Hilton HHonors - Hilton Stockholm Slussen hotel

Stockholm's first Hilton called Hilton Slussen opens soon. There were advertisments in today's press for staff. The hotel is of course the existing Scandic Slussen. Hilton now owns the Scandic chain. The hotel is in a great location with beautiful water views.

This will be the first Hilton in Sweden.

Grrrrreat !!!

I've stayed there previously - nice hotel with super location, but expensive (well it is Stockholm, I suppose!). Rooms were very well equipped, but small. I look forward to my Diamond upgrade here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I see a KLM mileage run to Sweden coming up... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif - hear that, kempis? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I hope their executive rooms are bigger than those down the street at the Sheraton http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

From my experiences of both, JJeffrey, I wouldn't bet my house on it !!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rcs85551:
I see a KLM mileage run to Sweden coming up... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif - hear that, kempis? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif</font>

I wonder why everyone is flying KLM this year http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Just let me know when you will be here.

Hilton Stockholm Slussen opens February 2002.

Now we just have to wait for some kind of special rate the first couple of weeks http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

After the hotel opens, any thoughts on how long it will be before they allow reward stays at the Stockholm Hilton? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

That's a Great News! Now we have an alternative place to stay and accure miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I tried to book a room at the Sheraton for the first week in May, The Starwood's web site tells me that there are no rooms available from May 2nd to the 7th? ??????? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif




[This message has been edited by AndrewM (edited 01-28-2002).]

Does anyone know the estimated or exact date when the hotel becomes a Hilton?

The Scandic Slussen changed signs to Hilton last Thursday. It can now be found on the Hilton website: http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml?moreDesc=true&ctyhocn=STOSLHI

Thanks for the update. This is great news. I will have to make the trip up to Stockholm sometime this year.

Any one stayed at the newly opened\converted Hilton Stockholm Slussen ?
HHonors Web site lists as an Executive level hotel - one level above opportunity. :{
Your comments are very much appreciated. I am planning to visit Stockholm next month and haven't decided whether to stay there or The Sheraton next door.

Thanks,
AndrewM

IIRC, this is a converted Scandic property. I remember walking by it when it was a Scandic last fall, looked alright but nothing to write home about.

Same here... It didn't look much from the outside, doesn't appear to have much of a view and I probably won't bother with it... For me, when in Stockhom, only the SAS Strand hotel will do! The location, the friendly service, the "business class" rooms and the view have me coming back every time http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Hufflepuff (edited 04-08-2002).]

I've stayed recently at all 3 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Would agree with the posts above.
#1 SAS Strand (but expensive !!!)
#2 Sheraton
#3 Slussen (a poor 3rd !) However location is good, with many bars etc. close by http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I'm making my first trip to Sweden this June and was thinking about staying at the Hilton Slussen. Does anyone know what a good price is for that hotel. Best I found was 1900sek for a twin room.

Also, how does it compare to other hotels in the area?

Thanks!

That hotel has some fans but I am not one of them. It has some very good rooms facing the water but all other rooms really suck being about a narrow alley away from the opposite building. It makes an otherwise glooomy winter day even gloomier and the furnishings being dark doesn't help. They also have a policy of putting anyone who isn't paying very high rates in those bad rooms regardless of status.

If you can be assured of a room with the water view, then it is OK. While the area has some interest of its own, it is a bit of a hike to the City center if you want to get there and traffic most of the day makes it very long to use a cab. It may be faster to do the fairly long walk. The old city is within walking distance though.

Personally, I don't recommend this hotel as not providing good value but then Stockholm really sucks as far as hotels are concerned anyway and is expensive.

I just use one of the Scandics in the city center on my visits if I am not staying at the Sheraton that is very well located albeit also expensive.

I had a much different stay than venk at the Stockholm Slussen. I had a view of the water, just over the highway crossing it. It was a few blocks walk up to the subway, which I found very easy to use. The hotel was nicely furnished with a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant which I got free (the hotel did not have a lounge at that time.. I believe it does now).

I really liked the hotel. They brought me a fresh fruit plate and water daily.

The rate I paid was 1350 SEK. My stay was in August 2002 though.

If you have lots of hilton points, check out the scandic properties in Stockholm. They are still 10k points per night! I got 9 nights at various Scandics this past summer in both Sweden and Norway. What a steal!

It appears that the Stockholm Slussen has joined the club of shame and no longer gives executive lounge access to VIP Golds, just Diamonds.

