Category Archives for Hotels.
A Marriott hotel got so tired of elite guests demanding free bottled water that it put up a blunt sign: you are not entitled to it. And while the message is rude, it is also basically correct—pointing to what’s wrong with how Bonvoy works.
Marriott has added in-app tipping, routing payments through a third-party processor—an escalation beyond the QR-code tip prompts that have spread through hotels since the pandemic. This isn’t really about guest convenience; it’s about shifting more of employee compensation onto customers so hotels can staff up while keeping wage costs (and owner expenses) down.
A Fairfield Inn near Kansas City Airport is listing a city-required $3 arena fee—and then, starting with January bookings, adding a separate $1.50 “Destination Marketing Fee.” Kansas City doesn’t list any such charge as a government fee, and nearby hotels don’t show it, making this look like a new, mandatory junk fee designed to split the true price off the room rate.
A long-stay guest checked out of an e-sports hotel room in Changchun, China—and staff say they opened the door to a “garbage mountain,” with trash piled roughly a meter high and toilet paper stacked higher than the toilet. The hotel says it took three days to clear everything out and disinfect, but the damage was bad enough that the room still needs renovation.
OYO Las Vegas (the former Hooters) is advertising $1 rooms Monday through Wednesday with promo code ONEDOLLAR — across everything from basic kings to strip-view and pool-view rooms. But the fine print says you still owe a $50.96 resort fee (with tax) at check-in, and it isn’t included in the headline price quote.
It’s a cheap play for a worn, uneven hotel, but it also looks like exactly the kind of resort-fee advertising the FTC has been targeting—especially as Vegas demand softens and the bottom end of the market gets squeezed.
After spending more than $200,000 and as many as 250 nights a year with Marriott, a longtime Ambassador finally walked away. Denied benefits, unchecked franchise abuse, and eroding standards forced a reset—now Hyatt comes first, IHG fills the gaps, and Marriott is points only.
A night at one of my go-to JFK hotels turned surreal when I arrived and was told my Hyatt reservation had been changed behind my back. From there it spiraled into broken door locks, lounge and billing issues, and “bogus” charges I had to deal with on the way out.
A reader spotted the Hyatt Place Phoenix Mesa rolling out housekeeping carts stocked with bulk toiletries poured into plastic condiment bottles — with a toilet brush sitting right next to the clean towels. It’s the latest in a string of Hyatts where the branding on the bottles doesn’t match what’s supposed to be used
Hilton has confirmed that a new invitation-only elite tier sits above its freshly launched Diamond Reserve level — an unpublished status called The Honors Society. The company isn’t sharing details yet, saying guidance will come in early Q1, but internal systems and prior leaks make clear this mirrors the secret super-elite tiers already offered by Hyatt, Marriott, and GHA. The Honors Society will be Hilton’s new top rung, available only by invitation.
GHA Discovery has grown to 50 brands, and their new multi-brand promo can be surprisingly lucrative. Register then complete 2–10 brand-direct stays of at least two nights between December 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 to earn D$50–D$100 per stay on top of your usual rewards—OTAs and bank portals don’t count.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
