Compensation Clinic: DoubleTree by Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Ave

This week our Compensation Clinic case comes from a reader’s stay at a recently reflagged Radisson property in New York that is now trading as Hilton-affiliated DoubleTree New York Midtown Fifth Ave.

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You can access the DoubleTree New York Midtown Fifth Ave website here.

READ MORE: Hilton Honors Rate & Bonus Points Offers

Here are the issues that the reader faced:

I’m currently staying at this property.

Besides the amazing location, I would like to give you the following less positive feedback:

– wifi doesn’t work

– no recognition for gold members as myself

– no welcome amenity

– no chocolate chip cookies

– no breakfast (excuse is that the restaurant is not owned by hilton)

– towels are new and haven’t been pre-washed (so they don’t dry)

in the gym nothing works

most machines out of order

no water bar

no towels

No sanitizer

no weights (most are missing),

– elevator takes forever to arrive and is very shaky

– room has a light with a sensor that turns on when you move, so in the middle of the night the light turns on all the time

– Large iron door handle at the entrance door broken and almost fell on my sons head

Doesn’t sound like a fantastic stay.

Reply From Hilton’s Guest Assistance:

Thank you for contacting Hilton Guest Assistance with your Satisfaction Loyalty stay survey regarding the amenities, facilities/breakfast, staff service, and maintenance issues at the DoubleTree by Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Ave.

After reviewing your hotel feedback case #REMOVED, first, we care deeply about your viewpoint and sorry to hear that you did not feel welcomed, as it is our goal to make every Honors member/guest know they are valued and appreciated. And while we do our best to always deliver a smooth experience, please accept my sincere apology for the unexpected issues and if the hotel has not contacted you back. Be assured that your feedback is taken seriously, as we do monitor our hotels to ensure they are operating according to our standards and the hotel has been made aware of this correspondence. Our Brand Management Team is also responsible for overseeing quality assurance at our properties and they conduct internal reviews of guest comments for a plan of action with the property to ensure guest concerns are implemented into our efforts for improvement.

In understanding your frustration with the situation and to help make amends for your dissatisfaction, I will be happy to credit a total of 50,000 bonus compensation points as a token of apology to your Hilton Honors account within 24 hours. I will be closing your hotel case at this time; however, please let us know if you need any further assistance or have any other questions/concerns regarding this specific stay.

The reviews of this hotel are bad on both Google and TripAdvisor.

Google:

TripAdvisor:

Conclusion

The reader wanted to know if I believe 50,000 points are adequate compensation for their issues at this hotel.

The problem here is that Hilton allowed this hotel to reflag under their DoubleTree brand before the required updates were made.

Also, Hilton uses DoubleTree mainly for conversions in North America, and the hotel quality under this brand is, at best inconsistent, compared to Asia, where fantastic hotels are trading as DoubleTree.

The compensation offer from Hilton’s Guest Assistance appeared directly from them, and the property didn’t deal with it at all.

I would probably take the 50K as compensation and move on. Perhaps leaving notes on both Google and TripAdvisor how bad the hotel is to warn potential other guests.