My Loyalty traveler advice is to use online travel agencies (OTAs) for hotel rate comparisons, but always go to the hotel chain’s own websites for booking your hotel stay.  After you have narrowed your hotel selection down based on rates displayed on sites like Expedia, Kayak, and Orbitz, then search the hotel chain’s website for even lower rates. This will often reveal a better rate. Remember to check group rates like AAA and senior discounts which are not shown on the results of an OTA search.

Also, special offer rates through the individual hotel’s website many times will provide an even lower rate than AAA for your dates.

HotelMarketing.com posted an article showing OTAs make the majority of their revenue from hotel industry fees and commissions. Expedia made 60% of its 2008 revenue from hotel bookings compared to just 15% from airline bookings.

The case study shown in the cited article reveals Expedia had a 25% mark-up for hotel fee/commission on a $550 New York 2-night hotel stay. Basically the hotel is paying Expedia quite a chunk of change, $137.50, for a $550 booking.

The deep discounts available on special offer rates through the hotel’s own website are possible because the inventory off-loaded to OTAs is at a substantial discount to the hotel’s own listed rates.

In this case study the $550 booking for a New York hotel shown on Expedia is only generating $412.50 for the hotel while generating $137.50 in revenue for Expedia. This is equivalent to a nightly rate of $206.25 for the hotel.

What does this mean for the hotel guest?

The chances are fairly high that a potential guest looking for rates on the hotel’s own website will find a lower rate somewhere between the $275 shown on Expedia and the $206.25 the hotel has contracted with Expedia to sell the room. A $240 per night rate is a $35 savings for the hotel guest and generates an additional $33.75 for the hotel.

What do you do when you go to the hotel’s own website and you see a $275 rate just like seen on Expedia?

Advice: Go to the hotel’s website and look for AAA rates and special offer rates. You should be able to drop the $275 rate by 10 to 20% with a group discount like AAA or AARP or a hotel special offer rate.

The hotel is giving up 25% of its revenue to sell a room through an OTA, whereas the cost is only a few dollars to sell through its own website. This is the reason hotels require frequent guest members to book through hotel chain branded websites to earn loyalty program benefits. And this is the reason hotel loyalty program benefits can be generous.

A free breakfast, some hotel loyalty points, and a $50 room upgrade make the frequent guest a happy guest and may still bring in more revenue to the hotel than the guest on an OTA booking.

Loyalty travelers are generally happier travelers when it comes to getting good value on hotel bookings.

 

Loyalty Traveler Case Study: Hotel Rates Comparison between OTAs and Hotel Branded Websites

Chicago, Illinois

Friday night, August 14, 2009

 

Hotel	OTA rate (Orbitz)	Hotel website lowest rate found (AAA rate for all samples  )	Savings with Hotel direct booking
Hilton Palmer House	$134.10 double bed, smaller room	$119 AAA Stay and Save	$15.10
Hilton Palmer House	$161.10 King	$143 AAA	$18.10
W Chicago	$199 King	$159.20 AAA	$39.80
InterContinental Chicago	$197.10 (standard)	$186.15 AAA	$9.95
Hyatt Regency Chicago	$189 (King)	$151.20 AAA	$37.80

 

Remember three facts about Online Travel Agency Rates:

1.      OTAs do not display AAA rates which are typically the lowest rate about 50% of the time.

2.      OTAs charge a small fee of $1 to $5 per hotel booking that is disguised in the additional Tax and Fees rate charged by the OTA for the booking.

3.      OTA bookings do not qualify for frequent guest benefits in most cases. Points and benefits earned from a hotel stay booked through the hotel chain’s own website can be a $50 to $100+ value.

 

The Hyatt Regency Chicago could earn 2,000 Gold Passport points using a G2 booking bonus and earn 2,500 points per stay with the current Gold Passport promotion. Along with base points earned, the frequent guest would earn over 5,000 points for this one night stay at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. 5,000 points is sufficient for a free night at a Category 1 hotel. That is a lot of added-value to forego on an OTA booking.

Here is an annotated video panorama of the hotels in the San Francisco SoMa district around Moscone Convention Center. The video is shot from the 4th floor patio of the St. Regis San Francisco.

