Premise
Ever since getting my Hilton Aspire card, racking up the Hilton points (get 100,000 for signing up through my link) and getting Hilton Diamond, I’ve thought about switching my business from Starwood to Hilton, especially due to the recent promotion getting an extra 50% points per dollar of stay, totaling 30 points for every $1 at Hilton. So, in my most recent business trips to Austin and Miami, I specifically chose Hiltons for those stays, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Austin Northwest Arboretum and Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon. Big mistake, and I sincerely regret it. One got so bad that I left the hotel early, checking out three days before I was scheduled to. I’ve never done that before!
I find their mantra and Make It Right ™ policy lacking, when it says “We promise you’ll be satisfied, or we’ll make it right.” It was not right, and I was most definitely not satisfied. I picked up and hightailed it to an Element-class hotel, my first in the series, from which I’m writing this post.
Not only were the hotels dated and old, the quality of service and professionalism was below expectations (which, already, aren’t very high). I should not be spending the better part of my day telling the staff what’s wrong with their hotel or my room. Various things broken or not working, not being fixed, is a problem. However, my main frustration and reason I’m swearing them off (for now at least) is the abysmal internet.
Terrible Internet Service
Maybe it’s the hotels, but both I found lacking. Two different hotels, some with similar issues? That’s just outrageous.
The common issue I found was poor internet service. Hilton’s internet is backwards, slow, inconsistent, and extremely frustrating.
It is Backwards
They have two modes of connection, through “attwifi” or “hhonors” networks. Using hhonors, you can connect with an access code which the front desk may or may not give you, or your Hilton account. How many know their Hilton account information off the top of their head? I do, no thanks to them! There should be one, it should be very easy, and I should not have to navigate through up to four options on getting access.
It is Slow
Their standard internet is between 1-5mb/s in the two hotels I stayed at. This is like 20th century internet a generation ago and unacceptable.
Not to mention, their “premium” internet is about 15mb/s, with slowdowns to ~5mb/s during some periods. Unacceptable – it’s the 21st century, they should get with the program and have faster internet. No excuse as both hotels are near business parks and airports – especially necessary to have quality internet.
It is Inconsistent
Several times a day the connection would cut out. That means none of the following: downloading, streaming, gaming, videoconferencing, webcamming, emailing, surfing, etc. You would have to log in again…and again…and again. Even though it says you’re logged in until the next day for 24 hours, I found myself logging in multiple times a day. Multiply that times the number of devices people have (I had four) and it gets obscene. This flows into the next section: frustration.
It is Frustrating
As mentioned, I would log-in on my multiple devices several times a day, every single day of my stay. Mind-numbingly stupid, I feel. Also in the Miami hotel, sometimes it would show as connected on my floor (8th) but it would mysteriously be connected to Hilton Lobby, which of course did not work at that level. Of course, you could only figure that out by seeing which network it would connect you to, so there was some troubleshooting involved.
Conclusion
I’m never staying at a Hilton hotel again, not until they fix all these issues. It’s the 21st century – why is this garbage acceptable? Not only did I experience all these issues, I received no apology, acknowledgement, or compensation for wasting all that time and for my frustrations. Crazy, and even as I write this I can feel the rage from my experience. These experiences were so bad I felt compelled to write about it – that’s how bad it was. I’ll stick with the new, quality, better-internet-serviced Starwood hotels for now, except for the exception of Alofts – got a bad track record there!
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The WiFi in all Hilton’s is the worst! Always kicking you off…or you never get on in the first place. Literally awful!
I just had same experience at DoubleTree by Hilton at Breckenridge. Horrible internet, even after the code the front desk provided to me after calling them twice. Hope they fix it, else I’ll move my business trips somewhere else, it is unacceptable to have such backwards internet.
Completely agree – be sure to let me know what happened after you called them. I’m sure it’s a very frustrating experience.
I agree regarding the internet. It is the worst!!!
Agree – take that under advisement when staying. I certainly do now
Don’t go to the Hyatt Regency in Chicago!, such a bad 2 experiences enough
After 12 years, I renewed my Hilton Honours membership with the equivalent Diamond promotion, thanks to the TravelUpdate advisory. My first stay at Hilton Garden Inn Dubai was perfect with a fabulous upgrade and outstanding service, except for AC dust/fibre on the baked potatoes. The “Make it Right” does work. The second stay got a lesser, but well-appreciated upgrade. However almost everything was missing from the room, like someone had purposely removed all the items. I have never experienced anything like this in any hotel across the world. However my third and fourth stays were at Hilton Garden Inn Zanzibar, and this experience was beyond expectations for the quality of care, attention, service and food. Great team. I feel in the 2 hotels I used there was generally a concerted effort to raise customer care standards. I am really shocked that they did not apply the “Make it Right” promise for you, and you are right poor Internet service is inexcusable when you consider the value of business travelers to the industry.
