I stayed at HWV in October on the ALON award and was upgraded but I don't know what I would have had if I had not been HH gold. The room was nice with an ocean and golf course view.

Another idea is to reserve the room without having the points deducted from your HH account. I did that since my wife and I weren't certain that the trip would happen so soon after the September tragedies. I had the award certificate faxed to me just before we left to go to HI. It is a valid concern that they could change the award requirements (I asked about that) but I was assured that it wouldn't be a problem. Assurances aren't always worth much but it was good advice this time.