Some companies understand the importance of social media outreach from customers, and some don’t (I’m looking at you, @TopGuest). Hilton is one of the former and has now impressed me twice in a row by responding to my simple Tweet, and they did so nearly instantaneously this time.
My first issue this past October was directed at the HHonors Twitter address for a failed promotion issue I was having. Within 15 minutes, a representative responded with an offer to help and my issue was very well resolved the following day.
This past Saturday, I was staying at a Hilton Garden Inn, my first stay ever at this brand, and experienced children running up and down the halls on my floor playing and having fun. It was totally fine for five minutes, but it continued and continued. After about 30 minutes, it stopped, so I thought that was the end of it. Minor annoyance… kids will be kids, but I wish the parents had intervened earlier.
During my stay, though, I noticed the abundance of kids everywhere and also acting out without much parental control, so reached out to Twitter particularly interested to know if Garden Inns are predominantly family-oriented. And yes, it was a Saturday, so business-travel light, but this was my first time with such an abundance of kids that I asked:
Within minutes, probably 10 at most, Hilton Online responded and asked for more detail via a direct message. After sending my mini-complaint and curiosity about the Garden Inn brand, they replied:
Shortly thereafter, I received a call from the front desk manager. She was very apologetic and explained that there was a junior hockey team staying at the property that night and confirmed Garden Inns do see more families compared to the flagship Hilton properties, especially on weekends. She mentioned they’d send someone up to monitor the halls and offered to move my room.
By that time, all had quieted down, so I was pleased with the outreach and thanked her for the information. All was good and I will now take this into consideration for future reservations with Hilton.
Even more impressive, however, was the follow-up email I received on Tuesday from Hilton Worldwide:
Little, simple touches like this email cost nothing, but do more in my mind for brand loyalty than any promotional bonus point campaign. I’m a happy Hilton HHonors member and experiences like this reinforce my decision to remain a Hilton customer.
Finally, I was happy to read that second to last paragraph in the email mentioning the importance my feedback on Twitter had after the issue was resolved. I tweeted:
The acknowledgement in the quoted email above reinforces my desire to always respond when things go right, not just wrong.
You wrote in your tweet the hotel was filled with kids on all floors, did you actually physically inspect each and every 4-5 floors?
@Phil: Ha! Yeah, I could’ve just called the front desk, but I was more curious if HGIs are family-focused, so did my outreach on Twitter.
@Peter: In my multiple elevator rides, I noted their abundance whenever the elevator stopped. 😉
How very impressive! Just think in the old days before all this fancy technology, you could have called up the front desk, mentioned there are rowdy kids in the hallway, and they would have told you how profusely sorry they are because there is a hockey team staying! Thank goodness for Facebook and Twitter eh!? 🙂
I remember the good ‘ol days when I was on a hockey team and nights at hotels consisted of 20 kids playing mini hockey in the hallways.
@kziel: Ha! Touche.
Same here! Send a tweet about a reservation problem I was having and was promply responded. Very nice!
@Mark: Hilton has it going on!
As you found out, HGI’s do seem to have more families and young kids. I’ve been booked there before for work but thankfully did not have adverse noise. ( I do enjoy their breakfast though!) Kudos to Hilton for their response!