Hilton to sell room upgrades to Gold and Diamond elites

[dan_a_man]

Has anyone had recent stays that were affected? Historically upgrades often were just limited to an executive room, which is not an upgrade IMHO for a Diamond member, but I fear the “upgrade benefit” is now completely watered down and useless. Maybe any examples of hotels who still provide generous upgrades?

At the current pace Hilton is going (US Diamond inflation for years, constant 100% buy points bonuses, breakfast credit trial in the US, now complete lack of incentive for DIamond/Gold upgrades), the program seems dead to me.

[Aston100]

To quote the Daily Mail comments section “better than the other lot”

[Tetly1967]

Personal experience from two stays in London over the past two days are two excellent upgrades – neither of which were sold – and I didnt get any impression that either hotel were looking to upsell an upgrade to me as a Diamond member.

The two hotels in question were the Doubletree in Ealing – which upgraded a simple Queen room booking to a very nice King room – the second was the Hilton Bankside who upgraded the King room booked to a one-bedroom suite.

[dundj]

Happened to me at Hilton Liverpool in early September. I had booked a King Guest room only. Once room selection was available, all rooms available for an upsell where showing and advising of a possible paid upgrade on a cost per night basis.

On arrival, I had already been upgraded to an Executive King room, but before entering had noticed only one Executive Suite was available, so asked if it was possible to be upgraded to this. There were no quibbles and was advised the room was due maintenance in the bathroom before being given the key card.

Overall, I think a good hotel management will still offer elite status holders the upgrades when available and the bad ones will only offer paid upgrades, or only upgrade those who stay regularly.

[NorthernLass]

I stayed at the Hilton Deansgate last night, having booked an executive room to take me over the £200 threshold for the £50 Amex offer. The room is just an ordinary King room on a high floor (with a key that lets you access the lounge), but the next category up is a suite, which I know are sometimes excluded from upgrades. It was a fairly quiet Sunday night, however, I and could see in the app that there was at least one suite available so when we checked in I just asked casually if there were any upgrades for gold members. The check in lady tried to say that we’d already been upgraded to the exec room (not true, that’s what I booked), then said there were no suites available. I wasn’t bothered enough to argue about it but it was a distinctly lacklustre welcome! I thought trying the £20 trick for the first time in my home town might not be the best option …

Currently the lounge seems pretty good in the afternoon (nibbles, warm scones and tea/coffee/soft/drinks) and also in the evening (warm nibbles, including very nice sausage rolls, wine, beer and spirits on request), but in the morning they only serve hot and soft drinks, you have to go to the (decent) breakfast buffet in the main restaurant. Our last stay was about 3 years ago so I can’t remember if there was an a la carte breakfast menu then, but this seems a strange omission from a hotel which fancies itself so much!

[NigelHamilton]

I stayed at the Hilton Quebec last weekend,where the friendly check in agent offered us (and following some negotiation, we eventually accepted) an upgrade from a standard room to a suite for 100 CAD a night. This was apparently a special deal for Gold members (Hilton were selling the suite for around 200 CAD more than the combined cost of the room and upgrade). We also got charged for breakfast for the children which I know isn’t supposed to be included unde Gold member benefits, but we have always been given in Hilton’s UK hotels. In the UK, we have sometimes got free room upgrades, by one or two room categories, but never paid for one except via the app in advance. What do others think? Is this a North America thing, or a taste of the new normal?

[The Savage Squirrel]

NigelHamilton wrote:

I stayed at the Hilton Quebec last weekend,where the friendly check in agent offered us (and following some negotiation, we eventually accepted) an upgrade from a standard room to a suite for 100 CAD a night. This was apparently a special deal for Gold members (Hilton were selling the suite for around 200 CAD more than the combined cost of the room and upgrade). We also got charged for breakfast for the children which I know isn’t supposed to be included unde Gold member benefits, but we have always been given in Hilton’s UK hotels. In the UK, we have sometimes got free room upgrades, by one or two room categories, but never paid for one except via the app in advance. What do others think? Is this a North America thing, or a taste of the new normal?

One night in one hotel doesn’t tell you much. However it’s worth remembering that everybody and their dog is gold or better in North America, so significant upgrades were always hit-or-miss at best.

[BuildBackBetter]

NigelHamilton wrote:

I stayed at the Hilton Quebec last weekend,where the friendly check in agent offered us (and following some negotiation, we eventually accepted) an upgrade from a standard room to a suite for 100 CAD a night. This was apparently a special deal for Gold members (Hilton were selling the suite for around 200 CAD more than the combined cost of the room and upgrade). We also got charged for breakfast for the children which I know isn’t supposed to be included unde Gold member benefits, but we have always been given in Hilton’s UK hotels. In the UK, we have sometimes got free room upgrades, by one or two room categories, but never paid for one except via the app in advance. What do others think? Is this a North America thing, or a taste of the new normal?

