travelinfoo

There has NEVER been a award "Diamond Guarantee". The Diamond Guaranteed Availability is exactly as others have quoted directly from HHonors T&C. It is ONLY for PAID stays. The Diamond Guarantee can ONLY be done by phone, not via the website.

The Diamond Special Request, aka Diamond Force, is an unpublished bonus which can allow for extra award availability for Diamonds. There is NO STATED GUARANTEE of an award room. Never has been. As such, it can be denied/withdrawn at any time w/o changing T&Cs.

IMO, it is the BEST Diamond benefit.

UA1K4EVER

"The Diamond Guarantee can ONLY be done by phone, not via the website." Consistent with what the message displayed.

"The Diamond Special Request" not a term used in the message.

"There is NO STATED GUARANTEE of an award room." Inconsistent with the displayed message as this was a search for an reward stay....

travelinfoo

Please show where in the T&C it is stated there is GUARANTEED AWARD availability for Diamonds. Please look up definition of "Diamond Guarantee" in the T&C.

As I stated, Diamond Special Request is an UNPUBLISHED benefit. It will NOT appear in the T&C (or anywhere on the website) as such.

UA1K4EVER

Well, you are missing my point. You should agree that, based on what I had posted, there is ambiguity depending upon how one interprets that message. The T&Cs limits can be stretched by a supervisor any day. Therefore the dogmatic capitalized statements probably are not as rigid as you made them sound. That's all.

piratejo

Just FYI regarding this hotel specifically, its not yet open so I assume all dates in May are showing as unavailable for both paid and award reservations. It's scheduled for a June opening, and I'll be grateful when it does since the other Western hotels in this city aren't great [Although the new Westin at the pazhou opening in March will likely be great]. Last trip to Guangzhou we stayed at the rundown Marriott, a hotel much in need of significant refurbs in both facilities and staff. Thank god Hilton is finally opening something here and that Starwood is expanding their presence considering the size of city, there is definitely a need for hotels.

Regarding the "Diamond Guarantee" language for reward reservations, I'd say its just in there as boilerplate language; there is definitely no Diamond Guarantee for reward reservations, but I haven't been denied a Diamond "Special Request" yet, IMO they really do go out of their way to make these happen if they can.

marinedjp

Here. thought i'd help. you'd be amazed what you learn reading the T&Cs

Diamond Reservations Guarantee:
Reservations availability is guaranteed to Diamond Members when reservations are made before midnight hotel local time, 48 hours prior to intended arrival. Guarantee applies to only one room occupied by the Diamond Member and to reservations made with a valid credit card. Please note that this guarantee does not apply to rates - if a rate for which you are normally eligible is not available, your reservation will be subject to the hotel's prevailing rate for the accommodations requested. Please also note that in some instances, the guarantee may be subject to booking conditions such as length of stay requirements. Also note that in the event you do not arrive as scheduled and do not call to cancel and obtain a cancellation number, your credit card will be billed for one night's room and tax. Additionally, the reservations guarantee is not available during specified Extraordinary Demand Dates at certain hotels and is not available for reservations booked online. To make reservations under the Diamond Member reservations guarantee, click here or please contact our Diamond Member desk at 1-877-444-9847 in the U.S. and Canada. Outside the U.S. and Canada, the Hilton Reservations and Customer Care office nearest you. The 48 hour guarantee does not apply to Conrad Maldives, Waldorf Astoria Collection Beach House Maldives, Hilton Maldives Iru Fushi and the Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Spa.

UA1K4EVER

Thank you for that bit of info about Guangzhou's lack of great western hotels. This Hilton property would thus be welcome for some of us 'sinophiles' who are always looking for places to visit in China.

Based on the T&C for "Diamond Guarantee" posted above that does not explicitly exclude reward stays, your statement that "but I haven't been denied a Diamond "Special Request" yet, IMO they really do go out of their way to make these happen if they can", which is my experience, AND the fact that I have seen the "Diamond Desk" icon with the message I had posted when searching for reward stays at existing hotels (e.g., HHV last year during an overbooked conference week), I suspect that Diamond "Special Request" and "Diamond Guaranteed" might be a distinction without a big difference. In either case one has to call the same number and the hotel would do their best to accommodate, circumstances permitting. In the end, both will depend on the property's decision and largesse...

ORDflyer

Oddly a Diamond Desk CSR yesterday said she could (gasp) "force" me into a room in Austin, TX. I love unequivocal statements that are dead wrong.

newbluesea

And I know of four other instances when the word "force' was brought up to the DD the response was 'what?...oh you mean a Diamond Special request"
Now does that make your statement 80% "dead wrong" ?

UA1K4EVER

It is also conceivable that the CSR could have used "force" literally, without meaning " to diamond-force you into a room", and still made sense.

It is definitely true, at least for the United Mileage Plus program, that most United CSRs have no clue about the terms that we take for granted in FT, such as 1P, UDU, CR1 etc... You use one of them on the phone, there will be a silence then a request for you to explain, or a blank stare, if you happen to be speaking with a gate/desk agent. Only very very few CSRs that know about FT may be aware of the 'patois' that is spoken here...

mnredfox

HH could help this and all of us if they just made a real guarantee for all reservations, paid and reward. That would make Diamond reaching for and a step above gold like it should be.

AAaLot

In the benefit package that I receive from Hilton I assumed 'Guaranteed' meant guaranteed.

As I stated before I knew for months that I would be attending. I use different benefits from different programs for different reasons at different times--I assume that the use of the benefit is part of why I earned it. Part of my plan this time was to use the guarantee.

Now I know that guaranteed does not mean guaranteed--at least with HHonors. Further, it seems that my definition of guaranteed might be very different from others in the forum. Now I know, I will change the definition for future planning.

chandi

I was talking to a business acquaintance of mine attending the expo in question and he mentioned that all the staff from his organisation are at the Hilton and another local property. They have a delegation of over 300 staff so it could very well be that the Hilton is booked out by one single customer.

In a situation like that I don't think they can just make one room available by walking one reservation. I suddenly see the logic behind the "Extraordinary demand" clause.

UA1K4EVER

That thought had occurred to me, as we are organizing a conference in Montabaur Castle/hotel in Germany in late Fall and have preempted the entire property. Thus, it is very difficult for such a hotel or any hotel to "guarantee" availability when they have no clue about who might decide to descend upon them with a large delegation, hence the 'extraordinary demand" clause in the Hhonors T&C. The clause does make sense, and before one makes a stink about not having the promised guaranteed room as a Diamond, think about this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCqm4...e_gdata_player

AAaLot

I agree, however, I don't think my logic as a 'first time user' of this benefit was completely wrong.

As a very frequent traveler (the audience this benefit is for), guaranteed means guaranteed in other frequent traveler programs (i.e. AA). In an ideal world companies marketing to frequent travelers should make their wording consistent--otherwise it might seem that one company is trying to capitalize on the good will of someone else's marketing words.

I see why it easier for AA not to have fine print for this benefit and have guaranteed mean guaranteed. I see now why the exception is needed for a physical property. I still believe there would be a better set of words than 'guaranteed' that could communicate what this benefit does or does not mean.