jamesteroh

And even if the breakfast benefit is lousy unless the people have Hyatt diamond status and want to stay at the Hyatt (which is normally a lot more than the three Hiltons in the area) or RA status with IHG and want to stay at the IC they aren't going to find any other better free breakfast at another hotel anyway (and I'm not even sure if the IC in SF has a breakfast benefit in SF).

Even though the Hyatt has a better breakfast and offers a guaranteed 4 p.m. check out for me as a Hyatt diamond I'm not moving my stay there if the hotel costs more and is a less convenient location over a breakfast benefit. The only time I chose the Hyatt over a Hilton in SF is I have a suite upgrade cert to burn and then only if the Hyatt is with $45 a night of the Hilton choices

Duke787

Yeah HR isn't anything special (haven't stayed at the GH) but at least back in the day it was a Cat 4 so you could use the Hyatt Annual CC night there (which I did a couple of times) and it was pretty cheap on points or C&P but alas no longer.

timfountain

I totally agree with this comment. I made already made 2.5x diamond on stays and 2x diamond on points for 2017 and I do not fell special, at all. There is just no differentiation between status matched/CC churners/Corporate give-aways and truly loyal customers. This kind of loyalty can work both ways. I am in the middle of a 4 day stay at a HI, the next 2 days after this will be at a Marriott, couple of days at a Hilton and then it's a Raddisson followed by a boutique hotel....

Hilton, you need to get a lot more intelligent in the how you treat loyal customers.

hugolover

I don't agree with who is to blame. Hilton give the properties a hell of a lot of tools to focus their attentions on their most loyal guests. On the simplest of level is the Best Guest print-out which in my opinion should be available for all employees, it shows the number of stays at the brand, property and systemwide, the guest comments and their room preferences. Obviously a status matcher would have next to no stays.

I see it quite a lot, a Diamond with lifetime 5 stays... plus a lot are on corporate deals that include Diamond such as Accenture.

In OnQ, which the vast majority of the US properties use for check-in, the customer profile shows the star rating out of 3, its literally two clicks from the check-in screen and also indicates all compensation cases/issues.

If they can't be arsed to rank Diamonds, despite all the tools at their disposal: blame the hotel.

However, its entirely absurd Hilton don't set a consistent brand standard for breakfast which is out of kilter with the competition in the mid to high segment.

No incidentals for Hamptons is another grind given they now MUST have a restaurant/bar (in Europe at least).

gaobest

The Thai restaurant (Kin Khao) in Parc 55 is really great for lunch and dinner. I haven't eaten there in awhile but I used to love it. I only don't go because of logistics laziness.

Need

This must have changed since I was there in March this year. They were giving us free upgrades to full breakfast and extra vouchers for our son (3 per room per day). The full breakfast was good.

kpbadger

I think this has always been server roulette. I had over 30 nights there across a couple years, as a diamond. The total number of times I was NOT charged the upgrade fee was 1.

I have not stayed there since January. My employer has a per diem for food. For the same $15 I'd pay to Parc 55 (when tax and tip are figured), I can reduce my paperwork by staying in one of their preferred hotels, be a bit closer to the office, and drop that same $15 in a restaurant I enjoy more.

Parc 55 (and Hilton Union Square) have lost out on ~ 25 nights from me in 2017 primarily due to breakfast upcharges assessed to diamonds. A drop in the bucket I know, but my point is that I am also voting with my wallet for the same reason as OP.

jamesteroh

I think like with getting the upcharge waived at the SF Union square it's totally a YMMV situation. I have been at the SF Hilton with two guests before and sometimes they'll allow the third person breakfast and sometimes only me and another guest. Sometimes they'll waive the $10 upgcharge and other times they won't.

Hilton could avoid this nonsense by simply requiring hotels to give diamonds a full breakfast if there is no lounge, at least at full service properties, which is the right thing to do anyway

Miesque

^

1000% agree

Azureas

I stayed at this hotel 1 year ago.

1st - This hotel was indeed terrible as client experience during the breakfast.
I had a very bad experience with my family.

2d - I am gold again after a long period without and I was quite surprise by the loss of quality of the program.
Before we always have the full breakfast and now it's only a continental. Which will not be ok if they were correct but it's quite never the case. Very often the continental is just bread and bad coffee.

I was a fan of Hilton (even if I am European) and I always tried to go in their hotels especially due to the HH program. Maybe I will go back to Accor finally.

guller

Parking is also valet only and is $70 per night!

Kacee

That's standard in SF.

jamesteroh

I'm at the Union Sqare SF Hilton and every morning there's been about a ten minute wait for a seat at Poached so I can understand why they dont give gold's the same benefit. As many gold's as Hilton has in the US there is no way they could accommodate all the gold's with the same benefit. But I think they should also give more than a $10 per person food credit as well to gold's seeing a yogurt parfait is almost that much. They should give a voucher good for a pastry, coffee drink and piece of fruit like when Starbucks was here.

One nice thing they are doing here now is combining the food credits and you can use it at the bars for alcohol as well.

I noticed on the charge chits they have a box to mark if you are staying at the Parc 55 or the SF Union Sqaure so maybe this is a sign that the Parc 55 will start giving a food credit instead that can be used at either hotel. I would actually like that benefit if I am on work travel and have breakfast included in my conferencee or can expense breakfast elsewhere and Use the breakfast credit for drinks

offstage

In my Parc 55 experience, you can get other drinks by asking. We were brought juice (from the buffet room).

Duke787

Just had a 4 night stay here and have nothing but positive things to say as a Diamond member.

They put me in a corner room on the 23rd floor and I had a fantastic view of downtown and back towards the Bay Bridge. No issues at all with noise - I mean it's a city hotel so of course you'll get some noise from the occasional fire truck / ambulance, but nothing beyond that up on the 23rd floor. Bed was at least a Queen, maybe a King but was staying by myself so didn't really make a difference. Gym on the 3rd floor was a good size and had a lot of pretty new equipment.

Despite being a very busy week (Oracle OpenWorld + Fleet Week), they were able to check me in early including the feather-free (which is in my profile but isn't always honored).

Was offered either free breakfast or a $10/day credit (though they let me consolidate and treat it as $40) to use in the bar for food or drink. Opted for the $40 which is a no brainer with a mini-fridge and numerous Walgreens/CVS/Targets within walking distance to pick up a couple yogurts to have for breakfast each morning.

No issues at all with location - it's San Francisco, there are nice areas and not so nice areas same as any major city - don't walk down 6th and avoid 5th at night. Easy walk to Moscone in one direction and Union Square the other direction. Also right next to a BART if you are using that from the airport (was traveling for work so didn't take advantage but would if I was spending my own dollars).

My usual hotel in SF has historically been the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and I actually liked the Parc55 better than the Hyatt Regency. My next SF stay isn't until next spring and I'll be at the Marriott Union Square for that (ridiculously cheap corporate rate available) but I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Parc55 again, at least as a Diamond.