Introduction I booked a one-night stay at Hilton Belgrade that I subsequently expanded to 2 nights. Because I also stayed at Hyatt Regency Belgrade recently I can easily compare the two properties and the overall takeaway is that Hilton is far and away the better hotel in many aspects except they are stingy with suite upgrades for Diamond guests unlike HR which upgrades elite members generously to suites. Location Hilton is in a good location, about 20-minute walk to the old town, and not far from Metropol Palace (Luxury Collection, Marriott) which is also a key competitor to Hilton. Both of those are better located than Hyatt Regency for most purposes because it’s on the other side of the river. Room I booked the entry level room at Hilton and given that it was originally a one-night stay only, plus the fact that it’s low season and suites were available online, I thought odds were good that we would receive a suite upgrade, but unfortunately it was not the case. I have had good suite upgrade success in other Hiltons chain hotels in Eastern Europe recently (Estonia, Croatia, Romania) so Hilton Belgrade stands out, and not in a good way. This is one of the weaknesses of the Hilton loyalty program: suite upgrades for Diamond guests tend to be property-dependent unlike at many Marriott and Hyatt chain hotels where it’s closer to being automatic especially in this part of the world. It therefore requires some prior researchwith Hilton to find out how a certain Hilton property treats Diamond guests but since this Hilton is fairly new I did not have much information about it and I guess I was the FlyerTalk guinea pig. In any event in terms of non-suites, our room at Hilton Belgrade was nice. The hardware is much newer than at the aging Metropol Palace and Hyatt Regency, which is one of the reasons I wanted to try Hilton. The design of the room is modern, the room was functional, and for an entry level room it is sufficiently spacious. The bathroom looked very good including a marble shower with excellent water pressure. The only thing I wish was different is no hardwood floors - instead it was carpet. Dining We had breakfast in the restaurant and skipped the lounge in the morning and we were positively impressed by the offerings which were far superior to Hyatt Regency. Instead of only having standard western options they also had grilled vegetables, soup, and even fried rice. You can also order from a short a-la-carte menu to go along the buffet which is a plus and they had a juicer to prepare mixes at the desire of guests.In the evening for happy hour 5:30pm-8pm they had four choices of hot food which is better than most hotels (and better than Hyatt Regency Belgrade); they had several protein options such as beef and breaded chicken, in addition to spring rolls, grilled vegetables, etc. There were many choices of liquor in addition to one red and white wine. The lounge is nice and cozy, visually attractive, and was enjoyable at this time of year. In the busier months it might turn out to be a little too small however, unlike the 2-story lounge in HR which is huge. Service Housekeeping was not the most thorough, sloppy in some ways actually. For example we emptied the welcome gift tray that contained chocolates on the first night, along with a couple of bottles of water but they did not bother removing them from the room. In fairness housekeeping at HR was worse so comparatively speaking I temper my criticism of Hilton. Service generally was hit and miss, some nice friendly staff and some others who were more cold. Service in the restaurant was particularly good when staff were not as busy for example the chef came to our table to offer a special pancake dish prepared for guests which was a nice gesture. Despite some positive service aspects, I think they are still not as polished as Hyatt Regency which is a hotel which has been around for much longer, particularly in the lounge where service was great in HR but almost non-existent in Hilton. Wifi Wifi worked very well during our stay with speeds of 25 Mbps which is better than the majority of hotels anywhere in the world and far better than HR which had 5-6 Mbps. Overall Overall I recommend Hilton Belgrade as it does most things well. The location is good, the hardware is new (unlike Hyatt Regency and Metropol Palace which are showing wear & tear), there is an above average executive lounge (better than HR, and Metropol Palace does not have one), and breakfast was surprisingly good. For Hilton loyalists booking at this property should be a no brainer. However when judging value for the money, suites sell for more money for obvious reasons, and that’s one way how loyalty programs add value to guests. When I booked at HR I instantaneously received a suite upgrade so for stays where I need more space, I might be willing to forego the new & shiny hardware at Hilton in favor of HR. If not, then Hilton wins in almost every other aspect besides service. For guests without elite status and who will pay cash, given that HR and Hilton are usually priced roughly in the same range during week days I would say Hilton is the much better choice (HR tends to be cheaper on weekends). When booking with points, assuming Hyatt points are in the range of 3-4 times more valuable than Hilton points, then booking with points at Hyatt will be cheaper than at Hilton, and that is more in line with the inferior product at HR in my opinion. To close the loop on comparisons with other hotels, if I cared about a new property in a good location besides Hilton, I would probably pick Saint Ten instead (Small Luxury Hotels chain) which is equally new to Hilton and at least there I would get a one-category room upgrade as elite member of SLH, which is better than the non-meaningful upgrade to “exec room” for Diamond members at Hilton. However Saint Ten does not have a lounge and is more expensive than Hilton so all in all Hilton is a solid choice.