Hilton HHonors - Smoking/Non Smoking Rooms - Guaranteed or Request Only?

I recently made a reservation at Hilton.com for the Embassy Suites in San Juan, PR. I checked off a non-smoking room request in the initial search, only to have the website respond with various types of non-smoking rooms for me to select. I selected a non-smoking king. When I printed my confirmation sheet it said:

Room type: King, Non-Smoking Suite.

Since our flight was arriving late into SJU, I phoned direct to the hotel during a late afternoon layover in ATL. I had a previous experience at Embassy Suites Ft Lauderdale where we were "walked" to the Doubletree at midnight due to ES being overbooked (we were on a fully prepaid reservation that time!). The clerk taking my call asked for our flight number and time of arrival, which I gave her. I didn't think to ask if she would set aside a non-smoking room for us while on the phone as my primary concern was to avoid the overbooking situation similar to our Ft Lauderdale experience.

Later that evening, we arrived at the hotel shortly after 11:00pm. The night manager was working the front desk and checked us in. We went upstairs to our suite only to find it a smoking room. I went back to the desk and said there had been a mixup as we had booked a non-smoking room. The night manager said he was sorry, but smoking/non smoking rooms are on a request basis only, and all he had left were smoking rooms. I pulled out my confirmation sheet noting: "Room type: Non-smoking king." He again apologized, repeating it was a request only with no guarantees. All he was able to do was reaccomodate us to a "less smoky" smoking room, and deduct $25 off our bill ($275 to $250). It was too late to set out searching for another hotel, so we just made do.

Okay, so the Hilton.com website leads you to believe you are actually booking a non-smoking room from a respective hotel's non-smoking inventory. And when you book this same property (or any other Embassy Suites for that matter) on sites such as Expedia or Travelocity, the rooms you select are specifically designated smoking or non-smoking.

So what gives? Are these smoking/non-smoking rooms guaranteed, as their reservation system leads you to believe, or are they on request only? Hilton.com seems to go the extra mile leading you to believe you've specifically booked a smoking or non-smoking room, only to backfire at check in!

Well, the other side of this coin is when you are a smoker, book a smoking room and show up to find you've been placed in a non-smoking room with no smoking rooms available.

I've found that more and more Hiltons, in the U.S. anyway, are following suit from what Marriott started several years back and are going completely non-smoking. So, for you, that should be good news.

As far as guaranteed smoking or non-smoking, I don't think that exists.
You make your reservation based on smoking, bed size, floor preference, proximity to elevators, etc. The hotel attempts to accomodate but will give you what they have if they can't meet all your requests.
You request a room, if they have one available it's yours.

As an avide non-smoker, notwithstanding the guarantee or lack thereof, I ALWAYS contact the hotel before arrival to insure my non-smoking room is set asiide regardless of my arrival time.

I recently made a reservation at Hilton.com for the Embassy Suites in San Juan, PR. I checked off a non-smoking room request in the initial search, only to have the website respond with various types of non-smoking rooms for me to select. I selected a non-smoking king. When I printed my confirmation sheet it said:

Room type: King, Non-Smoking Suite.

Since our flight was arriving late into SJU, I phoned direct to the hotel during a late afternoon layover in ATL. I had a previous experience at Embassy Suites Ft Lauderdale where we were "walked" to the Doubletree at midnight due to ES being overbooked (we were on a fully prepaid reservation that time!). The clerk taking my call asked for our flight number and time of arrival, which I gave her. I didn't think to ask if she would set aside a non-smoking room for us while on the phone as my primary concern was to avoid the overbooking situation similar to our Ft Lauderdale experience.

