Hilton HHonors - Point stay - Hotel says yes, HHonors says no.

I appreciate any experience or suggestions you might have.

HHonors shows no availability (GLON award) for some nights of a Dec 16-22 stay at the London Conrad. I emailed the hotel directly to see if they could release the unavailable nights. I received a prompt response saying they did have availability. A call to HHonors resulted in their being unable to release these nights and stating either the hotel had to make the reservation or they had to change an existing paid reservation to an award stay. I've made a paid reservation and emailed the London Conrad back but may not receive a reply until Monday.

My problem is this: I have flight reservations and confirmed upgrades that will expire at midnight on Sunday, possibly before knowing if the GLON Award is really available (and there are NO award availability in all of London during this time frame - per HHonors). I'm not interested in going if it results in 1100 GBP but also don't want to wait and lose the airfare/upgrades.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

If the Conrad is saying that they will honor your award, then I don't think you have to really involve HHonors. Make the reservation with the hotel directly - they should note that the room will be paid for with an award - and then go to the HHonors site to claim the necessary award and print it.

I personally have never done this, but I recall people here having done it before. I'm sure someone will come along and confirm this.

Mike

Have you tried calling the hotel as an alternative to waiting for an e-mail response?

I would definitely get on the phone with the hotel. Although, you might have waited to late to make that phone call - The people that actually could help you might not work on the weekend.

Good luck though!

I once made a GLON award reservation directly with the hotel (Hilton Cavalieri) when HHonors could not find any availability at all for months out. There were no problems. I think ultimately it is up to the hotel whether they accept an award instead of $$. Just make sure you have something unambiguous from them in writing that they will indeed, so that there will be no misunderstandings afterwards. Good luck.

I once made a GLON award reservation directly with the hotel (Hilton Cavalieri) when HHonors could not find any availability at all for months out. There were no problems. I think ultimately it is up to the hotel whether they accept an award instead of $$. Just make sure you have something unambiguous from them in writing that they will indeed, so that there will be no misunderstandings afterwards. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. That is why I prefered to do it via email rather than phone - for the documentation. Unfortunately, the original response could be ambiguous:

Dear London Contrad:

I was interested in using a VIP GLON 6 night award for arrival Dec 16, 2004, departing Dec 22, 2004. Do you have rooms available at that time? Please advise by return email.


Dear Mr Travelalot5,

In response to your enquiry, we are pleased to inform you that there is availabilty on the dates requested.You will have to contact HHonours in order to made your HHonours reservation. Please take my name as a reference(see below).
Should you require any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.


Best regards
M..... M......
Reservations

That's a very bad response by the hotel. They are not addressing your specific question about award availability, but just indicating that they have general availability, which is strange, because you specifically asked about availability for using a GLON.

If I were you, I would call the hotel, tell them that you understood that they do have award availability from their e-mail, that you have already made flight reservations based on that, but that then HHonors said they cannot help you, so you are coming back to the hotel now. I guess you would have to try to speak to someone senior...try to explain your situation, and if they appear to be willing to accept a GLON reservation, try to get a confirmation by e-mail.

I'd be careful here, so that you don't get stuck with flight reservations you cannot cancel, and then you have to pay a lot for a hotel room...

That's a very bad response by the hotel. They are not addressing your specific question about award availability, but just indicating that they have general availability, which is strange, because you specifically asked about availability for using a GLON....


attorney..

I don't think that reply is too bad.

In response to your enquiry, we are pleased to inform you that there is availabilty on the dates requested.You will have to contact HHonours in order to made your HHonours reservation. Please take my name as a reference(see below).
Should you require any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.

I would call HHonours reservation and see what happens .... It looks to me that the whole episode will have a happy end .. :cool:

I would call HHonours reservation and see what happens .... It looks to me that the whole episode will have a happy end .. :cool:

I hope so, too...perhaps calling back HHonors and speaking to a different agent might also help.

having just gone thru this at the Metropole -

the HOTEL needs to contact HH Glasgow and TELL them to please release an award..then HH Glasgow sends you the cert and the hotel send you the HH rez info. HH Glasgow is very hard to deal w/ as an indiv but will happily release whatever the hotel tells them to. And I am only a lowly gold!

having just gone thru this at the Metropole -

the HOTEL needs to contact HH Glasgow and TELL them to please release an award..then HH Glasgow sends you the cert and the hotel send you the HH rez info. HH Glasgow is very hard to deal w/ as an indiv but will happily release whatever the hotel tells them to. And I am only a lowly gold!

Squeaker - thanks for sharing your experience.

This is my most recent email from the Conrad:

Dear Travelsalot5,

Thank you for your email.

I am happy to change your reservation so that you can use your HHonors reward points towards your stay. However you will have to contact HHonors yourself to get the award certificate issued for 6 nights from December 16, 2004 to December 22, 2004 for Conrad London.

I look forward to seeing you next month.

Best Regards,

xxxxx xxxxx
Duty Manager
Conrad London

I'm guessing that this email will be all I need along with a 6 night VIP award. HHonors said it was up to the hotel to handle how they wanted to charge for the room and wasn't necessary to change the status of the reservation.

All the segments cleared for upgrades and we're off next month for a great pre-Christmas in London. I don't deserve to be this fortunate. Thanks for all the help.