ckccan

I stayed here for 4 nights in August 2007 and was "upgraded" to a room where every other room on the floor was under renovation and plastic lined the hallway.
We checked in late in the evening, and the duty manager told me he couldn't do anything that evening but to check in the morning.
The manager the next morning offered to "upgrade" us to a bow suite, for an extra $200+ a night. I wouldn't have cared, but Mrs. Ckccan did, so I went for it.
I mentioned that I had "friends" who had were also Diamonds that had been upgraded at no charge, and given the circumstances with the construction, noise, and limited facilities, might they consider an adjustment.
I was told categorically that they NEVER "give away" Bow Suites to anyone, unless they absolutely have to.

anabolism

How unfortunate! Just out of curiosity, did you catch the name of the manager who said that? That way we can try to talk to someone else.

nycnnj

I really appreciate reading all the feedback about the Hilton Auckland! So that I can make the right final decision, should I stay in a bow suite at the Hilton or a park suite at Langhams?

Also, are both The Spire in Queenstown and The George in Christchurch good premium hotel choices?

Thanks!

GVA

I have to say I am dissapointed, having just checked in. Something which has not happened to me for a long time.

Get to the reception and only one person doing checkin. Unfortunately, that takes about 5-10 (nearer to 10) minutes before he gets to me, still nobody else willing to do checkin (other people go in and out of the office but don't offer their services).

When it get's to me I am welcomed back to Hilton hotels (that hasn't happened for a while so that starts out well).

Second discovery is that there is no upgrade available due to high-occupancy (reservation made 5 months ago with a note for a diamond upgrade), that's another first, in fact have been upgraded consistantly for the past 42 stays (I guess being in the southern hemisphere everything is done opposite).

He offers me 1000 HHonors points, a bottle of water or 35NZD off food or beverage at the hotel. I thought the first two were a joke and wondered if the offer was per night to which he replied no per stay. Quite a let down there.

What is more surprising is that when putting through my credit card he puts down a hold for 400NZD just for room services plus the room fee. I've never spent more than 40USD in a hotel for anything so ten times the amount is even less likely. My credit card company doesn't like that and rejects it (specific orders from myself not to accept over a certain amount without asking for my approval). Anyways, after some kind persuasion (but still firm) he brings that down to 100NZD hold for extras.

Supposedly he did me a big favour and the manager will be contacting me later on to discuss this as it is against hotel policy. Perhaps he can explain to me why it fails to live up in everything else.

The room itself is small, faces the other building (no sea view at all) and more scary is the shared terrace with people just walking infront of your room. I dare say I have seen quite a few Hampton Inns with way nicer rooms than the one they have put me in. Oh and good luck finding your room, there is no number pattern what so ever [and the room numbers not at all clearly indicated], so you end up going to the end of the hallway just to come back and see your room was on the otherside (eg. 408 faces 401 but 406 is the end of the hallway).

All in all, this hotel hasn't lived up to what it seems to promise online and certainly no nice upgrade to make my first stay in the country truly enjoyable.

If I come back to Auckland I'll go to the Westin.

777 global mile hound

Thanks for the report it sounds like the hotel has slipped.
Usually happens to many after its been open for a number of years.
Thse lose the passion
I canceled both the Hyatt and the Hilton and will roll the dice on the new Westin.The Hilton Auckland rates are over the top expensive IMO too for what it is.They at one time were fair enough

oceanborn

you did not just refer to a fd-agent as an it, or did you?

upgrades are done on availability upon check-in! you do know that by now. the other hotels that have pre-upgraded you might have experienced higher availability expectance for your arrival dates.

50USD is worth nothing?

but the rest sounds as a drag though...

GVA

No I referred to the situation (ie. my turn to get served) not the agent.

I'm fully aware of that however it's the rest of the situation which makes the stay sub-par. Trust me, I really love to report on hotels where they exceed my expectations (most do thankfully).


Where are you getting the 50USD from? 1000HH points are no where worth 50 bucks let alone 5. He offered a 35NZD discount which equates to 28USD for the whole stay (two nights), that amount would have been the same if I stayed one night or the whole year.

