milesrus

[QUOTE=bocastephen;10901960]Boca you do have a valid point on this. I do know as a Diamond with Hilton and a Platinum at Marriott there are differences. At resort Marriotts they offer no breakfast. Every Marriott I stayed at in the last four months had scrambled eggs etc on the Concergiege floor. The Renaissance had a chef. When I have stayed at Rancho Las Palmas, JW Marriott Desert Springs, Marriott London, Vienna, Marriott Kaui, Marriott Maui, none of these had any kind of breakfast. I stayed at the Westin Maui, Sheraton Maui and they also didn't have a breakfast. I am partial, I love Waikoloa and hope it doesn't get downgraded any further so I am rooting for them.

gvaughn

There is nothing in these posts that insinuates anything of the sort. Your insinuation, whether credit or not, is that people should be OBLIGATED to at least have $600 in charges, or $100 per night. Whether or not people end up spending that much is inconsequential - and I would guess it probably happens a good deal of the time. However, there is not, and should not, be any requirement of the such...and implying so...is asinine. It is contrary to the entire concept of the rewards system. Clearly that concept is foreign to you.

SixString

I just returned from a 4 night award stay at the HWV. As a Diamond, I was put into a 3rd floor oceanview room in the Ocean tower. It was overlooking Buddha point as well as the 12th green of the Beach course(the signature hole), which was always nice to watch. However, the room really felt like it could use an update. It had a bit of a musty smell that is typical of older hotels.

The breakfast topic has been beaten to death already so I won't go over it. Of course, I would've preferred to have a continental buffet where I could eat whatever I wanted, but the choices were good enough and large enough for me. I ate the pancake breakfast all 4 days and it was good. I would like to note that we used 3 breakfast coupons on the last day and the server did not prevent us from doing so. Perhaps we just got lucky?

Since this was during the slow season, the restaurants were opened on limited schedules. Even when they were open, they were less than half full. The only one open all 7 days was Kamuela Provision Company. I'd recommend eating there only for the view on their patio. You are literally steps away from the ocean. It helps if you're a cat person, there are lots of cats running around ready to eat your leftovers. But overall, if we were stuck inside I'd say it wasn't worth it. The Chinese restaurant was pretty good. The prices were pretty reasonable and more importantly we all thought the food was good. We also ended up eating at the Italian restaurant, but only because a monsoon hit us during our last day there. I think they were charging like $30 for a plate of spaghetti and $9 for a bowl of minestrone...yikes! If the weather weren't so bad, we would've been better off eating at the Macaroni Grill down the road.

The majority of the time they only had 1 tram and 2 boats running. I saw them running 2 trams on Saturday but that was the only time.

The grounds seemed to be very well taken care of. I walked on probably every single path on the property and you really can't beat the location. I liked how there were beach chairs around the perimeter by the coast and just not by the pools. It was great to just lay out with a drink and watch the sunset with the waves crashing right beneath you.

I did not get charged the $15/day self-parking fee.
The exit gate was open the whole time I was there, so I don't think this was any special Diamond benefit...it appeared they weren't charging anyone for parking.

I have to admit that I'm new to the award stay thing, so I don't have any frame of reference to how "things used to be". However, if I had to come back to the Big Island again, I'd probably stay here again. Especially when using the Hilton Amex card 4 night stay award, I'd say it's a pretty good deal.

milesrus

Sixstring, thank you for your comments great responce. These are the kind of responces you hope the hotel reviews. Not running the trams or boats is not a good thing for people staying in the Ocean Tower. I agree with you about Donatoni's overpriced for the value. I am not sure if they own those restaurants or they are contracted out. It would seem if they were contracted out they couldn't close them so easily. You would think they would give coupons if the restaurants are so slow. Something like dine twice sign it to your room and get 25 percent off the restaurant at check out. Something to stimulate traffic, so people wouldn't go off site.

SixString

I actually had this same discussion with my dad while we were there. IIRC, the Japanese restaurant was only open Sun-Tues. Could you imagine being the owner of that restaurant and having someone tell you that you could only be open on the slowest days of the week? But even if Hilton does own/run the restaurants, I'd be ticked if I was one of the servers. Having once waited tables myself, I can tell you that working only Sun-Tues will not pay the rent.

Ed ONeill

I concur with other recent posts that the property remains in excellent shape. Despite whatever cutbacks may be necessary in other areas to stay viable, they continue to maintain the property to high standards.

