, if that is where you truely want to stay. Call the HH reservations number (1-800-HHONORS) see if they have any Entertainment rates, AAA rates etc. I have stayed at HHV about 6 times and the rates vary that I could have used: obviously I took the cheapest - and always managed an upgrade. 3 of my stays have been during the holidays: 2x in December (including all the football teams coming in for Aloha and Oahu Bowls and during Easter weekend.)

I just checked the Hilton website and there were no rates available for Dec 7th (Pearl Harbor 60th Anniversary), but availability for $209 on Dec. 8th.

BTW, my husband and I will be arriving for a 6 night stay on Dec 5th!

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Fancy

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by WHY2K:
I seem to remember there were also 2 Embassy Suites Resorts in Hawaii. One was in Kauai and the other at Kaanapali Beach Maui.</font>

These ES do not participate in HHonors... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

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ValueConsumer.com (http://www.valueconsumer.com) Home of Tripple Dipping Online Shopping

I agree with ctmike. Last year the Turtle Bay looked very sad. Crumbling and rust on the exterior, rooms very much in need of updating/renewal. The property is in an outstanding location and the pool and restaurant areas are beautiful. The building itself is in desperate need of work. That end of the island is wonderful - a real "get-away" - and a classy resort there would be great.

DH: According to the HHonors web site you can earn HHonors points and redeem hotel awards at ES but as you mentioned some properties do not participate. Thanks for the update.


[This message has been edited by WHY2K (edited 08-18-2001).]

I was last at the Turtle Bay Hilton in November of '99. Before I booked then, they said that it would be undergoing renovations while we were there, but there was no sign of activity at that time.

My then one-year-old and I spent the better part of the day walking around the grounds, and I was amazed at the deterioration of the external parts of the hotel. It seemed the owners had no interest in protecting their long-term investment in the property.

I can't speak to the Maui ES location, but the Kauai one was an "Embassy Vacation Resort" or some such; it was a timeshare facility using the ES name, and was *not* an Embassy Suites as far as I could tell.

Called the hotel...it is right down the road from me. "Any stays through August 31st will earn Honor points". I agree that stays close to the end of a management contract are often "overlooked". Save your folio and submit to insure your points.

Alot of aloha our here in the country. Highly doubt that you will be booted from your nice upgraded room to a lower level accomodation. Be sure to :-) and offer your own aloha at check in.

Same owners, "Oaktree" out of CA. New management company, "Benchmark Hospitality". They deal in convention/meeting center locations.

Opps....Oaktree is out of New York, not California as I previously posted.

According to press releases.."$30 million being spent on renovation of golf course and rooms". Indeed the property is in dire need of major renovations...think I'll have cool one at the pool bar and check it out for myself.

Thanks Fancy,

Since we are at the HHV for 5 nights during Christmas week, they quoted $365 as the rate to extend beyond that, so we are booked in Turtle Bay for 4 additional nights for $149, which I thought was a good deal when I made the reservation in May, not knowing of the condition of the hotel or the fact that Hilton was dumping it. We'll live with it. How much time do you spend in the room anyway when in HI? This is not a honeymoon trip. :-)

Darn it, I applied to HiltonHonors just so I can earn points while eating at the Sunday brunches at the old Ku-Ilima! Real good selection of entries, though "shouting out" people's names to come in when their table is ready instead of using a PA system is not a good idea.

BTW, if you're at the HHV next month, you might run into film crews working on the "Baywatch" TV movie for Fox--say hi!

Alas, it was in much better shape when it was the Kuilima.

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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

Cancelled my Labor Day weekend stay in favor of staying with family near Diamond Head.*

No points but then no room charge. Used the savings to get a new camcorder. So I can refresh my ever-dimming memory.

BTW: if you are looking for deals on mass-market electronic gear, try Best Price Audio Video (http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com) out of Cleveland. No, I'm not affiliated, just a satisfied customer. That's where I got the camcorder.

*they're not going to be there.

Edited for clarity

[This message has been edited by Mikey likes it (edited 08-28-2001).]

Just got a letter from Turtle Bay:

"Aloha from Hawaii!

I'd like to reconfirm your reservation, in the name of...for arrival...and departure... Please be advised that effective September 1, 2001, Turtle Bay Resort will no longer be managed by Hilton. Benchmark Hospitality will manage the resort effective September 1, 2001. The new management team of the Turtle Bay Resort is fully committed to honor your reservation. Hilton HHonors members will receive HHonors points and airline miles credit for your confirmed reservation. Confirmed HHonors reward stay reservations will also be accommodated by the hotel.

...questions,...call... 808.293.8811 or contact your HHonors representative...

Sincerely,
Sheree Moffat
Acting General Manager"

No mention of room upgrade for Gold membership or free breakfast or, if the stay counts for any of the point promotions. We'll see.

No great loss. It was not a good value for the money