Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

To Everyone Leaving Marriott for Hilton: You’re Nuts

by Gary Leff on December 24, 2018

Dec 24 2018

I’m as disappointed as anyone with the way Marriott has delivered on their new loyalty program. The technical side of combining Starwood and Marriott accounts has been frustrating — my account still isn’t right. Customer service has been poor — I’m waiting for a reply to an email from September. And most of all the delivery of benefits and redemptions hasn’t matched what was promised.

However that doesn’t mean you should abandon Marriott. In fact you shouldn’t. Here’s why.

No Daily Housekeeping and Linen Changes Every 4th Day at the Brand New Hyatt Regency Seattle

by Gary Leff on December 22, 2018

Dec 22 2018

Limited service hotels are a fast growing lodging segment. There’s no room service, for instance. Don’t expect a bellman or valet. Some ostensibly full service hotels are moving to become limited service, too.

The brand new Hyatt Regency Seattle opened December 10th. It’s across the street from the Hyatt Olive 8 and near the Grand Hyatt, and is the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest with over 1200 rooms. And it does not provide daily housekeeping.

New Marriott Loyalty Program Continues to Disappoint Members

by Gary Leff on December 19, 2018

Dec 19 2018

What happens when hotels change award categories without notice — right as members who have been waiting for months have been allowed to redeem? And how are some hotels ‘complying’ with Marriott’s elite breakfast benefits?

The problem I think is that the chain’s CEO describes the frustration of his best customers as noise around the edges rather than tackling the problem with open arms. Bill Marriott said the purpose of the Starwood acquisition was to give them scale and leverage. I noted at the time this included leverage over customers.

Hilton’s New Promotion is Great for Short Stays

by Gary Leff on December 18, 2018

Dec 18 2018

The road map for where Hilton has gone with their program was laid out by Jeff Diskin, now Hilton Executive Vice President, back in 2010.

He said the Honors program was giving too much basic value to members and it wasn’t generating enough value. They hadn’t been active with promotions. And that needed to flip. That’s exactly what’s happened.

Hyatt Will Offer Benefits For Every 10 Nights Stayed, Adjusts Elite Requalification Rules

by Gary Leff on December 18, 2018

Dec 18 2018

Hyatt just announced several modest program changes to award members after fewer nights starting next year, and some tweaks to qualifying for elite status including requiring 5 extra nights to re-qualify for top tier status in 2020.

Here’s what’s changing and what they’ll mean to you.

Cheap Dom Perignon in Delta Lounges and Why Do Hotels Have So Many Brands?

by Gary Leff on December 16, 2018

Dec 16 2018

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Marriott’s Big Devaluation Postponed Until March

by Gary Leff on December 14, 2018

Dec 14 2018

Marriott told us from the get go that their new top awards price of 60,000 points per night would last only until 2019 and that next year they’d start charging up to 100,000 points for their best redemptions with the introduction of a new category 8 along with low season and high season prices.

Marriott now says that category 8 will start in March and that the date for launching high and low season pricing is not yet known.

Ex-Starwood Senior VP of Technology Dishes on Marriott’s Data Breach

by Gary Leff on December 12, 2018

Dec 12 2018

There are reasons to be skeptical that the breach took place in 2014, rather than there were records in the data warehouse which could have been taken that dated to 2014.

Regardless of what did or didn’t happen, and whom to blame, we’re clearly not getting the full story from Marriott. And since it’s our very sensitive personal information they failed to safeguard, we should be demanding it.

4 Things You Should Do to Protect Yourself From the Marriott Hack

by Gary Leff on December 6, 2018

Dec 06 2018

The reason Marriott will weather the storm of 500 million records being hacked is because all of our information has already been hacked. First, we’re immune to it. And second there’s really not that much new that’s going to be out there as a result of this network infiltration.

There are (4) things you can do to protect yourself.

Woman Suing Hilton for $100 Million: Says Hotel Employee Videotaped Her in Shower, Blackmailed Her

by Gary Leff on December 5, 2018

Dec 05 2018

A woman is suing Hilton for $100 million after she says an employee videotaped her in the shower at an Albany, New York Hampton Inn and uploaded the video along with her name to a porn site, and used to footage to blackmail her.