Best Hotel to Use Free Night Certificate with Diamond Status?

I have a free night certificate from the Barclaycard + shiny new Diamond status from the recent match offer, and am looking for a bit of inspiration on where to use it.

A combination of great hotel and great status recognition is what I'm looking for.

Where isn't really too much of a limiting factor as I'm likely going to be in Europe, USA/Canada, Asia, transiting Middle East, and possibly South America this year. I'm probably looking at a major city rather than a remote resort as I don't have lots of Hilton Points, but do have plenty for other chains.

Don't worry - I'm not going to build a trip around one night (regardless of how good!), but my schedule is pretty flexible so I can usually tag a few days onto an existing trip.

If anyone has experience of where's best in London, New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, and eastern Canada that would be particularly helpful.

Just a bit of fun really though, so feel free to think outside the box!

Cheers!

 

Avoid the US - there are just too many Diamonds (from credit cards + from stays) for them to care very much (if anything) about a Diamond guest. Canada is often nearly as bad

If you can, find a hotel in Asia or the Middle East, on the whole you'll get much better upgrades / recognition / etc.

 

Thanks, definitely sound advice in general. If you had to use it in North America though where would you pick? Also, is there a standout Hilton in London that's significantly better than the others - maybe Conrad St James?

 

I always, always, use my Hilton free nights at the Waldorf Astoria Rome.

 

Best London property for me is the Waldorf Hilton next to Covent Garden. That said, the PArk Lane Hilton and Conrad St James, in my opinion at least, better recognise Gold/Diamond status.

Totally agree with Gagravarr on the US and abject failure to properly recognise status.

 

Thanks for that - is there an Exec Lounge at the Waldorf and is it any good?

 

There is a lounge at the Waldorf in London, however I can't comment on it's quality as I was a mere Gold when staying there last year and didn't manage an upgrade to an executive room. Given the quality of the rest of the property, I would expect it to be very pleasant.

 

One other point on lounges, is that Hilton's website has the option to filter on those with lounges. I find it very useful when looking for somewhere in London to stay for work. Look for something with a gym and a lounge within budget. If that doesn't work, just the lounge will do

 

Thanks - great tip about filtering for lounges too!

 

(Gyms? Not so much...)

 

I've not got this image of someone who fancies a work-out, clearing a space in the lounge amidst the petits fours in order to do some crunches.

 

That's an idea, but I also try to see how many reps of the beer lift I can get done before 8:00 (lift beer, empty beer, put down beer, repeat )