Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

Marriott Prepares To Make $7000 Per Night All-Inclusive Available On Points, Updates Terms & Conditions

villa
Dec 13 2019

Back in March we learned that $7000 per night all-inclusive North Island in the Seychelles would be joining Marriott’s Luxury Collection and I confirmed that it would become part of the Bonvoy program for earning and redemption.

Marriott updated their program terms to allow for redemptions that cost more than category 8 high season – because we were never going to book this place for just 100,000 points per night. We can only hope though that, having made the change, they aren’t tempted to expand the pool of properties “off award chart.”

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Some Hyatt Globalists Being Given American Airlines Executive Platinum Status

Dec 06 2019

American Airlines ConciergeKey members receive Hyatt Globalist status. It seems like Hyatt is extending a similar reciprocal benefit to some of their top tier Globalist members. Surprisingly, these Globalists – rather than rarified Courtesy Card members – are being given American Airlines Executive Platinum for 2020 (expires January 2021).

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Hyatt Moving to Peak/Off Peak Award Pricing and Increasing Value of Spending Points on Meals and Spa

Dec 04 2019

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.

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This Hotel Wasn’t Exactly Lying When They Said They Had a ‘Pool Area’

Nov 30 2019

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.

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The Awkward Truth About Airbnb’s Effect on Rents

airbnb mobile
Nov 28 2019

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.”

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