Tag Archives: Hilton

Hilton HHonors New and Upcoming Hotels: 2014-2015

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Andy Shuman • 2 Comments

UPDATE Dec 30, 2014

Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa, Bora Bora goes down from Cat 10 to Cat 9;

Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii goes down from Cat 7 to Cat 6;

Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam goes up from Cat 9 to Cat 10;

Hilton Garden Inn Krakow goes up from Cat 5 to Cat 6;

Doubletree by Hilton The Point Hotel, Edinburgh goes up from Cat 4 to Cat 6 (yey, double whammy);

Alexandra Barcelona goes up from Cat 5 to Cat 6.

The full list is here.

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This is a series of blog posts reviewing changes from major hotel programs. I’m planning to finish before the year’s end, but I caught a bug again. Second time in the last 30 days, so no promises. And we are opening up with…

Hilton HHonors

After traumatizing their loyal members (along with people like me) with a bloody 2013 massacre, Hilton HHonors decided to take it easy. They have not done any major devaluation this year; they call them adjustments. While they have more categories increases than decreases, things don’t look too bad. Of course, after what they did in March 2013, nothing they can throw at us is going to look too bad.

Probably shouldn’t say that.

OK, this is not supposed to be a rant. I just can’t help myself, sometimes

You can access all changes here, In this post, I’ll pay attention to the most notable changes (IMHO).

Notable Increases

The Morrison, Dublin, a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Dublin, Ireland Category 6 -> Category 7
Conrad Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, Category 6 -> Category 7
DoubleTree by Hilton, London, Victoria, London, England, Category 6 -> Category 7
DoubleTree by Hilton, London, Marble Arch, London, England, Category 7 -> Category 8
Doubletree by Hilton, Boston-Bayside Category 5 -> Category 6
Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center, Category 5 -> Category 6
Hilton Boston Logan Airport, Category 6 -> Category 7
Hilton Boston Back Bay, Category 7 -> Category 8
Hilton Boston Financial District, Category 7 -> Category 8
Waldorf Astoria Chicago, Category 9 -> Category 10

It seems they have upgraded Boston wholesale. I always thought it was a nice city. 🙂

Notable Decreases

Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa Category 10 -> Category 9
Hilton Garden Inn, Rzeszow, Poland Category 2 -> Category 1
Hilton Garden Inn Kutahya, Turkey Category 2 -> Category 1
Hampton Inn Ordu, Turkey, Category 2 -> Category 1
Hilton Garden Inn Mardin, Turkey, Category 3 -> Category 2
Hilton Kayseri, Turkey, Category 3 -> Category 2

I don’t know anything about any of these places except that Ordu is located on the Black Sea, and Hampton is located within a two-minute walk to the beach. Oh, and every time the hotel leaves its coveted spot in the Category 10, it’s good news, so if you ‘ve always wanted to visit the Seychelles…

New Notable Hotels (updated on Dec 31)

Concorde Opera Paris (to be rebranded as Hilton Paris Opera), Cat 9
DoubleTree by Hilton, London, Islington, England, Cat 8
Conrad London St. James, London, England, Cat 9
Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow, England, Cat 4
Hilton Brussels Grand Place, Belgium, Cat 7
Hampton by Hilton Nuremberg, Germany, Cat 5
Hampton by Hilton Nuremberg, Germany, Cat 5
DoubleTree by Hilton Girona, Spain, Cat 4
DoubleTree by Hilton, Moscow – Marina, Russia, Cat 5
Hilton Istanbul Kozyatagi, Cat 5
Doubletree By Hilton Queenstown, New Zealand, Cat 4
DoubleTree by Hilton Melbourne / Flinders Street, Australia, Cat 6
DoubleTree by Hilton Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Cat 5
Hilton Okinawa Chatan Resort, Okinawa, Japan, Cat 9
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Cat 1
DoubleTree by Hilton Venice / North, Italy, Cat 4
Hilton Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Cat 6
Hilton Ngapali Resort & Spa, Myanmar, Cat 6
DoubleTree by Hilton, Zanzibar – Stone Town, Tanzania, Cat 4
Hampton by Hilton, Panama City, Cat 1
Hilton Panama, Panama City, Panama, Cat 5
Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile, IL, Cat 7
The Diplomat Resort & Spa, Curio A Collection by Hilton, Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale, FL, Cat 8
Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile, IL, Cat 7
Homewood Suites by Hilton New York/Midtown Manhattan Times Square-South, NY, Cat 8
Hilton Garden Inn New York/Mid-Town Park Ave, New York, NY, Cat 8

Notes:

Two years ago, a French developer took away Hilton’s rights to manage the Hilton Arc de Triomphe in Paris–a crown jewel in their collection. So this year, they recovered by enticing the Concorde Opera Paris to join the Hilton portfolio. Now, they have a property in the heart of the French capital again.

The Hampton Inn Panama City is a solid choice if you want to stay on points. The problem is, their opening has been repeatedly delayed. I booked it for my trip a month ago, and they had to relocate me to the DoubleTree (not that I’m complaining). I don’t know if they are open now, but I walked by, and their location is central to everything. That, and 5,000 points per night is hard to beat.

The DoubleTree in Johor Bahru is very close to Singapore by bus or car, and I’ve read that people have used that hotel to visit Singapore on budget. I have no idea about the logistics of commuting between Singapore and Johor Bahru, but for 5,000 points a night it might warrant further research.