Category Archives for Hotels.
There are several Hilton properties offering suites, premium suites, or club lounge access rooms for the points price of a basic award room — even among the best properties.
Last month I wrote that I am not a fan of hotel toiletries coming out of wall mounted dispensers in the shower. They aren’t as clean and they don’t always get refilled. And of course you can’t take the toiletries with you!
Yesterday I wrote about the first rumors of a new combined Marriott-Starwood loyalty program coming soon. There would be 5 elite tiers and finally free elite breakfast extended to resort properties and 25 of 30 hotel brands.
It seems like we’re going to know soon enough, in fact there appears to be an announcement coming on Monday. In the meantime we’re hearing plenty about what could be included in that announcement.
The CEO of Red Lion hotels slammed loyalty programs pretty hard but I’m not sure the actual lessons come through in his thinking.
Red Lion acquired Knights Inn from Wyndham, blocking Wyndham’s attempt to own every bad hotel in America. And Red Lion CEO Greg Mount threw some shade at Wyndham Rewards, suggesting that ‘only Hilton and Marriott’ get traction from their loyalty programs.
Your hotel room probably has a bible, because the Gideons distribute them for free. They started doing this in 1908 at the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana. And they give away bibles also to hospitals, jails, and medical offices. Worldwide they reportedly give out 80 million bibles per year. The Gideons were formed by two men sharing a hotel room in 1898.
With Marriott and Starwood moving ever closer towards combining into a single loyalty program, it’s telling that they’ve just launched their new promotion for spring and into summer and the promotions for each program are nearly identical.
Hilton is making changes to its airline partnerships effective tomorrow April 2. They are dropping a bunch of airlines (you’ll no longer be able to transfer points to these airlines), adding some, and changing the transfer ratio for a couple.
Diamond members who qualify on nights are going to like these changes. For anyone with Gold status they’re a nothing-burger (just know you’re on the hook for $2.50 a night if you redeem points in Malaysia). For others staying with Hilton gets less rewarding.
Earlier I noted an interview with one of the world’s richest men, a member of the Saudi royal family who was held prisoner by the Saudi government at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh for 83 days. He was held in 4575 square foot royal suite room 628.
Reader Homer asks in the comments, “So did Prince Alaweed earn points and nights on his stay ? Platinum now?”
The Anichi Resort & Spa in Dominica will be opening late next year as part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Timeshares here come with one unique perk: Dominica citizenship.
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 »