When did this happen? One person from FT use to stay at this hotel all the time and he is just GOLD and he has always been able to use the lounge as far as I know.

Direct question and call to the hotel yesterday. Reason: Too many Golds. It does seem to go against any report filed here.

Hmm, my whole purpose for maintaining Gold is for the perks in the overseas hotels and primarily for access to the executive lounge. This is, in my mind, a major benefit of Gold status. If this becomes a trend and other Hiltons start denying access to Golds, I will have to seriously re-think my hotel stay strategy. What is the point of working to get elite status if the benefits one is expecting are denied? Very discouraging.

I quit staying in Hiltons a couple of years ago because of increasing non-compliance of hotels towards Golds. Stockholm Slussen was one of them. So it is not a new policy. They have never been happy about that lounge access policy.

HHonors customer service was pathetic when it came to addressing this issue and started giving all of 1000 points to make me forget about it. That is when I decided to give up on HHonors.

This increasing non-compliance is most visible in international hotels because traditionally most of them have been exceptional towards Hilton Golds.

I haven't set foot in a Hilton property for about a year and a half and I am still a Gold. They are giving out Golds like candy.

If I was turned away from lounge access I would rebook the remainder of the trip elsewhere. It is a published benefit and must be honoured. What are they thinking?

Shame on Hilton if this is true.

"It is a published benefit and must be honoured. "

Umm, it isn't a published benefit for hotels outside the USA other than for Conrad Hotels.

It states

"At Hilton hotels outside the U.S. with Executive Floors, Gold VIPs will be provided with a guest room on the Executive Floor, whenever possible. In cases when there are no Executive Floors or where Executive Floor accommodations have been fully booked, Gold VIP members will be offered a complimentary continental breakfast each morning or an alternative special amenity. "

It makes no mention of there being a requirement to provide lounge access. If they want to restrict lounge access it looks to be quite permissable.

Dave

"It is a published benefit and must be honoured. "

Umm, it isn't a published benefit for hotels outside the USA other than for Conrad Hotels.

It states

"At Hilton hotels outside the U.S. with Executive Floors, Gold VIPs will be provided with a guest room on the Executive Floor, whenever possible. In cases when there are no Executive Floors or where Executive Floor accommodations have been fully booked, Gold VIP members will be offered a complimentary continental breakfast each morning or an alternative special amenity. "

It makes no mention of there being a requirement to provide lounge access. If they want to restrict lounge access it looks to be quite permissable.

Dave

Yup, that is true. Here is something I posted last year.


Most original International Hiltons all had executive floors and a lounge and as a Gold or Diamond, you just got put in the Executive floor no questions asked and given access to the lounge that always had breakfast available. The published rules were quite sufficient for the exceptional cases, when you could not be put in the executive floor or for the rare hotel that didn't have an executive floor.

Then things changed. Hilton brought less-then-full-service independent hotels, low-cost chains, etc., which had no concept of executive floors/lounges, then the economy and hence the occupancy went down and HH started minting Gold cards like there was no tomorrow.

In this environment, when Hotels started looking for means to reduce costs, the HH benefit rules as stated were woefully inadequate and especially in hotels which converted to HH in brand but not in spirit, the concept of an upgrade at any price was seen to be particularly burdensome. Hence, one started to see literal interpretation of the HH benefit rules.

The international HH benefit rules literally interpreted can do things like put you in an Executive floor without lounge access when the access is not automatic from the floor (Hilton Quebec), in a non-executive floor with no breakfast coupons or lounge (Hilton Slussen), etc.

I quit staying in Hiltons a couple of years ago because of increasing non-compliance of hotels towards Golds. ....
This increasing non-compliance is most visible in international hotels because traditionally most of them have been exceptional towards Hilton Golds.

Venk , What hotel affinity program do you recommend then, particularly for international stays and benefits (e.g., upgrades, free nights, executive lounge, etc.) for a person having the equivalent of HH Gold status?

This is “breaking news” for me :eek: I have 6 stays so far this year at Hilton Stockholm Slussen. I have been provided with lounge access on ALL these stays (always booking the lowest available rate).
My last stay was on May 7, no problems with the upgrade to executive floor this time either.

Just came back from Shanghai where I stayed two nights at the Hilton, after the reception desk punched in my name they said “you are welcome to continue to our Club Lounge on floor 37 and they will have your Executive room prepared”. Got lounge access during this stay, so no problems using my Gold benefits at Shanghai Hilton either :)

Venk , What hotel affinity program do you recommend then, particularly for international stays and benefits (e.g., upgrades, free nights, executive lounge, etc.) for a person having the equivalent of HH Gold status?

