Frequie

Did you remember to smile at the reception, ask how his/her day was, and had a normal conversation?

I am not saying you are doing this, but from reading this forum I sense that some people just show up and "demand" things at check-in. And if that is the approach, then why should the FD agent want to go out of his/her way to give you more than exactly what you are entitled to?

From my experience, smiling, giving a small compliment, small-talking for two minutes, and then asking naturally and jokingly if they have a great room for you..... that will get you very far (remember - you SHOULD ask for an upgrade in one way or another - but NEVER do it in a demanding way)

As a HHonors Gold, I have received an amount and quality of upgrades that I thought was not possible. And all I am doing is actually being natural, talking with FDs and not making the upgrade a big deal.

Hope this makes sense and can help some other people as well. When I read all the stories in here about DIAMONDS not being upgraded... well let's say that I think I know what many of these people do wrong

kmwjes

Were you "upgraded" to another type room at all upon checkin? If so, perhaps the Hilton Milan has met the terms + conditions for HHonors Gold: "Space available upgrade to a preferred room."

Post#2 gives good advice. First mention that you were happy to see online that there are several EL rooms available and that you would appreciate your HHonors Gold upgrade! Perhaps mention that you would prefer breakfast in the executive lounge rather than your HHonors Gold free breakfast in the restaurant for convenience. That may be one reason you prefer this EL upgrade.

Also, as a HHD, I could care less if I get upgraded. This is a non-issue for me as I get EL access no matter what floor I am on.

FlyinDutchman

True, one of the few real and tangible perks of being Diamond over Gold



Are you staying for more days? Maybe other days there is no availability/a lot of Diamond members staying there?

murilix

Hi, thank you for all your answers.

Yes, I was having a nice conversation with the receptionist. I asked if the room was upgraded and the answer was "no, we're fully booked". I did get EL access and bathrobes were delivered along with the bottles of water.

BUT the reservation itself showed automatically the request for the Executive Room upgrade as a $0 "paid upgrade" request. If that's not he hotel policy, fine with me, but why list it? Why lie to me? On my last stays in Budapest, the upgrade was requested and quoted as $0 in the reservation age and I got the upgraded
rooms.

Anyway, message sent with the print screen to HH. Let's see what happens.

Michael19887

They aren't lying...that is the eStandby upgrade option, and they set the cost for that upgrade at $0.00. It is subject to availability like all eStandby selections. They already went above and beyond the requirements of the HH Program by giving you EL access, and it sounds like they delivered all the typical benefits of an executive level room to you. What do you hope to gain by complaining to corporate about this? Why not just appreciate the gesture?

cjd

If they have given you Executive lounge access, then they have gone out of their way to look after you, as you were not entitled to EL access if not upgraded to an Executive room. I don't see that there's anything to complain about. A lot of Executive rooms are the same as standard rooms but with a few extras such as slippers and robes!!

jerry a. laska

As others have stated you are confused about your Gold benefits and about the NOR1 estandby options (which is the screen you are referring to).

As a Gold you are not entitled to executive lounge access unless you are upgraded to the executive floor, further you are only entitled to an upgrade
to a preferred room when space is available. From hiltonhonors terms and conditions:
You received access to the executive lounge when you did not receive an upgrade or (book a room) on the executive floor. The property went above and beyond the requirements of the program, and you complained about them?

The NOR1 upgrades which are also called estandby upgrades are again "standby" space available upgrades and are not guaranteed. Just because you received an upgrade in another city doesn't mean that you will receive an upgrade in every hotel when you request one on the estandby screen. Even if you don't request the NOR1 standby upgrade you will often receive your status upgrade. See these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...y-upgrade.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...-diamonds.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...thread-24.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...t=nor1+standby

All in all I'd say you owe the property an apology.

bakerm

I agree with all the other replies, it appears they have really gone above the scope of what you "should" be offered as a Gold level member.

Lets be honest here, if I book a basic room as a Gold, getting lounge access is the best bonus I can hope to achieve. If this comes in the form of access without an upgrade to an executive room, you are still very much winning.

