Hilton HHonors - Cat 5 Hamptons?

I was just looking up some Hamptons in the Middletown, NY area. I thought all Hamptons were either Opportunity or category 1 or 2. The two I found in that area were Category 5!! Yikes!!

I guess Hamptons are all over the map as far as category level, too, but I just can't see getting a GLON2 for a Hampton Inn! :)

That seems ridiculous to me! It's brand new, but it's still a Hampton Inn for heaven's sake. I drive by that one all the time and believe me it's nothing special from the outside.

- Truly

I'm starting to see a lot of Cat 3 Hamptons, which IMO is stretching things. But Cat 5?!? That is downright ridiculous. :rolleyes:

I have stayed at the Middletown HI several times this year. It is brand new and very nice by HI standards. A 3 would be fine, but a 5 is definitely stretching things out. Free wireless internet, wonderful breakfast, large rooms...

Just book it directly with the hotel and ask for the Orange Regional Medical Center rate. I think it is only $89/night. Good luck.

Randomman

I've stayed at 2 that warrant a cat 4, but even then, the beds and pillows were still the same crummy Hampton ones. The facilities were quite nice though, but until they do something about the quality of the bedding........ I don't think any Hampton is worthy of a Cat 5 rating. Maybe those hotels just get so many paying customers, they don't want to encourage award stays. Just a guess.

The Hampton Inn New Orleans Downtown (on Carondolet Street, which is basically the same as Bourbon Street, just on the other side of Canal) is a Category 4 and I think it's a more than fair rating, but I would agree that properties that nice are the exception rather than the rule and can't belive there's a property in Middleton, NY that would warrant a Category 5 rating.

...can't belive there's a property in Middleton, NY that would warrant a Category 5 rating.
"...you could look it up."

Actualy, the one in Middletown (http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=KRUZSKLL1ATPCCSGBIXM22QKIYF CVUUC?ctyhocn=MLTNYHX) is a Cat 4, and the one down the road at Stewart Airport (http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=KRUZSKLL1ATPCCSGBIXM22QKIYF CVUUC?ctyhocn=NBJNYHX) is a Cat 5.

On another thread, someone posted that hotels were permitted to select their own HHonors category. I find that very hard to believe, although given the presence of the two properties noted in this thread (a cat 4 and a cat 5) I'm no longer sure. If hotels are permitted to set their own category, why wouldn't every single hotel opt for cat 6? Why give a room away for some small payment from HHonors (based on number of points), when you can get the customer to pay for the room in full at your going rates? Why bother to make any rooms available at all? Doesn't make any sense.

I believe there has to be some hard & fast rules about hotel category, number of award rooms made available, etc. that individual properties that carry the HHonors banner have to adhere to, but I have yet to see them mentioned anywhere. Anyone have any info on this?

"...you could look it up."


Note I said I couldn't believe they warranted it, which I can't really look up since I'd have to see the properties for myself to make that determination ... I didn't say that I couldn't believe they were rated that. :)

On another thread, someone posted that hotels were permitted to select their own HHonors category. I find that very hard to believe, although given the presence of the two properties noted in this thread (a cat 4 and a cat 5) I'm no longer sure. If hotels are permitted to set their own category, why wouldn't every single hotel opt for cat 6? Why give a room away for some small payment from HHonors (based on number of points), when you can get the customer to pay for the room in full at your going rates? Why bother to make any rooms available at all? Doesn't make any sense.

I believe there has to be some hard & fast rules about hotel category, number of award rooms made available, etc. that individual properties that carry the HHonors banner have to adhere to, but I have yet to see them mentioned anywhere. Anyone have any info on this?

Well, if your occupacy rates are astonishingly high, you might not care to accomodate the occasional HH awards guest at a pittance.

It would be a shame if the category did not have some relationship to quality, but that's why I use AAA as well in helping me select properties where I stay.

For the record, I have never been, to my knowledge, anywhere near Middletown NY.