I don't know if there is an ideal one if all you can do is around 16 stays. If that is all I could do, I would probably stay with HH Gold as it is still the best mid level tier around for international travel but just have to be prepared for inconsistency and lower expectations.

In my case, I am able to make SPG Platinum even with the increase to 25 stays (but not Hilton Diamond) so that works out better than HH Gold for me even with some inconsistecies in getting the "best room available" etc. Many international SPG hotels have a "lounge" in their better floors. Just cannot count on it. Easy award availability makes up for any shortcomings.

I think an automatic entry to all exec lounges by all Golds and Diamonds is unrealistic. Too many of the executive lounges are way too overcrowded now (think: Kensington Hilton, Hilton LAX, NYC Hilton etc). I assume itsa because of HH handing out of gold cards like cheap candy at Halloween.

Hilton should adopt a policy similar to Hyatt, ie give out an upgrade cert to the middle tier elites for every 3 or 4 stays while allowing comp access to the top tier elites.

MisterNice

I don't know if there is an ideal one if all you can do is around 16 stays. If that is all I could do, I would probably stay with HH Gold as it is still the best mid level tier around for international travel but just have to be prepared for inconsistency and lower expectations..

Thanks for your honest appraisal. I normally do greater than 16 stays but less than 25, and many are at HI's, so I guess I will stay with HH for now. I will just have to check this forum assiduously and make our "freebie" vacation plans accordingly or else, as you say, lower my expectations.

I am arriving Arlanda about 8pm on a Friday night. Previously I stayed at the Sheraton where I took the Arlanda Express to Central Station and then just walked.

I'm not sure if you can walk from the station to the Hilton even with just a roller board type bag.

If not, will a taxi take you or is it just too close?

Also, is it worth 40,000 points per night. Best rate is SEK 1950/USD 263.

You can walk from central station but I wouldnt want to in winter or weather's bad as its quite a hike across Gamla Stan and then short distance up the hill. The metro has a stop just by the Hilton and also has escalators and so would probably be best.

Not sure I'd go there on award though - a Scandic for 10,000 points is much better value (although rooms and facilities more basic).

Save the points and stay at Scandic Continental which is just across the road from the centralstation. If you are gold dont expect to enter the lounge. Several reports about this hotel on this board.

I am arriving Arlanda about 8pm on a Friday night. Previously I stayed at the Sheraton where I took the Arlanda Express to Central Station and then just walked.

I'm not sure if you can walk from the station to the Hilton even with just a roller board type bag.

If not, will a taxi take you or is it just too close?

Also, is it worth 40,000 points per night. Best rate is SEK 1950/USD 263.


:confused: The Stockholm Slussen is a Category 4 hotel according to the Hilton website = 30,000 points/night.

Sorry-it is 30,000 points. Looks like the Scandic Continental is sold out for Sep 23.

I am sure there are other Scandics in Stockholm.

I would go for the 10,000 points/night at the other Scandics in Stockholm. 1 night at the Hilton Stockholm Slussen or 3 nights at the Scandic Continental or Scandic Anglais (depending on what you will be doing)... I say go for the 3 nights. Scandic Continental is very conveniently located.

If I remember correctly, it would be a long cold walk to the Slussen from Central Station. However, you can do it on the subway since there's a stop a few blocks away from the Hilton. Just do it as Arlanda Express/Metro with just two stops.

The metro stop is not a few blocks away from Hilton Slussen it is almost underneath it.

Scandic Sergel Plaza is also walking distance from the centralstation.

Hilton Slussen is a 10-min walk form Central Station. If you are carrying any luggage, I'd recommend a taxi or the underground, that has a nearby station (Slussen).
For the hotel, I've been there but only in the conference rooms and the lobby. It looks nice but I can't say anything about the rooms.

Has anyone stayed here? Comments?

Thanks.

Simon

My husband and I stayed there last June. I was gold at the time, but did not get upgraded to a suite. The room was very small, but nicely decorated. we had a queen bed, a tv, and a small closet. The bathroom was larger than I imagined and all marble.

They offered a nice breakfast spread each morning. I don't remember if it was complementary for all, or just elites.

If you have specific questions, please let me know.

I'm also very interested in this since my GF and I (gold) will be there on 04/29. Got a non-refundable rate for a standard queen room.

