Originally Posted by
hfly
It really depends on the property and the agent more than anything (leaving ones frequency at an individual property out of this equation for a moment). I have been at properties that have never seen a LTD before, and front desk managers have asked to see the card "in real life" and they pass it around, and I have been at properties that probably see 2-3 LTD everyday. You can guess which ones give the better upgrade. Similarly, I have had agents (or perhaps their managers that have better reviewed arrivals) make a big deal about me being LTD without me saying anything, and properties where they literally are reading off a screen, and the agents barely know that Diamond is "bigger" than Gold.
Been Lifetime Diamond since the program was announced. We slmost never book a suite but Treatment varies and much of this is pre covid but Asia definitely recognized and treated us well...Beijing Waldorf Shanghai Conrads in Seoul Bali Tokyo Bangkok Hong Kong Singapore all received suite upgrades almost every time we stayed over a multi year time frame. Interesting suites like a two story in Beijing airport and river view in Shanghai and best location in Bali club suites..end wraparound suites in Bangkok Early check in and late check outs when needed.
US hotels not so much. Hawaii last December no suite upgrades and on big island no special treatment. Much US stays are in mid tier Hilton brands so nothing to really upgrade.
Europe varied in upgrade experiences but we also found that reservation manager do review incoming guest reservations and we received many welcoming messages and we do try to be that nice kind of guest that will yield good results for return stays so we are treated well in London. When we changed a reservation and the hotel was fully booked they adjusted the resevation in a day to make it work. A beautiful upgrade/price for a suite in Budapest Castle with the most magical view. Upgrades in Dubrovnik and Prague and Vienna.
Australia also very inconsistent.were there multi times per year.was upgraded to presidential suite once in Sydney ..junior suite over New Years one time which is the highest of high season in Sydney..and then sometimes no upgrade. NZ is too small a presence and too low end in the level of hotels Hilton has..with the exception of Auckland to really matter much. Waldorf in Jerusalem doesn't recognize anyone as special. Suite upgrade in Doha a couple of years ago but no upgrade in Dubai even though we had 3 rooms.
breakfast outside of the US has almost always been included whether we had 2 or 3 in the room.
Net net LTD has been a positive for us and keeps up loyal and coming back. There are old favorites we keep returning to and always on the lookout for new properties.
We are not resort travelers either as you can see our data points are mostly city properties so different types of perks to be had between city and resorts