Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

American Express Just Bought Nearly Half a Trillion Hilton Honors Points

by Gary Leff on April 17, 2020

Apr 17 2020

A month ago I wrote that frequent flyer programs would save the airlines because they offer rich sources of value and cash. However while United and Delta are reportedly in talks to sell large chunks of miles at a discount to their credit card partner banks, it’s actually Hilton that’s first out of the gate with this.

Hilton shared with the SEC that they’ve pre-sold $1 billion worth of points to American Express. That probably somewhere around half a trillion Honors points.

California Is Filling Empty Hotels Up With Homeless

by Gary Leff on April 15, 2020

Apr 15 2020

Hotel bank partners are funding rooms for hospital workers to sleep in otherwise-empty hotels. Another source of revenue for hoteliers right now is housing the homeless who need a place to quarantine during the coronavirus crisis.

Here’s the scale of the project, which sorts of hotels are participating, and how much they can make – at least in California.

Marriott Giving CEO Big Raise While Business Craters, Tens Of Thousands Furloughed

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2020

Apr 14 2020

It shouldn’t be surprising that even as Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson announced that he would stop taking his salary through the end of the year, in light of the hotel giant furloughing tens of thousands of workers and the majority of corporate staff amidst the cratering of their business during the coronavirus crisis, he’s actually being given a raise. It must be all of those resort fees they pocketed, which Sorenson said are good for us.

Wyndham Extends Elite Status, Offers Instant Status To Essential Workers

by Gary Leff on April 14, 2020

Apr 14 2020

Wyndham Rewards is extending all current elite member status through December 31, 2021. Many of us noted that Marriott was last to extend status, but that’s not true. Don’t forget Wyndham!

Hilton Divulges The Secret To ‘Foamy’ DoubleTree Cookies

by Gary Leff on April 10, 2020

Apr 10 2020

Hilton has published the DoubleTree hotels cookie recipe. Normally more than 30 million of these cookies are baked annually. They’ve even been baked on the space station. But since you’re grounded Hilton is giving out the recipe.

Reader Asks Marriott For Platinum Status – And They Gave It To Him

by Gary Leff on April 10, 2020

Apr 10 2020

A reader who has lifetime Marriott Gold lost his Platinum status in 2020. He asked Marriott for Platinum status, and the simply gave it to him. Now current Platinums are having that status extended for all of 2021.

New All-Time Low: Nearly 4 Out Of 5 Hotel Rooms Are Empty

by Gary Leff on April 9, 2020

Apr 09 2020

New hotel occupancy and room rate data shows that things got even worse for hotels last week than they were the week before when hotels hit what was then their lowest occupancy rate – ever.

It seemed like things couldn’t get any worse, and then last week happened.

Marriott Extends Elite Status, Takes Additional Measures

by Gary Leff on April 8, 2020

Apr 08 2020

Marriott is extending current elite status through February 2022. And while they had already paused expiration of points through August they have extended that out to February 2021.

Miami Hotel Is Closed – Refuses To Return $2.3 Million From A School Trip

by Gary Leff on April 7, 2020

Apr 07 2020

A New York City private school though hasn’t been so lucky and is now locked in a battle with Miami Beach’s Eden Roc hotel over a $2.3 million deposit for an April trip. Even though the hotel is closed, they won’t refund the deposit and are demanding an additional $1.2 million.

In my experience so far with group bookings hotels are being much more hard-nosed than with individual reservations. They have money and they do not want to give any back.

Hotel Comes Under Fire For Helping Wealthy Guests Quarantine From Coronavirus

by Gary Leff on April 5, 2020

Apr 05 2020

While other hotels are closing, with no transient business, Swiss luxury hotel brand Le Bijou is setting up “quarantine apartments” based on what they’re learning about guests needs – in-room meals and COVID-19 testing, a private gym, access to medical care.

Le Bijou’s CEO says he noticed a drop off in three night bookings, but green shoots in the form of 14-day stays. He learned these were guests quarantining from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. And he realized there was an opportunity to stay in business by meeting guest needs. Some people are appalled.