Major hotels chains have been in and out of experimenting with homesharing products, even as they engage in dirty tricks to get the practice banned in some jurisdictions. Online travel agency sites have expanded their product suite by offering access to homesharing, and not just traditional hotel rooms. And now Airbnb itself has acquired online hotel booking company HotelTonight. Airbnb said it plans to acquire HotelTonight, a service that offers last-minute hotel bookings, in a deal that will expand the online room rental company’s offerings with traditional and boutique hotel listings. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition values HotelTonight in the range of its last private valuation, $465 million, said two people who were briefed on the deal and were not authorized to publicly disclose the price. That would make it Airbnb’s…
Hotels
Category Archives for Hotels.
When T-Mobile Announced Their Merger With Sprint Executives Started Staying at the Trump Hotel DC
T-Mobile and Sprint executives didn’t stay much at the Trump Hotel in DC before they announced the merger but as soon as the deal was announced their spending ramped up to 14% of their total DC hotel spend.
Arlington, Virginia Will Tax Visitors and Give the Money to Amazon
Amazon decided to split up its proposed “HQ2” facility between New York and Northern Virginia, promising about 25,000 jobs for each. New York politicians chased Amazon out of their New York plan.
The payments that Amazon will get for their Northern Virginia headquarters (in addition to tax reductions) are many and varied, coming from all levels of government. Arlington, Virginia will direct a portion of its hotel tax to Amazon.
Eat at Home Like You’re Traveling With American Airlines and Amex Ending a Benefit
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.
What Marriott’s CEO Thinks of the Bonvoy Name and the New Rewards Program
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson famously dismissed customer frustrations with his chain’s IT failures and problems delivering promised benefits as ‘noise around the edges.’
During Marriott’s earnings call the CEO addressed the new name for the loyalty program, how he sees it as part of the chain’s strategy, and whether hotels are frustrated.
A New Way to Buy American Airlines Status and Marriott Residence Inn Break-ins
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.
Why You May Want to Retire to Living in Hotels (It’s Cheaper)
Back when Priceline was at it’s most useful, in the early 2000s, there were deals ot be had in major cities for nice hotels in the $30s and $40s per night. There was a frequent flyer living at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Back then you’d earn stay credit as long as you charged something to your room, like a phone call and you would receive elite benefits even on Priceline stays.
For about $32 a night he had a San Francisco apartment complete with daily housekeeping and club lounge access for breakfast and evening snacks.
Hyatt Adds 57 Small Luxury Hotels to its Earn/Burn Portfolio
Small Luxury Hotels of the World is a collection of independent properties, and it’s more of a booking relationship than a hotel chain. And Hyatt’s deal is something similar to what they have with MGM’s M life Rewards — let’s share customers, offering points-earning and redemption.
Hyatt launched the partnership in December with just 54 hotels participating. A month ago they added 56 more. Today they’re announcing 57 more properties added to the relationship, which gets them close to one-third of the SLH property collection.
Trump Hotels Profit from Foreign Governments and Airline Sues Passenger Who Threw Coins in Engine
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 Flubs Rollout of New Promotion, But Double Points is Coming
I’m not sure why Marriott didn’t announce a promotion to coincide with the launch of their new program name, why they are spending money on printing and postage to announce the promotion, or why they’ve failed to get up the promotion website that they’re mailing members about — other than to say of course that’s what happened.