Hilton HHonors - Hilton Long Island/Huntington

I may be staying here the week of the 8th of July. Any comments positive or negative. My option is to stay in Manhattan and drive out for meetings.

Thanks

I JUST STAYED THERE FOR BUSINESS LAST WEEK AND IT'S A VERY POOR EXCUSE FOR A HILTON PROPERTY !!!

OLD/NEEDS TO BE RENOVATED/POOR SERVICE

I HAVE TO FIGHT WITH THEM TO PROVE TO THEM I WAS DIAMOND !! I DID NOT HAVE MY NEW CARDS YET AND THEY WOULD NOT CALL HH HONORS FOR PROOF !!

THE FRONT DESK CLERK WAS NASTY !!

THE MARRIOTT IN MELVILLE IS MUCH NICER !
GREAT BEDS AND A GREAT PLATINUM LOUNGE !!

HOPE THAT HELPS !

I stayed there twice last December for one night each time. As gold, I was upgraded to a junior suite each time and was given breakfast coupons for all people in my party (3 the first time and 4 the second time).

So no problems here and I would stay there again.

Planning to visit my daughter who lives in Hicksville. This seems to be the closest Hilton. Is it worth burning some points for a two or three night stay?

Any suggestions for transport from JFK to this hotel and back?

Thanks for any and all comments!

Larry

This Hilton is the only full-service Hilton on Long Island.

If you are Gold or Diamond VIP HHonors member, they have a nice concierge lounge. It is quiet, with good food, large TV and a very helpful attendant.

The rooms are very nice but no better than any other very nice Hilton hotel room.

As far as transportation from JFK to this Hilton, I suggest calling the hotel for suggestions. Car rentals and cab fares can be rather expensive. Is there any possibility you can arrive in ISP instead of JFK?

However, before considering burning your points at this Hilton, consider first staying at a Hampton Inn to burn fewer points, especially if you do not plan on spending much time in your hotel room. Hampton Inns on Long Island are clean, quiet and relatively new. The one on Veterans Memorial Highway off the Long Island Expressway has a decent continental breakfast, is clean and comfortable. It is also close to Islip (ISP) airport. I recommend it.

[This message has been edited by Canarsie (edited 12-28-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Canarsie (edited 12-28-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Canarsie (edited 12-28-2002).]

I stayed at this property in the late 1990's and it was nothing special.

I wouldn't burn any HHonors points on this property.

RC

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Canarsie:
As far as transportation from JFK to this Hilton, I suggest calling the hotel for suggestions. Car rentals and cab fares can be rather expensive. Is there any possibility you can arrive in ISP instead of JFK?</font>

The transportation situation from ISP to Huntington is almost as bad as from JFK. I say "almost" because the cab fare may be a little bit less, and traffic around the airport is not so bad should you choose to rent a car, but the advantages end there. It's certainly not worth taking a connection and paying the often-ridiculous fares to fly into this airport.

Unfortunately the Hilton is located on Route 110 in Melville, an area where transportation is atrocious (even if you have your own car). The situation is what military people call AOS (All Options Stink). From JFK you can:

Take a taxi (expensive; for about the same amount of money you can use a limo service) Take an airport shuttle service (probably about $30) Rent a car (if you're planning on doing this anyway, you may as well pick up the car at JFK and avoid having to deal with transportation to the hotel) Make your way from JFK to the Jamaica train station and take the Long Island Rail Road to Farmingdale (Ronkonkoma branch; $3.25; $5 during rush hours). If you're arriving on JetBlue from ROC before 3-Jan-03 you can take the shuttle bus to Jamaica station for $5. Otherwise there are city buses that ply this route ($1.50) or you can take a cab (about $12). Once you get to Farmingdale you'll have to take a cab to the Hilton (a couple of miles); you might try calling the Hilton and asking if they'll come collect you at the station. The down side to this option is the LIRR to Farmingdale only runs once an hour most times; you could find yourself with some time to kill if you're unlucky and end up with bad timing; there isn't much to do at Jamaica station.

Of course, if you've got HHonors points to burn, you could try staying at a Hilton property in Manhattan. From the Hilton Times Square, for example, you can walk to Penn Station in about 10 minutes and be in Hicksville via Long Island Rail Road (train every 30 minutes most times) about 45 minutes after that.

