Category Archives for Hotels.
Do not assume that you have been upgraded and certainly do not assume you’ve been given the best possible room that you’re entitled to under a program’s benefits. You do often have to ask. One chain hotel GM even says that guests who don’t request an upgrade aren’t entitled to one.
If you just leave the default as one guest, that works out fine here but not everywhere. If you book for one guest it can be a good idea to at least communicate with the hotel in advance about the actual number of people in your room to avoid surprises at check-in.
DoubleTree is a conversion brand. They take hotels that have nothing in common and put the DoubleTree brand on it. You get consistent toiletries, Hilton Honors points and they tie it all together with cookies at check-in.
Brand reputation matters a great deal in luxury. Customer experience matters a great deal in luxury. So while they want to compete to grow scope, joining the race to the bottom puts luxury at greatest risk. It’s an even more dangerous game for Hyatt to choose to play than Marriott.
Hotels have been repurposed to house migrants (over 10% of all rooms). The city has largely banned Airbnb. And new hotel construction has been limited, with hotel workers unions given an effective veto over projects.
Now the city wants to drive affordable non-union hotels out of business.
Hyatt has added Under Canvas glamping through its Mr and Mrs Smith partnership. There are 13 outdoor resorts in places like Yellowstone National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains.
One hotel in Europe lays out the consequences for stealing towels. You will be denounced to an agency! Guests face $16,000 fines and one Hilton even pressed charges against a guest who was sentenced to jail – two years for stealing two towels.
A Marriott Ambassador member, who spends over 100 nights and $23,000 a year with the chain, reports returning to their room to find housekeeping there – and the cleaner brought her boyfriend.
The first Standard Hotel property – The Standard Hollywood – was opened on Sunset in 1999 and closed during the pandemic. The original investors included Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Benicio del Toro.
Current hotels include New York in the Meatpacking District and the East Village; Miami Beach; London; Maldives; Ibiza; and Hua Hin.
When you make a booking for a hotel you get an instant confirmation. Airbnb’s are not so simple. You often request the stay, and the owner has to confirm it. They may reject you for any reason or no reason.
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 »
