Hilton HHonors - Free Night/Meals - New Chandler, AZ Property

There is a new Hilton opening in Chandler, AZ within the next few weeks. The local paper ran an article a few weeks ago that the property was training the staff ahead of the grand opening and were offering free meals at the restaurant and/or free nights in the hotel in exchange for feedback.

I called the hotel at the prescribed time and was told that all the free meals and rooms were already allocated....sadly, I hung up.

Then the thought came to me - wouldn't it have been more of a "win-win" if instead of offering this opportunity to the general public (many of whom probably never stay at Hilton's or even many hotels for that matter), the hotel in conjunction with Hilton Honors offered it to local Diamond and Gold members based on their home address? This would be a nice pay back for it's top customers, while at the same time, provide them with more meaningful feedback. I would think these top customers are used to Hilton's and are more likely to provide relevant feedback and ensure this property is up to Hilton standards.

Just a thought...now why doesn't Hilton do this?

Good question. IMO that would be the way to go.

Because targeting frequent travelers to provide feedback isn't the same as the random sampling that comes from an open invitation.

It also doesn't encourage local traffic, which, if you're traveling that much, you won't be a regular part of.

That's exactly my point - if you were looking to get feedback from others prior to opening a new business, would you solicit the advice of novices or experts?

I still contend this is a missed opportunity by Hilton.

It's done as a seemingly good will gesture, but it really is designed to try to generate local business and interest. Additionally, many of the "free rooms and food" perks were given out to travel agencies, the local CVB's and sales managers from local Hilton properties for their key accounts/clients.

Hilton isn't viewing this as a missed opportunity in the slightest, as they weren't trying to attract your business as a HH elite.