Rumor: Hilton to Phase Out All Executive Lounges at Hiltons in the United States?
May 29, 2018, 8:45 pm
#91
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,378
There has been much chatter of late by owners that the number of diamond members is mushrooming so quickly that existing lounges are becoming sources of guest dissatisfaction because they are packed to the gills. More diamond members are similarly a disincentive to include new lounges in renovations or new projects as they now require more space than they did in the past. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as some luxury and full-service brands are toying with ideas to 'customize the guest experience' in ways that might make lounges passe.
This does not bode well at all for the future of EL. And given that Hilton owns virtually zero properties in the US, your comments would effectively nullify the significance of what Lauren said on post #18 , wouldn't it?
Btw, I have yet to experience any jampacked (ie, no seat available) EL in N.America since becoming a Diamond 2.5 years ago. I have in Asia, but not in N.America.
May 30, 2018, 8:43 pm
#92
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Window Seat
Programs: National Executive, HHonors Gold, IHG Platinum, Hyatt Visitor
Posts: 2,495
Thanks for the insight.
This does not bode well at all for the future of EL. And given that Hilton owns virtually zero properties in the US, your comments would effectively nullify the significance of what Lauren said on post #18 , wouldn't it?
Btw, I have yet to experience any jampacked (ie, no seat available) EL in N.America since becoming a Diamond 2.5 years ago. I have in Asia, but not in N.America.
This does not bode well at all for the future of EL. And given that Hilton owns virtually zero properties in the US, your comments would effectively nullify the significance of what Lauren said on post #18 , wouldn't it?
Btw, I have yet to experience any jampacked (ie, no seat available) EL in N.America since becoming a Diamond 2.5 years ago. I have in Asia, but not in N.America.
May 30, 2018, 9:23 pm
#93
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
Funny. I was just going to mention the Hilton Concord when I saw your post. It has a small lounge and when I was there last week someone was treating their whole family to breakfast, about 15 people including elders down through the kids. The good thing was that the kids were very polite and courteous.
Jun 1, 2018, 10:13 am
#94
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 201
Well I just came across a hotel that is going against the trend. The Hilton Cabana in Miami is currently building an EL. They said it should be finished in “a few months”. They currently have an evening reception Wed to Sun in their lobby for Gold & Diamonds. It had beer, wine, and snacks.
Jun 1, 2018, 2:28 pm
#95
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: San Francisco
Programs: UA MM Plat, UA 1MM, Hilton Lifetime Gold, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold, CLEAR, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 3,617
I have had the "pleasure" of staying at South San Francisco location and the EL is a borderline joke, both in the evening and particularly mornings it is PACKED and most people are obnoxious, angry, hung over, and late for there AM flight out of SFO.
Jul 1, 2018, 8:31 am
#96
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Drammen, Norway
Programs: SAS Eurobonus Diamond, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 298
No more Executive Lounge at US Hilton?
I'm now at Hilton San Diego Mission Valley. When I checked in I was told that the Executive Lounge was closed due to remodeling. I asked when it will open again, and the reply surprised me:
"It will not open again. We are converting it to a suite. We have been informed by Hilton Corporate that the Executive Lounge will be removed from all US Hilton hotels in the near future"!!
Can anybody confirm that this is true?
"It will not open again. We are converting it to a suite. We have been informed by Hilton Corporate that the Executive Lounge will be removed from all US Hilton hotels in the near future"!!
Can anybody confirm that this is true?
Jul 1, 2018, 10:02 am
#97
Join Date: May 2010
Location: FSD
Programs: BAEC, Delta SkyPesos, VS FC, SQ KF, AA, HHonors
Posts: 1,884
This is apparently a popular lie.
Same story from Atlanta
As a former patron of the MV Hilton, allow me to say that you didn't miss much. The lounge was mediocrity incarnate, but it was clean and usually quiet. In that regard, I suppose it was actually above average for a US lounge.
Same story from Atlanta
As a former patron of the MV Hilton, allow me to say that you didn't miss much. The lounge was mediocrity incarnate, but it was clean and usually quiet. In that regard, I suppose it was actually above average for a US lounge.
Jul 1, 2018, 11:19 am
#98
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: Hilton Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 1,266
In the thread just posted, HonorsRepresentative indicates lounges are not being closed for Hilton corporate-owned properties and no comment on franchise-owned.
Last edited by milesmilesmiles; Jul 2, 2018 at 6:06 am
Jul 1, 2018, 11:44 am
#99
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kirkland, WA
Programs: AS 75K,UA Gold 1.6MM, Hilton Dia, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Glb, Natl Exec, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,657
I bet they are not getting enough people buying up to Executive floor and the vast majority of people they are entertaining are Hilton elites so they figure why spend the extra $ and miss out on additional revenue it can provide as a suite. If Hilton doesn't make them have a lounge then they aren't going to have it. What they may have meant is that Hilton does not require them to have a lounge so they choose not to.
