gregory_king

I have travelled the world, but rarely with my family. But what a surprise when I tried to book a room for myself, my wife, and my two-year old daughter at the Hilton LGW.

I found that while there quite a number of substantial discounts available on the Hilton web page, none of them apply if you put a child in the room with an adult. HHONORS desk first claimed that the fire code did not permit a child in ANY room with two adults due to occupancy restrictions. That seemed odd, but possible. Then I was told that the only room I could get was a non-discounted "family" room for GBP220.00. When I pressed, I was told that I could also book a room under the "Hilton Global Savers" program, which let me put an extra bed in a standard queen room (and ONLY a standard queen room) without any additional charge,and at what is probably the lowest rate in the hotel (GBP106.50). When I asked if I could get this with a more expensive king room and pay the different, I was told no.

Can anyone explain the logic they are operating under?

What am I missing here?

MisterNice

I would never never do this but, since you got really stupid answers to perfectly good questions.........the Hilton LGW hallways are always littered with portable wheeled beds all morning and sometimes all afternoon. So be creative and do it yourself. Any maid will give you extra bedding if you ask nicely. I hear it works in Las Vegas too.

MisterNice

jan_az

I have stayed at that Hilton a number of times. The Massage lady ( American) is wonderful. Have you tried calling them / I normally pay about 80GBP booked directly.

I think the issue is that the rooms ( I've only been on the executive floor) are fairly small - its basically a transit hotel - attached to the airport. I'm not really sure where I would have put a crib. Since she's only 2.5 how about booking a king bed and having her sleep with you and your wife for the 1 nite. If you are planning to spend more than 1 nte- this is not IMO the hotel you want to be in

Janet

gregory_king

Thanks to both of you. For the point of having her sleep in our bed -- I agree that it is an acceptable option (Lord knows she does it enough at home where she has her own bed!). However, I am not joking when I tell you that I tried to do this at a Sheraton property (cannot recall which) about a year ago, and because they saw my wife and daughter with me at the check-in, they said that they wouldn't give me my room since they saw that there were going to be 3 people in the room and that it violated their policy. They told me to book a suite instead.

Since then, I make sure that every hotel confirmation specifically shows two adults and one child.

I thought about risking it -- just checking in with them waiting somewhere else, and just going up to the room, etc. But it will be our last night of a long European vacation, and the last thing we need is some random act of corporate policy ruining it. Since I was
able to work it out (albeit without any real understanding of the underlying thought process), I decided to let it go. I posted only because I thought that perhaps someone had some specific knowledge of the policies regarding this stuff. Particularly with the airline stuff on Flyertalk, I am always amazed by how much "inside" information the eltie travellers seem to know....

jan_az

Also-

If you are not yet gold, be sure and register for the EWRC(?) promo to fet instant gold. Check in at this hotel, as you can imagine, is chaotic and you want to be able to use the honors checkin. Also, even if they will not put you on the executive fllor - the should give you access to the lounge. Its evening snack is ussually enough for me to make dinner at, if you don't want to trek back to the MacDonalds in the airport <g>. they have a nice continental breakfast and plenty of 'sweet' cereals for the little one

Have a great vacation

I personnally have long since given up trying to figure out why cetain policies exist

Tolarian Wind

That would be EWRDC

Call 800HHONORS Option 7

Ask to enroll in the E-Rewards promotion

TW

Karen2

OK, so clutter is in, after all! Arrived Gatwick 3 PM, whisked to 3rd floor lounge for check-in! Smooth, despite lounge hostess just getting a new computer. No questions asked - Gold member. They were ready for us and very accomodating. Canapes in 45 min! Breakfast in the lounge tomorrow and free shuttle to north terminal. You can walk through a tunnel directly from south terminal. No suite but king non-smoking as requested.

If Bulgaria has free internet in the lounge as Gatwick does, I will report on that hotel also. Funny anecdote on that one. Called Hilton, agent says "What hotel?" I say "Sofia, Bulgaria." She says, "I didn't ask for your name. I want the name of the hotel!" She needs to get out more often!

Canapes in the evening, no dessert later. Free wine and alcoholic beverages. Canapes were just that: mini-chicken Kiev balls, mini-tiropites, little Chinese dumplings, and some cold pastries which should have been hot.

Breakfast in lounge is great: meat, cheese, sweet rolls, cereal, lox (no bagels!). On to Bulgaria!

[This message has been edited by Karen2 (edited 09-01-2001).]

GEJIM

Stay at airport for one night or go into London

af fp

Go into London if you have time.

UKTony

Also it's undergoing major building works at the moment .. refurbishment and extension.

FTraveler

If you have an early flight out the next morning, staying there makes a lot of sense. You will have time for a leisure breakfast and it's a quick stroll to South Terminal. The Executive Lounge is okay. Not much in the way of snacks, but there were 2 PCs when I was last there in March.

Otherwise, stay in London. Be sure to leave enough time to get to the airport. Factor in the transfer to Victoria and the Gatwick Express (about 35 minutes).

On my last trip, my seatmate told me a harrowing story. He stayed in London and the Gatwick Express train took 50 minutes. For some inexplicable reason, it stopped for 15 or so minutes. He barely made the flight. Don't know if this is a common occurrence.

boywunder

I would like to hear any comments/tips on experiences at the Hilton London Gatwick. I am considering staying here. Also, any tips on transport into London from the hotel property. Thanks.

LLM

We stayed there on an award the night before a morning flight. They said our room was an upgrade...I'd hate to see the regular rooms. They are small and older, your basic British hotel. Beds were comfortable and bathroom was almost as large as the room. Housekeeping claimed the hotel had no luggage racks so I used a chair. We got an amenity of a fruit plate but no breakfast coupons which was fine as they had great food in the US Air club. We couldn't eat dinner at the hotel as there was an hour wait for the restaurant so we walked back to the terminal and ate at Pizza Express.

To get into town, take the Gatwick Express directly under the terminal to Victoria Station. From there you can get anywhere by tube or taxi.

Wingnut

I found the room OK. Nothing special, but nothing as bad as littleleaguemom's experience. Roomer larger than I'd expected. I bought the cheapest rate from hilton.com and I think I was silver at the time (but I did have a good record on scoring upgrades with silver status in the UK ).

My only complaint from my stay was the service at breakfast. While they were the only Hilton I've ever come across which has offered a smoking section at breakfast the service from breakfast waiting staff was frankly hopeless. Slow, forgetful, etc etc etc. Not the best thing in the world if you're grabbing a quick bite before a flight... (FWIW the majority of rates at UK Hiltons normally include breakfast - although I don't know whether this applies to an award stay).

The hotel is connected to Gatwick (can't remember which terminal) by walkway, so no need for a shuttle bus. If you're needing the other terminal there's a very quick and regular airtrain thing between the two.

littleleaguemom is spot on about getting into town - Gatwick Express is by far the best option. The airport's actually quite a way out of town (but only takes 30mins on the Gatwick Express). If you're staying for more than one night for an early flight, I'd recommend staying more centrally as it won't be much more expensive (and if you get the Metropole on a non-conference day it'll probably be cheaper!). NB that the Gatwick Express is not a 24hr service - nothing from London between 00:30 and 04:30 or in the other direction between 01:35 and 05:20.

Sylvest941

However, there are hourly "regular" trains (i.e. cheaper, but stopping at intermediate stations) during all night