Category Archives for Hotels.
Expedia itself saw a 20% increase in hotel bookings in the second quarter. Expedia Group overall, though? Just 10%. That says Hotels.com was flat or down in an environment where it should be rising. What’s different is that there’s no longer a strong incentive to use Hotels.com for members in the U.S. or U.K. where the new OneKey program has rolled out.
I see claims all the time in social media that ‘if you’re rich you don’t care about points’. That isn’t true. There are people who don’t care about points, but I’ve known plenty of wealthy people who do. I’ve helped centimillionaires several times over maximize their points and book award travel. And I’ve helped Hollywood celebrities do it, too.
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.
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.
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 »
