Green, because it takes a lot of green to travel. Or does it?

Welcome to our travel page. It is on this page I want to share with you some of our adventures and misadventures. On the main travel page I provided some links that I recommend you visit before you take that long awaited vacation. If I have visited some of these same links my family and I wouldn't have suffered the fates that we did. Not bad fates mind you, but they could have been. Just things that happened to us which could have been prevented.

Now for a hard to write opinion piece:

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Over the course of our many years of traveling we were blessed with being able to purchase a timeshare from Hilton Grand Vacations. We made our initial purchase in June of 2001 and over the years have upgraded our membership. We really enjoyed using our timeshare and the lessons learned, both good and bad, have been invaluable to us. But more, the places we visited have been great and allowed us to create a lot of good memories.

But times change and the end of a great era has come to pass. In 2007 Hilton sold out to another company which I am sad to say, does not share the same characteristics of Hilton's vision of exceptional standards. Now, now we are disillusioned with the brand name Hilton because it is no longer synonymous with quality, a quality we came to rely on and respect.

Our latest encounter with the Customer Service people, who now answer the phones at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club, has been disastrous at best. No longer does Hilton offer the "above and beyond" customer service we have always encountered. Now, now they are just like everybody else. Common, indecent, and they don't care about helping you, at least that is the impression they give and gave us. They just "do their job" and no more than what is "required" of them.

Gone are the days of "let me see how I can help you," and "I'll contact you with somebody who can solve that problem." Now it's "Let me transfer you," and that's the last you hear. After 30 minutes of being "transferred" and left on hold, you just give up. No help, no assistance, nothing, you are just left in a big hole.

We paid thousands of dollars, in cash, to improve our vacation standards. And for years Hilton went beyond fulfilling the vision of Conrad Hilton. But in 2007 that all began to change. No longer was the "let me make you feel special" treatment available when you checked in. It was just like every other hotel I've had to stay in. No difference. The little "extras" was replaced with the feeling that Hilton didn't care anymore. We have to save money so why make you "feel" special?

Now we are stuck with something we feel very disillusioned with. We can't sell our timeshare, we would lose too much money. We have to use the points or lose them. So we find ourselves stuck with this disillusionment.

I wish I could say I was the only one who is feeling "disappointed" with the Hilton brand. But I'm not. I know of others who go out of their way not to say at a Hilton. I can't sing any praises for the competition because we've never really had an extensive encounter with any of them, not the hotels anyway. Their timeshares yes, and they were a joke (and I'm being kind).

I know mistakes happen, and Hilton made a few with us to be sure, but they ALWAYS made it right. They went above and beyond to rectify a problem, to be honest, we may have caused. This is why we gave them so much loyalty, because they earned it. I always sang the praises of Hilton and highly recommended them to anyone who would listen. But no more, no more.

I think what really hurts is how the Hilton brand lowered their quality to meet the standards of the competition. Sad really. We really enjoyed the Hilton brand, but in the name of fairness, quality and high expectations have to suffer. After all it's really unfair to expect the best of life, isn't it? Why it just wouldn't be fair to the competition.

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You're on vacation, so while relaxing why not kick back and read that book you been meaning to read? The Nook Simple Touch may be just the item you need to achieve that desire. It comes from Barnes and Noble, which means it's worth checking out.