Category Archives for Hotels.
Hotels, hurting during the pandemic, made rooms available at a discount for a variety of other purposes too – discount rates for ‘health care heroes’ to get away, rates for governments to use as quarantine facilities. It turns out that presented arbitrage opportunities.
Stays at 194 U.S. Hyatts earn a bonus 1000 American AAdvantage miles between November 1 – January 31, 2022. Registration is required by December 15.
Participating Hyatts are in the Chicago, DC, Dallas, New York, Denver, Phoenix, Nashville, LA, Seattle, and San Francisco markets.
It’s the next logical step, and one hotel consultants are talking about.
One major Hilton and Marriott owner wants to make lodging more like an ultra low cost airline. That’s the direction some chains are headed at the behest of short-sighted REIT investors. But it’s going to drive customers away. Charging for housekeeping services will mean less revenue for the hotel.
The Grand Hyatt New York re-opens November 1 but with a new name: Hyatt Grand Central New York. It will no longer be a Grand Hyatt. And it is losing the best thing about the property, too.
Marriott has brought back its “Week of Wonders” offers for October 7 – 14. There’s some decent room rates, 2000 bonus points for some, a discount on mattresses and robes, and bonuses for points purchases.
The major item here would be lower free night award pricing, with over half of Marriott’s properties committed at ‘off-peak’ redemption rates when you use your points over the next week… but you’ve got to stay quick to benefit.
Gil Ofarim, a German singer with top 40 hits, went on social media to share his experience trying to check in at the Westin Leipzig. The man shares that the hotel wouldn’t check him in unless he hid his Star of David.
Hyatt’s plan to expire points again is a stark contrast to Hilton which says they won’t expire points in 2022. Of course Hilton also extended status and free night certificates again. We’re still waiting to hear from Marriott on their card certificate plan for next year and whether they’ll make any more pandemic accommodations.
The New York Hilton and Grand Hyatt New York are both re-opening, the former on October 4 and the latter November 1.
While there was a logic in providing services to travelers during the summer, preparing to do so as a hotel heads into Northeast winter – traditionally a down time for business to begin with – may seem odd. The decision to do so now has nothing to do with anticipated return of business travel. Instead, there’s a simple reason to re-open now.
A guest showed up at a Marriott Hotel in DC to check in. It was the Residence Inn Courtyard by Marriott. Yes, there are two different Marriott brands at the same address in downtown Washington DC at the Convention Center.
The problem is that the man wanted early check-in. And it wasn’t available. At 1 a.m. So the guest, Armin Zeyafatzadeh, went to sleep in the lobby to wait for a room to be ready. He was going to be waiting awhile.
On Thursday and Friday New York City executed an operation to seize vehicles being rented out as lodging on Airbnb. The vans were often advertised for around $100, lacked bathroom or shower facilities, and racked up tickets for being illegally parked. Guests would receive keys to get into the vans for sleeping, but those keys didn’t start the engines. The law enforcement operation was dubbed “Operation Room Service.”
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 »