Jaimito Cartero

I had a one night stay here in early January, in conjunction with the LAX-AKL deal. It was originally supposed to be a family trip, so I had a rollaway added to the room months back. I used a free night certificate from last summers 5-10-15 promo.

Check-in was okay. I got a water view, and had a huge balcony. I think I was right across from the health club, but not the last unit (which has a gi-normous balcony!). Free water in room, plus a note that a bottle of wine was in the fridge for me.

Later on, they brought some sweets to the room.

The problems I encountered:

When eating breakfast, I just chose the free continental breakfast. When I got the bill, it had full breakfast marked on it, so I asked the waitress and she said, "Oh, you got the full breakfast". Uh, I think not. She sniffed, and took it back, later returning with it marked correctly.

Upon checking out, the full breakfast was on my bill, and they were charging me for the room ($40NZ, I think). If I could have got my free night back, I would certainly pay $40NZ for the room, but they just took off the charges.

anabolism

Are you sure it wasn't a bottle of wine, not water, they were offering? That's my recollection.

You were probably lucky to be facing the other building, since you can usually get a peek at the water looking forward. Facing the other way you get a huge ship blocking your view, with people staring in your windows, whenever a ship is docked.

But if you were opposite the health club, that would be facing the water, not the other building, wouldn't it? Were you perhaps next to the health club? That would be facing the other building, and would have a shared terrace (with a railing separating it from the pool area). The rest of the rooms on that side have private balconies. I've never been on the water side so I can't say.

The regular rooms are pretty small. I've never been able to tell the difference between them and what they claim are "upgraded" rooms, since those that I've had have been tiny rooms facing the other building, so I'm not sure what is "upgraded" about them.

(I have had some decent Hampton Inn rooms, such as the one in downtown Vancouver.)

Where do you get 50USD?

By the way, I stayed there again in February (just a few weeks ago). On check-in I was told they no longer offered Diamond (or Gold) members free breakfast, that they instead offered either an upgraded room or the choice of 1,000 HH points, a bottle of wine, or a $35NZ credit good for food/beverage in the hotel. Since I don't drink and wasn't planning on eating in the restaurant, I chose the points, but a measly 1,000 points is pretty much nothing. It takes 40,000 for one free night there, so that's 1/40th of a free night. Hmph.

GVA

I had the same type of experience checking out.

I think handing in a tax form is easier than dealing with their billing. There were items I didn't even purchase on there, others which I did weren't on there and such.

A real back and forth went on between me and the lady at the desk. Fortunately, everything was sorted within 15 minutes and I was finally off to the airport (with the shuttle driver breathing down my neck for taking so long).

The hotel did redeem itself a little bit, with a good concierge pointing me towards some good restaurants. The hotel is slow in terms of getting their act together, you invariably wait everywhere. A pity as most international hilton properties are good at that. Other than that a modern hilton with small rooms and the my whole previous experience discussed above.

boxo

I have a stopover in AKL on my way to OzFest in May and the Hilton is ~$135, the Hyatt ~$80, Crowne Plaza ~$80. I thought I had it figured out when reading the '07-'08 posts but it seems it's NOT worth it... even for a Diamond.

dldkjones

On a rate search, the cheapest by far room was listed as 1 BR Street Apt. and description indicates that it is not in the hotel but on the street somewhere. Does anyone know what this is/what it is like? When I searched for 2 rooms, it didn't show up so there may only be one or very few of these.

goldcoastguy

The Hilton is built at the end of a wharf. There is a road in between the hotel and the apartments across from the hotel on the same wharf.

The street rooms face the street. You will have minimal water views (my room I could see the water only by going out onto the balcony).

Inside the rooms, I'd suspect they are exact the same as those facing the water.


Evan :->

dldkjones

What was the bedding and was the room nonsmoking? Do Golds who reserve this room type get upgraded to better view room in the hotel itself on arrival with breakfast coupons if that is their My Way preference? The rate for this street apt. is just over half the room rate within the hotel.

jan_az

I suggest a search in this forum for Auckland

I stayed there once in a regular room within the hotel, it was no biggie.

On my return I got the vaunted suite at the end of the boat - that was great!!!