100 CAD sounds reasonable in your case. Not surprised they are enforcing rules on breakfast when demand for hotels is pretty strong. Also as TSS says, too many elites in North America.

[KevinC]

I know a fair amount about the Hilton Quebec. We had two stays there booked during our summer trip. The second stay was extended by a week when my son caught Covid.

I am a diamond and we had booked connecting rooms. On neither occasion were we upgraded to suites or the expensive view but we got given rooms on high floors.

There is really nice lounge for diamonds on the top floor with panoramic views over old Quebec and the Parliament. There was two hours of very good snacks between 5 and 7 but you had to pay for alcohol. Breakfast for diamonds was in the lounge and included a couple of hot dishes each day. For two days of the week, the lounge was shut and we were given buffet breakfast in the restaurant. All four of us got it for free, so that’s different to the Gold experience.

The staff at the Hilton Quebec were very good and helpful when we got stuck. The people running the lounge were lovely though I felt a bit like Alan Partridge overstaying my welcome by the end. There was no room service nor daily housekeeping. Canadian hotels have large staff shortages.

[The real Swiss Tony]

So what’s the consensus here?

I’ve got a stay booked at a UK Hilton tonight, have Gold status and it’s offering me a room on the 4th floor by the lifts.

If I want anything above the 5th floor, it starts at an extra £15 a night and goes up.

Do I just leave it alone and turn up on the assumption that I’ll likely get an upgrade if I ask?

[NorthernLass]

On my last 2 stays (Hilton Deansgate and Doubletree NCL) I was offered the paid upgrades in the app but nothing at check in. TBH we got so many freebies at NCL it didn’t matter, but the check in lady in Manchester tried to tell us we’d been upgraded to the room we’d actually paid for which was really quite annoying. The next room up was a suite though, so I didn’t push it as I have a feeling that suites might technically be excluded from gold upgrades?
I suspect staff have been instructed to avoid giving out free upgrades if they possibly can.

[The real Swiss Tony]

OK, well here’s what happened.

App kept telling me “check in and we’ll try to upgrade you before you arrive”

Didn’t bother, checked in and was given the perviously assigned room. By that point it was the only room the app would let me have without paying an up-charge.

Pointed out at check in that my preferences were set to high floor & away from elevator, so giving me the lowest available floor next to the lifts wasn’t cool.

They then did a lot of tapping & made a big deal of the fact i’d been given an upgrade, when that (on a space available basis anyway) is an advertised benefit of gold.

I’ve got gold via Amex so not a massive deal on that count but it gives me one more reason to avoid Hilton in the future.

Oh and this hotel is “out there”. There’s no desk in the room, despite there being plenty of space for it. seems to be the standard. Instead I get a “flexible working space” which involves dragging the bedside table over to be by a sofa.

And don’t get me started on my attempts to order room service…

[Robm]

It is going to depend on a number of factors as to whether you get an upgrade. As a datapoint, I stayed at the Hilton at St George’s Park, got the same automated email upselling me better rooms. Ignored all that and was pleased to find out at check in that we’d been upgraded to a lovely, massive one bed suite. (A few categories above the basic room we had booked).

[NorthernLass]

Surely it should only depend on a) status and b) an upgrade being available?

[Aston100]

Robm wrote:

It is going to depend on a number of factors as to whether you get an upgrade. As a datapoint, I stayed at the Hilton at St George’s Park, got the same automated email upselling me better rooms. Ignored all that and was pleased to find out at check in that we’d been upgraded to a lovely, massive one bed suite. (A few categories above the basic room we had booked).

Are you gold, or are you diamond?

[Robm]

Diamond. There will be a number of factors which will affect the chances of an upgrade. Are you a repeat customer? Are you gold or diamond? Who else is staying – e.g. are you the only Diamond or Gold? How full is the hotel overall? Logistically, a one night stay is far more easy to get upgraded than a longer stay.

If it would be beneficial to get an upgrade, a friendly call or email to the hotel in advance normally works well. As an example, if I am travelling for work, I don’t really mind. If it was a wedding anniversary or something special, then I might try asking nicely.

It depends a lot on the hotel – e.g. some Hampton Inns don’t really have rooms which are much above the standard room.

[Robm]

The question this thread posed was whether there are no more complimentary upgrades – only the option to pay in advance. Based on my experience the answer would be no.

It has never been a simple formula as to how upgrades work, a lot will depend on the hotel and other circumstances.

