shillard

I took the IHC Diamond option, as I was on track to easily achieve HH Diamond last year. That went awry, so I'll probably nail it this year. Only around 12,000 base points to go.

Syphanx

Has anyone had a chance to stay recently (within the last 3 weeks) at the Hilton in Sydney, Australia? Last time I was there the lounge was under refurbishment, anyone got any pics?

Don't have a trip planned in Sydney for a while currently stuck elsewhere.

mandc2000

Any recent reports for Diamond treatment ? Notice that manager changed last year - booked el cheapo rate for late Feb and noticed in booking notes says Exec Lounge paid ?

cheltenhamflyer

Stayed at Hilton Sydney last month. Superb treatment as a Diamond--early (9.00am ) check in on arrival from London + upgraded room ---award night!

m0hamed

Definitely no requirement to pay for the Exec Lounge as a Diamond. Standard benefits apply.

iainbhx

Checked in last Sunday and am on my final night.

Upgraded to a Corner Room on the 34th floor which is very nice. Had two small bottles of water and some nuts as an amenity. Had the nuts removed (allergy), the two bottles of water are for your whole stay. I also got two drink vouchers for the Marble Bar.

The Lounge isn't as good as it was and it has been very crowded on a couple of occasions. The food up there is decent (except for the Coca-Cola specialities which are vile), but unfortunately there are several families of the Greater Spotted Lounge Hog up there which means you have to be quick to get stuff. These people will carry off a whole tray of desserts to their table!

Lounge breakfast, as long as you get up before the hideous hogs, is excellent. I went downstairs to Glass (which was offered as a diamond) this morning and I think I prefer upstairs.

pashber

Just tried to book an AXON7 award at the Sydney Hilton for March 23-27, 2013. I didn't think it would be available because I already checked online, but thought the telephone agent might pull up something. Nope. The only award available for that period is a whopping 136,007 points PER NIGHT! Are they kidding? I know Australia is expensive, but it looks like they're trying to do everything to keep us from using our hard-earned points there. As for the cash price, their Standard Rates begin at AU $468!

Why would anyone pay these prices when they could get the Four Seasons, Sheraton, or Marriot for much less? What am I missing?

Unfortunately, I don't have much flexibility, because DH and I will be flying down to Auckland on 3/27 to board a cruise ship.

Chapel Hill Guy

Doing a flexible search for a single night, I get:

Mar 23 Sat — Mar 24 Sun From 136,007 points
Mar 24 Sun — Mar 25 Mon From 50,000 points
Mar 25 Mon — Mar 26 Tue From 50,000 points
Mar 26 Tue — Mar 27 Wed From 136,007 points
Mar 27 Wed — Mar 28 Thu From 136,007 points
Mar 28 Thu — Mar 29 Fri From 136,007 points
Mar 29 Fri — Mar 30 Sat From 50,000 points
Mar 30 Sat — Mar 31 Sun From 150,538 points

So two of the nights you want are available for awards if you want to pay the full 50K points per night. It's not an AXON, but it can save you some money versus paying.

young2by2

Hilton Sydney

What can I say about my stay at the Sydney Hilton other than WOW! This Hotel is amazing. Every single interaction was nothing short of top notch.

We arrived at the Hotel after a 36 hours of traveling from our home in Tampa Fl. We were greeted by the staff as our cab pull into the hotel. Our luggage was quickly and efficiently taken care of. At the Front Desk, Holly greeted us with a smile and welcomed us to our home for the next 5 nights. She quickly identified us a room that was open so we could shower and freshen up after the long journey. Holly also took the time to congratulate us on our 15 year Anniversary and my 40th Birthday. She was simply fantastic! She is an example of why I have spent over 67 nights with Hilton Hotels this year. (A Note on my Background. I am A Hilton Diamond member and a Hyatt Diamond Member, so you might say I stay in a lot of hotels each year for both work and pleasure)

The Lobby is modern and comfortable with lots of people using the coffee shop for mid-day snacks and as a meeting point. Both the concierge and the Bell stand seemed to always have someone there waiting to help out. We took advantage of both while on our stay. The Concierge gave some really good advice on the best route to get to the hunter Valley for our day of wine tasting. He was also able to provide us with a wine guidebook to make the day go even better.

