Category Archives for Hotels.
The Hyatt Centric Sacramento adds $17.43 per night for an “historical commitment fee.” This fee does not cover anything related to historic preservation. It’s just a resort fee, re-named, so that it sounds more reasonable and so they can charge Hyatt elite members who would otherwise be exempt from this fee.
My first thought on seeing this: If you get all of those for the destination fee at least you could resell them?
Indeed you could take one or two every time you walk by, or even 10? I bet some people do. And as long as the hotel is restocking often enough there’s a nice opportunity for profit.
A Four Seasons near Walt Disney World is going to be a sanctuary away from Disney, just as the Four Seasons in Vegas is a sanctuary from Vegas. And compared to other Disney properties it’s going to stand out. The Grand Floridian, even, is in desperate need of refurbishment and will get it. So what are your luxury options? As a result modest luxury is going to seem more special.
Several changes that have been made to the IHG One Rewards elite benefit terms and conditions. These have been published to their website, but they haven’t otherwise told anyone about them which always strikes me as a poor practice.
Some hotels don’t want award guests. They might think they can sell all of their rooms not at their average rate but at a premium, at least some nights of the year. Or they may just have a negative view of program members – they like getting paid nights from these members, but not having to host them on points.
Here are four Hyatt hotels that currently do not let members spend their points for free nights when searching the chain’s website or mobile app.
Hotels have eliminated daily housekeeping in many cases. All except the top luxury brands won’t automatically clean your room every day, or if they do it’s a ‘light service’ making the bed and swapping out towels on the floor. That means they don’t need to hire as many housekeepers, and a single housekeeper can service more rooms.
A man booked a room with someone else’s Marriott Bonvoy points. The member received the confirmation email from Marriott, contacted the police, and that man was arrested on the spot in Naples, Florida!
Assigned personal ambassadors will be reaching out to Ambassador members in June, as in the past assigned based on their language speaking preference and home time zone. Many former Ambassadors have returned, apparently, and Marriott will accept requests now to Ambassador Services to be matched the person previously assigned.
Marriott is going to make a major shift this month in how it displays prices on its website, and to its English language mobile app. The first and most prominent price for a hotel that Marriott displays will be the price inclusive of resort or destination fees so when you search the Marriott website you won’t be duped into thinking a hotel is cheaper than it is, only to see disclosure of a higher price at check-out.
Hyatt is acquiring Mr. and Mrs. Smith the booking platform and collection of over 1500 independent hotels. While this is not a brand, and they do not manage or own hotels, in some sense this roughly doubles Hyatt’s footprint with high end properties around the world. The deal is expected to close this quarter.
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 »