They also have rennovated a number of their suites. The one I had was exceptional - every bit the equal to the executive suite I had earlier this month at the Conrad Chicago. You can tell these updated rooms by the dark rattan furniture on the lanai.

milesrus

But even if Hilton does own/run the restaurants, I'd be ticked if I was one of the servers. Having once waited tables myself, I can tell you that working only Sun-Tues will not pay the rent.[/QUOTE]

I know from visiting with employees that they bounce from restaurant to restaurant so they still have work. It is a catch 22 when our economy slows, no doubt Hawaii takes a hit. If a restaurant is dark for five nights because of lack of traffic, it's not like the employees can get get mad and quit. Who's hiring? I spoke to several people who said in late August loads of hotels were annoucing layoffs. I heard Hyatt had 22 people working the grounds. They were now down to 8. Seems hard to believe 8 people could keep the grounds pristine. The lounges Ed was referring to were all closed in August with workers renovating them. I have stayed there 10 plus times and always was Diamond, but only once did I get a suite.

Trvlguy

Awaiting Ed's report back..............

satori

A large portion of Hilton Hotels Corp hotel marketing is promotion of the hotel loyalty program HHonors. The brand loyalty by the customer needs to be recognized by any participating member hotel of HHonors regardless if the hotel is a major resort or an airport stopover hotel.

The hotel loyalty contract between the company and the guest is a reciprocal arrangement whereby the company receives repeat business across the hotel chain's brands and the guest sticks with the brand as a loyal customer with the knowledge that loyalty will have applicable benefits across the hotel system.

Whether or not the loyal HHonors member has spent any money at the hotel for a hotel stay using points is irrelevant. The loyal HHonors member has been consistently paying the parent company Hilton through stays at participating HHonors hotels. It is up to HHonors to provide adequate financial compensation to the hotel for the award stay.

milesrus

Very Strange.

Ed started this thread and he said on the other Waikoloa thread on Monday that he just got back and had a suite. Why no report.....you did start this thread Ed?

hrob777

Just back from 7 days at Hilton Waikoloa with 3 rooms and were shocked at how the service has gone downhill. Despite Silver VIP status, we had to argue with the manager to get into the Lagoon Tower which we had requested. He finally waived the $30 a day per room charge but gave us rooftop view rooms.

Our next 8 days at Hapuna Beach Resort were much more pleasant. Also no daily parking charge.

No more stays at Hilton Waikoloa.

SixString

I hate to sound rude, but Silver VIPs are a dime a dozen and this status doesn't really mean much in the Hilton world. Silver does not entitle you to any type of room upgrade, nor should it. Now if you had reserved that specific room type, that's a different story, but there's no reason to just grant a request to an upgraded room. I think your expectations for special treatment were a bit off.

BTW, I just stayed there for 4 days and did not get charged for parking, so I guess YMMV.

gvaughn

SixString is correct. Upgrades are for Gold and Diamond per the T&Cs.

These are the benfits for Silver:

Silver VIP Membership

Point Bonuses
Earn a 15% bonus on all HHonors Base points credited while you are a Silver VIP member.

Complimentary Health Club Privileges
Enjoy complimentary access to the health club or fitness center during your stay, at hotel owned and operated facilities.

VIP Only Rewards
HHonors Silver VIPs may choose from an exclusive selection of rewards at special VIP-only points levels.

Benefits when staying at Waldorf=Astoria Collection™ hotels:
At the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, La Quinta Resort & Club, and the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa, Blue members will receive two bottles of water per stay.
At The Waldorf=Astoria® hotel in New York City, Silver members will receive two bottles of water per stay and also a USA Today® newspaper or local paper delivered to their room each weekday.
At the Qasr Al Sharq, Silver members will receive two complimentary bottles of imported water.

__________________________________________________ ____________

It's not until you get to Gold do you get upgrade benefits:

Gold VIP Membership

Point Bonuses
Earn a 25% bonus on all HHonors Base points credited while you are a Gold VIP.

Gold VIP On-Property Benefits†My Way On-Property VIP benefits welcome Gold VIPs at Hilton Family Hotels worldwide hotels. Choose from high-speed internet access, space-available room upgrades, and other great options. Your choices at each brand are listed below.

bmoore2310

Why is everybody making such a big deal about the trams and boats. Stayed there for 6 nights recently and can count on 1 hand the number of times I used them (combined). Walked to the lagoon pools, KPC, etc. from the Ocean Tower everyday. Wasn't that long (5 mins maybe). Went offsite for activities and a few dinners and walked from the parking lot back to our room. Took a bit longer, but still wasn't a 30 minute walk or anything. And has others have noted, the grounds are in great shape.

Maybe its just me, but on vacation its nice to get away from elevators, escalators, etc.

AGS

I'll second that sentiment. And the walk from the lobby toward the Palace and Ocean Towers has interesting artwork along the way. Quite a lot of it. I know nothing about any of it, but it is fairly interesting to stop and look at it as you pass. And it's another opportunity to slow down and relax.

We're headed there a week from tomorrow for a six-night stay, our third in three years. Can't wait.

AGS