ingy

That was the price difference for last night. I checked online before I called, repeated the hotel name, date and room type during the call, and then booked 5 minutes later online for $99. Saved $180 by having an internet connection.

How can they justify that?

omegadeal

When you say booked online, did you mean Hilton.com or other mainstream site or was this Priceline, etc? It seems like a big difference to me.

ingy

Hilton.com $99 before the call. The call to Central Reservations $279. Hilton.com after the call $99 booked.

MileageAddict

When getting a quote on the phone, I ALWAYS ask "is this the best rate you can give me?" More often than not, I am offered a lower rate.

MIKESILV

Anyone who doesnt know this gets to pay what they deserve
Conversely when booking on line do you pick the highest or lowest rate shown?

mike

LongingForORD

I usually go one step further, when they ask "can I book that for you?', if I hem and haw a bit, I usually just say "that's too much money", most times they come back to me with some other type option (sometimes it a good option, and sometimes not).
If you find a rate on line and you want to call, just tell them what you found on line and ask if they can do any better.
You don't get, if you don't ask!

johnndor

Tell them the rate, and sometimes they say that it is an internet-only rate (possibly with no cancellations) and they don't have access to it. Whenever they can find it and want to book it for me, I tell them I want the online booking bonus, and they understand.

cordelli

That's not at all uncommon. Usually if you are on the phone with them and ask for the $99 rate online they can give it to you.

I was reserving at a Hampton when we were moving, each day the phone would ring and we would find out if we were going to close that day or not, usually around 5. One time I wasn't near a computer, called reservations at one of the hotels we were using, and their best rate was $229 or whatever. I said can I have the stay and stay and shop rate instead?

Type type type. Sure, that will be $59 for the night.

It always amazes me that so many people won't go the extra few minutes to find lower fares, rates, whatever on their travel bookings, but betting the industry plans on that.

soitgoes

I thought this post on a linguistics blog brought up an interesting issue...
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1842

Bluefan75

Sounds like they meant to say "complementary," as in it complements the access you are paying for in the room.

Of course, that may get a few people's attention and not draw in as many suckers, and well, you just can't have that.

Chicago Wine Geek

I'm staying here for 2 nights next week. Any updated reports?

Christian K

Its a decent hotel with nice rooms and a ok lounge.

dranz

It's my favorite Hilton property in the area. I don't understand the page 1 gripe about
parking ... use the garage that is under the lobby area.

The lounge is good; not great. Good.

DELee

I think the gripe about parking is dependent upon where your room is at relative to the basement parking. I've stayed here and had my room closer to the elevator at the end of south/west wing. Clearly with inclement weather, the parking garage is the place to go but it can be a bit of pain to get to/from your room as well as the executive lounge if you're not close by the lobby elevators.

I also can't remember if the executive lounge has any windows or not since it is on the inside curve of the building. That may also explain why I remember it being a bit dark and cave like. Or it may be a function of being a West Coast person having to get up at 3 AM Pacific Time to be at 7:30 AM Eastern meetings.

David

mauiUAflyer

I'm writing this from my room at the IAD Herdon Hilton. I stayed at this property last December as well.

I'm really ready to stay somewhere else. This place has "issues". I remember being unhappy with my stay last time, and again this time.

The biggest issue has been the internet. When I arrived in my room, I tried to log on, entered room# & name, and it told me it didn't recognize me. I tried calling the Customer Care number (front desk?) No answer after ~12 rings. I called the LodgeNet help number, they tried calling the desk as well, and no answer for them either. It took them a while, getting my MAC addresses, but they finally got me connected. But the connection isn't great, and drops all them time. I started with the wireless, but that would disconnect too often, so I switched to the wired. But even that is unreliable and slow. I tried to Skype my wife, and it took a while to get through, and then kept freezing up. Finally I just called her from my cell phone. Getting my work email has been tough as well. The internet here is just substandard.

The folks at the front desk are nice, but there isn't much offered for a Diamond here. I did get a very big room (not a suite), which is nice, on the 4th floor. But minimal ammenities, no robe. Room is clean, but I have noticed some squashed pretzels on the carpet near the elevator that have been there since yesterday.

The gym is pretty nice, and big, with a good number and variety of machines. However, funky hours on the pool & jacuzzi, so I didn't get to try those.

Parking underground is convenient. Especially with the snow outside. The food at the bar/lounge is fine. The executive lounge is lacking, with not the best hours, and no free drinks. I did use the one computer up there to print out my BP's. It worked, and better than the Business center computers I tried to use last time.

It isn't necessarily easy or convenient driving here at night from the rental car lots.

Highs: the gym
Lows: the internet problems; general dinginess of the hallways; low-energy staff.

Not the worst hotel in the chain, but I'm ready to try somewhere else, and won't miss this place.