Excuse me if this has been covered somewhere else on here, but I wonder if anyone can help with a query.

Last year I received a "Be my guest" certificate due to a problem with one of my stays, which says:

"Redeem this certificate for one night of complimentary lodging (standard room and tax only) at any Hilton Hotel worldwide"

There are no other conditions on the certificate or how to use it (I tried to do it on hilton.com but although it has a serial number it wasn't possible). I phoned Hilton reservations and tried to use it for the new Conrad in New York and the lady was very nice but it sounded like she had never heard of a "be my guest certificate" before and said she would make a note on the reservation that I was using it. I asked if it was certain it would be accepted she said she would have to check. After a short while, she said her supervisor had said it could not be used in a Conrad as it was not a Hilton and the Conrad was a suite hotel and didnt have standard rooms.

Although I can see the reasoning behind it, but what if I wanted to use it at a Hampton Inn or Doubletree etc. I have never had one of these certificates before so have no idea how they work and just want to make sure that what I have been told is correct? I just want to use it for 1 night in May (on a Monday night) and they have special opening rates available for $299.00 but I'd like to use the certificate for something nice as it supposedly can be used in any Hilton worldwide.