Turn down your sound volume. I still need to work on the sound aspect of video. Lots of street and wind noise in this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw7CwjyqpIs

Starwood Hotels current Summer Sale for hotels in the Americas and Asia/Pacific regions will now expire on Monday, July 27 11:59pm EDT.

There are some good rates, but be selective. In the San Francisco Bay Area there are really low rates for most of the hotels outside the city. In general, these rates are as low as seen in 2009. In San Francisco the rates are on the low end, but typically not the lowest rates for these hotels in the past two months.

Main drawback is these limited time offer rates are nonrefundable.

Book by July 27 for stays through October 12, 2009.

http://www.starwoodpromos.com/hotel-deals/?IM=SPG_HP_TL_EN_SEG_W1_GLOJYLTO

Best Western has a buy one night and get one night free promotion available for booking over the next two weeks.

Offer: Pay one night and get your second night free on a minimum two-night stay at 31 participating Best Western hotels in Asia thru October 31, 2009.

Booking period: July 20, 2009 – August 3, 2009; reservation is prepaid and nonrefundable.

Terms and Conditions: Promotional rate does not earn Best Western Rewards points or airline miles.

Participating Best Western Hotels: http://www.bwrewardsasia.com/freenights

China

Best Western World Trade Hotel , Jinhua

Best Western Kylie Ningbo Hotel, Ningbo

Best Western Premier Ocean Hotel, Yiwu

Best Western Hangzhou Meiyuan Hotel, Hangzhou

Best Western Shenzhen Felicity, Shenzhen

Best Western Harbin Fortune Hotel, Harbin

Best Western Grandsky Hotel, Beijing

Best Western Hotel Sun Sun, Macau

Best Western Hengfeng Hotel, Putian

Best Western Shanghai Ruite Hotel, Shanghai

Best Western New Century Hotel Shanghai, Shanghai

Best Western Premier Beijing, Beijing

Best Western OL Stadium Hotel, Beijing

 

India

Best Western Resort Country Club, Gurgaon

Best Western Yuvraj, Surat

Best Western Resort Country Club, Hyderabad

 

Japan

Best Western Takayama, Takayama

Best Western Premier Hotel Nagasaki, Nagasaki

Best Western Hotel Newcity Hirosaki, Hirosaki

Thailand

Best Western Samui Bayview Resort, Koh Samui

Best Western Premier Supalai Resort & Spa, Phuket

Best Western Bella Villa Cabana, Pattaya

Best Western Pattaya, Pattaya

Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort & Spa, Phuket

Best Western Ao Nang Bay Resort & Spa, Krabi

Best Western Chiang Mai Resort & Spa, Chiang Mai

Best Western Ban Ao nang Resort, Krabi

 

Philippines

Best Western Hotel La Corona Manila, Manila

Best Western Astor Hotel, Makati

Indonesia

Best Western New Kuta Condotel, Bali

 

Vietnam

Best Western Pearl River Hotel, Haiphong

 

Asia Hotel Industry by the Numbers (data from STR Global May 2009-Asia Pacific Report)

Hotel travel numbers for Asia are not looking good this year which partly accounts for the promotions being advertised by Best Western, InterContinental Hotels Group (mentioned in Lucky’s One Mile at a Time blog today), and Accor Hotels.

May 2009 STR Global hotel data shows double digit declines over the past year in average daily rates (15.2%) and occupancy (14.9%) for the overall region of Asia and the Pacific.

The Asia/Pacific region showed the greatest decline for any global region for the month of May 2009 and May 2008 to May 2009 numbers.

Thailand and China have seen dramatic declines in occupancy.  Hotels in the resort destination of Phuket plummeted to just 34.5% occupancy rate in May 2009. Suite upgrades should certainly be a negotiable option in this hotel climate.

In spite of the overall downturn, hotel rates actually increased for Bali, Seoul, and Tokyo hotels.

1. Bali, Indonesia ADR up 17.5% to US$127.83. (Bali hotel numbers may drop again after the recent Jakarta bombings.)

2. Osaka, Japan ADR up 8.7% to US$129.72

3. Tokyo, Japan ADR up 12.9% to US$228.55

It is unclear to me what effect currency rate fluctuation plays in this ADR increase.

