Hilton AMEX UPdate - Free weekend nights good any day of the week for now.

[vesposit]

I see several here in past talking about the Hilton Amex card. I travel a lot for work and have moved from Marriott to Hilton for most of my stays.
I talked yesterday to Hilton rep on phone about a stay in Dec 21 and was told I could use my free weekend nights for ANY day of the week in a Standard room at Hilton Aruba no problem... booyahh! I had 4 of these banked up... so used all 4 for a stay + couple more nights with points.
These are only good for STANDARD room which is what I ALWAYS do anyway... we like the Bonaire or Curacao towers and just standard view rooms are fine.
Another Tip... they do specials during the year... one going on right now thru first week July. You can purchase upto 160k points and they double the points you buy. So for $1600 = 160k points + 160k points bonus = 320k points.
Now 5 nights at Hilton is 4 x 80k + 5th night free = 320k points
So you get 5 nights at Hilton for $1600/5 = $320 per night.
This is not free but a good rate since it includes ALL taxes, resort fees other fees... no extra charges...
An I have never seen the days blacked out unless they are just booked up... never had a problem using points here and have done this 10+ times.
So if you like the Hilton you be hard pressed to get a better deal than this I have found.
And as others have said if you have status (Diamond) you get breakfast (cont, or 1/2 price buffet $13) also a discount ~30% on huts/cabaña rentals.
Also it has been noted that you get 10 visits to Priority Club (in Aurba Airport) at not cost. Nice on you flight home...

[WaltVB]

Thanks for sharing this. You are the first person I've heard of that says the standard rooms are okay. Most complain of the rooms having a dumpster/alley view. I get that you don't spend a great deal of time in your room, but just a peek at that awesome water is nice to have. How are the views from standard rooms?

[vesposit]

We have stayed at Hilton 10+ times over past few years and always just got the STANDARD room... I always book for the Bonaire or Curacao towers. These are 2 low rise buildings in middle of property... go online and get the map of resort... you can clearly see no bad rooms here... ALL the rooms have some garden view and often a side view of ocean... upper floors most all see the ocean. It is only 4 stories or so... I like the ground floor... BUT there is NO Dumpster or Parking lot view in these buildings. They have the Aruba Tower which is like a high rise, 10 or so floors... I have never stayed here... they might have a poor view in some rooms ? But if you book a Standard room in either of the Bonaire or Curacao building you will not get a bad room. These are also nice since just steps from Pool and Beach... short walk up path to lobby... and I like that they are low rise type. I was once upgraded to the END room which is huge, 2 rooms like a suite and big balcony looking at ocean... All the rooms in these towers have a nice balcony or patio to sit on... most as said with some view of ocean, but not all. So I highly recommend the Hilton. On the negative side I wish they would update the Gilligans pool bar, NO HAPPY hour?? drinks ok, food not so good... just poorly run but awesome location.... I love the ability to reserve the palapas and cabanas before we leave, you can reserve like 90days ahead... this for me is awesome since now I don't need to worry every day about how to snag a hut... all done, happy wife, happy... well you know the rest. It does cost a bit but well worth it for me, they give you nice cooler with ice, water, fruit with it if reserve... and you can get 20-30% discount with Hilton status... it's a well spent $$ to make the trip more worry/hassle free. Another caution, don't get huts at end near Riu... they bring bus of Cruise people here to drop for the day and they swarm the beach, often try to take the huts and plant themselves 5 ft. in front of you in your hut... a huge mess... but only happened once to us and we just moved up to the pool and they refunded my hut reservation made... the cruise people just took over and fought with the Hilton staff over it... some said they belong to Hilton Honors so they can do what the want... anyway... not a big deal... just move on.

[Andrea J.]

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