Actually, the web form is far better than an email. Information entered from the web form will be immediately entered into Hilton's complaint/compliment system. That ensures that it will be addressed within a pre-determined time frame. It's also the official method that complaints/compliments are sent to individual hotels.

With an email, there's no guarantee (any more than the form) that it will get read. There's always a chance it will get accidentally deleted or forgotten. That won't happen with the web form.

From my experience working in both hotels and in a hospitality call center, I recommend complaining "up" and complimenting "down".

With property complaints, always start at the local supervisor/manager. If she or he does not resolve the issue, you can escalate to the General Manager. If that doesn't work, move up to the chain level.

For a compliment, start at the top. The compliment will get registered at the chain-level and then sent downward, giving the biggest impact. Compliments registered at the chain-level are always used as part of the property review process.

As a former Revenue Manager, I completely disagree. Cancelation past the deadline are a daily reality in the hotel industry. The chance that anyone at the corporate level is going to care is slim to none...particularly if the OP notes that "this hotel has my business for life now" because they made an exception.

Also, consider the fact that anyone association with revenue management isn't going to be reviewing complaints/compliments about specific hotels.

My advice: Don't hesitate to let Hilton Corporate know about this sort of situation.