The largest decrease in ADR is New Delhi, India with a 31.5% drop to US$162.02. I was astonished over the past three years at the data showing the steep rise in average room rates across India. Rates in Mumbai and New Delhi increased at astronomical levels of 30 – 40% per year and $300 per night hotel rates at the major hotel chains was not uncommon. It is no surprise to see a steep decline back to sustainable room rates in this business economy downturn of 2009.

Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne maintained occupancy rates above 70% as did Seoul, Korea. All the fare sales from the USA to the Down Under and the poorer economy keeping more Australians at home on the continent is probably helping hotel travel. Australia only saw a 6% year-to-year decline in hotel occupancy compared to 14% decline in Japan, 15% India, 16% China, and nearly an 18% drop in hotel guests in Singapore over the past year.

Give a Day, Get a Night Volunteers Discount

Volunteerism is good social action.  Public service is giving to society through your choice of occupation.

Sage Hospitality is a hotel development company with an offer to reward volunteers, active or retired military members, and school workers with the benefit of a half-price hotel night at any one of their 53 hotels in 23 states.  Volunteers may even qualify for one complimentary night upon request.

Luxury hotels like JW Marriott Cherry Creek, Denver or Starwood’s Luxury Collection hotel, The Nines, Portland, Oregon are examples of participating hotels in these Sage Hospitality discount offers.

This is an offer that transcends hotel chain loyalty. Sage Hospitality is a hotel management and development company with 53 US hotels in Hilton, InterContinental  Hotels Group, Marriott, and Starwood chains.

Give a Day, Get a Night Volunteerism Offer

http://www.sagehospitality.com/specials/giveadaygetanight.htm

1.      Give 8 hours of community service to a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization to receive 50% off the published room rate, or even a free night.

2.      A letter verifying with 8 hours of unpaid, volunteer service is needed for check-in.

3.      Reservation for complimentary room must be made 48 hours prior to arrival.

4.      No advance deposit is required and hotel’s standard cancellation rules apply.

5.      Volunteer hours must be completed between July 1, 2009 and December 18, 2009.

6.      Offer is valid for stays through December 20, 2009.

7.      Only one complimentary night per individual per hotel throughout duration of promotion.

To book 50% discount night: Contact participating hotel directly or use the promotion code for the hotel shown on this participating hotels webpage: http://www.sagehospitality.com/specials/giveadaygetanight_codes.htm

Complimentary night request: This page lists hotel contacts for volunteers wishing to request a complimentary night. Complimentary nights have limited availability.

http://www.sagehospitality.com/specials/giveadaygetanight_hotels.htm

 

Half Price for Heroes Military and First Responders 50% Hotel Night offer

http://www.sagehospitality.com/specials/halfpriceheroes.htm

Book your reservation by Labor Day to take advantage of this offer. Half Price for Heroes rate is 50% discount on published room rate. Valid ID is required at check-in.

Offer applies to active and retired members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and US Coast Guard, activated members of the National Guard and Reservists, divisions within the Department of Defense (FBI, CIA, Secret Service and NASA) as well as those in first responders jobs – firefighters, police and paramedics.

Contact any of the 53 Sage hotels ask for the Half Price for Heroes rate. Or book on-line at the individual hotel using the booking code “LPR” where the form asks for a promotional/ group code.

For all participating Sheraton Hotels, call 866-716-8147 and mention promo code “LPR” to make a reservation.

Best in Class Educators 50% Hotel Night offer

http://www.sagehospitality.com/specials/bestinclass.htm

Offer applies to active and retired teachers and school administrators at public and private schools across the country.

Offer ends December 30, 2009

For Reservations: Contact the hotel of your choice directly- ask about the Best In Class rate OR book online at the individual hotel website by utilizing the individual booking code given on the link below.

