One of the benefits of Hilton Honors Diamond status is the guarantee of getting a room at a sold-out hotel if a reservation is made a minimum of 48 hours before.
When logged in to your Honors account, if you are a Diamond member, you can pull up these rates, and they are clearly identified as “DIAMOND GUARANTEE.”
You can access Hilton’s page for Diamond benefits here.
I was looking for a hotel in Lisbon for this weekend, and this new Curio Collection Emerald House popped up with a guarantee price.
The hotel is not available if you are not logged in.
When you click further to reserve the hotel, you see the rules associated with the guarantee.
The text at the bottom of the rate display:
A maximum of one room per night at a specific hotel for the Diamond VIP Member to occupy may be validly booked in accordance with the Hilton Honors Terms and Conditions Diamond VIP Membership 48 hour guaranteed reservations benefit. Additional rooms booked at the same hotel for the same date(s) utilizing the 48 hour guaranteed reservations benefit are invalid and will be cancelled by the hotel and accommodations denied without any liability for such cancelled rooms. Rooms booked utilizing the 48 hour guaranteed reservations benefit are booked at the prevailing rates and pre-negotiated rates and/or corporate rates cannot be utilized with this benefit and cannot be honored.
Cancellation:
Guarantee and Cancellation Policy
There is a credit card required for this reservation. Free cancellation before 11:59 PM local hotel time on 15 Jun 2022.
The cancellation deadline would have already passed if I had made the reservation today. Essentially, noncancelable booking.
Terms & Conditions:
Guaranteed reservations availability, subject to the restrictions stated herein, at hotels within the Hilton Portfolio when paid reservations are made before midnight hotel local time, two or more days (48 hours) prior to intended arrival.
RESTRICTIONS:
This guarantee does not apply to reservations paid for in part or in full by Hilton Honors Points, or free night certificates issued by Hilton.
This guarantee does not apply to a hotel when that hotel becomes overbooked on inventory by 10% or more (meaning, 110% or more of rooms are reserved).
For certain hotels within the Hilton Portfolio, this guarantee does not apply when that hotel becomes overbooked on inventory by 2% or more (meaning, 102% or more of rooms are reserved). Consult with the individual hotel or view hotels with the 2% cap to determine whether the 2% limitation applies.
This guarantee also does not apply to any hotel during Extraordinary Demand Dates. The term “Extraordinary Demand Dates” are dates determined by the hotel and Hilton Honors, in their sole discretion, that are consistently popular reservation dates for guests, such as during major events in the area or New Year’s Eve.
This guarantee applies to only one room reserved with a valid credit card and occupied by the Diamond Elite Member.
Please note that this guarantee does not impact the rate, and the reservations made under the guarantee will be subject to the hotel’s prevailing rate for the accommodations requested.
In the event the Member does not arrive as scheduled or does not call to cancel and obtain a cancellation number, the credit card will be charged one night’s room and tax.
The 48-Hour Reservations Guarantee applies to reservations made online at a hotel Website, through Hilton Reservations and Customer Care, through the Diamond Special Services Department, or with the hotel directly. Promotional Rewards are not applicable for reservations booked under the 48-Hour Reservations Guarantee.
The 48-Hour Reservations Guarantee may periodically be restricted in Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton hotels due to the extended stay nature of guest stays at the Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton brands.
The 48-hour guarantee does not apply at the Conrad Maldives Resort & Spa, Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Spa, Ho’olei at Grand Wailea, Kingston Plantation Condos, Royale Palms, Conrad Koh Samui Resort & Spa, Hampton by Hilton™ hotels in China or Hilton Grand Vacation.
There are many opt-outs to this guarantee, as one would expect. It is difficult to tell what these “Extraordinary Demand Dates” are and for how many days each hotel can have. The link on the T&Cs refers to a list of hotels with a cap of 2% that is broken but available on the Wayback machine:
Conclusion
You can count on that if something TRULY special takes place, these guarantees by all hotel chains are null and void per their Terms & Conditions that always exclude special events.
There can be a limited number of dates that hotels can choose to opt out of the guarantee.
Hilton excludes hotels from the guarantee that have oversold their room inventory by 10% or more, and there is a smaller list where the guarantee is null & void at 2%. Then there are a handful of hotels where this guarantee doesn’t apply.
Hilton Diamond guarantee can come in handy when the inventory is depleted, and you really want to stay at a specific hotel. The guaranteed rates can be high but not obscene, as with this Emerald House in Lisbon.
Remember the days when you could force an award stay in a case like this at a standard points rate? Those times are long gone, unfortunately.
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