Kacee

OP, ignore all the snarky comments here, this particular forum is prone to those. You did "sort of" get a one class upgrade when they gave you EL access. The $0 NOR1 upgrade is the basic upgrade that you are supposed to get on a "space available" basis. Here they just gave you lounge access without the room. At many properties, this is a meaningless distinction, as the executive rooms are frequently not materially different from standard rooms.

I'm generally fine with this type of upgrade, particularly where I've booked a particular room type (Harbour View at Conrad HKG, Corner Room at Conrad BKK, etc.) which IMO is better than a standard executive room. Just give me the room I've booked along with lounge access and we'll call it even

FlyinDutchman

Stayed many times at the Milan Hilton. As Diamond received upgrades to Executive rooms nearly always, once even to Junior Suites. When as Blue (long ago) stayed in regular rooms. The executive rooms are more spacious, all else is quite the same. Lounge access is of course a nice benefit, even though as Diamond it's automatically offered even without the upgrade. So I think you got a nice guesture by receiving EL access.

guiseppe

Honestly, can't understand this .

FlyinDutchman

+1

murilix

Dear friends,

I did write a long reply but it was lost when I lost the connection on the AA flight back home. I'll be more concise now.

1) It was Hilton's system who told me about the upgrade. The email confirmation says "HHonors Gold My Way On Property Benefits: Space available room upgrade". There was space available - I printed the screen showing the available room and sent it to HH. I wasn't given the upgrade and got a lie from the front desk attendant. If the property doesn't give executive rooms for golds, I am 110% cool with it, but don't send me an e-mail saying I have this as a benefit.
This is what you get when you access your reservation:


In Budapest, as a Gold, at both Hiltons, I got the $0 upgrade request notice and was upgraded on both occasions. So that's what I expected in Milan since I got the same $0 upgrade request notice.

Right now I have two upcoming reservations: Antwerp and Prague Old town. The reservation for Antwerp shows the $0 upgrade requested, the one for Prague doesn't. Am I expecting any upgrades in Prague? HELL NO!

Also, if that's Hilton Milan's policy (no upgrade for Golds), if Hilton's system hadn't show the upgrade request for free and if they had offered me a paid upgrade, I would probably pay for it, so they simply lost money for bad management.

2) I strongly disagree that one should take what the property offers. Space available upgrades are an advertised benefit of upper tiers of any hotel frequent guest program. Most of the people at this forum may be business travelers who have the hard job of attaining status with their company's $, and believe me, I envy them. But I pay for my own travels and want benefits to be clear - in case of upgrades, fair play from the property. In fact, I was telling Ms. murilix how I liked Hilton's system better than Club Carlson's (I was status matched from them), because with CC you never know what you're going to get (there are concierge level guys on CC's forum that never got an upgrade, while I, as a gold, get them almost every time), how with Hilton automatically requesting the upgrade, you know better what are your chances and how I was going to try to make 20 stays this year (are 60 nights are out of question) in order to keep the status. Well, maybe not anymore.

Before Milan, I stayed at Radisson Golden Sands in Malta, was given an excellent upgrade on the first night, but not on the second and third nights (there were two different reservations and I believe the hotel didn't join them as usual) and I am not discontent at all. Why? Because I checked and the hotel was actually full on the other nights.

Sorry, but being grateful after being lied to is something I can't understand.

Cymro

One thing to be clear on: there are upgrades and there are upgrades.

Milan offers single, queen and king rooms. If you booked a single or a queen and got a king, that's an upgrade. You are only ever entitled to a one-level upgrade as a gold - and that is subject to availability.

Did the $0 upgrade actually specify an executive room? If not, you have literally nothing to complain about.

If not, while the hotel went over and above by giving you lounge access (which I would rather have than an upgrade) you have a very small, technical complaint that is frankly something that you should probably get used to as every travel provider will sometimes fail to align its systems.

Don't forget that as a gold you could have been fourth in the queue for upgrades behind three diamonds who hadn't checked in (at any time throughout your stay) whereas there might only have been three executive rooms for sale - and a paying customer would always trump an upgraded diamond.

murilix

Yes, I did book a King Room.
And the upgrade did specify the executive yes: I just made a similar reservation and printed the screen and attached it to the post.
The "other members in the queue" argument is one I can accept, even though I would like the hotel to be clearer.