Eujeanie

I forgot to add that we quite liked our 2 night stay. We arrived at 9am after a cruise and were told our basic points city view studio had been upgraded to an oceanfront 1 br. But they didn't know when it would be ready. We ended up immediately (our choice) in a full 1 BR courtyard view which turned out to be just fine. No view (just off a cruise where we stared at the ocean for days already) but we liked all the greenery outside, loved the space. Beach service was terrific (I never know, on points, if you still get the perks even though you don't pay for them) but we did. Thought the breakfast in the Greek place was pretty poor. Loved the pathway along the beach - walk south and you have great views of the docked cruise ships, walk north and you're in the heart of SoBe. Everyone at the hotel was really nice. We loved our stay. Doesn't bother me that the room was "dated", to me it was pretty and charming. Loved having the kitchen, too.

Eujeanie

I have a question for those of you who have stayed there, it's a little embarrassing to ask since I'm not sure what we should have done.

Usually when we stay in a condo that has a dishwasher, we put whatever we used into the dishwasher on the last day, press the button, and go. Since the Bentley did not have a dishwasher, were we supposed to wash by hand the dishes/cups/glasses we used? We didn't. Just rinsed them off and left them in the sink.

MS02113

No need to wash dishware in hotel rooms equipped with kitchens. Housekeeping takes care of it.

pauleeepaul

My one stay here was at least 10 years ago, foist upon me by a missed connection to MAO where the next flight was the same flight 24 hours later. Rather than sit at the airport for a day i came into town and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hard to believe it was that long ago.

gumercindo

Thinking about booking here for the family. We are a family of 5 (including a 2 year old). I can book via UR a stdio room that is meant for 3 guests (baloney, but whatever). Should I go ahead and book this and hope/expect an upgrade at checkin (am diamond) or should I play it safe and pony up a bit more UR and get the city suite? Ive had good luck getting nice upgrades here in the past. Wondering how the strategy of booking a low level room works and hope to get upgraded at checkin. Worst cast is that they won't let us have the regular room and will they charge us a fee to upgrade to a suite?

Eujeanie

What if all the suites are sold out? Where will 5 of you sleep in a room meant for 3?

tropicalmn

The worst case is even as a Diamond you will be stuck in City Studio which are ridiculously noisy(traffic,almost non stop honking Ocean Dr.),can be ridiculously dysfunctional(your bed might be the dinette table & the comfortable chair). YOU WILL BE MISERABLE, your wife & kids will not speak to you until you checkout!
Staying at the Hilton Bentley is a form of legalized gambling. Despite your past experience and what you read in this thread I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who didn't "win" here and has totally "busted"as a diamond.
The floor plan from the two different floors I stayed in west Tower show only 9 rooms per floor, at least 5 different room categories(not sure where double bed non king rooms are).Two smaller city studios, Two deluxe city studios,one partial ocean view studio, two city view smaller 1 bedroom suites no balcony, two larger partial ocean view with balcony 1 bedroom(7th floor NE corner was a gem). Even the room types management considers the same based on square feet(example Deluxe City view studio) can be as different as night & day,they only guarantee size not furnshings-fuction. From a city Studio upgrade to a city view Suite is minimum two categories if you succeed .
I would never ever return to the Hilton Bentley unless I was assured I would not be in a West tower city studio room overlooking Ocean Drive.

smmrfld

The property's definition of “partial ocean view” may be described as optimistic at best.

Eujeanie

We were quite surprised to get the choice of upgrades we got given that we were there on a Saturday and Sunday night. Our room was blissfully quiet, and we did see several families with small children. It was not the party central hotel I feared, but we were clear that we did not want to overlook Nikki Beach.

I guess the solution is to book the room you want, and not depend on an upgrade, although at those prices/points that's not always cost effective. We consider ourselves very, very lucky. Both nights we used our free weekend night certificates, so we didn't even have to deplete our points.

jamesteroh

Definitely book the room you want. This is peak travel time in FL right now. They have been good about upgrading me IF rooms are available as a diamond who has stayed there and the staff is great about remembering names.

I haven't stayed there in a few years but I remember the front desk staff telling me they have quite a few diamonds. I'm sure it's even worse now that Hilton is handing out diamond like candy.

With any travel don't depend on upgrades. If you really want a suite, regardless of the hotel, then book a suite. In your case I would definitely want a suite since you're travelling with family. Just like flying, don't expect the upgrade and if it's that improtant to fly in first class then buy a first class seat.

I would avoid a room facing Ocean and try to get in the other tower.

gumercindo

So, in other words, no west tower?

As for booking the room we want, unfortunately, we are points light so it's a bit of a gamble. That said, IF I was not given a complimentary upgrade, do they ever offer paid upgrade to a better room?

As an aside, I plan to contact the GM before our stay - is it advisable to wait a few days before our trip to contact them?

jamesteroh

The west tower is ok as long as you don't have a room on the side facing Ocean. You may be able to select a nor-1 upgrade at time of booking but again that is a gamble. Do they have suites available for points? If so that would be your best bet.

gumercindo

They do but it's extremely point-prohibitive (3-4x)

jamesteroh

Another option may be to book two rooms. If you are with a family you won't the smaller room. If you book two rooms you may also have a shot of having breakfast provided for four people as well. IIRC they were pretty strict about only two free breakfast a day to a room when I stayed there before. If they give you four free breakfasts a day that will be a savings as well plus you should be able to get four free beach chairs if you use the beach.

Michael19887

Obviously YMMV but last year, I went to south Florida for a long weekend on the beach. I had booked the Bentley on points and then called in advance and asked to see if I could guarantee a suite for a nightly supplement. They would not do this. They said that they only do complimentary upgrades based upon availability at check-in or NOR1 and don't do confirmed paid in advance upgrades. The cash rate was more favorable for a one bedroom suite at the Conrad in Ft. Lauderdale with more space and a bigger terrace, so we ended up doing that instead and enjoyed it. I like the Bentley and will definitely be back, but I wouldn't stay here without booking the 1 bedroom suite with ocean view on a cash rate. That is the way to guarantee enough space and to not to be facing over the busy/loud street on the Ocean side in the back building. As others have noted "partial ocean view" in some rooms means going to the side of the balcony and looking around the other side of the building.