Hilton HHonors - Hilton & Birthdays

Hello everybody!

Just a quick question here:

Does anybody knows if Hiltons do / give something extra for "bithday-guests"?

We're staying at the Hilton Antwerp in about two weeks and it's my travel companion's birthday on the second day of our stay there... I was wondering if I should call the hotel to mention it... What are your opinions / experiences with stays during a birthday??

Hoping to get some answers / experiences from you :)

PS. I don't know if it matters, but I'm a HHonors Gold VIP member :rolleyes:

I've let them know in advance, sometimes it results in a great upgrade + other benes. For sure it cant hurt. I send them an email confirming the reservation and then remark that I'm celebrating the occation at their hotel and hope for a nice upgrade being a gold! ;)

I kind of doubt it. Maybe if your companion was turning 80 years old or something. My kids have lost teeth at hotels before and the tooth fairy did show up. :)

You could always go to Baskin Robbins or Denny's and they will probably give you something for the birthday boy or girl.

Hilton Sorrento left a nice bottle of bubbly for my birthday. Hilton Cyprus left a birthday cake and a bottle of wine for hubby's birthday.

Doesn't hurt to mention it at time of booking, or email the hotel a few days in advance of arrival.

[QUOTE=Jeeves

You could always go to Baskin Robbins or Denny's and they will probably give you something for the birthday boy or girl.[/QUOTE]


Wow! I did not know they had a Denny's in Antwerp. Thank you, Flyertalk!

They saw it was my birthday from my profile when I checked in to the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne and upgraded me to a beautiful corner room and gave me a complimentary bottle of Australian wine as a birthday gift. I LOVE that Hilton ;-)

They saw it was my birthday from my profile when I checked in to the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne and upgraded me to a beautiful corner room and gave me a complimentary bottle of Australian wine as a birthday gift. I LOVE that Hilton ;-)


This was a really nice gesture and I am sure that you appreciated the thoughtfulness and the surprise.

However I feel sick at the thought that some people expect special treatment and if fact remind Hilton that it is their birthday. The grasping and greed of some FTers really amazes me.

This was a really nice gesture and I am sure that you appreciated the thoughtfulness and the surprise.

However I feel sick at the thought that some people expect special treatment and if fact remind Hilton that it is their birthday. The grasping and greed of some FTers really amazes me.

I am shocked at the sort of people here. You would think a website devoted to nothing but the relentless pursuit of getting benefits from travel and only frequented by people who are interested in maximizing such benefits would have more... um... less greedy... uh... wait a minute.... shocked, I say!

This However I feel sick at the thought that some people expect special treatment and if fact remind Hilton that it is their birthday. The grasping and greed of some FTers really amazes me.
:rolleyes: Hear, hear... but I think most of us feel quite at home in this community where you expect first class flights, luxury accomodation etc. - and free of course! (ok, for miles, so what?).

Last time I got some Belgian chocolates at the reception - I think there was a popup in the system - at least I did not say anything. ^ I already had the best room in the hotel with a stunning sea view, fruit, water and red wine - but that's what I'm used to... :D

ps. since it is your companions birthday and not yours, I would call in advance if I was you.

:rolleyes:

ps. since it is your companions birthday and not yours, I would call in advance if I was you.

Maybe the entire staff will come to your room and sing Happy Birthday

Well, I'm one of those greedy ones :D

I will be at the Hilton Paris Arc de Triomphe for my 20th anniversary in December.

Wonder if I tell them that (or the Diamond Concierge), then there might be Champagne, flowers, and chocolate waiting for me in my room? ^ :D

I stayed at Hilton last month for my wife's birthday. They didn't
offer anything special.

Well, I'm one of those greedy ones :D

I will be at the Hilton Paris Arc de Triomphe for my 20th anniversary in December.

Wonder if I tell them that (or the Diamond Concierge), then there might be Champagne, flowers, and chocolate waiting for me in my room? ^ :D

My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon last year at the Hilton Malta and I mentioned via email that we were going to be there on our honeymoon. The hotel was great -- they recognized us at check-in, gave us an upgrade to a beautiful suite, and left a bottle of sparkling wine. All this on a points stay and as a lowly Hhonors Silver member!

Also spent a couple of nights at the Cavalieri Rome on the honeymoon trip -- they gave us a fantastic room (a great hotel, I bet most of the rooms are nice) with a view of the city.

I am of the belief that if you are on a special event you should mention it -- it cannot hurt and perhaps they'll do something nice for you.

I always have the res agent put a note in my ressie that it's my birthday. I don't email or call ahead to say I hope they'll do something special for me. If it happens great, if not no worries.

Since it's for a companion, don't mention that you've contacted the hotel in advance so that if the hotel doesn't do anything there won't be a let-down, and if they do it will be a pleasant 'surprise'.

Cheers. Sharon

We have successfully scored 100% upgrades for special occasions by notifying the hotel ahead of time. Flowers, wine, gifts are sometimes prrovided but are more rare. For children/grandchildren we have solicitated help from housekeeping to "leave" gifts which we have previously purchased off property.

The Hilton Buenos Aires gave me a very nice cake on my birthday occassion. (I didn't prompt it, but I think my friends may have.)