I understand the point that if they are selling rooms in the category above, you should get an upgrade. However it might not be that simple – e.g. if there is one superior room still being sold, that does not mean it has your name on it as an upgrade. You might be gold and be trumped by a Diamond or a repeat customer – who gets the upgrade ahead of you. Sometimes the hotel is stingey and will either not upgrade you, even though they could. Or upgrade you a category – which might be meaningless – e.g. a king bed instead of a queen, in the exact same sized room. Some hotels are better than others.

[TJones]

It’s sometimes worth reading the terms and conditions. For example, neither gold nor diamond members are entitled to upgrades at every brand (eg Hampton and HGI are excluded), and golds are excluded from suite upgrades.

GOLD: At Waldorf Astoria® Hotels & Resorts, LXR® Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Canopy™ by Hilton, Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Curio Collection by Hilton™, DoubleTree by Hilton™ and Tapestry Collection by Hilton™ properties, Gold Hilton Honors Members may be upgraded to preferred rooms up to Executive Floor room types.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Just to give some context, I was being offered in the region of 100 different rooms to select at a premium of between £15 (slippers with the dressing gown and above floor 5) to £175 for a suite, so they were not squeezed on space.

I’ve spent (relative to me) a crap load of money with Hilton this year. My previous stay was for a suite at the Conrad in Istanbul for 3 nights which ran at over £2k.

It may well be a sampling error as i’ve stayed in may more hilton group hotels than I have any other brand this year but they have – with I think only one exception – always dropped the ball on the “kind of simple” stuff. Wrong room allocations when bed counts matter; coming back to find room doors left open after servicing; being assigned a room on a multi day stay where they have major renovation work going on next door; having housekeeping walk in on me whilst on fairly significant conference calls, and so the list goes on. Today’s 2.5hr wait for a bottle opener was the icing on the cake. By that point my beer was well past a drinkable temperature.

Yet they can excel and get it so right, but that seems to be the true exception to the rule, at least in 2022. This screwing the customer for an extra £15 to get anything but the worst room in the house is a joke. Anyway, at least I can now believe this is policy.

And to add, as I type this just before midnight, the hotel is still showing lots of availability – at least 4 rooms in every category. My verdict is that gold upgrades “subject to availability” are now worthless.

[Robm]

Yeah, that does sound like you have had a terrible experience multiple times – sorry to hear that. If the hotel is low occupancy and they have premium rooms coming out their ears, I’d be expecting an upgrade. Which was the hotel with at least 4 rooms in every category, and which one took forever with the bottle opener? Did I see you post about the Harrogate doubletree about the building work? Helps me and others avoid these hotels in the future.

[cabal of rabid baboons]

We’ve had lovely upgrades as Diamond this year, Budapest & Dubrovnik we’re tremendous rooms.
Deluxe rooms elsewhere as opposed to the basic rooms I booked.
The Diamond upgrades are still around

[The real Swiss Tony]

@Robm – I’ve just checked out so now willing to disclose it’s the Gantry in Stratford, East London that had the abundant room availability and took over 2hrs to bring me a bottle opener. They did comp the beers though and bring me some more cold ones, although by then it was too late as I was heading out…

[slidey]

Hilton Mumbai, booked a base room then on the day the app showed Id been upgraded to a suite. In the 2 mins it took to try to do the checkin after I noticed that, Id been downgraded to a lesser upgrade.

Conrad Bangkok, had booked a grand premium room, was given a grand premium room. I asked had I been upgraded and was told yes but Im not so sure about that.

Also for anyone thats stayed at the bucharest hilton over the last few months, check you have received points for it as it appears that they have internally moved to using IHG format booking refs that dont match the hilton booking ref, so hilton arent aware that youve actually stayed there and so credit no points.

[John]

The Gantry seems to have multiple service failures mentioned on flyertalk and tripadvisor, or at least a high chance of them, so I’d avoid it for the time being if you want a hassle-free stay.

[Lady London]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

So what’s the consensus here?

I’ve got a stay booked at a UK Hilton tonight, have Gold status and it’s offering me a room on the 4th floor by the lifts.

If I want anything above the 5th floor, it starts at an extra £15 a night and goes up.

Do I just leave it alone and turn up on the assumption that I’ll likely get an upgrade if I ask?

very limited experience with Hilton, and Hampton or midrange mostly but my impression is that everything to upgrade me (or not) was done before I checked in and no improvement available at checkin.

If it’s looking like that (4th floor and particularly, next the lifts) if it’s a flexible booking personally I’d try to book elsewhere and cancel.

EDIT Hadn’t seen your later post on what actually happened when I posted this and am sad not to be surprised by how this panned out. The really bad sign about this was ‘by the lifts’ not just the floor.