Hilton HHonors - Young family stay together on GLON in London?

Dear Hilton experts:

I want to use a 6 night GLON/GLONP in London in August. Nine Hiltons have availablity. However, when I mention there are 4 of us (mom, dad, five year old and one year old), I am told that we exceed the maximum occupancy at all properties. How on earth is a young family to stay together? Doesn't Hilton generally allow kids to stay free with their parents? It was suggested to me that I get two rooms! That is ridiculous when the baby sleeps in a bassinet and my five year old prefers the floor to any bed. And my wife and I would not appreciate having to split up in accordance with their recommendation.

I suppose I can contact the hotels individually via fax or phone (there are no emails available through HHonors I was told) but obviously this is a hassle and expense I shouldn't have to incur as HHonors should be able to facilitate this for me.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Flytoeat

Just make the reservation for the three of you, no hotel will charge for a child under two. My wife and I traveled all over Europe with our two children when they were young. The desk clerk will most probably look the other way. To be sure do not have your wife go up to the desk with you, and have her sit somewhere else with the children in the lobby, when you check in. Although most of the hotels in Europe only allow three in a room we were never asked about how many children we had, and we were never told that we had to many people. The booking agents read the rules, the desk clerks interpert them, go with the interpetation.

We've taken two small children to Europe twice and found that four people in a small, European room can be quite constraining. If you have the points, consider two rooms since it will be a real pain when you put your infant down at 7:00p, and have a 5-tired 5-year-old in a small room trying not to wake the baby up.

I've read on other threads here that some Hiltons in London have larger rooms than others. (Do a search on London in the Hilton forum.) The most practical approach might be to find one large room.

Kathy

I recall that some hotels in London will charge for kids, and some will not permit more than 2 people in a room. The excuse give is/was fire code restrictions that they must abide by. (When I followed up on this issue, just for "fun", I was told that in fact the fire code supposedly dictating so does not exist and that they thought it never did!) In addition, some will not allow kids in the Ex Lounge either!

Many London hotels - and European hotels in general - have very, very small hotel rooms by American standards. My husband and I once stayed in a room in London that was the width of the bed. Only one person could stand and get dressed at a time. Thank goodness we were young and skinny at the time. The TV was mounted on the wall over the end of the bed. I don't think any of the Hilton rooms are quite that small but even a regular room can get crowded with just two adults in London. Most London hotels have either one twin bed, two twin beds or a double bed.

There are what's called "family rooms" in many London hotels. I don't know what the bedding consists of but it is a larger room and rated for more than two people.

We stayed at the Hilton Hyde Park last year. While not overly impressed we were upgraded to the only suite thay had. It is a two story suite with the upper room having a sleeper sofa, TV and small table and chairs. You might ask if you could get a gauranteed upgrade for this room. The location is right across from the park, near two tube stations, small grocery stores and restaurants. It always worth asking. You might want to consider buying a small ice chest first thing to keep drinks and snacks in. No ice machines in the hotels but most stores sell small bags of ice. We always do this to keep Cokes and milk in. There will be an electric kettle but no coffee maker.

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Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.

Originally posted by me on 7/25/01 in another thread
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I am sitting at this very moment in my room at the London Metropole with my wife and eitght year-old twins. I've been here 11 nights, the last three with my family.

Overall experience has been good. Service is uneven and impersonal in 1,000 plus room hotel. Location isn't greatest but the two Edgeware tube stations are 50 yards away. The rooms in the new West Wing (the only rooms one should stay in) are some of the quietest I have ever been in. When the family got here, I moved to a Family Club Room, which has two queen size beds and a queen pull-out couch. I estimate the room is 15 feet wide by 40 feet long(no kidding). I'm paying 121 pounds including the best, fullest English breakfast buffet I've ever seen (it should be at 17 pounds). I'm a Gold (who isn't these days) but don't know if that made a difference when I switched.

All in all, been very satisfied. The Executive Lounge, however, is on its 11 consecutive day of serving seafood and chicken canapes, which my wife noticed I now start to resemble.

MilesMilesMiles,

I have a six night GLON stay planned for mid summer at the Metropole with my family. I have two rooms booked in case I can not get the Family Room, you can not book a reward stay for that room type. However, I hope to negociate my way into one.

With my wife and two teenage daughters, as a HH Diamond, can I expect to get free breakfast? Will all of us get access to the Exec. Lounge? Can one actually obtain enough food from the lounge at evening time to call it a meal? How far of a walk to the sights?

"With my wife and two teenage daughters, as a HH Diamond, can I expect to get free breakfast? Will all of us get access to the Exec. Lounge? Can one actually obtain enough food from the lounge at evening time to call it a meal? How far of a walk to the sights?"

You should be able to get a Continental breakfast in the 2nd Floor Hilton/Towers Lounge. You all should have access to the Lounge. You will probably NOT get enough food to call dinner, but there is a Marks and Spencer take-away deli across the street.
Th ehotel is not centrally located to the sights. there are two Edgeware tube stops very close to the hotel, however, not much is within walking distance.

Four of us stayed at the Hilton Islington last summer in a family room (2 adults and 2 children). If you do a search on this forum you can find more information on this issue and London Hilton's in general.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by milesmilesmiles:
"

You should be able to get a Continental breakfast in the 2nd Floor Hilton/Towers Lounge. You all should have access to the Lounge. You will probably NOT get enough food to call dinner, but there is a Marks and Spencer take-away deli across the street.
Th ehotel is not centrally located to the sights. there are two Edgeware tube stops very close to the hotel, however, not much is within walking distance.</font>

Excellent answers. I thought it as unpublished but I too have often picked up excellent sandwiches (GBP3) etc from M&S in afternoon as I believe it closes approx 600 PM. Also Edgeware Rd has a zillion easy walkable reasonably priced restaurants located on it......all cusines too. Most are better-n-cheaper than most of the hotels restaurants.

MisterNice

Thanks guys!

I have emailed flyertalk@hilton for clarification about this question. I'll post when I get an answer.

I resolved this problem with the assistance of two very helpful Hilton representatives that contacted me after I emailed for help at Flyertalk@hilton.com. Denise and Lora went to bat for me and I now have my desired accomodations.

&gt;&gt;I resolved this problem with the assistance of two very helpful Hilton representatives that contacted me after I emailed for help

Can you share with us what the resolution was? Were they able to confirm you in a family room?

They called the hotel directly, explained the situation and received approval for accomodating our situation. I don't know if we will receive an upgrade to a family room.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by flytoeat:
They called the hotel directly, explained the situation and received approval for accomodating our situation. I don't know if we will receive an upgrade to a family room.</font>

Which Hilton? I've got the same problem.