"We created a video for your upcoming stay"
Sep 26, 2016, 2:28 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 907
"We created a video for your upcoming stay"
Really randomly just got at promotional email from Hilton for an upcoming stay in 2 weeks (doing one night at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder near Sante Fe, NM USA... it is just a stop-off en-route for a sleep and was cheapest in the area).
"xxxx, we created a video for your upcoming stay. Click below to find out what to expect at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder."
It then goes to a video which shows and describes just goes through the hotel features (e.g. restaurants, bars, site around the hotel, DigitalKey) but includes customised descriptions (i.e. mentions 2 queen beds, the dates of my stay, says my first name, thanking for being a Diamond member). After the video there are buttons to click which took me to details about the hotel which you can access from the usual confirmation email anyway (e.g. amenities, arrival requests, directions, the RoomKey upgrade system, etc). A feedback form was then included asking questions such as whether the video was helpful or not.
I'm not entirely sure of the utility it has for me.At first I thought it was spam or a phishing attack but it was legit. Found it a little odd to be honest. Even odder is that the email (and others from Hilton) are appeared in my inbox as .html attachments. I have to open the .html attachment to view them rather than having them just display inline like the rest of my html-formatted emails. That was another reason I thought it was a phishing attack but I looked at the code first before opening it in a browser and it was fine, just a normal webpage (I'd also emailed Hilton about this strange behaviour before and they said that the emails were legitimate and not a phishing attack).
"xxxx, we created a video for your upcoming stay. Click below to find out what to expect at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder."
It then goes to a video which shows and describes just goes through the hotel features (e.g. restaurants, bars, site around the hotel, DigitalKey) but includes customised descriptions (i.e. mentions 2 queen beds, the dates of my stay, says my first name, thanking for being a Diamond member). After the video there are buttons to click which took me to details about the hotel which you can access from the usual confirmation email anyway (e.g. amenities, arrival requests, directions, the RoomKey upgrade system, etc). A feedback form was then included asking questions such as whether the video was helpful or not.
I'm not entirely sure of the utility it has for me.At first I thought it was spam or a phishing attack but it was legit. Found it a little odd to be honest. Even odder is that the email (and others from Hilton) are appeared in my inbox as .html attachments. I have to open the .html attachment to view them rather than having them just display inline like the rest of my html-formatted emails. That was another reason I thought it was a phishing attack but I looked at the code first before opening it in a browser and it was fine, just a normal webpage (I'd also emailed Hilton about this strange behaviour before and they said that the emails were legitimate and not a phishing attack).
Sep 27, 2016, 6:45 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Seattle WA, USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, AS Lounge
Posts: 3,478
I got one of these before our stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I think I prefer a regular email with written descriptions and appropriate links over this sort of video.
Sep 27, 2016, 10:44 am
#3
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 921
Really randomly just got at promotional email from Hilton for an upcoming stay in 2 weeks (doing one night at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder near Sante Fe, NM USA... it is just a stop-off en-route for a sleep and was cheapest in the area).
"xxxx, we created a video for your upcoming stay. Click below to find out what to expect at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder."
It then goes to a video which shows and describes just goes through the hotel features (e.g. restaurants, bars, site around the hotel, DigitalKey) but includes customised descriptions (i.e. mentions 2 queen beds, the dates of my stay, says my first name, thanking for being a Diamond member). After the video there are buttons to click which took me to details about the hotel which you can access from the usual confirmation email anyway (e.g. amenities, arrival requests, directions, the RoomKey upgrade system, etc). A feedback form was then included asking questions such as whether the video was helpful or not.
I'm not entirely sure of the utility it has for me.At first I thought it was spam or a phishing attack but it was legit. Found it a little odd to be honest. Even odder is that the email (and others from Hilton) are appeared in my inbox as .html attachments. I have to open the .html attachment to view them rather than having them just display inline like the rest of my html-formatted emails. That was another reason I thought it was a phishing attack but I looked at the code first before opening it in a browser and it was fine, just a normal webpage (I'd also emailed Hilton about this strange behaviour before and they said that the emails were legitimate and not a phishing attack).
"xxxx, we created a video for your upcoming stay. Click below to find out what to expect at Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder."
It then goes to a video which shows and describes just goes through the hotel features (e.g. restaurants, bars, site around the hotel, DigitalKey) but includes customised descriptions (i.e. mentions 2 queen beds, the dates of my stay, says my first name, thanking for being a Diamond member). After the video there are buttons to click which took me to details about the hotel which you can access from the usual confirmation email anyway (e.g. amenities, arrival requests, directions, the RoomKey upgrade system, etc). A feedback form was then included asking questions such as whether the video was helpful or not.
I'm not entirely sure of the utility it has for me.At first I thought it was spam or a phishing attack but it was legit. Found it a little odd to be honest. Even odder is that the email (and others from Hilton) are appeared in my inbox as .html attachments. I have to open the .html attachment to view them rather than having them just display inline like the rest of my html-formatted emails. That was another reason I thought it was a phishing attack but I looked at the code first before opening it in a browser and it was fine, just a normal webpage (I'd also emailed Hilton about this strange behaviour before and they said that the emails were legitimate and not a phishing attack).
Sep 27, 2016, 2:00 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 907
Comparatively, the Le Club Accor "Smart Explorer" game is much more engaging! It had me looking for local landmarks near one of their hotels in Japan! I quite enjoyed it! It'd be fun if they actually had the game for an upcoming stay rather than a place I'm not going right now.
Sep 28, 2016, 12:06 pm
#5
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SOU
Programs: It's better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all
Posts: 869
Car dealerships seem to be adopting this approach to help new purchasers be familiar with their car before collection. Works for me as a great personal touch there but a little OTT for a hotel that has warts and all pics on TripAdvisor anyway.
May 17, 2019, 9:34 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: IAD...and loving it?!
Programs: UA Platinum (1MM Gold), HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 858
Got one of these for the first time ever for an upcoming stay at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront resort. Surprised to find this very old thread with no posts for 2-1/2 years. The common denominator seems to be "resorts."
The video was nice enough and had a personalized greeting by name and thanking me for being a Diamond, but didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Maybe this is something they've decided to resurrect?
The video was nice enough and had a personalized greeting by name and thanking me for being a Diamond, but didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.
Maybe this is something they've decided to resurrect?