Hilton Connecting Rooms: Your Long-Awaited Solution for Family Hotel Stays

If you’ve ever traveled with friends or family, you may have wondered how it’s possible to get accommodations that keep everyone close by so you can enjoy your time together. Vacation rental units can make this easy, but you might prefer staying at a hotel to take advantage of certain benefits. But requests for adjoining rooms at hotels have never been guaranteed — until now.

Hilton connecting rooms are a new feature that allows guests to search for and book adjoining rooms at Hilton-branded hotels. This feature has been missing from hotel search functionality until now, and it will likely be welcomed by families and large groups worldwide. Let’s see how it works.

How Hilton confirmed connecting rooms work

It’s generally easy to book a hotel room through any of the major chains, including Hilton. But families and group travelers often run into an issue that solo travelers and couples might never encounter. Specifically, how are you supposed to book two or more rooms that are connected?

If you’ve stayed in hotels, it’s not uncommon to find a door in your room that seemingly leads into the wall of your main area. This likely means your room connects to another hotel room, which may or may not be occupied by another guest. You probably don’t want to interact with a stranger in your personal space, so ensuring that the connecting door is shut and locked properly makes sense.

But for families and other groups, you might welcome the idea of having two adjoining rooms. This could give separate but connected rooms for families or groups of friends, and offer a convenient way to spend time together. However, most hotels don’t have a guaranteed booking option for adjoining rooms, even though many hotel guests want the option.

“Research shows that nearly half of travelers booking trips together consider connecting rooms to be important. As families and friends begin to reunite, reconnect and travel again, we anticipate that need will only grow stronger,” said Chris Silcock, Hilton executive vice president, and chief commercial officer, in a Hilton connecting rooms press release.

Fortunately, Hilton spotted the issue with adjoining rooms and has moved to remedy the problem by creating a feature in its booking process that lets you search for connected rooms through the website or Hilton Honors mobile app.

The idea for Hilton connecting rooms came directly from guest feedback on booking experiences. This includes guests who would request adjoining rooms and then follow up multiple times to confirm their request but ultimately be told they would have to confirm at check-in. In many cases, this meant the guests didn’t get connecting rooms and started their hotel stay on a sour note.

The Motto brand of hotels took this feedback and created the idea of Confirmed Connecting Rooms by Hilton, which has spread from one Hilton brand to all Hilton brands. However, Motto’s take on the concept is more extensive. It provides guests the option to book, in some cases, up to nine connecting room configurations.

How to book a Hilton connecting room

Although having a Hilton connecting rooms feature is good news all around, it’s also nice to see how easy it is to book. After all, new features aren’t so helpful if their usability is low. But that’s not the case here. Hilton makes the process simple, requiring only four straightforward steps to book connecting guest rooms.

Here’s how to create a new booking:

1. Choose your dates, number of rooms and guests, and destination

2. Select the “Connecting Rooms” option

3. Select a hotel with your desired rate

4. Select your rooms and book your stay

Keep in mind that when you select the connecting room option, you might see the number of available hotels go down. This is likely because certain hotels don’t have connecting rooms, or they don’t have connecting rooms available on the dates you chose.

In addition, you get the option to choose the type of room you want for both the primary room and each connected room. But the connected room options will likely depend on what kind of room you choose for the primary room. For example, if you choose a primary room with double beds, the adjoining room might only have the option for double beds as well. However, if you play around with the options at the hotel you’re looking at, you might find some different configurations that work better for you.

And don’t forget, you can book Hilton connecting rooms with either cash or points. This opens up great opportunities for booking award nights for your entire group, especially if you use some of the best travel credit cards. For more details on booking connecting rooms with Hilton Honors points, check out the connecting rooms FAQs.

Which credit cards can help you earn free nights at Hilton properties?

To help discount and enhance your Hilton travel experiences, compare credit cards that offer travel rewards and benefits. Here are some of the best options for Hilton hotel stays.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

The Amex Surpass offers 12X points on eligible purchases at participating Hilton hotels or resorts; 6X points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations; 4X points on U.S. online retail purchases; and 3X points on all other eligible purchases.

With this earning potential and the welcome offer, you have the opportunity to earn more than enough points for award nights at Hilton properties. In addition, the Amex Surpass also provides complimentary Gold status and a Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year.

For more details, check out our Hilton Honors Surpass Card review.

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

The Amex Aspire is one of the best hotel credit cards available. It offers 14X points on eligible purchases within the Hilton portfolio, 7X points on qualifying travel purchases made directly with airlines/select car rental companies or Amextravel.com, 7X points at U.S. restaurants, and 3X points on all other eligible purchases.

The welcome offer and bonus categories could put you well on your way to earning enough points for award stays. You also get a Free Night Reward each year and the opportunity to earn another if you spend $60,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year. Plus, all cardmembers get complimentary Diamond status.

For more details, check out our Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card review.

The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Amex Platinum offers 5X points per dollar spent on eligible airfare (on up to $500,000 per calendar year, after that 1X) and eligible hotel purchases, and 1X points per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Although these bonus categories might not seem helpful for Hilton award stays, this card allows you to transfer Membership Rewards points to your Hilton Honors account.

If you think about the points you could earn from the welcome offer and the earning categories, it’s a large amount that can go toward Hilton award nights. Plus, you also get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status with the Amex Platinum.

For more details, check out our American Express Platinum review.

FAQs

Bottom line

Historically, it’s been difficult to get a guarantee when trying to book connecting rooms at hotels. But Hilton has added a seemingly simple feature to change the travel-planning game. With Hilton connecting rooms, you have the freedom to search for and book adjoining rooms with Hilton properties worldwide.

This should come as a welcome surprise for anyone who typically travels in groups, whether it’s with friends or family. However, it still may not be of much use if you prefer Hyatt or Marriott vs. Hilton. But for the frequent Hilton traveler, it’s another reason to stick with this global hotel chain.

Robust Welcome Offer

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

4.8

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Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card

Learn How to Apply

See rates and fees | Terms Apply

Current Offer

Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 6 months

Annual Fee

$150

Rewards Rate

12X points on eligible purchases at participating Hilton hotels or resorts; 6X points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations; 4X points on U.S. online retail purchases; and 3X points on all other eligible purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 6 months
• 12X points at eligible purchases at participating Hilton hotels or resorts
• Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 in a calendar year
• No foreign transaction fee
• $150 annual fee. Terms apply.

Drawbacks

• Has annual fee
• No intro APR
• No free anniversary night

Card Details

• Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 6 months
• 12X points on eligible purchases at participating Hilton hotels or resorts; 6X points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets, and U.S. gas stations; 4X points on U.S. online retail purchases; and 3X points on all other eligible purchases
• Terms apply