What do my recent Hilton redemptions say about the value of a Hilton Honors point?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• barnaby100 says:

  25 Jul25 July 10:05

  Do people usually get Hilton upgrades as gold? My husband is diamond and I m gold but probably should put in a bit of effort to be diamond (for example in a Hilton as I type- booked 3 rooms and put all in his name).

  I never get upgrades. He usually does except at the Doubletree Tower where he goes weekly (I think they get complacent with regular bookers). I have never even considered that it should be a gold benefit.

  Jason-I like the Hampton in at Corby! Cant beat having ‘Spoons next door. Better than all of those awful 1980s Hiltons in that part of the country with their ‘interesting’ clientele.

  • Jason says:

    25 Jul25 July 11:37

    I thought it was a decent hotel, especially considering the cost.
    I thought the beds could be better though and the sofa bed was dangerous as it had a metal protusion sticking out, which both children bruised their legs on.

  • Sebastian says:

    25 Jul25 July 11:44

    I have been gold for the past nine months and I’ve had the following experiences:

    Doubletree Universal – upgraded to the next category room

    Waldorf Astoria Versailles – upgraded by two room categories on both my rooms, given discounted breakfast

    Hilton Pyramids – one room upgrade and given executive lounge access

    Doubletree Chelsea New York – Upgrade to room with a view

    Hilton Stansted – No upgrade

    So in all I would say in my experience you’ve been unlucky not to get upgraded.

  • Will says:

    25 Jul25 July 11:45

    I’ve personally never seen much difference between being gold and diamond (having been both and visited a fair few hiltons) – been upgraded at Rome cavalieri, Moscow, Prague old town, London tower bridge – all as gold.

    Went back to cavalieri as a diamond, similar upgrade. No free breakfast there for elites these days though 🙁 and it’s one fantastic breakfast.

  • Sideysid says:

    25 Jul25 July 12:12

    As a gold, with your room confirmation booking email it will have an option to request an upgrade that is sent to the hotel. I’ve always been upgraded using this method except in Hilton Croydon when the Liverpool football team was staying and had taken all the decent rooms!

  • Stuart says:

    25 Jul25 July 13:17

    I stay regularly stay in Hiltons primarily in Europe and pretty much always get upgraded. Sometimes to a better room but often to executive floor if they have one.

• Nick says:

  25 Jul25 July 12:43

  I stayed at the DT Burlington road Dublin on Tuesday and being Gold wasn’t upgraded. I asked if I’d been upgraded at check in but they said, “Sorry all of our Executive rooms and suites have been taken by Diamond Card holders and it’s very busy”. I found that hard to believe but I still got free breakfast. And to be honest, If I was upgraded to a bigger room or suite that’s all I’d of taken advantage of because the Ex Lounge looked very quiet in the morning and looked very small so I’d of used the main restaurant anyway. Overall though, for 20000 points I used for the room I was happy. The main bar is an oval shape with tv’s and is very nice.
  I’m going to be checking into the Hiton by Curio in Providence RI in about 6 hours.

• Mrtibbs1999 says:

  25 Jul25 July 12:48

  Did anyone else get instant gold offered through KLM. Only lasts til October but can be extended to March 2017 by making 3 stays?

  • Kai says:

    25 Jul25 July 13:29

    I got this offer from Alitalia.

    • YL says:

      25 Jul25 July 14:07

      Apprently there is a also TK version of the offer. However, I have not received any offer despite being member of all of them. I suspect this is because I am already Gold?

      • Kai says:

        25 Jul25 July 16:18

        I’m already gold too. Just randomness I guess..

        • Richmond says:

          26 Jul26 July 22:22

          You can use the code received by someone else, modify the link and benefit from promotion. I did it with link from Alitalia to keep Gold for next year. After enrolling onto promotion, Instead of missing 6 stays, it changed to 3 stays. Stay that was in progress counted to the promotion and now I’m missing only 2 stays to keep Gold for another year.

• Tom says:

  25 Jul25 July 13:09

  Rob what did you think of Syon Park? Would you recommend for a weekend family stay?

  • Rob says:

    25 Jul25 July 20:37

    It is definitely worth doing once, even though it is NOT in the countryside (obviously)! Reasons to do it once:

    * You can visit Syon House
    * The gardens are astonishing and there is a private entrance for you, accessed with your room key
    * Best rooms of any Hilton in the UK and possibly the world (not saying much, of course!) – and we weren’t upgraded. I’ve stayed in the better rooms before and they are even better (!).
    * Free breakfast if Gold
    * If you have little kids there is a soft play centre 60 seconds walk away!
    * There is a garden centre next to the hotel (!). Big restaurant where you can eat with the kids at lunchtime. There is also a fish shop (ie pond fish!) which my kids loved.

    Downside:
    * Pool hours for kids are restricted to 9-11 and 4-6

    However, it is NOT Four Seasons Hampshire. You can’t go fishing, clay pigeon shooting, horse riding etc etc! You get a garden centre instead ….

