At a hotel or resort property, is parking reserved for elite members only for guests — or can members of a frequent guest membership program who have earned elite status use the reserved parking spots even if they are not guests?
Is Parking Reserved For Elite Members Only For Guests? Debate
This debate is currently ongoing, as FlyerTalk member mfirst asked the following questions — “for a friend”, of course:
I am currently staying at a non-Hilton property that is next to Hampton Inn and the hotels have a shared parking lot
As others have noticed, parking lots are getting more full and space is hard to find
The parking signs say ‘Reserved for Hilton Diamond Members’…but they do not inherent imply that you actually need to be a guest of the specific hotel?
as a diamond member, how bad would it be to park in one of those spots even if I am not staying at the specific property — especially if between the 2 hotels, there are no other ‘reasonably’ available spots
Parking spots which are reserved for members of the Hilton Honors membership program who have earned Diamond elite status are usually located near the main entrance of the hotel or resort property for easier access and convenience — especially when the parking lot is near capacity or at capacity.
Final Boarding Call
This question had never occurred to me; but my mind has not changed from before the question was posed: those parking spots in question are reserved for guests of that specific hotel or resort property who qualify to use them. To me, the issue is as simple as that.
Unlike parking for disabled people — of which a fine is imposed if a motorist is caught breaking the law — parking spaces for guests who have achieved elite status is not enforced by anyone and is solely on the honor system. If a person is neither a guest of the hotel or resort property which provides those reserved parking spaces or has achieved the elite status in question, he or she is technically not eligible to use that parking space and should park their motor vehicle somewhere else.
If a parking spot is available as far away from the entrance of the hotel or resort property as possible, I will use it if I have no other choice, as I am thankful that I can walk with no problem…
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