For 50% off Rate Reservations: click here

Sage Hospitality Hotels

HOTELS BY STATE

 

ARIZONA

• Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel Tempe – Tempe, AZ

• Sheraton Tucson Hotel & Suites – Tucson, AZ

 

CALIFORNIA

• Courtyard Los Angeles Pasadena/Monrovia – Monrovia, CA

• Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown – San Diego, CA

• Homewood Suites by Hilton SFO Airport North – Brisbane, CA

 

COLORADO

• The Curtis - Denver, CO

• Courtyard by Marriott Denver Downtown – Denver, CO

• Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian – Englewood, CO

• JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek - Denver, CO

• The Oxford Hotel – Denver, CO

• Pueblo Marriott at the Convention Center - Pueblo, CO

• Residence Inn by Marriott Denver City Center – Denver, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Boulder Broomfield – Broomfield, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Colorado Springs – Colorado Springs, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver Downtown – Denver, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver Southeast – Denver, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Littleton Southwest – Littleton, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver Tech Center – Englewood, CO

• TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver West Federal Center - Golden, CO

• The Westin Westminster- Westminster, CO

 

CONNECTICUT

• Holiday Inn Waterbury – Waterbury, CT

 

FLORIDA

• Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld International Center – Orlando, FL

 

GEORGIA

• Doubletree Hotel Northlake - Atlanta, GA

• Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta Perimeter Center - Atlanta, GA

 

ILLINOIS

• The Blackstone, A Renaissance Hotel - Chicago, IL

• Chicago’s Essex Inn – Chicago, IL

• Clock Tower Resort – Rockford, IL

• Hilton Garden Inn Hoffman Estates – Hoffman Estates, IL

• Sheraton Chicago Northwest – Arlington Heights, IL

 

MASSACHUSETTS

• Courtyard Fitchburg by Marriott – Fitchburg, MA

• Sheraton Ferncroft Hotel – Danvers, MA

 

MICHIGAN

• Courtyard by Marriott – Brighton, MI

• Courtyard by Marriott – Lansing, MI

• Hotel Baronette – Novi, MI

 

MINNESOTA

• Fairfield Inn by Marriott – Duluth, MN

 

MISSOURI

• Sheraton Kansas City Sports Complex Hotel – Kansas City, MO

 

NEBRASKA

• Holiday Inn Omaha Convention Center – Omaha, NE

 

NEVADA

• Fairfield Inn by Marriott Las Vegas Airport – Las Vegas, NV

 

NEW JERSEY

• Mt. Laurel Marriott – Mt. Laurel, NJ

 

NORTH CAROLINA

• Charlotte Marriott Executive Park – Charlotte, NC

 

OHIO

• Cherry Valley Lodge – Newark, OH

• Sheraton Cincinnati North Hotel – Cincinnati, OH

• Fairfield Inn & Suites North/Sharonville - Cincinnati, OH

 

OREGON

• The Nines, The Luxury Collection, Starwood Hotel & Resorts – Portland, OR

• Courtyard by Marriott – Portland City Center - Portland, OR

 

PENNSYLVANIA

• Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel – Pittsburgh, PA

 

RHODE ISLAND

• Renaissance Providence Hotel - Providence, RI

 

TEXAS

• Hilton College Station and Conference Center – College Station, TX

 

UTAH

• Marriott Ogden Hotel - Ogden, UT

 

WASHINGTON

• Courtyard Seattle - Seattle, WA

• Holiday Inn Renton - Renton, WA

• Hawthorne Suites - Kent, WA

 

WISCONSIN

• Residence Inn by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown- Milwaukee, WI

 

[Loyalty Traveler note: I had difficulty locating any 50% off rates online. I’d suggest calling the hotel you desire and asking about the rate discount providing the applicable offer to save time searching.]

Thanks to Hobo13 who posted the volunteer offer on FlyerTalk July 7, 2009. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hotel-deals/972464-free-hotel-stays-community-service-1-night-per-8-volunteer-hours-501c3.html

I am a hotel guest who nickel and dimes the benefits of hotel loyalty programs. Years of public service employment makes frugal travel a necessity in our household. My wife spends a monthly portion of her take home pay to provide school children with the tools to succeed in the classroom. Sometimes this is simply pencils, crayons, and paper. Sometimes meeting a child’s learning needs involves buying shoes for a child in her first grade class. It is not uncommon for children to come to school wearing hand-me-down shoes from an older brother or sister that are too big and a safety hazard. Kelley always has to keep a food bank in the room to feed children who come to school chronically late and miss the free breakfast program or do not have enough food energy to work the hours between breakfast and lunch.

Volunteers, educators, military personnel, and first responders are the individuals on the front lines of our society. I applaud Sage Hospitality for recognizing the contributions these individuals make to assist others. A little recognition goes quite a way for these public service workers.