Heck, the Doubletree Suites in Houston - Galleria has an exec lounge and even expanded it a few years ago when I stayed there regularly. That was a very unusual case where a property elected to have a lounge when certainly not required. The Doubletree downtown has squat.
Heck, the Doubletree Suites in Houston - Galleria has an exec lounge and even expanded it a few years ago when I stayed there regularly. That was a very unusual case where a property elected to have a lounge when certainly not required. The Doubletree downtown has squat.
Jul 1, 2018, 11:50 am
#100
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,041
We have been informed by Hilton Corporate that Honors is henceforth making everybody Diamond and that Hilton doesn't mind if we close the lounge to avoid the cost of food/drink.
Jul 1, 2018, 11:57 am
#101
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kirkland, WA
Programs: AS 75K,UA Gold 1.6MM, Hilton Dia, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Glb, Natl Exec, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,657
Well it does cost them more than food and drink: labor and loss of revenue from the space. They should be making a little on booze in the U.S.
Jul 1, 2018, 2:38 pm
#102
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Eurozone
Programs: LH SEN, HH Gold
Posts: 3,002
Jul 2, 2018, 2:57 pm
#104
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: San Diego, Ca
Programs: AA 2MM LT PLT; AS MVP Gold75k; HHonors Diamond; IHG PLT
Posts: 3,502
Sep 29, 2018, 1:18 pm
#105
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Hilton, Hyatt House, Del Taco
Posts: 5,378
Lounges are being phased out after all.
I don't travel much in the US... BOS, LA, SF are the only cities I travel to at least once a year. So it's not like I'm tracking nationwide trend. But in those markets, Logan Hilton and Torrance DT have closed EL's this year whereas there are no new EL's springing up anywhere.
At this point, there are 27 properties within 30-mile radius of LAX that could have lounge (we'll call it 'HCCDW' = Hilton/Conrad/Curio/DT/Waldorf), yet only 2 have lounges now. (And DT Torrance was kind of a joke anyways, because I've stayed there ~7 nights over the past 1.5 yrs with Hilton App showing EL.. yet every time the lounge was closed for renovation and now it's permanently closed before it ever reopened.)
Out of 8 HCCDW's in Boston/Cambridge, there's only 1 left with lounge.
I was looking for a hotel in Portland recently with EL... there is none. I could've sworn last year there were 1 or 2 with EL. So Portland has 8 HCCDW, 0 with lounge.
Does this trend I'm seeing in limited markets extrapolate to a nationwide trend? If so, then Hilton lounges are indeed being phased out in US.
Where I live in SEA, we've had 3 Hyatts, 1 with lounge. Now there'll be 2 more, and both will have lounges. Seems like Hilton and Hyatt are going in opposite directions.
With all due respect to Lauren (post 18), her statement that there's no phase-out at Hilton level but it's up to the individual property's decision does nothing to quell this rumor/fear. After all, Hilton hardly owns any property in US to my knowledge, and most are franchised instead of directly managed. It seems there's not much upside for hotel owners to keep the lounges going. If that's the case, the only way Hilton can meaningfully say that EL's are not going away is if they proactively intervene and do something to incentivize hotels to continue the lounges.
While I don't expect Lauren to be able to comment one way or the other regarding this, it'd be nice to get some sort of acknowledgment that she understands and will relay our concern.
At this point, there are 27 properties within 30-mile radius of LAX that could have lounge (we'll call it 'HCCDW' = Hilton/Conrad/Curio/DT/Waldorf), yet only 2 have lounges now. (And DT Torrance was kind of a joke anyways, because I've stayed there ~7 nights over the past 1.5 yrs with Hilton App showing EL.. yet every time the lounge was closed for renovation and now it's permanently closed before it ever reopened.)
Out of 8 HCCDW's in Boston/Cambridge, there's only 1 left with lounge.
I was looking for a hotel in Portland recently with EL... there is none. I could've sworn last year there were 1 or 2 with EL. So Portland has 8 HCCDW, 0 with lounge.
Does this trend I'm seeing in limited markets extrapolate to a nationwide trend? If so, then Hilton lounges are indeed being phased out in US.
Where I live in SEA, we've had 3 Hyatts, 1 with lounge. Now there'll be 2 more, and both will have lounges. Seems like Hilton and Hyatt are going in opposite directions.
With all due respect to Lauren (post 18), her statement that there's no phase-out at Hilton level but it's up to the individual property's decision does nothing to quell this rumor/fear. After all, Hilton hardly owns any property in US to my knowledge, and most are franchised instead of directly managed. It seems there's not much upside for hotel owners to keep the lounges going. If that's the case, the only way Hilton can meaningfully say that EL's are not going away is if they proactively intervene and do something to incentivize hotels to continue the lounges.
While I don't expect Lauren to be able to comment one way or the other regarding this, it'd be nice to get some sort of acknowledgment that she understands and will relay our concern.