The upgrade I received at the Hilton Checkers in downtown LA was one of the nicest suites I have ever stayed in. However, the experience was not great start to finish. I would like to note that I will not be writing a full review, as this stay took place two years ago and I had not used all the amenities enough to write a deep dive review.
As a 15 year old I spent the day in Santa Monica before taking an Uber to my new hotel for that night, Hilton Checkers Los Angeles, where I would meet my father later that day. Upon arrival at the hotel, I presented an ID and even though my name was on the reservation, the front desk attendant would not check me in. It was completely understandable because I was a minor, but next time I would have hoped she would have at least offered to hold my bag while I walked around and passed time before my father arrived. Hindsight 2020, I may have been able to use the Hilton mobile app with digital check in to check and receive a key, but I am happy the way it worked out in the end.
After exploring downtown for a couple of hours, my father finally arrived and we both tried to check into the hotel. Clearly, this time the attendant was happy to assist us and thanked us for being Hilton Diamond Members. My dad mentioned that I had not been able to check into the hotel to the new attendant, who apologized for the inconvenience and explained that it was simply against policy. Satisfied with that response we continued checking in. After checking my father’s ID I curiously asked if there were any upgrades available. The agent informed us that he had upgraded us to a high floor, two bed deluxe room. Immediately after though, he informed us that for the night he had a suite available, but it would have 1 king bed as opposed to two smaller beds. Deterred from the idea of having to share a bed and be slightly less comfortable for a larger room that we wouldn’t spend much time in, my dad initially declined. Curiously, I quickly followed up asking just how nice this suite was. He informed us that it was the penthouse suite. It was the only room on its floor, and occupied the entire floor minus a terrace that overlooked the city.
After the words penthouse, I knew I did not care if I had to share a bed. Without hesitation we took the suite and went to our private floor. The suite consisted of a one spacious bedroom, an office with a kitchenette, a living room and one and a half baths. There was even a double-sided fireplace with large, 55-inch flat screens on both sides. One of the highlights of the room though was the shower. The massive shower consisted on one side a normal shower with a stationary head and a movable handle, but the other side had so many shower heads that every inch of you would be shiny clean. There were two rain shower heads, three heads on the fall in front and three on either side. They were individually able to be turned on and off and if using all of them, you would be being cleaned with 11 shower heads. Another benefit was that the shower controls were on a touch screen located both inside and outside of the shower that controlled the water temperature among other things. To say the least the shower was a fun experience but that much water being sprayed in every direction was somewhat blinding.
The final thing I loved about that particular suite was that the hotel’s terrace was directly attached to it. For most of the stay we had the terrace all to ourselves, boasting the gorgeous view of the city. Additionally, there was a hot tub that sealed the deal on being one of my favorite suites.
Although, I do not have the ability to compose a proper review of this hotel at the current time, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and absolutely loved the suite. Although I will not ever know if we received the suite due to my inability to check in or that the suite came as a benefit of my father’s Hilton Diamond status. The first moral of the story is that it never hurts to ask for an upgrade, especially at an elite hotel chain. The second is that it is always best to clarify any possible upgrade. While in this situation it made sense to upgrade, if the room had been barely bigger, I would have preferred the room with two beds. Overall, suite upgrades are one of the best perks of elite status and one of the main reasons I chase elite status. This was one of my favorite suite upgrade success stories. Happy travels!
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