We have a booking for 13 July at Hilton Reykjavik Nordica (NONREF GREAT GETAWAY).
Lady JDiver spent ten days in ICU, 8 further days in hospital and just came out of skilled nursing care July 5, she is in no condition to travel.
As a courtesy to the property I have attempted to cancel this booking; but calling the number given in the reservation (Customer Care) or the Diamond line won't work - they tell me they can not cancel the booking. Calling the number for nonrefundable / pre-purchased bookings (+1.800.236.7113) seems to have a similar result - the first agent dropped my call after a while, the second tells me as it is an international property (after asking me if the Hilton Reykjavik, Iceland? was an international hello...) I should contact the property directly or start a file, which they will forward to the property General manager and "I should hear back in five days or so".
I doubt I will get any money back as I can read the words "NONREFUNDABLE" - if I did it would be a bonus, of course, but this was an unexpected situation with my wife being taken suddenly ill June 7 and paramedics taking her to the emergency room and a lengthy stay (pneumonia and sepsis) with a lengthier recovery (not walking independently yet, etc.) and
I can't even cancel as a courtesy to the property?
Wow, HH is worse that I ever imagined in its "silos" and bits that do not work together for any reason. In the recent Washington Post article,
Christopher Nassetta: The man who turned around Hilton, the article says (in part):
The hospitality giant was ripe for a makeover. By 2007, Hilton was an also-ran in the hotel industry. It was profitable, but the company was a shadow of what it had been in its heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, when its brand was as recognizable as Coca-Cola or Chevrolet. The company had become an industry byword for poor, Balkanized management.
and
“As we got into it, we found all these things,” Nassetta said. “People were living in ivory towers. Some in Beverly Hills. We didn’t have the connectivity. The hotels were saying, ‘Leave us alone. I don’t like you corporate types.’ We had become siloed.”
Even the posters listing corporate guidelines differed from hotel to hotel, driving Nassetta — who puts great stock in business culture — crazy.
Check it out; some things haven't changed much, Mr. Nassetta.
I guess I will call the property tomorrow and try - using Skype or Pingo. Un-be-youknowwhat-lievable.