Hilton HHonors - HHonors Comes Through Last-Minute

I was stuck in Sacramento Tuesday night and had to scramble for a hotel room (had a room booked at the Reno Hilton but traffic reports were noting in late afternoon that the Donner Pass was getting snow & requiring chains so I couldn't get through to Reno)...Except for Embassy Suites, hilton.com showed no availability at any locations in the Sacramento area. Tried Priceline, no luck up to $65.

Called Hilton and although Hampton Inn showed availability on Orbitz, they said they were sold out. There was one room left at the Hilton Garden Inn Folsom but they wanted $139 for it. I had already checked on-line availability for Award reservations; nothing showing. Asked the clerk to check award availability and she said that last room in Folsom could be booked for 25,000 points, so I had her do it. Unfortunately, the directions that are on line and that are provided to the Hilton reservation agents are wrong - they both say that the Hilton is 1 mile from the highway while it is actually one block. Spent about 45 minutes trying to get back to the highway after getting lost; at that point, when I knew where I was again I called the hotel and got the correct directions..The fax that Hilton reservations sent to the hotel only arrived 10 minutes before I did so I guess I would have still had to wait if I had not gotten lost...

Thanks Hilton for coming through for me at the last second though!

FYI, when Donner Pass is closed or at risk of closing, a very good alternative is California Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon, connecting to US Highway 395 at Hallelujah Junction at the Nevada border. The Feather River Canyon is more sheltered than Donner Pass and thus almost never gets snow packed.

Yesterday was the second time I've taken that route. With fresh snow falling, it is beautiful beyond description. Take 49 north at Auburn. It becomes a four hour trip to Reno from Sacramento.

FYI, when Donner Pass is closed or at risk of closing, a very good alternative is California Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon, connecting to US Highway 395 at Hallelujah Junction at the Nevada border. The Feather River Canyon is more sheltered than Donner Pass and thus almost never gets snow packed.

Thanks for the alternative...if I had been stuck in Reno after driving up there, I might have needed to get back to Sacramento no matter what the route since I had a flight to catch out of SMF...4 hours each way would have made the trip almost useless though as I needed to be back at SMF the next day at 1PM to catch a 2PM flight home..Taking that route would have meant getting into Reno at 10PM and leaving by 9AM to get back to SMF. My reason for going to Reno was to get some gambling time in. I'm glad that Hhonors was able to help me out so I didn't have to spend any more cash on a hotel, and I was able to egt a little gambling in at Thunder valley Casino instead of Reno (but I wasn't all that impressed with the casino; really an odd operation that seems to think their main clientel is high rollers)..

That seems like a lot of points for a HGI.

That seems like a lot of points for a HGI.

For some reason, it's a Category 3 hotel (most HGI seem to be Category 2)...I have no idea why it falls into Category 3...

Its a nice HGI - I "lived" there on and off for 6 months about 5 yrs ago