hhonorman

UAVirgin,
Weclome to FlyerTalk.

You may find the hotel reluctant to upgrade you considerably for such a long stay, especially since you are using a reward (not that it should matter, but sometimes it does.) That said, it certainly cannot hurt to write or call the manager at that property and politely mention how special this trip is to you. If you can, you may want to characterize the occasion as a second honeymoon. I read on another FT thread a while back from a hotel insider that when deciding whether to give a complimentary upgrade, special preference was given to people celebrating their honeymoon, and if it was only possible to upgrade one set of guests, the honeymooners would likely get the upgrade instead of the people celebrating an anniversary, retirement, birthday, etc.

By all means, write to the manager, state how important an occasion it is and politely mention if there is anything he can do to make your stay extra special, it would be greatly appreciated. It may or may not help, but it certainly won't hurt. Getting an upgrade for such an extended period of time is usually very difficult. If you do not get an upgrade at check-in, don't give up. Later in your stay, you may want to speak with the manager again and ask if there are any upgrades possible for the remainder of your stay.

Congratulations on your anniversary and have a great trip.

elbidercni

I would try both strategies: note in record and contact the manager.

Definetely call back to the reservations line and speak with someone who cares -- try during the day during normal business hours when you get a full-time reservationist (I'd even call a few times and ask about other locations' availability or make up a fake question until I got someone who sounded like they would be empathetic to the cause). Or you might try calling the hotel reservation desk directly and speaking with someone on their staff who may be able to put something in the record to encourage an upgrade.

Then, contact the hotel manager to ensure that they know you are coming and what you expect. Be specific if you are looking for a particular type of room or amenity. The manager should tell you what the chances are of getting what you ask for.

Good luck and have a great trip.

Rut Dog

My experience is with domestic hotels, so keep that in mind.

And I agree with the above posts.

I'll just add my take on the strategy:

Call the front desk directly and (without revealing specifics) ask what the policy is for upgrades to Gold VIPs, usually something like, "I'm considering a trip and I'd like to know what the standard policy for Gold VIP upgrades is."

Be sure to get a name. What you're looking for is "Best available room at check in." (Occasionally, from the FD clerk, you'll get more, such as an offer to upgrade you now. But occasionally you'll hit on slot machines, too.)

If you get the "best available" response, you know that upgrades are reasonable to expect, and that the front desk can grant them.

If you get another response ("Duh, I dunno.", "Management makes those decisions", etc.) then you know you are in for more of an uphill battle.

Armed with this information about the general policy, you then call a manager seeking a confirmed advance upgrade.

In my experience mid level managers can be very helpful: front desk manager, reservations manager, HHonors manager, concierge manager, director of rooms. These are people who often deal with complaints, and they tend to look for opportunities to head off complaints and hopefully even get a commendation to the GM (do be sure to follow up on that if you get good treatment).

I don't usually go to the GM unless I have to, or unless I've developed a relationship with them in the past. But I'm not afraid to, I just find them to be more receptive if I've spoken with other managers first.

And I tend to stay away from supervisors (as opposed to managers).

Good luck, and please report your experience.

JDiver

Rut Dog, you are right on the money!

IMO it's not best to shoot the GM bullet unless you need to - a mid-level manager can be a great ally, and I also concur with a kudos note to the GM - you will have an advocate for life (well, for the mid-man's life at the hotel.)

The note in the Comment section of the booking, if available, also helps usually.

LLM

FWIW, I phoned The Trafalgar before our GLON to check on whether we would have a suitable room for us and the teenager. Ended up with the night duty manager who thought 305 would be ideal if available and seemed to have blocked it for us because that is what we got - LARGE room for London with two queens and view of the Square.

Just spent a GLONP at the Park Lane Hilton. For this one, I just phoned the hotel after booking the award with Hilton to ask about lounge access and a delightful young lady noted king executive floor with rollaway and sent me a confirming fax. Everything as promised at check-in, fabulous stay, room, lounge. My isilver in-laws who paid for two rooms were down on the 11th floor with no lounge (:.

Also called Europe hotels directly re our Starwood awards. Won't go into those details, but highly recommend this approach over email, as calls to Europe are so cheap, and the in-hotel staff know so much more about what rooms might suit your needs and I have universally found them so eager and willing to get guests into the right rooms.

UAVirgin

I contacted the hotel via email (not the best thing to do I know, but had no time to call) and received a pleasant response from the revenue manager stating "...that we extend a complimentary upgrade to all Hilton HHonors Gold and Diamond VIPs. If we do not have availability on any of our upgraded room types we offer a complimentary continental breakfast for each morning of the stay."

I intend to follow-up with a phone call next week to the revenue manager explaining the 2nd honeymoon/doing right by Mrs. UAVirgin/etc. and seeking a confirmed room upgrade.

I really, really appreciate everyone's spot on suggestions and I will keep the group up to date and provide a trip report.

Rut Dog

Of note, HHonors website says "At Hilton Family hotels outside the U.S. and Canada that have upgraded accommodation, Gold and Diamond VIPs will be upgraded to Executive Level or to the next best available room type. Upgraded rooms are subject to availability. At hotels that do not have upgraded types of accommodation, Gold and Diamond VIPs will receive additional amenities and/or services, which vary by property."