The Hotel is not a new hotel… But you would never know it. I thought it was less than a year old at first. My complements to the Management and Staff for the amazing job of maintenance and upkeep. I never once even saw a scrape of paper or anything on the floor of the public area’s.

The executive lounge had recently re-opened after and extensive refurbishment. WOW! A fantastic view and the selection of snacks along with drinks was impressive. The hotel really shines in this space. I wish more Hilton hotels in the United States would take note! If you have the option of paying more to upgrade to the executive level rooms so you have access to this lounge I HIGHLY recommend you do it. They have computers and private meetings spaces you can use in this room. The staff is fantastic with local recommendations. I loved the Shrimp Cocktails and the cheese selections..YUMMMM

Speaking of Yummm, a person must absolutely have breakfast at their restaurant named Glass. This has to be the Best Breakfast Buffet I have had in my life. I have never seen such a selection before. The Pastry Danish selection with fresh baked breads and Danishes could not have been better. The jams, jellies and 4 different types of Honey were simply delicious. Every Morning I helped myself to fresh baked croissants and locally produced Honeycomb. They have a complete Juice bar with fresh juices ready or you can request a custom blend made for you juice. They have cooked to order Egg dishes (think eggs benedict!) and Belgium waffles. After the first day the Hostess remember who we were and called us by our names when greeting us each day, a VERY nice and impressive touch. Our Waiter Ken was fantastic and kept on top of our every need.

Our Room was a study in efficiency. It is not as large as the Hotel rooms I am used to in Florida (on the larger size of rooms worldwide). But everything you could possibly need was there and in a location that you would want it in. The desk was the perfect size for getting computer work done with plenty of plugs and computer (both wired and wireless) network connections. The room was spotless and carpets very clean. The room never felt small at all. The Bed was very comfortable with the pillows fluffy along with smelling fresh and clean.

The bathroom was fantastic with both a shower and a tub. One Neat and different feature in the shower was the fact it actually had a light on the wall that lite up your feet so you could see at all times. A great hotel is defined by the little touches and this was a really nice one. The towels were soft and fluffy. They had a selection of toiletries should we have forgotten anything at home.
The Location of the hotel was really convenient. There is a large shopping district (Westfield) just a few blocks away. There are plenty of pharmacies or Chemists to grab last minute items as needed all within a few blocks of the hotel. We used the Virgin Mobil store a few blocks from the hotel to buy pre-paid Sim cards for our Verizon iPhones.

Also close by was the start of our First tour of Sydney. I highly recommend you check them out if you are visiting. Free tours Sydney can found by googling them

To sum it up.. This was one of the absolute best hotel stays I have had. I will not even bother to look at other hotels when I go back to Sydney…this will be my new home…because they earned it and in the process made it look so simple and effortless the true definition of Hospitality.

soy

It is a good hotel and I agree about the breakfast in Glass, but I think the Westin Sydney beats the Hilton as my favorite

mario33

The Westin Sydney is a far superior property, except for their lounge

pashber

Thanks for the tip. You are indeed correct. But since the 2 days run right in the middle of a 4 day stay, I decided to book a paid stay elsewhere in Sydney by using a hotel I found on TripAdvisor.com. I only had 193K points, so I booked 3 nights at the Auckland Hilton instead. What's odd is that they had a 50K award but it appeared to be available only to Diamonds. Glad I was able to take advantage of it.

anabolism

Last time I was there the lounge breakfast (which used to be quite impressive) had been severely downgraded. Has it been expanded now?

Has it been refurbished quite recently? A few years back the lounge was being refurbished (had to be accessed via stairs from another floor). That was just before the breakfast was downsized.

I do find the rooms feel very small. I agree they have made the best of the tiny space, and I've never been upgraded to a corner room or a suite, but the deluxe/executive rooms are quite small. Personally, I'd prefer a bit of room around the couch and bed, and some more drawers for unpacking, and some more surfaces to spread stuff on. Also, I'd prefer if they ditched the tub and enlarged the shower and the sink area.

I really miss the Cheaper than Duty-Free shop that was on the corner. (We called it "the Barker" because of the hilarious recording that played through speakers: "Men's Watches $5! You'll never pay retail again!")