[This message has been edited by Factotum (edited 12-28-2002).]

HGI Islip is expected to open in June 2003 ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Factotum:
The transportation situation from ISP to Huntington is almost as bad as from JFK. I say "almost" because the cab fare may be a little bit less, and traffic around the airport is not so bad should you choose to rent a car, but the advantages end there. It's certainly not worth taking a connection and paying the often-ridiculous fares to fly into this airport.

Unfortunately the Hilton is located on Route 110 in Melville, an area where transportation is atrocious (even if you have your own car). The situation is what military people call AOS (All Options Stink). From JFK you can:

Take a taxi (expensive; for about the same amount of money you can use a limo service) Take an airport shuttle service (probably about $30) Rent a car (if you're planning on doing this anyway, you may as well pick up the car at JFK and avoid having to deal with transportation to the hotel) Make your way from JFK to the Jamaica train station and take the Long Island Rail Road to Farmingdale (Ronkonkoma branch; $3.25; $5 during rush hours). If you're arriving on JetBlue from ROC before 3-Jan-03 you can take the shuttle bus to Jamaica station for $5. Otherwise there are city buses that ply this route ($1.50) or you can take a cab (about $12). Once you get to Farmingdale you'll have to take a cab to the Hilton (a couple of miles); you might try calling the Hilton and asking if they'll come collect you at the station. The down side to this option is the LIRR to Farmingdale only runs once an hour most times; you could find yourself with some time to kill if you're unlucky and end up with bad timing; there isn't much to do at Jamaica station.

Of course, if you've got HHonors points to burn, you could try staying at a Hilton property in Manhattan. From the Hilton Times Square, for example, you can walk to Penn Station in about 10 minutes and be in Hicksville via Long Island Rail Road (train every 30 minutes most times) about 45 minutes after that.

[This message has been edited by Factotum (edited 12-28-2002).]</font>

Excellent points and additional suggestions, Factotum. The only note I would add is that the station in Jamaica is not exactly the safest area to be in. Personally, I would avoid that option.

If there is a direct flight to ISP, I would still recommend ISP. Nice small airport to zip through as opposed to JFK, which I believe is still under construction in many areas. I agree - a connecting flight to get to ISP is not worth it.

I assume Larrude does not have time to drive from Rochester to Hicksville - otherwise, I might investigate that option if weather permits. I believe the drive is 7 hours each way. Very nice drive if you take State Route 17 in New York south along the Delaware River.

I really do appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

Flying into ISP is NOT an option. It's only been the short time that Jet Blue has been in existance that flying into JFK is affordable. There are no direct flights into ISP and few options with connections.

Driving from western NY to Long Island during JAN, FEB, or MARCH is a gamble - a big gamble. This past Christmas day we had 14 inches of snow - over 54 inches so far for the season. I'm not about to get into the car for a 7-8 hour drive with the potential winer storms we get.

I'm looking at a car service as the best possible option to get from JFK to the hotel.

BTW, I do have plenty of HH points to spend, but I'm now looking at the Day's Inn in Hicksville - for about $75 a nite - it seems like to good of a deal considering that I won't be spending much time in the room.

Thanks for the suggestions for Hiltons in Manhattan - rather be closer to my daughter to spend more time with her. I apologise in advance to my NYC and environs friends, but I'd rather spend a weekend in London than NYC and the cost to get there is not much higher. NYC has never been that much of an attraction to me - I'd rather drive to Toronto (3hrs) or Montreal than head to NY.

Chalk up an example of a good search...found this thread, bumping it because I'm staying there tomorrow and will update this thread.

For those who would be interested, the hotel is still nothing special. I took some pictures of IMO the only redeeming feature of the property: the waterfall by the pool.

-When I asked the Front Desk for a cell phone charger, I was presented with a plastic milk crate of tangled iGo cords, almost all without tips on them. Staff was very nice, but that irked me some.

-Breakfast was decent with very good service...if that breakfast from there could be transplanted into Hampton Inn, you'd have the perfect midrange hotel.

-2nd floor used to be a smoking floor, and no effort smelled like it was made to convert the floor to nonsmoking.

Meh. Nothing noteworthy.

As a long time Long Islander, I would tell you to not even consider driving back and forth from Manhattan each day. It will take you hours and cost you in tolls.

The Huntington Hilton is very nice. Could use a bit of remodeling.