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Can anyone recommend decent Hiltons on the US west coast, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Ideally any with lounges as I have diamond although I haven’t found many yet, with lounges, whilst looking.
Would be good to take advantage of a 5 for 4 offer if anywhere is worth staying long enough. Everyone seems to recommend 3-4 days in each area.
Intending to hire a car and drive from San Diego to Los Angeles and then fly to the other 2 places.
No idea where to start as usual holiday is by a waterpark on the Palm in Dubai 🤦🏻♂️.
can top our account to just over 1m HH points in current 100% promotion, which looks like a decent option.Have stayed in the San Diego Bayfront Hilton quite a few times and it is perfectly fine. Is a large convention hotel so has the amenities that goes with that, but then also the issues as well if there is a meeting on. Pool is good and location is handy if you want to be at the south end of the city near the Gaslamp, Petco Park etc. They will also shuttle you over to Coronado and the beach for free (although you’re paying a $15 resort fee every day). Sounds like IHG is not an option, but since the IC San Diego opened I’ve switched my stays to there.
Have stayed in the San Diego Bayfront Hilton quite a few times and it is perfectly fine. Is a large convention hotel so has the amenities that goes with that, but then also the issues as well if there is a meeting on. Pool is good and location is handy if you want to be at the south end of the city near the Gaslamp, Petco Park etc. They will also shuttle you over to Coronado and the beach for free (although you’re paying a $15 resort fee every day). Sounds like IHG is not an option, but since the IC San Diego opened I’ve switched my stays to there.
Thanks Seagull
Wife is platinum elite, with IHG, and could upgrade to ambassador, which I am thinking of doing to give a bit more flexibility and use the voucherSomeone wrote quite a lot about touring along PCH, and nice places to visit. The drive to SF <—-> LA can be spectacular, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey all worth a stop along the way. The drive to Vegas is pretty boring standard freeway so flying makes sense. If you want to just chill in a nice spot I recommend La Jolla a bit north of SD.
Check google maps for driving times and routes, traffic for much of the West Coast is horrible, even if you just do the LA-SD bit.
Every moment in a hotel lounge is a little bit of your life wasted 😏
Have a look here if you haven’t already https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/california-road-trip/
I realise I’ve contributed nothing to the question you asked but hey ho.
I am a Hilton fan, and push most of my stays that direction.
However for Las Vegas, I always chose to stay elsewhere as you used to be able to do SO much better.
The grand vacation properties are family zoo’s.
The flamingo/tropicana options are cheap… but cheap in all ways.
The other properties are not on the strip/downtown (great if you are working in vegas longer term, but crud for a holiday)… All changed when Resorts World came along!
Resorts World is a truly worthwhile Hilton destination (3 properties in 1: Conrad, Crockfords and Hilton Resorts World).
No resort fee’s on points redemptions is great. F&B credit for Gold/Diamond. Great room upgrade possibilities – but most importantly, a resort that can hold its own in terms of quality with the other top properties.
(Wynn/Encore, Venetian/Palazzo, Cosmopolitan)For the bigger cities (LA and San Fran) – better off booking somewhere where everyone gets breakfast (e.g. Homewood Suites), rather than a Hilton with an executive lounge. The lounge offerings will be mediocre and the lounges absolutely rammed (this is certainly the case for Hilton LAX). Much better to go somewhere that caters well to everyone at breakfast as part of the room rate.
Thanks Guys/girls, we quite like the Conrad chain and are starting off in the Conrad Dublin to take advantage of the cheap taxes on BA, booked before they blocked that loop hole.
Need 2 interconnecting rooms where possible and Conrad have always looked after us very well in that regard.
Interesting info about LV and resorts world, will definitely take a look at that.Someone wrote quite a lot about touring along PCH, and nice places to visit. The drive to SF <—-> LA can be spectacular, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey all worth a stop along the way. The drive to Vegas is pretty boring standard freeway so flying makes sense. If you want to just chill in a nice spot I recommend La Jolla a bit north of SD.