Did you get an upgrade to the executive floor or, if not, access to the executive lounge? Since the rate does not include a breakfast, (where) will we get a complimentary breakfast?

Thanks very much for your insights in advance.

Dave

We stayed there and got a microscopic room with a train line under it. Despite both being HH Gold we were told that they only give upgrades to Diamonds as there are too many Golds in Scandanavia

I have had a 100% upgrade luck at this property (as Gold). Always booked the cheapest available rate and always been able to enjoy the Executive floor with access to the lounge. I guess it all depends on how much one stays here, and I am a frequent guest here which I think helps. Never even had to bother discussion this with them since upgrades has been done prior to my arrival.
I like this hotel and they really care about their guest (even from the first stay). Once I stayed here at my birthday and 5 minutes after arriving to my room they came up with a nice collection of cakes, home made chocolate truffles and a bottle of red wine, not bad for just being a simple Gold member!!
They can be sure to have my business whenever I visit Stockholm!
PM me for any special enquiries about this Hilton.

Interesting that there are experiences so different from each other - well, I will see what we get.

I hope we can get a breakfast since our rate doesn't include one. OTOH the rate difference to one with breakfast (same room type - weekend in style) was ~73EUR. We should be able to find something to eat in Stockholm in the mornings for a much smaller amount.

Dave

We were at this Hilton in July, 2004 for 3 nights on a reward stay. Oh, my...what an experience! The room was actually 2 rooms, one had the beds and a tv, the other a desk, couch, chair, minibar, and another tv, 3 closets that lit up when you opened them. The room was done mostly in wood and was amazing. The bathroom was all marble, with interesting windows that opened up weird ways. We couldn't figure out how to control the bath/shower and even had an employee trying to figure it out, too. A breakfast buffet was included in a dining room that had all sorts of things to choose from. It was very nice.

Whilst we're on the subject of Stockholm, does anyone have any experience of Scandics in Stockholm, I was particularly thinking of the Scandic Continental?

Thanks

I am planning a leisure-trip to Stockholm this summer. As I am a Gold VIP I wouldn´t mind staying at the Hilton there. So if anyone has stayed at that Hotel and could comment or wants to suggest alternatives it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I am planning a leisure-trip to Stockholm this summer. As I am a Gold VIP I wouldn´t mind staying at the Hilton there. So if anyone has stayed at that Hotel and could comment or wants to suggest alternatives it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
-----------------

I've stayed there and I liked the hotel....It has a good view over the river if your on a higher floor (and obviously facing the river)....Nice gym...not too far from a metro stop (can't remember which one).

The other good hilton alternative (IMO) is the Scandic Continental...its right across from the central train station and is probably cheaper especially if you book a little in advance. The rooms are standard with really good buffet breakfast.

Enjoy

My advice is to save your money(or points) and stay at Scandic Continental for 10.000 points/night.

txl - any feedback would be appreciated. I too am thinking of Stockholm, possibly for summer 2006. Thanks and safe travels.

We just stayed 7 nights at the Scandic Continental in Stockholm. The breakfast buffet is fairly good. The gym is pretty weak. We also got upgraded to a VIP suite. As a HH Diamond, you get 100 SEK per day vouchers PLUS 25% off in the restaurant. You can use the vouchers on the day they are dated, or the day after. It makes the food reasonably priced. Overall, not a bad place to stay.

Whilst the Stockholm Hilton is very nice, Golds don't get much there. Only a Diamond will get Exec Floor access.

I'm Gold VIP and booked for the Hilton Stockholm.
What may I expect there?

Just stayed there for a weekend. Golds and Diamonds usually get upgraded and access to Executive Lounge. The rooms here are very small - we had a mini suite and even that was small. The lounge is quite small but with great views. Breakfast is below par, drinks and snacks in the evening are OK but very cheap wines and spirits and once the food has gone it's gone. Late checkout was easy to get despite the hotel being very full with cruise passengers. Overall OK but compared to Budapest or Prague the HHonor experience is very average

I had a different opinion of the hotel...the rooms are a bit small. But the view of the river is excellant if on an upper floor facing the river.

I liked the breakfast buffet...all you can eat and a decent amount of different items available....the lounge is available with free drinks and newspapers and is pretty good....the hotel also has an excellant gym...I like this hotel much better than the Scandic Continental though its not as conveniant in terms of the train station. Also the staff was overall pretty sharp.

I'd agree with MacDaddie Lounge was great, breakfast very nice and evening snacks really good.

ALthough the rooms are small, if you can get one with a view it is fabulous.