Later that evening, we arrived at the hotel shortly after 11:00pm. The night manager was working the front desk and checked us in. We went upstairs to our suite only to find it a smoking room. I went back to the desk and said there had been a mixup as we had booked a non-smoking room. The night manager said he was sorry, but smoking/non smoking rooms are on a request basis only, and all he had left were smoking rooms. I pulled out my confirmation sheet noting: "Room type: Non-smoking king." He again apologized, repeating it was a request only with no guarantees. All he was able to do was reaccomodate us to a "less smoky" smoking room, and deduct $25 off our bill ($275 to $250). It was too late to set out searching for another hotel, so we just made do.

Okay, so the Hilton.com website leads you to believe you are actually booking a non-smoking room from a respective hotel's non-smoking inventory. And when you book this same property (or any other Embassy Suites for that matter) on sites such as Expedia or Travelocity, the rooms you select are specifically designated smoking or non-smoking.

So what gives? Are these smoking/non-smoking rooms guaranteed, as their reservation system leads you to believe, or are they on request only? Hilton.com seems to go the extra mile leading you to believe you've specifically booked a smoking or non-smoking room, only to backfire at check in!

Just switch over to Marriott and then you will have no concerns. :-) I made the switch and have no room for complaints!

Several Hiltons have switched to completely non-smoking rooms. It says it on the reservations page as well sometimes.

write to Hilton and ask for compensation ... they compromised your health and this is not acceptable. I have never had any problems with non-smoking rooms, but these days I usually e-checkin anyway.

Uhm, how did they compromise the health? No one is actively smoking in the room. Second hand smoke dangers occur only when smoke is present. It does make for a very smelly room though (dirty wet dog in a smoking room smells worse, but I digress).

write to Hilton and ask for compensation ... they compromised your health and this is not acceptable. I have never had any problems with non-smoking rooms, but these days I usually e-checkin anyway.

Do you get upgraded automatically at e-checkin? I am afraid to do that because usually the hotel sees my gold status and upgrades me. Does the e-checkin already account for that?

Thank for all the replies.

As the OP I should say at this point my intention for posting this thread wasn't for a smokers vs non-smokers debate.

My main query is to anyone who might have any insight into Hilton's booking and inventory system with regard to their Embassy Suites product. Unlike any other product I've seen out there, rooms at Embassy Suites display specifically as smoking or non-smoking suites, whether it be at Hilton.com, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. So the question is whether this is merely coincidence the rooms display this way, or is their inventory programmed to designate smoking from non-smoking rooms?

Uhm, how did they compromise the health? No one is actively smoking in the room. Second hand smoke dangers occur only when smoke is present. It does make for a very smelly room though (dirty wet dog in a smoking room smells worse, but I digress).

It can have a very adverse impact on someone's health, particularly if someone is allergic to the cigarette smoke and its residue. I happen to be one of those people. I can usually handle the breathing problems that occur when entering a space where smoking is actively in process, such as a bar, as I will just move to an area where the smoke is not as thick or leave the establishment.

However, I have a difficult time in hotel rooms and rental cars that have been smoked in. The residue in the furniture/seats starts to affect me as soon as I take residence in/on them. I start having severe difficulties breathing and have to rely on a rescue inhaler to resolve the allergic reaction. This is the exact reason why I specify non-smoking in all of my reservations. Personally, I have been given smoking rooms on several occasions, and have left the establishment if they did not move me.

The reservation confirmation e-mail would indicate whether certain aspects of the reserved room are guaranteed or on request, e.g.:

Room Information:

1 Rooms: 2 Adults
Non-Smoking Confirmed
Room Type: TWIN HILTON GUESTROOM

Preferences: Non-Smoking; Away From Elevator; High Floor

Your room type preferences have been submitted with your reservation,
and are subject to hotel availability.

Several Hiltons have switched to completely non-smoking rooms. It says it on the reservations page as well sometimes.

They should all become non-smoking. End of problem (except for smokers, of course :D).

Just switch over to Marriott and then you will have no concerns. :-) I made the switch and have no room for complaints!

I am also in the Marriott program, but seldom use them as their rooms seem always to be 25% more expensive than Hilton. So yes, I would have concerns!