Eujeanie

I also think that these newer hotels, who are not ingrained in the Hilton family, are resentful of all the Hilton Diamonds who flock to them clutching their FNC's in their hot little hands, demanding all their benefits. I've been following the same scenario with the new ex-Hard Rock Virgin hotel in Vegas...many complaints about no diamond recognition, a breakfast benefit that does cover one single thing on the menu, etc.

But of course we feel entitled to be able to cash in on our freebies and status. As we should.

I've also watched the W-A Beverly Hills - for the longest time the only 95K rooms were handicapped, with the admonishment that you should not book this unless you "need" one. Recently, however, the availability of regular rooms is more the norm, however still 2Q rather than 1K. But it's an improvement that has evolved over time.

Just as a DP, I have a Hilton FNC that I needed to burn on this LA trip. I had rejected the Oceana for reasons I've cited above. My other choice was the W-A BH, but thinking about it, I'm not a BH kind of gal, and what is there to do around there besides shop at overpriced places? (we used to live in LA so have done everything nearby, such as LACMA, La Brea Tar Pits, etc). So believe it or not we're using our 95K cert at a 50K hotel...a couple of things we have never done is some studio tours, so we'll be going to the Warner Bros studios to see all the sets from Friends, the Big Bang, etc., and also Universal Studios....have been many times before but not since the Harry Potter stuff opened...so while I might not get "max value", I'm very happy using my cert for the perfect location for what we want to do. With minimal driving.

The Oceana is still in its infancy with dealing with the Hilton Diamonds, eventually things will level out.