robinbtigger

I have to say that I wish I had read this thread before I booked my airfare . I may have chosen a different island for the first part of our vacation.

My husband is HHonors Diamond and we have been to the HWV 4 times in the last 6 years and I was really looking forward to another great stay in April booked via the AXON promotion. I had heard that HWV had been cutting back on Gold privileges and I am very disappointed that they have also cut back on Diamond as well. At least it seems the breakfast offering has changed for the better in the past month but I will sorely miss the executive lounge in the evenings and free breakfast for my daughter. I don't look forward to paying for parking and for my 9-year old's breakfast and I certainly don't look forward to a poor view because I didn't pay extra points for a good one.

The line between Golds and Diamonds appears to be non existent. I just read that last 20 pages of this thread but I did not see any information about the spa. It used to be that Diamonds could use the spa (hot tub, sauna, showers, etc) for free. Is this still the case or have my free spa visits also been taken away?

wbl-mn-flyer

If I were to book a hilton stay in Hawaii right now, I'd go the embassy suites route. Especially if you've already been to the Big Island several times.

Everyone gets a full hot breakfast.

Guaranteed suite.

robinbtigger

Unfortunately, I have airfare in place (NWA FF Miles) and island hoppers are already booked from KOA to OGG. Anyway, we stay at the Moana Surfrider when we're on Oahu. No free breakfast there, but it's a beautiful and historic hotel. We were upgraded to an extra large room in the historic wing overlooking the ocean and the banyan tree last visit *sigh*.

PDXOutbound

So just checked in today, 90% occupancy. No upgrade for me after asking and oddly in OLCI it showed my upgrade was granted : (

Saw the post regarding the spa, Diamond members and spouse (so plus one as they put it) get complimentary access to the spa. Coupon for breakfast. We are in a garden view in the ocean tower. If anyone has questions, nows the time to ask and I'll find out. Tram and boat: Working.

mnredfox

I just booked an AXON here for Dec 09 and was very much looking forward to the Exec lounge. Just horrible news.

I've only read the last 10 pages or so of this thread, but sounds like things are going down the tubes. Loss of lounge and chinsy breakfast is enough to make me reconsider.

Hampton's are consistent, one reason why I love them. Hiltons are not. This is one great example.

Wonder what other FT-ers experience is. This is total nickel and diming. IS there really no where else to park overnight (i.e. walk like a mile)?

I guess I don't care so much about boats/trams - though it would be nice to have them running. Sad to hear about low occupancy, you would think they (GM and/or Hilton) would get it and start focusing on great customer experiences. Wonder what is posting on TripAdvisor.

I guess I'm seriously considering my trip here now. I have FF tickets booked, but can cancel for free. Maybe I should consider a vacation elsewhere with my sister. Hmmm....

mnredfox

You would think. Apparently they like to fleece their best customers like DL does.

While this is good advice, it seems sad it has come to this. While many have articulated their thoughts on over-expectations, over-entitlement, etc yada yada yada...it goes without saying that the purpose of Diamond is to recognize the best customers and reward their loyalty with benefits. Seems to me that this hotel is not doing this well. It should be the GM, and then Blackstone who should be held ultimately responsible. This doesn't excuse staff's poor CS etc. If my boss sucks, that doesn't give me the right to treat my customers poorly.

Funny they are going against the grain. With hotels worldwide suffering from vacancy, the majority of them are giving out more perks to attract customers. Either all of them are plain foolish, or Hilton hasn't gotten the point.

Wonder how it will change the next 10 months (before my TENTATIVE stay).

I would have expected the DD to do better. One time I flamed the Hilton Beijing for a bad stay. I got someone from the DD, and CS Mgr from Hilton Beijing who both apologized and contacted me directly. While I don't think we should expect this every time, I would expect them to take feedback more seriously.

+1. Isn't that what being in a service industry is all about? And consistency is what we all crave for. It's lack of consistency that creates upset expectations.

Good advice on burning. I'm in that mode now. All elite levels should be earned. I don't mind status matches or challenges, I do mind the spend $$$ and get Diamond. But that's the world we live in now.

Thanks for the TR. Glad to hear one positive comment on the food. I hope mgmt addresses the employee morale issue. Did the $15 just not show up on your folio? Did you ask about it?

worldtraveller76

The parking was never applied to my folio. I fully expected it to when I checked out but it never showed up and I didnt inquire.

mnredfox

Sounds like you might have gotten lucky. You never know though. Thanks for the update.

Msnowdon

The only benefit we got out of the Executive Lounge was the free soda and bottled water.

I am going to need two rooms this year for our stay in July. Is it possiable to use points and pay for an upgrade to a two room suite?

jmd001

For a 6-night stay two weeks before Christmas 2006, I reserved two rooms using points (a pair of GLONP). At check-in, I asked if could get 1 suite for the 2 rooms. The young lady went in the back for a few minutes. She came back and gave me the keys to a one bedroom suite ... and a connecting second bedroom. No extra charge. (Effectively 3 standard-sized rooms.) Was in the Ocean Tower, third floor overlooking the canal. Miracles do happen!!!

