HGVC Room Assignments

Does the HGVC give priority to Hilton timeshare owners when assigning rooms, similar to Marriott?

We just arrived back from our RCI exchange to the Orlando HGVC Seaworld. I called about 10 days in advance, said I was an owner in Las Vegas, would arrive 3 days late, and would like a room near the main pool. Upon check in at midnight, we were assigned the Paget bldg, very far away from the main pool area, beside the bldg air conditioning units, overlooking the maintenance shed. The front desk person said requests are accommodated only if they are available when checking in, which tells me it is first come, first served and no owner priority. Two years ago we had the same issue with room assignments at this location.

Are Hilton owners provided with priority room assignments when exchanging throught RCI?

In my limited experience, I have had better room assignments when using HGVC points directly than when I have exchanged back into HGVC properties using RCI.

I have no idea whether this is a fluke or evidence of better treatment as an owner.

Any other thoughts or comments on whether HGVC offers priority to owners for room assignments?

I just returned yesterday from HGVC Waikoloa. Two comments:

- I talked to the desk staff about requesting certain units in advance. I was told that requests were made all of the time, many well in advance. They would put the request on the reservation to honor it if they could, but no guarantees.

- For Premier Elites, a stated perk is that a unit can be assigned when the reservation is made. This is the only thing I've ever seen in writing.

nonutrix

We had the exact same experience at Sea World. Arrived late got the view of the maintenance yard and the noise of the AC units. Based on past problems with poor rooms at International Drive, we always request a decent room location on booking - but it rarely works. After requesting a change I was told there were no other rooms available at all - they were full. I told them I thought this was a sad situation for 'owners' and was put on hold, then advised they could do something and 10 minutes later we were in a room overlooking the golf course. Hmmm!

Chatted with a VIP/Premier owner the next day at the pool and he told the same story, he often found himself in less than desirable rooms - rank has no priviliges with HGVC it seems.

I believe late arrival is not the reason. I think Owners are at the bottom of the pile as it appears Hilton give the best rooms to the cash paying non-owners in the hope that they will be impressed and then buy.