Check google maps for driving times and routes, traffic for much of the West Coast is horrible, even if you just do the LA-SD bit.
Every moment in a hotel lounge is a little bit of your life wasted 😏
Have a look here if you haven’t already https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/california-road-trip/
I realise I’ve contributed nothing to the question you asked but hey ho.
+1 for La Jolla, it’s a nice stop on the way out of SD. Was in Dana Point (just south of LA) all last week and a nice spot too with excellent whale / dolphin watching tours (Captain Dave is your man) and the ferry to Catalina Island. Other favourite spots along the way are Carlsbad and Cardiff by the Sea for surfing and any of the canyons in the Santa Ana Mountains. In LA a nice walk is from the Griffith Observatory (lovely views over LA) to the Hollywood Sign.
Conrad option is the sweet spot in the LV Resorts World option IMO. Being in the crockfords tower rather than the Hilton tower, it has the exclusivity and room size of Crockfords, but at a price point only just above the Hilton side.
Conrad option is the sweet spot in the LV Resorts World option IMO. Being in the crockfords tower rather than the Hilton tower, it has the exclusivity and room size of Crockfords, but at a price point only just above the Hilton side.
Thanks Travel Strong
I’ve just looked at both and Conrad is half the price of Crockfords in August, cash much better use than pointsHere’s some thoughts on various west coast Hiltons in your target area.
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/central-california-hilton-tour/
I’d also agree that Resorts World is the way to go for Hilton options in Vegas. TravelStrong’s analysis is spot on.
Health warning on Resorts World and the F&B credit for Hilton elites. It is limited to The Dawg House sports bar and that itself has a minimum charge of $50 per seat. The real sweet spot can be Crockfords on Amex FHR or Conrad on The Hotel Collection
Personally resorts world is too far out of the way for my liking, but then I’m massively biased towards the Cosmo and the FV balcony rooms. Although with the MGM acquisition my Cosmo gold status will likely lose a lot of value and I may be looking for another option.
Anyway back on topic, I’ll add:
Hilton LA Jolla – this is really more in LA Jolla shores which is a nice neighbourhood. All rooms have sea view and are well positioned for some amazing sunsets, although you are about a 10min walk away from the front. Pool area was a bit meh felt like done thing you’d get in a cheap motel. Restaurant nice on the top floor but when we were there last year it was barely open due to covid.
Doubletree Dana Point – well positioned for a road trip, maybe not as glamorous as Laguna or Newport but massively more affordable. I think this may be be the last proper coastal Hilton until you get to Huntington beach?
Hilton santa Barbara – we loved this place but like with most of the US prices have gone through the roof. We stayed midweek and got 3for2 on cash which was a great deal. Doesn’t look like that offer will be available this summer although other SB hotels look to have it https://santabarbaraca.com/places-to-stay/santa-barbara-savvy/
WA Beverley Hills – it’s a shame the points required have gone up so much it was a good deal with 5for4. Well located for Hollywood, Universal and Santa Monica and I can thoroughly recommend the steak and egg nachos by the pool for lunch as good value for the resort credit. I thought the staff were outstanding from the guys at the pool, the consierge and the drivers and they made a huge fuss on our anniversary even though we clearly weren’t as money as the other clientele. The pool was the best part even midweek in August we had it almost to ourselves.
Holton Palm Springs- (currently staying here). It’s probably not advisable in the summer unless you plan on visiting Joshua Tree, but very pleasant at Easter anyway. Cash prices can be high this time of year so a good points redemption even if you buy then like we did. Huge pool area with lots of beds, daily resort credit plus $10 is enough for lunch for 2 at the pool.
