Last month I wrote a post stating that the Radisson Aruba Casino & Resort property had been sold to Hilton. Since we knew this was coming for quite some time, I know many people booked stays at this hotel using their Club Carlson points and the buy one, get one perk (prior to Club Carlson changing their terms). The question always remained of whether or not stays would be honored. After many conversations back and forth with the managing director at this property, I am happy to confirm that not only will all stays be honored, but those with Hilton status will also receive their benefits even if booked previously in the Radisson ownership days.
Since receiving Hilton status and the perks are pretty good, I highly recommend looking into obtaining status. If you are a Gold member, you can change your “My Way” hotel benefit to receive complimentary continental breakfast for you and up to one additional guest registered to the same room each day of your stay. Now, I do not necessarily know what “continental breakfast” at this hotel means and since it has only been operating as a Hilton property for less than a month there aren’t too many reports. But at many properties I’ve stayed at, breakfast is just a buffet so Gold members have received the same breakfast as those paying the set buffet price.
While Diamond members receive the same continental breakfast perk, they also receive access to the executive lounge. The Hilton Aruba does have an executive lounge, although when I was there last December they closed it since it was a peak time for the hotel. Didn’t really make sense to me, so I’d double check the lounge will be open prior to trying to obtain Diamond status.
Getting status is pretty easy:
- Fast Track Promotion – Stay 4 times within 90 days on enrolling and earn Gold status. You can enroll here. Related blog post
- Hilton Branded Credit Cards can give you either Gold or Diamond status
**If you want any help deciding which Hilton co-branded credit card is best for your situation, feel free to send me an email and I am more than happy to help!!
Here is the Hilton Aruba site where you can check out the resort and room prices. Below are some pictures from my stay this past Winter.
While my stay this past December was under the Radisson umbrella, I am confident that I will have just as good of a stay this upcoming December as well. The hotel is smack on the beach and the pools are great. While the property lacks some additional resort amenities (even simple things like a ping pong table on the ground), I still think it is a top property. My assumption is Hilton will take undergo some renovations on the rooms as there are some that are in dire need.
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I booked 4 nights for this Thanksgiving when BOGO was still alive. How to add the Hilton gold to my reservation? Just call Hilton Araba?
I’m curious about this too – I don’t see anything in either CC or Hilton sites about converting a reservation to your Hilton account. Any thoughts? Call Hilton central res line? Hotel directly? Thanks!
cool, I am booked over thanksgiving as well. I will have to see how this plays out. But is is good to know that they are honoring this. I did alternating 2 night reservations between me and my wife. Club Carlson never said anything about me doing this. I wonder if it will be a problem at this Hilton. I will probably see you there Raulf.
on Tripadvisor there was a post from a Diamond member who said they got made to order omelets etc which means its the Laguna restaurant for breakfast buffet. I think I paid 27ish per person when was there in June. We are heading over for another 6 nights with Club Carlson points in mid November. Looking forward to free breakfast! $27 X 2 goes a long way. Get your Gold status soon!
Anyone see the Resort fees on the CC reservation? Any idea that will go away or is that something we have to pay when we arrive?
@David – I saw that TripAdvisor review as well, but I assumed the made to order omelets was at the club lounge. Could be wrong though.
Have 8 nights booked over President’s Holiday, 2016. I’m curious what the breakfast will be if you have gold status. Breakfast for 2 in Aruba is worth @ least $30, so that’s a big saving for us. Will wait to find out what Hilton, Aruba is offering before I get the credit card w/ gold status. There is a restaurant behind the casino that serves breakfast, though we haven’t eaten there on our last two visits. Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for the update! We are going in Thanksgiving on Club Carlson points and have been nervous about the switch.
Have reservations in November. Talked to the staff at the Hilton Aruba reservations area. They found my reservation but some how they cancelled my wifes. Talked to Club Carlson and they showed both reservations still valid. Hilton Aruba gave be a new confirmation number for my upcoming stay but doesn’t show on the Hilton system. Hope it all works out. Had to book a couple of days to cover the cancelled reservation.
Looking forward to hearing how Hilton perks are handled!
Picked up the no AF Hhonors Amex 60K tonight. I have 4 1/2 months to spend $20K for gold status so we can get free breakfast for our 8 night stay on Club Carlson pts. in Feb. 2016. My plan is to buy 40 GC’s @ stop& shop which will give me 20K gas points. Hopefully they will continue w/ the 2x & 3x gas pts. per $ like the last two months so I’ll get even more gas pts.. The savings on gas will make up for the GC costs. I’ll unload the GC’s on my 3 Redbird’s. I’ll also get 100K Hilton pts. for the GC’s. Overall I’ll get some pretty decent value and no AF.
@DavidNJ – That is great!
I have Radisson reservations Dec 21-29, and I find it simply bizarre that they haven’t bothered to reach out to us to let us know they sold the hotel to Hilton or to assure me there’s be a smooth transfer of reservation.
I am booked over Thanksgiving. Just logged in to my Club Carlson account and the award reservation is no longer there. Has it disappeared from anyone else’s account?
My 10 nights for Grenada & 8 nights for Aruba have disappeared on the reservation page.
I am also booked over Thanksgiving and my award reservation was showing late last week but now when I check, mine’s gone too.
Called member services and explained all my reservations disappeared. They found my Grenada reservations but the Aruba had been purged. I was told an email will soon go out concerning existing Aruba reservations. I requested an email be sent w/ all my Grenada reservations. Received the emails for 5 Grenada reservations. Checked my Club Carlson account and magically both our Grenada & Aruba reservations have been restored. Go figure!
I have two rooms book for March of 2016 using radisson points . A couple weeks ago I got an email with an updated Hilton new confirmation number for my stay.
I am assuming the breakfast is the old radisson club level. Where there were made to order omlettes.
We are @ the Hilton Aruba until 2/21/16 using Club Carlson points. When we approached the front desk upon arrival, the 1st thing I did was give both our Hilton Diamond cards to the rep. We have four split reservations. This is our 3rd visit in 15 months using Club Carlson points, but 1st visit to the re-brand Hilton. We were immediately told when I asked, that we would receive lounge access. We were told we should get an upgrade but the hotel was full. Because it is split reservation, we need to check the front desk every two days to update our keys. We will ask for an upgrade every two days when the new reservations are updated. Our last visit was also for 8 nights and the last four nights we were upgraded to a suite when the hotel was still a Radisson. I checked the web site and superior rooms do open up in a couple days. Over-all i was very pleased that Hilton did not give us a hard time about the Club access.
@DavidNJd – Glad to hear!
DavidNJd: As HHonors Diamond, were you also offered free breakfast as a benefit?
Breakfast every morning in the lounge and/or received breakfast pass that could be used @ Laguna or Gilligan’s. Nice having the choice. Laguna is a buffet that cost $22.50 pp.
@DavidNJ – That is great!