Hilton falls foul of advertising standards for second time
A promotion by Hilton International Hotels offering guests up to 33% off their weekend room rate was misleading, say advertising watchdogs.
In its second ruling against the hotel chain in less than six months, the ASA ordered it not to repeat the online offer in its current form.
The hotel’s website claimed the offer was available "Any Weekend Anywhere" for bookings made between December 9 2013 and January 31 2014 for stays between December 13 2013 and December 28 2014.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint from a customer because the promotion did not in fact apply to all Hilton hotels, only to those in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In its defence, Hilton said the word "weekend" qualified the word "anywhere" because customers would immediately understand the promotion applied to all hotels "within range of the UK for a weekend break".
The ASA said in its ruling: "The ASA considered that "ANY WEEKEND ANYWHERE SALE, SAVE UP TO 33%" was an absolute claim and that consumers were likely to understand that the promotion applied to any hotel within the Hilton Group, regardless of whether it could be classed as long or short-haul travel distance from the UK.
"Although we noted that the ad included small print at the bottom of the page that stated "Offer is subject to availability at participating hotels within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa", we considered that that contradicted rather than clarified the "ANY WEEKEND ANYWHERE" claim.
"Because of that, we concluded that the ad breached the Code."
Just six months ago, Hilton promised to more closely monitor promotional prices on its website after being rapped by the ASA for misleading customers with its EENY, MEENY, MINEY…MINIBREAK offer.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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