A Cold Shower Turns Into An Important Travel Lesson

On Saturday morning, I awoke to take a shower at the Hilton. After a long night, all I wanted was a nice hot shower. What did I get? Ice cold water.

Photo Credit: http://gettingstronger.org

On my way to breakfast, I sent this tweet:

I meant to say.... "brrrr....no hot water this morning at @hiltonhotels Stamford."

Less than 15 minutes later, I got this response from Hilton Help

I sent them my confirmation number and I got this response:

Shortly after this tweet arrived, I received a call on my cell phone from the on-duty manger. She wanted to explain that the engineers had informed her that hot water was slowly going back to normal levels. I explained to her that the tweet was joke, but I appreciated the call.

In less than 90 minutes from my initial tweet, I got a call from the manager. Even though the call was not necessary, it was cool that @hiltonhelp got management to call me. Hopefully, I could get the same attention when I actually need something.

Most other hotel have twitter accounts as well:

Hyatt - @hyattconcierge

Starwood - @starwoodbuzz

IHG - @ihgcare

Marriott - @marriott

Kimpton - @kimpton

I think its important to follow all of them. You never know when you might need them.

Social Media, how did we exist without you? Oh, that's right, we had to complain in person.
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Earn United Miles by Riding Amtrak

Amtrak is a way of life in the Northeast. As a kid, I remember going to the beach and seeing the train hurdle past, as the tracks rain next to the beach. The train was a thing of beauty. It wasn't until I was a teen that I actually took my first train ride. A quick trip to NYC to see the holiday displays and a show at Radio City Music Hall. Now as an adult, I almost never take the train (too expensive). Kind of sad ;(

For those who do take the train, Amtrak and United have a partnership allowing you to earn United miles on a very limited number of tickets. Unfortunately, the earn opportunities are only available for those traveling in the Northeast. 

There are two ways two earn miles via Amtrak, which can be found on this United webpage.

First, involves flying into and out of Newark airport and take the train to/from the airport. The rules read:

Earn award miles on qualifying Coach or Business class fares per segment on Amtrak when you fly United and make a connection at Newark Liberty International Airport to or from any of the following Amtrak destinations: New Haven Rail Station, CT; Stamford Rail Station, CT; Philadelphia 30th Street Station, PA; Wilmington Rail Station, DE. See the chart below for eligible United fare classes and award mileage accrual information

The other option involves taking Acela from Washington, DC to NYC or Boston to NYC. Unfortunately,  only business and first class tickets earn miles. No connecting flight required. The rules read as followed:

Earn 500 award miles per Business class segment or 750 award miles per First class segment on Acela Express trains (no connecting flight required) between New York's Penn Station and the following train stations: Boston's South Station, MA; Boston's Back Bay Station, MA; Boston's Route 128 Station, MA; Washington D.C.

With both options, you need to call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL and provide the with your MileagePlus credit card number. The other option is to book your rail ticket with your United Ticket. For instance, I booked a ticket from New Haven Rail Station to Washington, DC all on United and here is what I got:

United uses the following codes for the rail stations earning miles connecting through Newark's airport:

New Haven: ZVE
Stamford: ZTP
Philadelphia 30th: ZVP
Wilmington, DE: ZWI

Amtrak has its own frequent traveler program known as Guest Rewards, which can earn you free train rides with as little as 1,500 points.

Not an amazing way to bank United miles, but if you travel Amtrak on the East coast, a possible way to pad your balance.

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Hilton: Stamford Conference Center

In February, I had to go to a conference in Stamford, Connecticut.  I wrote here that I would be staying at the Stamford Hilton.

If you are driving, I don't recommend driving up to the front of hotel (pictured); instead drive down to the garage and park first. The entrance has a very tiny driveway and one can be stuck in their car waiting for someone else to move their car.

I used the conference rate and got my rooms for $115 a night. 

The lobby is large, spacious and full of light:

The lobby also provides many places to sit:

My room was on the 9th floor or the executive floor:

I was given a spacious corner two bed room:

The first thing you see when you open the door is a long hallway.

And the hallway continues:

To the right in the hallway is the bathroom. The bathroom was typical:

My luck with hotel bathrooms is not great. This one was disgusting:

                                        

 

When I arrived, I only had 15 minutes to change before a meeting. Needless to say, I stopped by the front desk and asked them to send someone up to clean.

The rest of the room was standard:

My room rate was only good for double beds, but I could have up to four people in the room at no extra charge. Why is this important? Well, my gold status with Hilton gives me free breakfast benefit and since I put down that there was three people staying in my room, I got to treat two friends with me at the conference to breakfast:

The hotel has club, but it is only open Sunday through Thursday's. The other days of the week, members with Gold Status get complementary breakfast (the buffet) in the restaurant downstairs:

There were both cold and hot options for breakfast plus an omelet station:

 

The hotel has a small gym and a pool. The gym is open 24/7, but the pool is open only from 6am to 11pm:

The gym has treadmills, elliptical, and some free weights.

 One needs to go through the gym to get to the pool:

The entire hotel had amazing photographs in the hallways:

Overall, the stay was great. This is the second time I have stayed at this hotel and each time has been great. Why would someone stay here? First, there are a ton of businesses in the area. Second, Stamford is not far from New York City via MetroNorth. Also, the Jerry Springer Show is taped down the road.

The hotel was spacious, the room was somewhat clean and my status was recognized...overall, a great stay!

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com