Hilton HHonors - I would like a recommendation for a European Hilton in March

Looking to plan a week in Europe for the first week of March.

I would like to get a recommendation for a Hilton that is well suited for the leisure travel (downtown, near museum/train/subway, etc.). I have plenty of points, so that isn't an issue, same with airline.

I'm pretty open to suggestions, but would be interested in:

1. Convenient/urban location
2. Plenty to occupy my time for a week (prefer museum/theatre over beach/spa)
3. Europe (east or west)
4. Temperature is not important (I can bring a coat)

Not really interested in London, Paris or Rome (been there, done that). I love them all, but would like to broaden the old horizons. I've been considering Spain, but not sure what Hilton has to offer in the region.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi Boston ELite,

Spain is poorly served by Hiltons ( only Barcelona).

My suggestions,

Munich ( PArk) -nice hotel, good lounge, good staff, quiet rooms, good recognition of HH status. Munich is a nice city to walk aroundm with the Rezidenz palace, Deutches Museum and easy access to the alps ( good underground/metro/subway and tram system).

Berlin- Hotel is facing the Gendenmarket in the eastern half close to Alexander plat ( large tv tower with views, Unter der Linden and Museum island). Belin is a great city with lots of history. Hotel is very good.

Stockholm is very nice too ( I would leave stockholm unitl maybe later in spring or summer)

Prague is supposed to be beautiful.

Brussels is good and handy for visits ot Brugges ( well worth a visit).

Hope this is useful.

Enjoy!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Regards

TBS

if you choose belgium, there is a good Hilton in Antwerp too,
also Amsterdam is worth a visit too

Budapest...both Hiltons are great!

I can think of the following:

Hilton Lyon, a short walk to bus which can take you to Metro. Plenty to do and see, great Executive Floor Lounge with good food, nice views of the Saone/Rhone river (I cannot remember which one) and Exec Floor rooms have Bulgari toiletries.

Hilton Strasbourg, less for the hotel but more for the city and the Alsace region. Germany is a quick drive. Personally, the Regent Hotel Petit France is a better choice.

Noga Hilton Geneva, right on Lac Leman or Lake Geneva, can walk to Old Geneva and you can easily dip into France as well.

And maybe the Caledonian Hilton in Edinburgh? I do not know much about the property. . .

[This message has been edited by luxury (edited Jan 30, 2004).]

I'd suggest Berlin or Stockholm.

I had a great stay at the Berlin Hilton in November. Gold got me a junior suite. Lounge service is pleasant and friendly, extended continental (some hot food, not just pastries), afternoon tea and evening hot snacks. The location is ideal near the Gendarmenmarkt and a subway entrance almost outside the front door. Berlin is a fascinating city with interesting museums, history and art.

Stockholm, though, is absolutely my favorite European city. I find it stylish, pleasant and friendly. The Hilton location at Slussen is pretty spectacular if you get a room looking out over the Old Town and across to the City Hall. Museums are tremendously interesting, especially Skansen and the Vasa Museum. The Modern Art Museum is slated to reopen in mid-February.

My wife and I will be at the Noga Hilton Geneva March 6th to 8th and then the Basel Hilton March 9th to 10th. Both are quite nice and currently have award availabilty, drop by and I will buy you a drink.
mike

[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited Jan 30, 2004).]

Maybe you want to consider Cologne. We have a long history of roman origin, a beautiful cathedral and lots of interesting museums (e.g. the Wallraf-Richartz museum for traditional art and the Museum Ludwig for modern art, the Romanic-germanic museum, the chocolate-museum (my favourite) and so on - details of them can be found here (http://www.museenkoeln.de/english/homepage)).

Also in terms of music, the Philharmonie in Cologne is pretty well-known, and we have an opera house as well. There is also a musical playing in Cologne ("Jekyll&Hyde").

As to the Hilton in Cologne, it's just steps away from the main central station that has hourly Airrail-service to Frankfurt where you can connect to transatlantic service. You can actually book these trains as flights (LH68xx-series) and have your bags checked through all the way retrieving/checking them at the train station. Downtown is also just steps away with lots of places to go for dinner. And not to mention our locally brewed beer called "Kölsch" which is a reason by itself to visit Cologne.

If you decide to come and need more information, just let me know.

Greetings - Dirk

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by djohannw:
Maybe you want to consider Cologne. We have a long history of roman origin, a beautiful cathedral and lots of interesting museums (e.g. the Wallraf-Richartz museum for traditional art and the Museum Ludwig for modern art, the Romanic-germanic museum, the chocolate-museum (my favourite) and so on - details of them can be found here (http://www.museenkoeln.de/english/homepage)).

