Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

Hilton Tries Convincing Guests That Buying $18 Drinks Is A Radical Act

by Gary Leff

che guevrea sticker
Apr 23 2022

Hilton’s Canopy by Hilton London City created controversy driving for authenticity, and food and beverage revenue, by branding its bar after European socialist anarchists. The socialists were outraged by using their history to sell $18 drinks to “wanky City types.”

Hilton was forced to remove the edgy socialist branding from its capitalist endeavor. Even their website description as “a gathering place for writers, radicals, entrepreneurs and artists – a breeding ground for concepts that would go on to change the world” has been removed.

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How Much Did Marriott’s Change To Dynamic Award Prices Devalue The Currency?

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
Apr 17 2022

Marriott did what they said they would do – limit the carnage in the first year, in much the same way they over-indexed Bonvoy value when the program first launched (they waited to add a higher tier category and launch peak and off peak pricing, even though they announced it as their plan).

The playbook is ‘announce a negative change but wait to fully implement it’ so everyone looks at the new program and says “great!” or “not so bad!” before it gets worse. We should believe Marriott when they say next year will be worse!

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Hilton Offers Double Or Triple Points For Four Months

by Gary Leff

hotel
Apr 14 2022

Hilton is offering double points on one and two night stays, and triple points on stays of three or more nights, May 2 – September 5, 2022. Registration required and you should do that now.

There’s no minimum stay required and the bonus applies to your first stay, so there’s no nonsense like only bonusing you starting with your second or third stay.

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IHG Already Tweaking Rules, Improving On New Elite Program Announced Yesterday

by Gary Leff

skyscrapers in city
Apr 14 2022

IHG launched new elite benefits that include free breakfast for Diamonds, confirmed suite upgrades (as a choice benefit, starting at just 20 nights!), and club lounge access (another choice benefit).

There was just one problem I flagged. Not all benefits apply on award stays. The program changes are an improvement for everyone, to be sure, but not for everyone equally. And IHG One Rewards is addressing this.

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Award Travelers: Don’t Get Too Excited – Yet – About The New IHG One Rewards Program

by Gary Leff

Apr 13 2022

While this new program is much more rewarding for chain loyalists, whether at 20 nights a year or 70, they haven’t applied these improvements consistently to treat reward nights rewardingly, so they aren’t yet treating members who earn benefits as valued when they’re cashing in their hard-earned points. Hopefully IHG will see this as a weakness and address and improve it. Terms and conditions matter when expecting hotels to comply, or addressing non-compliance with customer service. If this isn’t what the program intended, they’ll update the terms and conditions of these benefits accordingly.

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Complete Guide To The New IHG Elite Program: Confirmed Suites, Lounge Access, And Breakfast

by Gary Leff

Apr 13 2022

IHG Rewards is now IHG One Rewards with a whole new set of elite benefits to go with the introduction of a new top elite tier, Diamond. I spoke with IHG’s Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Partnerships, Heather Balsley, both about the vision for the changes and the to get into the weeds about how new benefits will work.

In theory new elite benefits are better than Hilton’s, and some guests will prefer them over Marriott’s, but how valuable they are depends on the properties members stay at and how well those hotels deliver on promises.

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