Category Archives for Hotels.
Diamond is receiving chemotherapy for stage 4 small cell carcinoma. And he blames hotels (but not Mario Lopez) for his illness.
If anything though the frequent travel lifestyle should move you from place to place, avoiding exposure to any known carcinogen for too long.
The former head of International Space Station for NASA and others are building a hotel in space. They have NASA’s buy-in, and money, to do it.
Las Vegas police are sharing details of a hotel worker, hoping they’ll get additional information from other guests who may have been victimized by the man.
According to reports the 20 year old would steal guest property and demand nude photos from them in exchange for having their belongings returned. He also is accused of stealing female guest underwear and leaving a note with his phone number ‘call me to get your underwear back.’
What happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th was… deplorable, to borrow a phrase. Using the events of January 6th to impose new screenings for hotel guests, and eliminate guest privacy by requiring chains to track service requests for the government is as well.
IF you prefer a room with a specific view, the government might want to know, to question you later if a crime occurs in the area your room overlooks. Your upgrade requests suddenly become national security concerns.
Two years ago police stormed the Westin Denver airport room of a United Airlines pilot, arresting him for “dancing, gyrating and waiving” naked in front of the TSA screening checkpoint below the window of his room.
Police entered with guns drawn. He was naked. You cannot see out the hotel room window at the people below. But they can see into the room.
When Marriott acquired Starwood they also acquired the Ambassador program which offered a single point of contact for the chain’s top customers, to make reservations, interface with hotels on requests, and act as a concierge more broadly.
First Marriott had mass layoffs of concierges. Now they’ve decided emails to individual concierges can no longer be answered – everything goes into a single customer service pool.
IHG Rewards Club has launched its first quarter promotion, reduced elite status requirements for 2021, rolled over 2020 to count towards earning status this year, and extended the pause on points expiration and the validity of free night stay certificates.
Service Properties Trust, which owns 329 hotels across numerous brands, has had disputes with IHG and Marriott and is transitioning those properties to Sonesta Hotels where it’s a one-third owner. Hotel chains often guarantee minimum revenue to property owners, and Service Properties Trust had a dispute over those payments.
Hyatt hasn’t refused to make payment, but has reached its full $50 million guarantee on the 22 hotels under its Hyatt Place brand owned by the company. That gives Hyatt the right to terminate its agreement with 90 days’ notice. Hyatt sent this notice of termination which is effective April 8, 2021.
Marriott has continued to promote its elite benefit guarantees despite suspending them during the pandemic. Fortunately the cash guarantee compensation is back for when hotels fail to deliver specific promised benefits.
Extended Stay America has had a customer-friendly policy dating back years of not charging for local calls. They’ve advertised this since when in-room phone revenue was a thing (before everyone had cell phones with unlimited domestic calling) and the chain stills promote ‘free local calls’ on their website.
Yet for several months they’ve been charging for local calls. The chain tells me that’s not a mistake.
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 »
