Category Archives for Hotels.
In a change that mirrors what other larger hotel chains have done, Hyatt appears to be moving closer to revenue-based redemptions and delivering average rather than outsized value for points.
Starting in March there will be new off-peak and peak pricing levels for each free night award and In late January they’ll improve the value of points for in-hotel redemptions, getting at least a penny per point in value.
The Sheraton Taipei is offering a coupon worth about $3.28 at CVS in exchange for your returning unused single use personal amenities. They pitch this as a green initiative much like declining housekeeping for points.
In 2001 a Hooters restaurant in Panama City ran a contest for their waitresses. The one who sold the most beer would win a Toyota. At least that’s what the manager said, or what the waitresses thought they had heard.
When Jodee Berry was announced as the winner she was led out into the parking lot of the restaurant in a blindfold. The blindfold was removed and she found her prize waiting for her: a Toy Yoda.
A woman went down to valet parking at the Homewood Suites Austin Downtown and gave what she said was her room number. She was sympathetic. She explained that “she had lost all of her belongings” in the nearby bar district the previous night. The valet believed her story, and gave her the car she asked for.
Airbnb is politically unpopular in many cities. Opponents of the homesharing service are a mixture of hotel industry lobbyists and local residents who believe they pay higher rents because units that would otherwise be available to them are put on the market for tourists instead.
New research though shows that it isn’t the poor – least able to bear the burden of increased rents – suffering from Airbnb. According to a paper by Sophie Calder-Wang of Harvard (.pdf) the “increased rent burden falls most heavily on high-income, educated, and white renters, because they prefer housing and location amenities most desirable to tourists.”
Hotels sometimes change from one brand to another. That means you may have a reservation at a hotel, it leaves the chain, and you won’t be able to earn points, elite stay credit, or receive elite benefits when that happens – although if the hotel joins a different chain you’ll be able to participate in the other program’s points and benefits.
Award nights are a little more complicated.
This year Marriott is sending Thanksgiving gifts to its Ambassador members. A reader shared that they received a cheese board as a Bonvoy Ambassador elite member.
It’s not clear why cheese boards are connected to the Ambassador level or to Thanksgiving.
The Asahi Ryokan hotel in Fukuoka, Japan rents two of its rooms for just $1 each per night. The catch is that cameras live stream the rooms to YouTube. The hotel plans to make its money monetizing the video feed called “One Dollar Hotel.”
There’s an incredible redemption opportunity at Calala Island which is an SLH Hotel property in Nicaragua. Through Hyatt’s alliance with SLH you can redeem 40,000 Hyatt points per night there.
That’s a lot of points, however it goes from $2300 and up per night with cash; it’s all-inclusive, including flight and boat to and from the Managua airport and not just meals but alcoholic beverages too; and there are just 4 rooms on the private island, 3 of which are redeemable with points.
A couple was having work done on their home so they needed a one night hotel stay and booked the Hampton Inn nearby. When they handed over their ID and credit card at check-in they were told they couldn’t stay a the property.
The Hampton Inn Bourbonnais Kankakee in Illinois had a policy against staycations by Kankakee residents. The property owner decided not to welcome anyone with a Kankakee address, though after publicity from a recent incident they’ve backed off of the rule.
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 »
