Hilton HHonors - Diamond Award - Guaranteed Room

Called the Diamond desk this morning for book an Hhonors reward room at the Hampton Inn in Hershey for next Saturday night. Was told that they has no more reward rooms available but since I am of Diamond status, they will call the hotel and try to make arrangements. Last year the Diamond desk came through in a similar situation for a stay in London. So everything was going smooth until I mentioned that the room would be for my brother. That basically stopped the conversation since the agent said that it was policy not to pursue this for anybody other than the actual Diamond member.

Does anybody have a clarification on this and some advice? Thanks!

Mike

the hilton gardens inn in hershey is much nicer !

This sounds pretty fair to me. I don't think the Diamond gurantee was put in place to be used this way. Anway, isn't the gurantee only for paid rooms?

Call the hotel directly yourself asking about award availability, you may have more luck.

Alternatively, find another hotel.

Steve

Well there are a few things going on here:

1. The Diamond gurantee is only for paid stays, not award stays. Even though last summer they forced through a one-week reward stay for me at the Hilton Paris, I understood that this was a special situation. It was my 5-year wedding anniversary, so they went out of their way.

2. The guarantee is for you, not friends or family.

I agree with the responses. The Diamond guarantee is for PAID reservations but they will usually put in a good word for you with the hotel manager for award stays as well. However, the Diamond member must be the registered guest in all cases.

On the list of member benefits on the website, for the guaranteed availability, it doesn't actually say that the member has to be staying, only that they are guaranteed to be able to make the booking

"Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond VIPs when reservations are made up to 48 hours prior to intended arrival and guaranteed to a credit card."

Dave

That's the exact point I'm making. Hilton's policies are very vague. What I'm concerned about is leaving it up to the interpretation of an agent versus the actual policy.

Most definitely, awards without blackout dates are a Diamond benefit (with some exceptions for "extraordinary demand dates").

Some posters seem to be overlooking the following paragraph on the HHonors website

"Enjoy HHonors Hotel Rewards without Blackout Dates: Diamond VIP members may redeem points for HHonors hotel rewards nearly any time, with the only exception being during specified Extraordinary Demand Dates at certain hotels."

www.hilton.com/en/hhonors/benefits/levels.jhtml (http://www.hilton.com/en/hhonors/benefits/levels.jhtml)

Kathy

I called the Diamond desk last Wednesday to try to get a reservation @ the St. Lucia property. I was told that they were booked, but that the HH desk would take care of it for me. On Saturday afternoon I got the email below. Looks like they really do take care of their Diamond members.

S.

Dear Mr. XXXX,

This message is to advise that we have confirmed a
reservation for you at the Jalousie Hilton Resort & Spa for the dates of
XXXXXXXXXXXXX, 2002. The hotel has already reached it reward
allotment for these dates. Therefore, Hilton HHonors will be setting up
special arrangements for you. Hilton HHonors will pay for your room
accommodations for these dates, but we will remove 150,000 points for the
GLONP reward that we will remove from your account. All paperwork including
the reward will be sent directly to the hotel on your behalf. Please do not
order or present any rewards at check-in. We will email you a letter of
confirmation once these arrangements are finalized. Your confirmation # is
XXXXXXXXXXX, and if you need to cancel, please do so by at least 7 days prior
to check-in. Please contact us if you have any questions.


Thank you!

Diamond Special Services

Let me give a few responses based on my experiences:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Dave Noble - On the list of member benefits on the website, for the guaranteed availability, it doesn't actually say that the member has to be staying, only that they are guaranteed to be able to make the booking. "Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond VIPs when reservations are made up to 48 hours prior to intended arrival and guaranteed to a credit card."

mikejos: That's the exact point I'm making. Hilton's policies are very vague. What I'm concerned about is leaving it up to the interpretation of an agent versus the actual policy.</font>
You guys know that this is intended for the Diamond member and not their friends, family and business associates. There is nothing vague about this policy. Yes, there have been exceptions made from time to time. But putting their feet to the fire and demanding an exception to the rule is going to cause them to just ban all exceptions.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> KathyWdrf: Most definitely, awards without blackout dates are a Diamond benefit (with some exceptions for "extraordinary demand dates").</font>
Kathy - no blackout dates does not mean guaranteed availability. No blackout dates simply mean that when they balckout certain time frames for other, it does not apply to Diamonds. They still have a certain reward room allocations and if the hotel is sold-out, it's sold out. A sell out is not a blackout.

And what was done for sbm12 is exactly what was done for me last year in Paris when the property was sold out in July.

Diamonds should contact Stacy Strickland, if it's possible she will help.

Ms. Stacy Strickland, Assistant Manager
Diamond Special Services, 972-770-6076
mailto:Stacy_Strickland@hilton.comStacy_Strickland @hilton.com</A>

But again I think that mikejos is being unreasonable for attempting to demand a Diamond special service for a family member.

" <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelManKen:
Let me give a few responses based on my experiences:

[QUOTE][b]Dave Noble - On the list of member benefits on the website, for the guaranteed availability, it doesn't actually say that the member has to be staying, only that they are guaranteed to be able to make the booking. "Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond VIPs when reservations are made up to 48 hours prior to intended arrival and guaranteed to a credit card."

mikejos: That's the exact point I'm making. Hilton's policies are very vague. What I'm concerned about is leaving it up to the interpretation of an agent versus the actual policy.</font>
You guys know that this is intended for the Diamond member and not their friends, family and business associates. There is nothing vague about this policy. Yes, there have been exceptions made from time to time. But putting their feet to the fire and demanding an exception to the rule is going to cause them to just ban all exceptions."

When terms are put in writing, then it is the written terms which apply, not just what it may be inferred that they were meant to be. You suggest that "I know that it is for the use of the diamond member", I don't, I thought that it might be, but Mike's post made me go and have a look at how it is defined in the terms. It doesn't say that it is only for a stay for the member themself.

By virtue of the fact that it isnt explicitly saying that it is for stays of the member, it is being vague.

Dave

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TravelManKen:
Diamonds should contact Stacy Strickland, if it's possible she will help..</font>

Do you really think it is a good idea to publish her details like this? You can be 100% cetain that every Blue, Silver & Gold member will be emailing her with requests.

I think you should consider editing the post.