Past performance is no guarantee of future performance...

CARose

Getting ready to plan our golf vacation, and I can't believe the comments about this property. I've been to this property 3 times; the last time was May 2008. How things have changed. Unfortunately, cutbacks are everywhere. Here are my comments on my last stay:

New service offered for Diamond VIP members was GREAT! I got an email 1 week before our arrival to provide our flight information. I did. We were greeted at the airport with a representative; both my husband and I received lovely Lei. The representative told us to get our rental car while they collected our luggage. Within 15 mins of our landing, we got our car, drove back to the arrival area where our luggage was waiting to be loaded in our car.

Now on to the hotel-
As this was my third time to the property, I'm always looking for improvements. Unfortunately, this hotel just "Meets" expectations. In today’s economy and with other hotel chains, Hilton should be identifying and delivering opportunities to "Exceed" expectations.

Room - I was confirmed Ocean View.
As usual, I was upgraded to Executive floor, partial ocean view.
Had to call housekeeping, as I had no toiletries.
Housekeeping was a hit and miss for the entire stay. On any given day, we were missing washcloths or some kind of toiletry. This is not acceptable considering the hotel was not even 1/3 occupied.

USA Today - Shocked! Hilton Honor members receive USA today on weekdays. No Paper! Called the front desk, and told” Not at this Property. We’re negotiating our contract". I couldn't believe this response. If the USA today is not available, then they should have had a local paper, furthermore, the hotel management should have been forthcoming about this in the welcome packet apologizing that there would be no paper. I would have received the honesty had it been forthcoming.

Pool Cabanas- Shocked! The last 2 stays, pool cabanas have been free. We couldn't believe the hotel had the nerve to charge $150 for a full day rental! By the way - we never saw anyone in a cabana in our entire stay. They would rather have them sit empty.

Closed the Pool with smaller waterslide by Ocean Tower. Not that big a deal for us except for getting pool towels.

Gym - Free for Diamond VIP's, used 6 times, lots of equipment, very nice.

Transportation - Boat/Tram -No problems. I read a lot of reviews complaining about the time it takes to get around. We have no problem with waiting. We're on vacation.

Food/Shopping - Check out the new shops/restaurants at the Mauna Lani Resort. You can do much better there.

Golfing - We golfed at both the Kings and Beach courses. FABULOUS. Hotel does offer free transportation to both Kings and Beach courses.

Weatherboy

I visited this property in September and rented a cabana. In addition to the cabana itself, at least in September, they had water and soft drinks flowing throughout the day... along with huge fruit platters.... and cookies and chips. This was in addition to the towel service they had there. While you could have sat in those cabanas for free as recently as a year ago, a good chunk of the fee covers the food/drink and service you get. For Hawaii standards, I didn't think the price was that bad... especially with the volume of food/drink provided then.

BriGuy

Permanently or temporarily?

PDXOutbound

Temporarily.

I just came back from a six day stay there. Good news, the week I was there a new tram was delivered and being serviced.

The boat was running, the tram was running, all the pools/slides were open and running.

The property itself not too bad, but it was at 90% occupancy and felt like it at every corner we turned. The best way to explain our stay: The property is used to 60% occupancy and was not prepared or staffed for a big sell out week, which seemed surprising. No paper in the morning, no wireless in Ocean Tower rooms, not even a mention or chance at an upgrade even though OLCI said we were upgraded oddly.

All the coupons for the breakfast in the Lagoon area caused 15 - 20 minute waits since everyone seemed to cash in their rewards for the stay the week I was there.

The breakfast was ok with pastries, smoked salmon, fresh breads, but no executive floor if one exists there and no lounge as others have posted. The gym was nice.

One item I was mad at: We wanted to open a bottle of wine we bought in Kona, I called for two wine glasses and was going to be charged $10.00 for the service fee to be delivered AND it would have taken over an hour for the glasses. I've never had that before, so I went to one of the restaurants and ended up getting glasses there and having the bottle opened for me.

Next time I go back, I am going to pay for the four seasons and be happy I am not dealing with unhappy people at every turn and getting nickle and dimed at a resort. It was all summed up when I checked out in person to try and explain some of my experience, I told the front desk when they asked about my stay that it was OK since we had a couple of issues. She then said robotically we hope to see you again and to have a nice trip home. I knew at that point it wasn't worth my input if her response was that automatic (checked out at the HHonors counter).

Billiken

I received this offer today via e-mail:
************************************************** *******
Upgrade with Hilton HHonors Points Only at Waikoloa*
Redeem HHonors points for guaranteed upgraded accommodations at the Hilton Waikoloa Village® on Hawaii's Big Island.

A standard room is only 40,000 HHonors points per night. Take advantage of this special limited-time offer and confirm a one-bedroom suite for an additional 20,000 points per night.**

You must call 1-800-HHONORS to book this offer
************************************************** ******

FWIW, I'm a Diamond and had award stays at the HWV in 2008 and 2005.

Apologies if this was already posted, discussed.