zipual

I have absolutely no standing with HHonors, always staying at Westin or Hyatt, but I have got a room here in the end of August that
states...."1 KING BED TOWERS ROOM 26TH FLR CHECK-IN..PRIVATE CONCIERGE..LOUNGE TURNDOWN..FAX MACHINE..SHOESHINE..ROBES.." Does this mean I will be able to partake of the Lounge Access?

kokonutz

milesandpoints: when is/was your stay? Would love to hear your impression!

milesandpoints

koko,
It will be this coming week Wed-Sat. (Actually made the reservations for my Sister and brother in law) I just got off the phone with them and they said my rate was entered as $239/night for a towers room. When I booked it was a $94 rate and I have a towers HT upgrade cert . The only thing I can think of is I added a 1 night and since it was booked almost solid, they bumped up all the rates. I was able to talk to a supervisor and get $99 for the first 3 nights and $137 for the last Saturday night. Not bad but I realize my HT certificate is home (I am in Tampa now and wont return until next Friday) and she suposedly needs it at check in... Any Ideas? They have my Gold Card and the reservation is in my name. Think it will be a problem?

I'll let you know what they think. If its nice, I'll probabally go there before the end of August..

milesandpoints

They checked in Today with no problem and said the room and view is beautiful. Thanks Hilton. I'll give a full report when they get back...

kokonutz

I'll be VERY happy to be poven wrong in this case!!!

milesandpoints

I talked with my sister and she said the Stay in New Orleans was wonderful. The room was very nice with a Seperate Sitting room and a nice view (Was right next to the Towers Lounge) The service was good, however, when she checked out, they had charged her for the Full Towers Rate ($239) for each night. However, she brought it to the attention of the Concerige and it was quickly fixed.

She did note that the hotel was very busy with a convention, but the room and towers floor was a nice escape. It is close to the French Quarter and the Riverwalk, but a short walk everywhere else. The Towers lounge had a great view below.

In short she had a great time and thrilled with the Hotel. Hopefully you all can have a Similar experience there. I may try and go in Sept..

kokonutz

Well, looks like I'll be trying Hilton Riverside New Orleans again on August 16...despite my previously stated opinion I just can't seem to resist requalifying Gold. We'll see if I'm treated better checked in under my own name vice my wife's...I'm always more than will to become a convert .

[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 07-19-2000).]

milesandpoints

Good Luck Koko,

Let me know how things go..

Russ21Atl

I'm wanting to stay Sunday, 2/25 through Wednesday, 2/28/01.

I checked online for a rate, and I got $309/night. I'm not doing that.....

So....I redeemed (online, which was cool) 85,000 points (wish I could of used a PointStretcher award) for a free three night stay.

Here are my Qs:

#1 One of my three nights falls on a blackout date (Sunday night). Should I ask for them to waive it since its only one night? Do I call the HHonors Service Center, or call the hotel directly? I know to book the reward stay I must call the service center, but didn't know if the hotel itself could waive blackout dates.

#2 When staying on a free hotel award, can you ask to be upgraded? (I am Gold VIP)

#3 There is a new Hilton Garden Inn not too far (4 blocks) from this huge hotel, and they don't have any blackout dates during my stay. So, I'm wondering if I should just stay there.

Any info/help would be greatly appreciated. I really enjoy all the insight I get from you fellow FTers.

Thank you all in advance.

Russ

[This message has been edited by Russ21Atl (edited 01-21-2001).]

Eugene

Russ -- I'm not sure about the ability of an individual property to waive that blackout date, but it never hurts to ask. You may try to call the general manager and make your case compelling enough. Nothing to lose!
On your second question, upgrades are not supposed to be dependent on the type of stay (e.g., award), but rather solely on your VIP status. Adam Burke stated it several times here. And on your last question, you may try to do a combination of one weekend night award at HGI (20,000 points as it is an executive level hotel), provided there is any availability on the night of the 25th, then move to Sheraton New Orleans on the Canal Street, which shows availability for the following 2 nights at the rate of $159 (or $209 for that Hilton NO Riverside) at this web site: http://www.turbotrip.com/usa/la/neworleans/ .
Hope it helps!

Russ21Atl

I was nervous about hotel rooms going pretty quickly since Fat Tuesday is 2/28, so I called Hilton this morning.

I called 1-800-HHONORS last night, and asked to book an award reservation. The agt txfrd me to another ext. and the recording informed me that their office was closed.

So...I wait until 8am CST to call 1-800-HHONORS this morning (I could of called at 7am, but got my time wrong by an hour) and I waited on hold for 13 minutes (the hold music, btw, was the same as the recording I got last night once I was txfrd). When an agt finally picked up, I asked to book an award stay. Again I am told she cannot do it, and she txfrd me to another ext.

So....finally I get an agt that can process the booking. I already pulled the cert. online last night, so he just verified that and asked what hotel. I asked for the New Orleans Riverside Hilton, and he asked for my arrival date.

I told him 2/25 for three nights, and he said "done deal." No mention of a blackout date or anything.

So...I'm all set. I guess I'll just try for an upgrade at check-in.

One Question:
Should I call the hotel directly, just to confirm the reservation etc, and ask them to put me on a waitlist for the upg (or does a process like that even exist?)

Again, thank you all for your input.

[This message has been edited by Russ21Atl (edited 01-22-2001).]

TravelWeary

Bring your hiking boots--It is a long way from the rooms to other parts of this big hotel. Having said that, I had a lovely room right on the river where I worked at the desk and watched barges and riverboats going up and down the river. Lovely.

Russ21Atl

I just wanted to bring this back to the top. (And this was my 250th post, so now I'm a FT Evangelist )

My question now is regarding the upgrade possibility. I'll be there during Mardi Gras, and I'm not sure if that is going to be an easy time to upg, or a hard time to.

Anyone have any ideas?

[This message has been edited by Russ21Atl (edited 02-18-2001).]

PremEx

I made some comments about an award stay and upgrade at this property in:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/000564.html

Tomphot

On every stay I have, paid or award, I call the reservation line and have them put my request for an upgrade in the comments section of my reservation.
In Dec. in London, I had 2 rooms on an award and 1 room paid. I ended up with 2 suites and 1 reg room, all on the concierge floor.
It wouldn't hurt to also call the hotel direct and make sure they hold a good room for you.