Also in terms of music, the Philharmonie in Cologne is pretty well-known, and we have an opera house as well. There is also a musical playing in Cologne ("Jekyll&Hyde").

As to the Hilton in Cologne, it's just steps away from the main central station that has hourly Airrail-service to Frankfurt where you can connect to transatlantic service. You can actually book these trains as flights (LH68xx-series) and have your bags checked through all the way retrieving/checking them at the train station. Downtown is also just steps away with lots of places to go for dinner. And not to mention our locally brewed beer called "Kölsch" which is a reason by itself to visit Cologne.

If you decide to come and need more information, just let me know.

Greetings - Dirk</font>

As I was reading the previous posts, before getting to the one by Dirk, I was thinking all along the way about Cologne!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If I may add my little two cents, the Cathedral is one the very few building in the Cologne area that survived the bombings by the Allied Forces in WWII. From what I've read (and I can believe it, as I've been to Cologne) the pilots were using the Cathedral as a guiding point for their bombings and therefore had everything to lose by bombing it!

It's a splendid building (that needs a little bit of cleaning on the outside because of the pollution) with magnificient architecture!

And the Hilton is within a 90 seconds walk (depending on how fast you can walk http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif )

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Boston Elite:
Looking to plan a week in Europe for the first week of March.
</font>

1. First week in March you can have lousy weather in all of Europe ... Not so in Buenos Aires http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
2. You could go Berlin, Dresden and Prague, may be add Weimar. All towns are very interesting and have nice Hiltons ... and only a couple of hours drive away from each other.

Both the Vienna Plaza (downtown and much nicer, but expensive) or the Vienna Danube (less points/money, and right across from the tram, but about a 7-10 minute ride to the city center) are great options.

Also Prague; both Hilton's in Budapest; Lyon and Cannes, and Strassbourg, France; The Hilton Brussels or even better, the Conrad Brussels, Belgium; are all excellent.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hhonorman:
Both the Vienna Plaza (downtown and much nicer, but expensive) or the Vienna Danube (less points/money, and right across from the tram, but about a 7-10 minute ride to the city center) are great options.

Also Prague; both Hilton's in Budapest; Lyon and Cannes, and Strassbourg, France; The Hilton Brussels or even better, the Conrad Brussels, Belgium; are all excellent.</font>

I agree 100%, I know most of them, but the weather ... Brrrrr!

Check here:

http://www.worldclimate.com/

http://www.weatherbase.com/

http://www.wunderground.com/global/Region/EU/Temperature.html

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hhonorman:
Both the Vienna Plaza (downtown and much nicer, but expensive) or the Vienna Danube (less points/money, and right across from the tram, but about a 7-10 minute ride to the city center) are great options.

Also Prague; both Hilton's in Budapest; Lyon and Cannes, and Strassbourg, France; The Hilton Brussels or even better, the Conrad Brussels, Belgium; are all excellent.</font>

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far, I actually am going to be doing a MR weekend to the Vienna Plaza over Presidents Day in February, so I do hope you are all correct about it!

Seems like Germany is getting a lot of press here. I was thinking about going for a GLON reward, so I was hoping for 1 city for the whole week (with possible day trips), but maybe I need to re-consider.

Thanks for all the ideas!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by USAFAN:
Weimar. All towns are very interesting and have nice Hiltons</font>Another excellent suggestion, USAFAN - besides its own attractions, Weimar would serve as a great base to explore cities like Erfurt (15 minute train ride) and Leipzig, two places off the "usual" American tourist path but well worth a visit.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Boston Elite:
[B] Thanks for all the great suggestions so far, I actually am going to be doing a MR weekend to the Vienna Plaza over Presidents Day in February, so I do hope you are all correct about it!

Slightly off topic but when you go to Vienna, be sure to try the Imperial Torte at the Hotel Imperial. . . I like it better than the Sacher Torte! If you can catch a concert at the Musikverein, that is a treat!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by djohannw:
Maybe you want to consider Cologne.
</font>

I'd agree completely and just add that the Hilton Cologne was a great stay for us a few weeks back. Modern layout (really liked their business room) and a very professional staff throughout the stay.

Their Lobby Bar area is a comfy spot to relax for a snack or a drink after a day of exploring (they call it a 'lounge' in the fact sheet, but it's not an exec lounge as we'd originally thought) and their restaurant and breakfast was nice as well. Thumbs up on Cologne.

--Grog--