Hilton HHonors - Beware: Hilton Del Mar!!!!!!!!!!

Probably too late for most of us who used some points, but the Hilton Del Mar is under siege. They are remodeling.

As a Silver (I know, big deal) we were given a third floor room, almost overlooking the pool, with fresh paint and a king bed as requested. Unfortunately that was it. No desk. No table. One phone. One chair from catering. I called and complained. They called me back 30 minutes later to say they located a chair. Desks and tables were on order and would not be in for a week or two. I said something about renting a room unfurnished and she said yes that is what they are doing. When I asked about compensation, she suggested we could be moved to the ground floor on the other side of the pool. I could have 2 singles or a king smoking (cough, cough). We went for the latter. The room was old dirty and noisy, but it was furnished. What they did not tell us was the workers would be in the unit above each night. The first night was until just past 7:30. The second night I was forced to call and be transfered twice until I got someone who promised that they would talk to the workers and have them gone by 9 pm.

Oh, as an aside. The TV will often interupt your program to take you to the pay station option. As the options come up, they are clicked without any touching of the remote by us!!! Both times a promo flick was selected. Fortuantely we were able to turn off the tv and go back to our programing. The second night this happened several times. When we got our bill, there was a charge for ONE movie, $26.00!!!!!! We did not pay.

When checking out, several people were complaining about the noise. Response, we cannot do anything about that. Nothing offered to anyone, and the tone was rude.

If you must stay at this property I suggest sleeping in your car, off to the back of the parking lot, which is mainly empty except for worker trucks!!!

Sorry, Adam, stayed 20 nights last year in towns without a Hilton (plus 57 in London). The group is meeting at the Marriott in London. And then stays like these. I do not think we will become Gold again...I do miss the argument over breakfast, it almost seemed to be over with...now it is gone. We have a choice and I guess we will go onward with Marriott. Hyatt had been our Diamond home for 15 years, but the lack of a London property makes it impossible to requalifly.

Oh, yes, the lady suggested a Diamond member move to another hotel if he did not like his room, it was the best they could do!!! He was staying 6 nights...good luck. Hope it was not a 100,000 point stay. The deal is not worth it here.

When the work is done, the rooms refurbished, then the property should be nice. Unfortunately, the employees will likely remain the same until the contract with Hilton expires or someone refocuses management. The prebuttoned phone did not ever take us to the "named" enity. Guess that is because of temporary quarters????

Finally, the pizza was good and only one of the phones worked in the room.
There is no compensation the hotel could provide, as my wife would not stay there again ever. 3 hours of hassling is not our idea of vacation.

Expect to read more complaints about this property.

We were there 4 one night a few weeks ago. Our room was average. The hotel tried to stiff me for $30 or $40 more a nite, luckily we got that fixed. When I asked about an upgraded room they practically laughed in my face.

They gave us our breakfast coupons and when we went down for breakfast it was the most basic of continental breakfasts you can imagine. A little fruit, a few pastries. Most Hampton Inns have better continental breakfasts than the Del Mar.

We did get some fancy bottled waters rather than the normal crystal geyser level.

The hotel was convenient to somewhere I needed to be. I'll stay there in the future if I need that convenience again, but I certainly won't seek this hotel out.

I shouldn't tell you guys this, but, you were part of a new realty tv show: Unfinished Hotel.

Do you remember seeing an elderly lady always nearby with a white poodle?

Sorry to sound uninformed, but where is Hilton Del Mar?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by vandykes44:
Sorry to sound uninformed, but where is Hilton Del Mar?</font>

North San Diego, CA

The Hilton Del Mar is about 20+- miles north of SD, between I-5 and the ocean and directly across the street from the Del Mar Racetrack, which runs a Thoroughbred race meet from late July to early September every year. To race fans, it is the Saratoga of the West (showing my eastern bias). They sell out almost completely for that period; they are probably racing to get the improvements done by then. I will inform track managmenet, which uses the place, among others, for incoming VIPs, to keep an eye on what is going on. For those frequenting the area, try the Hilton Torrey Pines, about 10+ miles to the south toward La Jolla. It is on the beach with its own golf course; a recently renovated former Sheraton.

I stayed there a few weeks ago after not having been there in several years. It's really gone downhill. As a diamond, they couldn't upgrade me. The people at the front desk seemed very inexperienced and confused. They didn't have any Hhonors amenities in the room such as the bottled water. I asked the front desk to bring them and room service showed up at my door with 2 bottles of San Pellegrino and a bill for $14. I'd highly recommend the Doubletree Del Mar which is 2 exits south at Carmel Valley Road. At this point in time, it's a much better hotel. The Torrey Pines Hilton is also very good, but is about $100 more per night than the Del Mar Hilton or the Doubletree.

I stayed at the Del Mar Hilton a few weeks ago. I booked via Expedia becaue the Hilton website showed no availability at the time of my booking.

During check-in I asked the check-in person if she had my Gold HH# in her computer system. She told me no, and because the reservation was via Expedia that I would receive no points, no upgraded room, no breakfast coupon, no water, etc. (Somehow I did end up with the HH points for the stay). She than placed this non-smoker in a room that reaked of cigarette smoke.

I will never visit the Hilton Del Mar again.

I had a great stay at the San Diego Hilton Doubletree Golf resort, and will go back to that property.

[This message has been edited by seajac03 (edited 06-05-2003).]

Oh, I forgot the water is turned off for 3 hours every day in the afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!
Notice in the temporary lobby, on the check in desk.