Category Archives for Hotels.
Hilton’s CEO wants guests to reuse their towels. He doesn’t think hotels should have to provide things better than what people have at home. He’s playing to owners, chasing fees, but diluting his brand – which will limit the ability to collect fees over time.
Hotels have tried to lock in the savings of not cleaning rooms during stays, even as guests have returned. So we’ve seen many hotels move away from daily housekeeping on a permanent basis, though some still let guests request housekeeping during their stay.
I checked in with the major hotel chains on their housekeeping policies. While there’s sometimes a gap between the policies and pronouncements of a chain and on-the-ground reality, Hyatt seems to be doing the most to require hotels to provide housekeeping. Even where chains say it’s supposed to be an option, it may not be.
Addressing one of the real frictions, or barriers to tipping, we’re also seeing tipping via QR code paired with a clever psychological trick thanks to Holiday Inn.
You can read full benefit details here. Now that benefits are (mostly) live at hotels we’ll start to see how compliant properties are and how the new program works in practice. Regardless, there’s only improvements here in terms of benefits, addressing what has been the key weakness in the IHG program.
Marriott’s Edition brand doesn’t have to provide elite members with breakfast. However all Marriott hotels have to provide guests staying on points the same benefits as guests on paid rates.
The Edition in Bodrum, Turkey is a Bonvoy member favorite. It’s also one of the hotels where awards were devalued the most when Marriott went to dynamic pricing.
There are some very cool packages but whether they make sense comes down to pricing. A limited quantity offer for a limited period promoted as a monthly event could certainly be good.
I spent an April long weekend in Charleston. Hyatt has a partnership with SLH Hotels that allow you to redeem points and earn elite nights and points for stays, which made it possible for me to stay at Wentworth Mansion. The hotel is charming. The service was impeccable. And it represented good value on points.
Perhaps the room just isn’t used very much and doesn’t get a lot of attention. Or perhaps they only assign it as an upgrade on one night stays, and it’s rarely paid for (or hasn’t been in a long time), and so on one night stays no one bothers to complain – they’re leaving anyway. So without guests letting the hotel know about maintenance issues, those issues don’t get addressed.
I fell victim to this myself – I didn’t stop at the desk on the way out, so didn’t complain about the condition of the room.
Hotel Indigo blames the Thompson Hotel for needing to replace carpet and furniture, says that odors in the hotel can’t even be eliminated, and that they’re out over a million bucks as a result.
One way that travel changed during the pandemic which will mean more business travel and not less is that companies doing more work from home will need to bring employees together for team building, culture sessions, and just to get everyone on the same page. Employees that formerly worked entirely in-office become business travelers quarterly, semi-annually or at least once a year.
Walmart has a new hotel opening. And the Walmart hotel is going to be an AC by Marriott, opening summer 2024.
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 »