You think a category 5 Hampton is bad, the new (not yet opened) Hampton Inn/Seaport/Financial District says it will be a category 6.

Note that the nearby Millenium Hilton is only a category 5.

I was just looking for some hotel options near the San Francisco Airport and saw that the Hampton Inn in Burlingame is a Cat. 5. Says it was opened in June 2003.

I was just looking for some hotel options near the San Francisco Airport and saw that the Hampton Inn in Burlingame is a Cat. 5. Says it was opened in June 2003.

See review of this Hampton Inn - sure isn't a cat 5
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338751&highlight=burlingame (http://)

I got most of my early Hilton points at the Hilton in downtown London, Ont. It's a very nice hotel with a good executive lounge and nice rooms. I didn't know much about HHonors at the time, but when I made Gold they always upgraded me. I'm sure the fact that I was there every week helped. :)

I stayed there at my corporate rate (about USD 65 !!). Enjoyed every minute of it.

It's still rated a Category 1 hotel. Go figure.

CAT 5?!?! :eek: :D :eek:

Not even when they take down the scaffolding that would allow folks to peer / walk into your room, install new carpet and upholstery. Good grief!

Check the Hampton Inn (very near the airport,) Doubletree SFO, ES and HGI (all south, in Burlingame.) I've stayed in all of them, and there's not a bad one in the bunch, as far as I am concerned. The HI is very new, and a quick five minutes to the airport. I do thinkk they are deferring some maintenance, and would not make any bets about two years from now... (I've a report on it in this forum as well.)

I was just looking for some hotel options near the San Francisco Airport and saw that the Hampton Inn in Burlingame is a Cat. 5. Says it was opened in June 2003.

The Hampton Inn on Pensacola Beach (and when I say on the beach, I mean on the beach) is a cat 5, as is the HGI next door.

While the ranking might be a tad high, it's a fantastic HI, and the gulf-view rooms with balcony are (IMO) the best ones on P'cola Beach.

How does a hotel get it's category rating? I have stayed at Hilton hotels that are spectacular with a category 3, and dumps with a category 4.

What criteria is used in deciding the rating? Or is the rating purchased?

How does a hotel get it's category rating? I have stayed at Hilton hotels that are spectacular with a category 3, and dumps with a category 4.

What criteria is used in deciding the rating? Or is the rating purchased?

The categories are based on the average room rate. A hotel could theoretically be of poorly quality, but in a high-priced or low competition market, thus still commanding high room prices, and end up being in a higher category.

I was just looking for some hotel options near the San Francisco Airport and saw that the Hampton Inn in Burlingame is a Cat. 5. Says it was opened in June 2003.

I recently stayed at that Cat 5 Hampton in Burlingame. I live on the coast in CALIF and to get nights I jump around on weekends with my partner and pay for properties usually cash. I could have, and probably should have, written a letter of complaint to the GM of that property and copied Hilton Corp. I have really started to enjoy the Hilton Garden Inn's.

I've stayed at that HI&S, and I promise you, the Cat 5 is WAY overrated! I'd probably complain, and maybe use the 100% guarantee as an arguing point to get my points "money" back. It is an OK HI&S, but nothing special at all - in fact, a bit noisy; you can hear folks in the hall and next door too easily, even the aircraft departing SFO if you are on the wrong (or right, some like the a/c sounds!) side of the building.

The HGI Burlingame might be a decent property next time - I've enjoyed it as well as the ES and Doubletree in Burlingame - all close enough you can visit the other's restaurant with a five minute or less walk. The HGI and ES have no parking fees for an overnight, the 2Tree is $9 often.

(The HGI North in South San Francisco is undergoing extensive renovation, so you may have a scaffold outside your window. :eek: )

I recently stayed at that Cat 5 Hampton in Burlingame. I live on the coast in CALIF and to get nights I jump around on weekends with my partner and pay for properties usually cash. I could have, and probably should have, written a letter of complaint to the GM of that property and copied Hilton Corp. I have really started to enjoy the Hilton Garden Inn's.