This is in contrast to the US/Canada, where upgrades, while offered by some properties, are not part of the HHonors policy.

But at least you've confirmed the Trafalgar is aware of and compliant with HHonors policy.

Good luck with the follow up seeking the confirmed upgrade.

Cheap phone rates: www.1010phonerates.com showing 7 or 8 cents per minute to United Kingdom

UAVirgin

Thanks to everyone who provide advice on securing the upgraded room. We did in fact get an upgraded room. I hate think what the room would have been like had we not been upgraded. I will post a hotel stay report soon to share our experience and impression of The Trafalgar London.

Thanks again for the help! ^

GUWonder

Word of warning. Based on what you received in email/writing, you should note that you are getting either the upgrade or breakfast, but are apparently not getting both. Since anything can be noted as an "upgrade", I would not be counting my eggs before they hatch at check-in on either the breakfast or upgrade front.

Eugene

I presume you are talking specifically about the Trafalgar, and have personal experience at that particular property, correct?

GUWonder

I was talking about the Trafalgar specifically, but have no personal experience of staying there; I was just repeating what was mentioned in the response the OP received from the hotel and from what I have been told at several other Hiltons in the UK and more than 2 in London.

UAVirgin

A quick report on our recent 6-night award stay at The Trafalgar London.

We arrived approximately 1:30 PM on Saturday 14 August. Our initial reaction to the Lobby or lack there of was; OK whatever. Yes, I knew the lobby was in fact the bar but the descriptions on the Hilton web site made it sound so much nicer than it is in person. The front desk staff were friendly and quick. We were told that we had been upgraded to a better room on the 4th floor with a view of the square. Cool we thought.

As we entered the room the pale blue color seemed to make the room appear drab, or maybe it was the overly worn and stained carpet. This room did not have the raised seating area but did have a very comfy chair with ottoman (the best part of the room). The bed, let me see, it was a worn out queen (I think) mattress with no box spring. I’ve had more comfortable beds at a Super 8 for $49 a night. A conversation with the front desk was encouraging and they seemed genuinely concerned, but produced no apparent results. After a couple tries we gave up on the bed. I suppose we could have pushed for a new room, but I really didn’t expect it to be any different.

We found the bathroom to be functional. It had both a shower and tub, thus indicating upgraded accommodations. The water pressure was excellent and there was always plenty of hot water. The water had a tendency to flow under or around the glass door and out into the hallway and it had looked like they had tried to remedy this problem several times without success. As hotels in London go this was a nice sized bathroom.

We spent no time in the bar/lobby other than to pass through to the elevators. It was less crowded than we had heard, was not overly smoky, but the music was unbelievably loud in the evenings. The elevators reeked of smoke no matter the time of day, but once we exited the elevator the smell disappeared. The noise did not bother us on the 4th floor.

We also did not eat in the hotel restaurant, preferring to grab coffee and pastry on the move in the morning and lunch and dinner in more interesting places.

The location cannot be beat. In general I found this property rather dull, dreary, and worn for a 2 year old hotel. Quite honestly I think they skimped on the quality of the materials and it showed. The staff is friendly and competent but not over the top as one would expect from a Category 6 hotel. Hilton UK seems to have gone overboard on trendy and skimped on the luxury. To me modern and contemporary as used by Hilton UK to describe this hotel really are euphemisms for drab, dreary and low quality.

Overall it was a less than memorable hotel.

When the GLON2P nights were exhausted we moved to the Renaissance Chancery Court and burned some Marriott points. It was spectacular.

UAVirgin

I again want to thank everyone for their help! ^ I posted a trip report on The Trafalgar so thought I point a link to it from here - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352006. Thanks again, this is an awesome community.

Zip

Stayed at the Trafalger recently. Agree that it is a great location, and we were happy with that. Room was nice.
Now, on to the Diamond benefits: no room upgrade. On top of that, was not offered breakfast, and had to appeal for it.
The room itself. Forth floor, which people here have recommended to be away from the bar noises. Room overlooked the office building next door. Was very quiet, so we were initially pleased with that. Then, the following. 1) Between 6:30 and 7:30 am each day, garbage/delivery trucks made their presence known; 2) Ms. Zip said if she were on a business trip, she would not be pleased with the placement of the bathroom mirror – very difficult to apply make-up. Despite these items, we were fairly happy with the stay.
Then we checked out at 11:30 am; checked our luggage with the bell captain at his station; he said that he would take care of it. Walked to Chinatown, then the British museum, getting back to the hotel at 5:30 pm to pick up our luggage before heading back to Gatwick. OUR LUGGAGE WAS STILL BESIDE HIS STATION. (The luggage storage area was a locked room behind his desk).
As a Diamond, very disappointing stay and service.

Ski Ag-'82

Just a note to let everyone know that the reception/bar area at the Trafalgar Hilton in under renovation--They say it is going to be finished by 11 Feb. But IMHO it is going to be at least another week, probably more like two. They are serving breakfast in the meeting room on the first floor.

And I wondered why I got such a good rate.

Michael