My IHG membership benefits are almost doubled when you consider the immediate “compensation” for even the slightest problem or inconvenience, and all the extras they give.
QUOTE: > 1-5mb/s in the two hotels I stayed at. This is like 20th century internet a generation ago and unacceptable.
One generation is 20 years (approximately). 20 years ago people were still using idalup at 56k (that’s 0.05 Mbps). Some wealthy people had ISDN at 128 k (0.1 Mbps). So at 1-5 Mbps you were doing BETTER than people one generation ago.
20 years ago plenty of folks had cable internet which gave at least 5mbps even back then. Hotel connections would be dialup though, as I don’t remember a single hotel from 1999 that offered Ethernet in some form.
A bit overly dramatic post. Not all spg or Hyatt’s or any other hotel chains are absolutely fantastic. There are some bad apples within the portfolio. Therefore, you shouldnt axe the whole brand based on this bad internet experience. Just do a little research online and find the best hotels to stay at. Usually works without much drama.
Not sure why you think it’s dramatic – it’s a frustrating experience to have two separate business-catering hotels with poor internet. If their whole portfolio has the same internet setup, I don’t want to be subject to that.
The overall hotel experience is greater than just internet. And many of us don’t have the time or energy to change our loyalties so easily.
Hilton’s internet isn’t perfect, but as a loyal Diamond (the hard way), I know how to connect. No one needs to tell me, so for me, that’s a non issue. It is indeed frustrating to re-authenticate every 24 hour’s, but it is what it is… And I never have any issues streaming.
Furthermore, WiFi experience is so subjective, so it’s hard to understand what “making it right” means sometimes, but I’ve never had a situation where either the hotel or Hilton corporate hasn’t taken care of for me or a frustrating situation.
That’s fair – but I’m merely speaking from my perspective. I don’t have to reauthenticate every 24 hours – it’s even worse than that, I have to log in multiple times a day for any device that i use. Good that you haven’t had any issues and hope it stays that way!
I had the same experience at Hilton Chicago: slow WiFi or not able to connect at all! I had to call the helpdesk which after a back-and-forth gave me a static WiFi address.
Ah – yeah I mentioned to front desk several times but didn’t get anything other than try again.
Look on the bright side-at least Hilton’s still HAVE desks, unlike so many of the Marriott properties. However, I agree about the having to re-up the internet every 24 hrs & on every single Hilton survey I get, I make note of this & that if Marriott can figure out a way to make it valid for my entire stay, they can to.
Fair – haven’t been in one without a desk yet.
I have so many Hilton points and am in a similar boat. I booked a Home2Suites for my wife’s graduation in Austin, about 6 months in advance. When we arrived, the hotel was still under construction! No communication from HIlton, and they didn’t have another room available at any Hilton hotel in the city.
That’s crazy and I’m sorry to hear about that!
I agree that Hilton’s aren’t as nice as Westin’s or Hyatts, but they are on par with Sheratons or Marriotts. And their Conrad product is excellent. And the free breakfasts with mid level status is a bonus. I stopped using their WiFi and rely exclusively on my cell or other hotspot, which is superior to their crappy WiFi.
True – I found their free breakfasts “meh” and their paid breakfasts not worth it. Haven’t been in conrad yet and I guess I’ve only tried their lower quality properties.
Sorry you had such frustrating experiences, mine have generally been much more positive.
But a little confused… given that you’d never stay at a Hilton again, why are you including a link for a card for Hilton points for others?
Interesting question. I guess it’s because just because I’ve had these problems, doesn’t mean you will! You said yours were much more positive (and that’s good)!
Also, should you not need/use internet, there wouldn’t be nearly as many problems. The points are still useful, and the card has a lot of benefits outweighing it’s large annual fee ($250 travel credit, $200 hilton credit, free night, etc.) Milking all of those puts you positive, even if you never used any hilton points.
Then why use a referral link as opposed to a public link? What good are the points for if you’re never going to stay at a Hilton again?
Points are so much more valuable than just stays – experience, donation, travel, etc. – http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/overview/index.html
I think he means to say: “I make money every time you use my link and apply”
I don’t make any money on referrals – only the normal personal bonus of a few thousand points.
hey dude are you asking him to take hilton links down? he does not stay there but I will. why shouldn’t he let other use it?
is this a social responsibility issue? the thing is blown out of proportion.
pointing out the hypocrisy in the travel blogosphere
No Hypocrisy here – another reader mentioned staying at the Conrad, or in places that don’t require internet (go out and enjoy yourself more) those would be more viable options.
So he can make money
I don’t make any money on referrals – only the normal personal bonus of a few thousand points.