Thanks to a previous post here I found there is loads of free parking on the street right outside as the hotel wants $30 (and amazingly the car park is pretty much full). The actual city is a lot cheaper than I expected, lots of long happy hours for example. Would recommend a drive up to Idyllwild.Health warning on Resorts World and the F&B credit for Hilton elites. It is limited to The Dawg House sports bar and that itself has a minimum charge of $50 per seat. The real sweet spot can be Crockfords on Amex FHR or Conrad on The Hotel Collection
When staying at the Conrad, the two restaurants at the entrance to the Conrad were included in the F+B credit (the kitchen, and suns out buns out) YMMV
Highly rated amongst a number of HfPers is the LXR Oceana Santa Monica. Small but perfectly formed in a great location. We had 3 nights there but we’d have happily stayed for 5 if we’d had more time.
Health warning on Resorts World and the F&B credit for Hilton elites. It is limited to The Dawg House sports bar and that itself has a minimum charge of $50 per seat. The real sweet spot can be Crockfords on Amex FHR or Conrad on The Hotel Collection
When staying at the Conrad, the two restaurants at the entrance to the Conrad were included in the F+B credit (the kitchen, and suns out buns out) YMMV
They have incrementally reduced its applicability such that only The Dawghouse now accepts it.
Given that Yuff mentions August then may be in luck and Hilton F&B may be irrelevant. If you’re staying in August midweek and avoid large events then you’re getting a Vegas room as cheap as they ever come. Cash will be king. I’d go back to TS’s list of Wynn, Venetian and Cosmo – can’t go wrong with any of those. For a bit less, Horseshoe (previously Ballys) is freshly renovated while ParkMGM is non smoking (a BIG plus to me), so if you’re happy with a very well located mid range property then they’d be the two.
Thanks Guys, all recommendations gratefully received.
Conrad is ideal in august at the rates I can see.
I have Emyr trying to get us a deal at the Beverly Hills Wiltshire, wife and daughter want to stay there.
Still planning the rest and how expensive is San Diego $300 per room for a Hampton 🤷🏻♂️We did 5-4-4 at Resorts World, Las Vegas last August and it was a great stay. We had a hire car so paid for parking but the location at the top of the strip was less of an issue because of it.
There was a heavy metal concert on for a few of the days we were there so our daily credit was opened up to the other kitchens which gave a lot more choice. The Dawg House was quite limiting but it was reserved for the concert so we only eat there once before it was reserved.
The rest of our trip was a West Coast road trip and we burned through IHG points mostly. IC in SF and IC in LA were the best (and most expensive) we stopped at. The rest, as a family of 4, focused on free breakfast options as that made a huge difference for cash outlay.
Note that Resorts World parking is free is you sign up (for free) for the players card in the casino (which also comes with $10 freeplay on slots IIRC). But annoying to have to do that though!!
Unless youre using it to hit status targets for next year, I wouldnt bother with US hiltons (prolly 80% of my non-us stays are hilton) in general as you get a voucher that might just about get a bagel and coffee, little chance of an upgrade and if you manage to find a lounge, it will often have almost no food and they expect you to pay for alcohol, so what are you actually getting?
Not stayed at resorts world, but imo the location would be a no, anything south of mgm (and mgm is a bit too south given whats near it) or north of wynn is too far from anything, best loc is cosmo imo but generally Id look at cosmo, wynn and venetian (tho I do sometimes do 1 night at mgm/mandalay for the lazy rivers)
We did a couple of US road trips last year, one of which we started in San Diego. We stayed at both IC and Kimpton and would definitely go back. As we’ve done west coast many times and wanted to head to the outlet mall at Carlsbad before heading inland, we spent a night at the Indigo Del Mar, which we liked and would go back to. We ate at Jakes Del Mar. Need to book, right on the beach which was perfect watching sun go down.
I think I’ll use Emyr to book Las Vegas.
He has already got us a pretty good deal at the Beverly Hills Wilshire, for 3 nights plus a free night in a suite which is a pretty good rate.
Just looking at IHG and their prices seem more reasonable than Hilton.
Will upgrade to Ambassador and maybe buy some points in the 100% sale that ends today.
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