Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels display disclaimers on their respective sites what services are or are not available or limited at various hotels due to the current environment.
I have found the information to be mostly correct but faced two issues with Hilton last week in Guadalajara in Mexico.
You can access Hilton here.
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1. DoubleTree Guadalajara Centro Historico
They claim to provide evening social, but nobody at the property was aware of this. I was given the DoubleTree cookie.
Video of the “suite” I had:
2. Hilton Guadalajara
They claim not to have Complimentary Evening Social when in fact, they do.
Video of the suite I had:
Hilton’s take:
I was in touch with Hilton to determine why the information is out of date or simply not correct and what steps Honors members should take.
Here are the responses from the Hilton’s spokesperson:
How does Hilton ensure that the information displayed through your reservation system is correct?
The safety and security of our guests and team members remains our highest priority. Due to the business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, some properties’ services and amenities may need to be temporarily modified or suspended. Guests should contact their hotel prior to their stay to confirm available services, as well as review the latest local rules and/or restrictions that may be in place. As Hilton continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, visit hilton.com/coronavirus for the latest updates on reservations, member benefits and more.
How can members booking directly be sure that the information displayed during the booking process is valid?
With fast-changing local rules and restrictions and with our focus on the safety and security of our guests and team members as our highest priority, guests are advised to reach out to the hotel directly to review of the available amenities ahead their stay.
What steps should members take that expect to get their evening social per information displayed on your website when the hotel doesn’t provide one?
As our hotels closely follow local restrictions and guidelines, the guest experience and level of changes may vary market-to-market. Our hotel teams work hard to update guest communications to ensure they meet – or exceed – expectations prior to and during their stay.
While the menu or amenities at various properties may have been modified, our commitment to hospitality has never been stronger. We understand that certain elements of the stay are important to guests, and we will reactivate the offerings at our hotels when the environment is right, when we can safely do so and in accordance with local laws.
Conclusion
It is understandable that the service information changes when the city/area/country’s epidemiological situation develops for good or worse.
I cannot understand why properties cannot keep their property service information up to date on the Hilton channels? Complimentary evening happy hour service with hors devours is an essential part of Diamond benefits, and many may choose the property based on its availability.
My advice is to contact Hilton’s customer service or Guest Assistance if the services displayed during the booking process are not available. Once the Guest Assistance intervention fees start to show up at GM’s reports, I am sure that the eagerness to update the information suddenly changes.
You should show yourself more often in your videos. Come on its 2021 lol. No need to be shy 😉
I have had the “15 minutes of fame” several times in my life. Besides, I cannot stand “reviews” that are nothing that photos of the author or their family members.
The way the Hilton spokesperson avoids answering your questions shows how useless the information in the app is. It’s false advertising and hotels should update that information themselves. I don’t take the “guests are advised to reach out to the hotel directly”. It’s 2021!
I don’t have time for that either. It should not be difficult for the hotels to update this information to ensure it is up to date.
I have had issues with incorrect information (i.e. breakfast times) on the Hilton app, even pre-COVID. Like someone else said, it’s 2021 and should not be hard to update!
I did recently contact customer service via email when, according to the app, a Hilton Garden Inn said they were providing breakfast, but were not. This was my MyWay benefit, so I inquired if I would be receiving the points instead. This is the response I got:
“I have posted 750 points to your account. For future stays, we recommend checking with the hotel prior to check-in to see what amenities are offered, and updating your MyWay preferences online, as appropriate.”
So now I’m in the habit of calling the hotel directly before a stay if I anticipate any issues. Definitely an unnecessary pain when the technology is there.
The typical answer I get to such queries is usually along the lines of, “…however, it is at the discretion of the individual property bla bla bla…” I stayed at a Holiday Inn and a Best Western two weeks ago, both of which said their pools were open. As it turned out, both were “closed for maintenance” the entire time and I never saw anyone working on them. The skeptic in me thinks they are just using COVID as an excuse to save on chemicals and work hours.
I stayed at the Hilton in Guadalajara and there was no lounge open but they did serve me some drinks and small food items in the evening a week ago. Do the Double Trees usually offer something in the evenings?