PLEASE put notes on your reservation if you have a special occasion. Do you have any idea how boring it can be checking in one after another of the same generic reservation?

Your average desk clerk has quite a bit of latitude on upgrades/comp stuff. Give them a reason to pamper you. (But don't lie-- if you get caught, you'll become notorious, in the bad way.)

In fact, for an extreme example, I've personally gone looking through reservations on a very busy day to try to find some couple with an important anniversary I could give the Presidential Suite to. (I found a 20th, as I recall. As it turned out, they hadn't been away from the kids in a decade. Pretty much made everyone's day.)

PLEASE put notes on your reservation if you have a special occasion. Do you have any idea how boring it can be checking in one after another of the same generic reservation?

Your average desk clerk has quite a bit of latitude on upgrades/comp stuff. Give them a reason to pamper you. (But don't lie-- if you get caught, you'll become notorious, in the bad way.)

In fact, for an extreme example, I've personally gone looking through reservations on a very busy day to try to find some couple with an important anniversary I could give the Presidential Suite to. (I found a 20th, as I recall. As it turned out, they hadn't been away from the kids in a decade. Pretty much made everyone's day.)

Here is hoping that someone like YOU will be checking us in at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe in Paris for our 20th anniversary on Dec 6, 2005 ^ :D

While staying at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket, I received a birthday cake and note from the hotel in my room when I returned from the pool. I didn't put anything in my reservation, however, when Tomoyo (the person who checked me in at the HHonors desk) asked me why I was visiting Phuket I mentioned that I came for my birthday. I expect that's the reason why. It made my day extra special since I was 10K miles from my family at that point.

My husband and I booked a reward stay in the Cancun Hilton on our 35th anniversary in Aug. (Hope they're all OK!). We received a personal welcome from the Director of Sales when we arrived, were upgraded to the suite right below the penthouse, and got a delicious cheese/fruit/cookie tray on our first night. Lovely!

PLEASE put notes on your reservation if you have a special occasion. Do you have any idea how boring it can be checking in one after another of the same generic reservation?

Your average desk clerk has quite a bit of latitude on upgrades/comp stuff. Give them a reason to pamper you. (But don't lie-- if you get caught, you'll become notorious, in the bad way.)

In fact, for an extreme example, I've personally gone looking through reservations on a very busy day to try to find some couple with an important anniversary I could give the Presidential Suite to. (I found a 20th, as I recall. As it turned out, they hadn't been away from the kids in a decade. Pretty much made everyone's day.)

Bless your heart - you sounds like a wonderful employee. As a Diamond, I'm lucky if I get get a king bed, despite email to Front Desk Manager, converstaion with Front Desk Manager and checking in on a day with a projected 50% occupancy. Heaven forbid I asked for gingerale as a "special request".

Seasons Greetings to you and your family.

Bless your heart - you sounds like a wonderful employee. As a Diamond, I'm lucky if I get get a king bed, despite email to Front Desk Manager, converstaion with Front Desk Manager and checking in on a day with a projected 50% occupancy. Heaven forbid I asked for gingerale as a "special request".

Seasons Greetings to you and your family.

Have you MADE SURE your HH profile has the right default preferences? Depending on how your reservation is booked, when the clerk pulls up your record to check you in, if you have something like "double double if available" as a default in your profile, it will override what is in the individual reservation. That would be the only thing I could think of to explain your bad luck.

Now that I think about it, I've been fortunate to work under managers who actually cared about making guests happy. You can tell by the tone of the office when you get there...

Have you MADE SURE your HH profile has the right default preferences? Depending on how your reservation is booked, when the clerk pulls up your record to check you in, if you have something like "double double if available" as a default in your profile, it will override what is in the individual reservation. That would be the only thing I could think of to explain your bad luck.

Now that I think about it, I've been fortunate to work under managers who actually cared about making guests happy. You can tell by the tone of the office when you get there...

yes - have checked several times re: profile.

While staying at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket, I received a birthday cake and note from the hotel in my room when I returned from the pool. I didn't put anything in my reservation, however, when Tomoyo (the person who checked me in at the HHonors desk) asked me why I was visiting Phuket I mentioned that I came for my birthday. I expect that's the reason why. It made my day extra special since I was 10K miles from my family at that point.

What a lovely surprise! It's so heart warming reading these nice little touches. Would seem a shame and ruin the charm if it stated to become expected.

Well one of my bookings in Osaka includes a night there during my 20th birthday. Wonder what type of perk they could offer me?

I've personally gone looking through reservations on a very busy day to try to find some couple with an important anniversary I could give the Presidential Suite to. (I found a 20th, as I recall. As it turned out, they hadn't been away from the kids in a decade. Pretty much made everyone's day.)

Kudos to you! When i told the hotel it was my friends'ss birthday i asked them to deliver a cake to the room before we got there so she'd be surporised when we arrived. They delivered to the wrong room! oh well.

What a lovely surprise! It's so heart warming reading these nice little touches. Would seem a shame and ruin the charm if it stated to become expected.

Sure was a nice little surprise, something I didn't forget. I also thanked her for the cake when I saw her a few days later on a separate stay.

I dont say anything but last time I did get wished happy birthday on checking out and am sure my birthday had something to do with the great upgrade to corner suite (on a cheapie rate but diamond).