    • avstar says:

      25 Jul25 July 21:58

      in your opinion what do you think being diamond will get you at hilton syon?

      • Rob says:

        25 Jul25 July 22:01

        In the Waldorf days, they used to give us – as Gold – the rooms on the top floor on the side. There are a handful which overlook the Duke of Northumberland’s private garden (which you can access with your room key).

        Note if there are weddings going on then anything can happen as there are two separate areas used for functions and they will keep you away from those. The good news is that the soundproofing, because the hotel is directly on the Heathrow flight path and feel like they are landing on your head, is outstanding!

    • Richmond says:

      26 Jul26 July 22:24

      Interesting comment about rooms. It’s probably 7miles from my home too, so never have reason to stay there. Are there any good restaurants in walking distance? If I have to go back to Richmond for food, I would prefer to stay on Richmond Hill.

      • Rob says:

        26 Jul26 July 23:08

        Isleworth (the nice bit by the river) is right outside Syon House – not sure if there is anything decent but there is a large pub.

      • 1nfrequent says:

        27 Jul27 July 11:09

        It’s not fine dining but the London Apprentice is about a 15 minute walk from the Hilton Syon Park – overlooks the river and does good traditional pub food for reasonable prices. It does tend to get very popular in the summer though.

• Matt_Shoreditch says:

  25 Jul25 July 13:13

  I recently took advantage of a cash + points offer at the Conrad Algarve for the beginning of October. The standard room rate was €268, vs the c+p offer of €68 + 20,000. I booked for a week.
  A decent return for one of Conrad’s newer hotels for some late summer sun.

  • Stuart says:

    25 Jul25 July 13:20

    What did you think of the hotel? Were additional costs high, eg drinks, food etc?

    • Matt_Shoreditch says:

      25 Jul25 July 13:53

      We’ve stayed there a number of times Stuart. It’s only 3 years old and still looks pristine. Rooms are quite large and all have a big balcony. Both swimming pools are fantastic and service is usually spot on.
      Prices are typical of a 5 star hotel. The main restaurant is reasonable value. The fine dining restaurant Gusto is expensive but is up to Michelin star standard. There are loads of other restaurant options nearby covering all budgets.
      We tend to go in April and October when it’s quieter and not over run by families. I’d certainly recommend it, especially if you can nab a decent cash and points deal.

      • Stuart says:

        25 Jul25 July 18:40

        Thanks. Is it child friendly? We have a 3yr old and 4.5 month and looking for October

• Dan says:

  25 Jul25 July 14:12

  What are people’s experiences of using online check in with Hilton? I’m staying at the Hilton Olympia a night or two each week at the moment and usually do check in online. Once (out of around 10 stays) I’ve been upgraded to a suite but nothing in the other stays (I’m HH Gold).

  Do you think checking in online limits your chances of an upgrade?

  • Sebastian says:

    25 Jul25 July 15:28

    Out of every stay I have had at Hilton, the one and only time I checked-in online, it resulted in me not getting a room upgrade so I wouldn’t suggest it, however I am working off my own experiences.

  • Rob says:

    25 Jul25 July 20:32

    I never bother. If everyone else checks into the standard rooms it means they have to upgrade me!

  • mark2 says:

    25 Jul25 July 21:02

    I have never understood the logic of checking in online to a flight or a hotel, particularly the day before. You may have every intention of turning up but you could be prevented from doing so for any number of reasons beyond your control.
    I think choosing your room is over-rated too. I did book in online this week at Hampton Inn Liverpool Airport (so I am now a jet-setter). I would have liked a room overlooking the runway but the plan to choose from only showed the rooms, not the surroundings of the hotel.

    • DW201 says:

      26 Jul26 July 23:27

      It makes no sense to me either. I only do it for flights where I want to choose my seats and dont have status with that airline. With hotels it is the most pointless feature ever as far as I can see….

• YL says:

  25 Jul25 July 21:45

  Apologise for the slightly OT question.
  I was wondering if anyone else having any kind of tracking issues with TPC Hilton bookings.

  Recently all of my pending but tracked transactions have been reduced to penny, these are all booking for Thailand, so I was wondering if anyone else has come across similar problems?
  Thanks.

  • DW201 says:

    26 Jul26 July 23:22

    this was supposed to say 500…..

    I go with ebookers when its around 15-18% or hotels.com at 10-12%

• Sebastian says:

  25 Jul25 July 21:54

  Where is this so called grey market? I ask as I am happy to pay 0.3p a point as I value them higher due to the way in which I use them.

  • Rob says:

    25 Jul25 July 22:02

    Can honestly say I’ve never seen one!

  • Kai says:

    26 Jul26 July 00:08

    It’s not possible to trade the points, but some people sell reward nights.

    • DW201 says:

      26 Jul26 July 23:25

      I thought about this but what if you sell a night in a hilton hotel (assuming you would just put the buyers name on the reservation as the 2nd person in the room) and the person that bought the night trashed the room……

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.