The location is convenient to the Woolies and to Towne Hall train station.

GoneTroppo

Having recently stayed at Sydney Hilton I wonder if the good people of FlyerTalk might give me a quick reality check please...

My husband has recently started staying there for work. His 2nd stay clashed with our 20th wedding anniversary, so rather than spending our milestone apart, he suggested I fly down for 2 nights. We married in Sydney, so his work trip ended up being a blessing in disguise! He then organised a paid upgrade for 2 of his 5 nights to one of their gorgeous (but very noisy) relaxation rooms; a very nice surprise.

So he checked in a few days ahead of me. On arriving tired and hungry that evening after a delayed flight he was told their check-in system was offline and to 'go away and come back in 20 minutes'!

Not 'here, have a drink on us at the bar'. Not 'head straight up to the lounge'.
Anyhoo, when their system finally came back online, perhaps it wiped all the guest notes, as there was not one single word about our 20th wedding anniversary said by anyone there to either of us for the entire visit.

Nothing said when I checked in, no card, nothing on ice or dipped in chocolate as I've just read about on Trip Advisor. We're both Gold HH so at other Hiltons we normally get a card and water just for turning up!

When I left I handed my door card into reception explaining that while I was leaving now, my husband was flying home the next day so I wasn't checking out the room (just in case they deactivated hubby's card). The reception girl was only focussed on one thing - the room payment. So I re-explained what I'd just told her. Content they would get their $, she said 'oh ok then. Thanks.' as she took my key and turned back to her computer. She didn't say 'Do you need a taxi?' or 'How was your stay?' (I would have told her). It seems silly when there are people losing their homes in bushfires this week to feel this way, but I did walk out of there feeling quite upset. Hilton generally does the acknowledgement thing so well.

My husband has approx another 14 one week blocks in Sydney over the next few months (and doesn't necessarily have to choose Hilton in his work's booking system). He's only 2 stays into this current project though, so they may not have realised yet he is one of their bread and butter customers.

On his last night he called Magic to see which standard guest room he was shifting back to, as arranged. He was hoping for a good night's sleep, as the 3526 Relaxation Room is right next to 9 noisy lift shafts (as they are on each level apparently) and right underneath the exec lounge back of house. Not as relaxing as the name might suggest! They told him to stay put as it was easier. So he got another 5.30am wakeup call when the exec lounge staff fired up, shifting furniture and crates of bottles.

On checking out they tried to charge the paid upgrade for that night too. Once that was sorted, my husband said to reception that no-one had mentioned our 20th wedding anniversary to either of us the whole stay. The desk fellow just gave him a baffled look and said nothing. My husband filled out a feedback form too, but there's been no response so far.

To be fair, the lounge was great and there were some nice staff members there (and in the breakfast room too). The room was beautiful, albeit noisy and showing a few signs of wear and tear. Housekeeping was excellent.

So, dear reader - I'm just wondering if my underwhelmed feeling is normal or self-indulgent? The 2 reasons I ask... Sydneysiders (present company excluded of course), do tend to be a little cool, indifferent and impersonal (in my opinion and experience of living there '88-'99). So maybe it's just a Sydney thing. In addition - I've always worked in the wedding industry and spend my life making every single client feel special, day in, day out. I really enjoy the very odd occasion when I'm on the receiving end of that energy rather than the always giving end. So maybe I'm over-reacting? Your thoughts and/or experiences of special occasion stays in Sydney Hilton?

anabolism

I'd say they really should have handled the check-in delay more graciously (in one of the ways you suggested) and should certainly have asked you how everything was when you left (but I am puzzled as to why you handed in your key at the desk since you weren't checking out of the hotel). A note and some sort of gift in your room on check-in acknowledging the anniversary would also be standard and expected. Asking if you needed a taxi when you handed in your key isn't something I'd expect as standard, since usually the bell desk handles that, and anyway, there are always taxis waiting.

If I was your husband, I'd have reminded them about your anniversary prior to checking in. I'd also speak to a manager about the 14 weeks I'd be staying, as well as the issues with the noisy room. I'd find it unusual if the manager didn't arrange for your husband to be in a room more to his pleasing as well as other things during his stays.