Hilton HHonors - Thinking of moving to HGI from Courtyard

Hi gang... I've been pretty much a Marriott Rewards guy for the last several years, but HGI is beginning to intrigue me.

They continue to come in #1 on J.D. Power and it seems they may finally have enough penetration (300 or 400 properties?) so that there are options in most of the cities I travel to.

I'm curious: Anyone who has stayed at HGI - what do you think? What is their guest service culture? Do they "get it" regarding hospitality for a typical business traveler? Are they doing better than Courtyard at service these days?

I'd appreciate any thoughts from those who have stayed at HGI. Will help me decide if it's proper to "make the move." Thanks!

I used to split my business between Marriot and Hilton.
Never stayed at the Fairfield Inns but quite a bit at Hamptons.
The HGIs in many cases are newer, and the attitudes seems a bit better than what I was used to at the Courtyards.

Marriott's no smoking policy halped me make my decision to move most of my business to Hilton, although I am finding that some of the HGIs are totally no smoking which isn't a problem, I just go outside and don't smoke in the rooms.

The Hilton Diamond level award is pretty good. Great way to get a room sometimes when the hotel is indicating sold out, etc.

I had a stay at the HGI in Detroit a week ago, and a few things ticked me off. No late checkout on a Sunday, I had to call two times for the shuttle, and my room was right next to the elevator (my preferences are always AWAY from the elevator).

I sent a note to the Diamond Desk, and hadn't gotten a reply in a few days, and thought the complaint was going to be ignored, like 1/2 of them in the last year have (2/4). Instead I got a nice note from the Manager of the property, and a full reversal of the charges, which was way more that I expected.

In general, I really like the HGI properties, and will often choose them over almost all over Hilton brands.

I have stayed at the lower and mid priced properties of both Hilton and Marriott many times. HGI is my favorite, I always pick it when close and priced close to CY or some other Marriott property.

Advantages include:

Larger rooms
New and very good bedding
free high speed internet
micro wave and fridge
Cook to order breakfast (outstanding) free to Diamonds.
Larger point reward value than Marriott properties.

If you are Hilton Diamond, this is a no brainer versus Courtyard.
The CY's are older and they don't offer Platinums even a free breakfast.

If your not top tier elite then it's a slightly harder decission since I think the HGI 's charge $11 for the breakfast.

I have recently switched to HH from MR. I find that HH treats all its customers well (except for promos :) instead of just those who are upper tier members. And with the recent threat of enforcing the govt rates for govt employees only (no contractors) I feel very happy with my decision.
And to answer your questions, I have found the HGIs to be newer and nicer overall than CYs, in general. The newer CY compete but I think fall a little short of the HGI.

I've not stayed at many Courtyards, because I'm a relative latecomer to MarriottRewards. (I regard it as my third-tier hotel program. :) ) The ones that I've stayed at did not seem to be as new and as nice as the HGIs I've stayed at. And the complementary cooked-to-order breakfast at HGIs for Diamonds and Golds is a big deciding factor to me as well. I was surprised to find out that it wasn't an elite benefit at CYs for MR Golds or Platinums. So if price were similar, I'd definitely choose an HGI over a CY.

CY vs Hampton Inn would be more of a toss-up for me. I'd probably go for the CY, but I'd have to think about it, depending on price. On the other hand, I just experienced my first SpringHill Suites last week (Devens Common Center in Massachusetts), and was pleased. It was built just a couple of years ago, so I don't know whether it's representative of the brand or not. But if it is, my own personal general ranking might be:


Hilton Garden Inn
SpringHill Suites
Courtyard
Hampton Inn

I never fail to be impressed by the HGI breakfasts (free for Golds/Diamonds). I think they rank as the best of all the Hilton family hotels in this regard.

I'm in the midst of this process myself. I've been a MR Gold for many years and have been slowly moving toward Hampton's. Most CYs are getting a bit long in the tooth. I stayed at one in Houston recently that was basically a Fairfield without the plastic drinking glasses. I found a promotion online to grant me immediate Gold status with HH, and it appears easier to qualify for status w/ HH than w/ MR. I do like the Springhill Suites quite a lot though.

I think the HGI 's charge $11 for the breakfast.$9.95 yesterday PHX. What's CY, $12.95 ?

I've got about 40 days between 2 different HGI's this year. Being quite new to the traveling lifestyle, I can't speak for CY (or many other properties for that matter). But I have been quite pleased with the quality and service I have seen so far. Both were constructed within the last few years so they both felt newer and cleaner. And now that I just made gold, the free breakfast makes it that much better!
Also, I believe Hilton is supposed to upgrade all of their HGI's by the end of this year. A handful of them have already been upgraded (better beds, ergonomic chairs, widescreen TV's, etc).

I've stayed in a few CYs when they were the property closer to clients, but I far and away prefer the HGI properties.

I stayed more than 60 nights at Garden Inns and a few at Hamptons, last year. (Only thing available near projects out in the boonies.) Another factor I would add is that the HH Gold and Diamond products are not very distinguishable (especially re breakfast)... The good side of this is that it's advantage HH over MR, in my view -- e.g., you only have to earn Gold.

Also, I don't remember if there's free internet in Courtyards. There is in the HGIs and the HIs, some with both a wire and Wi-Fi, for everyone. This and the breakfast are why I'm quite happy with them (even a bit over the regular Hiltons). I'd rather have these than a big lobby and porters.

I have not experienced the refurbished HGIs, so in my opinion the beds were a little lacking, comparatively. Actually, I liked the Hampton Inn rooms (esp. the beds) much better. But the breakfasts at the HGIs are as good as at Embassy Suites.

One other thing: The Garden Inns I've stayed in all have one architect (although some can be mirror images of others). That can be a good thing or a bad thing. But then, the same can be said of most Courtyards.

Also, I don't remember if there's free internet in Courtyards. There is in the HGIs and the HIs, some with both a wire and Wi-Fi, for everyone. This and the breakfast are why I'm quite happy with them (even a bit over the regular Hiltons). I'd rather have these than a big lobby and porters.


Oddly the only Marriott properties that DON'T include free internet service are the full service Marriott and Renaissance properties.

Oddly the only Marriott properties that DON'T include free internet service are the full service Marriott and Renaissance properties.

...Same with other chains, as well. Shame it's not automatically free at the high-end properties, although I think free internet is one of the amenity choices for elites at them now. You choose either a treat or free internet or bonus points.

I actually returned to this thread because I forgot another advantage with HiltonHonors: "Double-dipping" (points and miles in different combinations) for each stay. Others more attentive than me have probably done the math and reported here re what is sacrificed for this, but I like seeing something in both accounts after a stay. (And the .5 point at Southwest is better than 500 miles at the other airlines.)

By the way, I have almost lived in Hyatts (mainly) and Hiltons over the years; I'm not a Hilton rep.