I see that Hilton has the following posted on the confirmation page:

We reserve the right to cancel or modify reservations where it appears that a customer has engaged in fraudulent or inappropriate activity or under other circumstances where it appears that the reservations contain or resulted from a mistake or error.

My friend booked 5 rooms last year during the show and his employees occupied 4 rooms. This year he booked 5 rooms and will determine who will accompany him in the next month. Given this history I do not think that the reservations could be considered "fraudulent or inappropriate activity".

Does this friend have any status with HHonors? Perhaps the appropriate status desk can assist.[/QUOTE]

My friend is Hilton GOLD.

that's absolutely the last thing that will happen in this scenario :eek: as if these bookings are cancelled, there will be other people happy to prepay and pay a high rate for these rooms during this huge event.

This hotel is NOT very nice. They lied to me about my room. They lied to me about the (free) breakfast. They lied to me about my request for a non-smoking room. They are evil. I suggest you call Hilton and ask for Guest Relations and plead your case with them. Better still book the far nicer and far better Hilto Brussels.

MisterNice

The Brussels City hotel made us sign a rate card at check-in on which a box was checked noting "breakfast included." Then the following morning, the breakfast clerk informed us that breakfast was not included with our room. Upon verifying with the front desk, they produced the same rate card I had signed the previous night with the "breakfast included" box crossed out and the "breakfast not included" box checked in its place. :td:

Shocking experience at Hilton Brussels City
 

I wrote a really long posting last night and then my internet connection died and laptop froze, so I lost it! So here's the short version:

AVOID THIS HOTEL LIKE A NASTY DOSE OF THE CLAP

Slightly longer version: I had a booking for one night that my assistant made (if she'd asked me I would have told her to find another hotel, but c'est la vie). The rate they were charging was €249, which is extortionate given that the Conrad Brussels standard room is €229, but that's a different matter. I Arrived at the hotel past midnight due to technical fault with an engine on the LHR-BRU flight. They'd given my room to someone else as they gave me the broom cupboard with a single bed (and a mattress which felt like it was prehistoric - I have back problems and need quite a firm king or queen sized mattress - it's all in my HHonors profile). To cut a long story short, they had nothing available but kept dicking me around for about two hours before finally agreeing to transfer my booking to the Conrad (which agreed to honor the €249 rate - very nice of them to put a premium of €20 over their published rate! - but thankfully gave me a diamond upgrade to a premium room, which was very nice indeed).

I complained to the hotel manager who has yet to make contact back...

Alltogether, a piss-poor experience!

While I would concur that this was a poor show on behalf of the hotel, I have generally had good experiences with this property and generally found the staff to be quite friendly and helpful.

I don't think it would take me long to compile a long list of Hilton family properties that I would avoid well before this one.

I would not write off a hotel simply on the basis of a single (admittedly very poor) experience.

I had a three-night stay at the Hilton Brussels City about five years ago. I think I was a Diamond at the time (or maybe just a Gold). Anyhow, at that time the dollar was a lot stronger and the rate was quite reasonable (substantially less than the other HHonors alternatives in Brussels). I had a spacious, well-equipped room and received free buffet breakfast (a fabulous spread) as well. I realize though, that in five years the hotel may have deteroriated in various ways.

There are several other threads on this hotel, and looking over the recent ones, the reviews are decidedly mixed. Seems like kind of a crapshoot -- if you're unlucky, you'll end up in one of the tiny rooms. Sounds like you were VERY unlucky because of your late arrival. :(

Unfortunately the late arriving people often get screwed anywhere. I had 2 one night stays at this hotel last year (do a search) and would rather sleep in the Midi train station than spend a night in this nasty hotel. As for the buffet breakfast, it was the poorest I had in all of Belgium.

MisterNice

Any room is better than no room...

Definitely an unpleasant experience, however, arriving after 10 PM or midnight will get you screwed at a lot of places. I have been taught by experience to call the hotel in advance and tell them that I am delayed and that yes, I am still coming.

In such situations I also use this phone call to pre-order a food item (usually fruit platter and some pastries) for a dinner as I know everything would be shut by the time I arrive. Just throwing a thought out there.

I actually did this many years ago on Interrail - and I have to say the room service, ehm cleaning staff was quite nice when they very politely asked us to move to another corner of the hall so they could clean the floor - however the front desk, ehm police was not very appreciative of our in room entertainment which consisted of a ghettoblaster...

...but that was many years ago and for this thread definitely off topic :rolleyes:

Your shocking headline got my immediate attention.
Thought somebody had been assaulted;)
I certainly wouldn’t call the situation shocking as I would deeply disappointing and unacceptable as a Diamond member based on the details shared. Sorry to hear that
Have been in your shoes before though I have never stayed at the property you refer too.
I have always been a fan of the Conrad in Brussels so I never ventured over to the other property.

What I would suggest to you is a call to Hilton Guest Assistance folks where you should be given a case number. There will be no need for contact with the hotel unless you or the hotel desires to pursue the matter further on your own. Typically a highly satisfactory resolution will occur.
Hilton runs a great program and they take reasonable responsibility for their properties to perform to highly satisfactory standards as I assume you have experienced more consistently in the past
Cheers /Good luck

I always do web checkin when I know I will be arriving after 9PM. I don't know if it really helps, but theoretically you have already checked in and have a room number.

A silly question, but how do you do a web check-in?

Thanks in advance!