Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi all,

We wanted to make sure you were aware of a few planned updates to HHonors.com in the coming weeks.

Hotel Category Adjustments
First, we wanted you to know about a few reward category changes before advance notice is given on HHonors.com tomorrow, September 26. These changes, which will take effect on October 8, 2014, will be reflected on the Standard Room Rewards Update page on HHonors.com. We will continue updating the community regularly with changes related to category adjustments.

On October 8, 2014, 21 of our hotels and resorts will be increasing in hotel category, and 12 of our hotels and resorts will be decreasing in hotel category. While HHonors.com will be updated tomorrow with all the exact details, we wanted you all to hear it first. Below we have listed out all hotels changing category and what their new category will be.

Update to Terms & Conditions
In addition, we wanted to give you a heads up that we will be updating our Terms & Conditions, which will be live here in the coming weeks. These changes are minor and include protective measures for HHonors members and the program. For example, Hilton HHonors will reserve the right to suspend or discontinue HHonors membership if:

• A member illegally redeems rewards or certificates
• A member engaged in abusive, offensive or hostile conduct (physically or verbally) toward any hotel, guests, or employees
• Failure to pay any bills or accounts owed to Hilton Worldwide or any hotel within the portfolio takes place

If you have any questions on these two updates, please feel free to reach out within this thread or through PM and I will do my best to get answers for you!

Hotels with Category Increase:

1. The Morrison Dublin, a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel – New Category: 7
2. Conrad Dublin – New Category: 7
3. DoubleTree by Hilton London Victoria – New Category: 7
4. DoubleTree by Hilton London Marble Arch – New Category: 8
5. Hampton Inn Florence-Midtown – New Category: 3
6. Hampton Inn Clarksville – New Category: 2
7. Homewood Suites Richmond Airport – New Category: 3
8. Hampton Inn Silver Spring – New Category: 4
9. Hampton Inn Medford – New Category: 5
10. Embassy Suites Palmdale – New Category: 5
11. Hampton Inn and Suites Ocala – New Category: 5
12. Homewood Suites Medford – New Category: 5
13. Homewood Suites Atlantic City/Egg Harbor – New Category: 5
14. Doubletree Club Hotel Boston-Bayside – New Category: 6
15. Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center – New Category: 6
16. Hilton Boston Logan Airport – New Category: 7
17. Hampton Inn & Suites Ocean City Bayfront / Convention Center – New Category: 7
18. Hilton Boston Back Bay – New Category: 8
19. Hilton Boston Financial District – New Category: 8
20. Hilton Carlsbad Resort and Spa – New Category: 8
21. Waldorf Astoria Chicago – New Category: 10

Hotels with Category Decrease:

1. Hilton Garden Inn Rzeszow – New Category: 1
2. Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa – New Category: 9
3. Hilton Garden Inn Kutahya – New Category: 1
4. Hampton Inn Ordu – New Category: 1
5. Hilton Garden Inn Mardin – New Category: 2
6. Hilton Kayseri – New Category: 2
7. Hampton Chattanooga Airport – New Category: 3
8. Hampton Inn Henderson – New Category: 3
9. Hampton Inn Jacksonville East/Regency Square – New Category: 3
10. Hampton Inn & Suites Center – New Category: 4
11. Hampton Tucson-North – New Category: 4
12. Hampton Shelbyville – New Category: 4

Thanks!
Erin

controller1

Erin,

Thanks for the heads up.

Hilton Honors Ambassador

^

That's my job!

Cheers,
Erin

PreferBulkhead

May I post your information on another board?

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Absolutely!

Thanks for asking.

Cheers,
Erin

PreferBulkhead

Cheers - will PM you the link so you know where it went.

BotB

It is great to see this information in advance of the general public notices so thank you for listening to us and our request to be among the first to hear of such announcements and responding in this positive manner to your social media outlets first Erin (and Hilton). A very big thumbs up ^

I do have a question about the category changes...would appreciate any answer you might be allowed to give on this...

Do you adjust the category up / down based on customer feedback or is it based on other criteria such as revenue targets? Really, I guess I am asking if any of the reviews on here or TA affect the category adjustments directly after a while?

Thanks

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi BotB,

Thanks for that positive note! We're happy to share these updates with you.

I'm circling back with my team and will provide answers to your question as soon as I can, so stay tuned!

Cheers,
Erin

arlflyer

Translation: "Thanks for the great idea. We now have 10 quants with PhDs developing the TripAdvisor, Yelp, and FT data mining algorithms as we speak. Further category 'updates' will be forthcoming."

beltway

Erin, thank you for posting this info.

One request: instead of starting a new thread every quarter, can you please post these updates in a single common thread? That way, those of us who use the FT "subscribe to thread" feature will see the updates automatically instead of having to hunt down new threads. (The prior thread on this topic was http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...-presence.html.)

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi beltway,

Absolutely - we decided to group these announcements together versus post in two different threads. All future category adjustments will be posted within this thread.

Thanks for the feedback!

Cheers,
Erin

elkhornne

Thanks for the post. ^

Hilton Honors Ambassador

Hi there,

When evaluating properties, we use a standardized set of criteria across the portfolio consistently, primarily based on the room rate trends of the hotel. The brand of the hotel is not considered when we assign categories.

When we identify a hotel that is no longer placed in the appropriate category, typically due to changing market conditions, we make an adjustment to keep the hotel in line with the defined criteria. This helps to ensure that our members receive a consistent value when redeeming HHonors Points.

Hope this helps – please feel free to reach out with questions!

Cheers,
Erin

BotB

Thanks Erin for the quick and useful reply, much appreciated. ^

pauleeepaul

+1.