Tag Archives: Hilton Hotels

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Coronado / San Diego Week: Part 2 of What to Eat, See & Do in Beautiful Coronado

Coronado is a gem, and one that I’ve been enjoying for many years now. Whether you stay at Hotel Del Coronado or use other lodging on Coronado, or just come for a day from San Diego, there’s a lot to explore. If you like to walk or bike, or just want to know more about what to see/do in Coronado, you’ll like Shelli’s Coronado Loop! The whole loop takes you by the ocean, through town, to the bay side, along the Coronado Golf Course and back to the ocean. The whole loop is just under 7 miles, but of course it can be done in parts, too. It can be enjoyed both riding a bike and walking. It works in either direction.  If you haven’t done already, please check out Part 1.

Part 2 takes you through the bay side of Coronado, under the Coronado Bridge, along the golf course through beautiful residential areas, and circles back to the ocean. Doesn’t get better than this!

Starting from the bay park and what’s called Ferry Landing, you’ll see a few restaurants and shops. On weekends, especially during the summer, there’s often live entertainment, and some of the bands can be very good. The area is not just called Ferry Landing. There’s actually a ferry that’s been in business since 1915. The Coronado Ferry takes 15 minutes to cross the bay and goes to two different stops in downtown San Diego. It’s a great way to get into San Diego from Coronado and vice versa.

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Coronado Ferry Landing

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Is Breakfast Included for Hilton Honors Diamond Elite Members at Hotel Del Coronado?

Attention Hilton members, especially you Diamonds in the rough! It has been ROUGH sorting through all the information on the Hotel Del Coronado and the benefits elites will receive. It’s been especially confusing knowing whether or not the hotel will have an executive lounge and how the breakfast benefit will be handled. After all, a day of fun in the sun requires a hearty breakfast.

Tomorrow (August 9) is the big day, so earlier today, I stopped in to The Del and asked the questions we all want answered! The usual Hilton Honors Diamond elite benefits will be available, and the staff has all received training on the different Hilton Honors elite levels.

There will NOT be an executive lounge.  Breakfast is at the Sheerwater Restaurant and for breakfast, it’s a buffet. The price is $38, and as of right now, they still do not know what will happen for Hilton Honors Diamond elites and how breakfast will be handled.

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Breakfast at the Sheerwater Restaurant at Hotel Del Coronado. Image source: https://hoteldel.com/about/photo-videos/hotel-del-coronado/

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Coronado / San Diego Week: An Introduction to the Hotel Del Coronado & Surrounding Area

When Hilton announced that as of August 15, 2017 the Hotel Del Coronado would be bookable using Hilton Honors Points, it was a big deal! It’s becoming one of Hilton’s Curio Collection, which is for “hotels celebrated for their personality and individuality.” The Del, as we call it, may just be one of the most famous iconic hotels in the U.S. Certainly on the west coast. It opened in 1888! Many people don’t realize that Hilton had already been running The Del, but making its rooms bookable on points changed the game for Hilton loyalists. And for the hotel.

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Hotel del Coronado view from the beach.
Image source: http://curiocollection3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/hotel-del-coronado-curio-collection-by-hilton-SANQQQQ/index.html

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Need to Change Hilton Reservation? Call to Keep Same Points Price (Don’t Change Online)

Good morning everyone, happy Thursday!  I’m going to Iceland in September, I already booked my Icelandair flights (Booking my First 5x Membership Reward Points Flight on AMEXTravel.com Using American Express Business Platinum Charge Card), and 3 nights at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night). So what’s the problem?  The problem is that I land in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Saturday night, but I don’t have a reservation for Saturday night. Uh oh…

I booked the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica several months ago before the new Hilton Honors program was announced and I was able to get pretty good prices on the rooms.  For 2 nights, I used cash + points (16,000 Hilton Points + 7,407.67 Icelandic Krona = $70.73 USD) and the third night, I used 40,000 Hilton Points, since there was no cash + points option available.

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How to Pool Hilton Honors Points into 1 Account

Good morning everyone, happy Monday!  I had a great time in Minneapolis this past weekend at Frequent Traveler University (FTU) Advanced.  I enjoyed catching up with old friends, meeting readers, and networking with fellow travel hackers.  If you missed FTU, the next travel conference I will be at (and speaking at) is Chicago Seminars, on October 20-22.

Last week, I wanted to book a 5 night Hilton stay, but I only had enough Hilton Honors Points to cover the first night.  I could have booked the first night and then racked up the remaining Hilton Honors Points over the next several months to book the rest of the nights, but I wanted to take advantage of Hilton’s 5th Night Free feature, where when you book a stay of 5 nights or longer, you do not need to pay points for the 5th night.  I reached out to my travel hacker friends on Facebook and Twitter and asked if someone would let me borrow 91,000 Hilton Honors Points so I could book the 5 night stay.  Luckily, 1 of my friends agreed to help me out and we were able to test out Hilton’s new point pooling feature. Here is how you can pool Hilton Honor Points into 1 Hilton account.

As you can see, I only had 69,365 Hilton Honors Points, but I was short 90,635 Hilton Honors Points needed to book a 5 night stay that cost 160,000 Hilton Honors Points.  Rates were 40,000 Hilton Honors Points per night, but since the 5th night was free, I only needed to pay 160,000 Hilton Honors Points (4 x 40,000 = 160,000). To get started pooling Hilton Honors Points, sign into your Hilton account and click on More Ways to Use Points under the My Points section on the left side on the page.

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