Here is a photo of the 36-story Westin Market Street Hotel in San Francisco where I stayed July 2009.

The hotel building structure evokes different reactions from me depending on the angle I view the hotel faces. From some angles the building is a massive wall with window peeps and little texture.

This view has nice geometric form when viewed from the street adjacent to the Four Seasons San Francisco car entry.

My first foray into incorporating YouTube into blog. I uploaded this video of Suite 1806.

Westin Market Street Hotel, Suite 1806, San Francisco

PointBreaks are one of the best hotel loyalty program discount room offers available. For just 5,000 points per reward night an InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club member can book a free night.  And even if you don’t have points, the cost to buy 5,000 points is as low as $57.50 to purchase directly from Priority Club. Within 24 hours you can have up to 40,000 points to book a room.

The primary condition to keep in mind with PointBreaks is the list of hotels dwindles down as the available rooms at properties are reserved and hotels are removed from the list.

This new list of properties went online on Monday and already the InterContinental Vienna has been removed from the list. Not surprising since this hotel offered a $200 per night savings with the PointsBreak free night. This is the first week the updated PointBreaks hotels have been posted, so more than 160 hotels are still available for reservations.

 

PointBreaks Links:

United States Hotels (88 hotels)

Canada (12 hotels)

Mexico (all IHG hotels in Mexico are 50% discount on free nights using points thru December 1, 2009)

Central and South America (7 hotels)

Europe  (27 hotels)

Africa/Middle East  (11 hotels)

Asia (10 hotels)

Oceania (6 hotels)

Priority Club Points Purchase link: https://priorityclub.points.com/purchase/index.jsp

 

 

Mexico Reward Nights are 50% points thru December 1, 2009

 

This PointBreaks offer has one different feature from past offers. All award nights in Mexico are offered as 50% off award nights for all IHG member hotels rather than the regular 5,000 points per night PointsBreak offers.

 

 

 

 

Many of the hotels in Mexico will be more than 5,000 points, however, all hotels in Mexico are available for a 50% free night redemption with points through December 1, 2009.

 

 

 

Some notable IHG member hotels still on the list today:

InterContinental Mauritius – Balaclava Fort

Oct.12-17 room rate is 144€/night = $203/night. This hotel is available for a 5-night stay at 25,000 points =$1,015 USD room rate value.

InterContinental Fiji

October 12-17, 2009 $158USD per night, 25,000 points = $790 value

 

InterContinental Wellington, New Zealand

October 12-17, 2009 248NZD = $160USD per night. 25,000 points = $800 value.

 

These are probably not even the highest value hotels. They are just samples of the bargains available at upper-upscale and resort hotels in the list of more than 160 PointBreaks hotel offers currently listed.  Mexico is an additional offer with its 50% discount on free nights using points at all IHG hotels.

Promotion Dates: July 15 through September 30, 2009

Offer: Earn progressive points, up to a maximum 10,000 points after 5 stays.

Stays                Points per Stay           

First Stay         500 points      

Second Stay     1,000 points   

Third Stay        1,500 points   

Fourth Stay      2,000 points   

Fifth Stay         5,000 points   

Registration Link: Hiltonhhonors.com/stay5earn10000

 

Hotel occupancy is dropping around the globe along with average room rates and this is the summer marketing plan for HHonors loyal frequent guests?

10,000 HHonors points will buy you one free night at the bottom of the barrel Hilton Hotel Category 1 properties. In all of California there is only the Hampton Inn Tulare available at the Category 1 level.

The Hilton San Francisco or the other two Hiltons in the city will cost 40,000 points for a free night at these Category 6 hotels. These hotels have all had recent rates under $100 per night. And now it looks like Hilton HHonors has even eliminated PointStretchers for the remainder of 2009.

I don’t see much value in this HHonors summer offer.

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Rating = 1 Key

Obviously Hilton HHonors continues to pursue a loyalty marketing strategy designed to entice new members with instant elite status offers, but hold back loyalty program points bonuses from the membership.

Hilton HHonors is the hotel loyalty program which use to give 2,000 points just for updating your frequent guest member profile online every three months. Has there been a lucrative promotion since the WalkforHope campaign a few years back? A member could get 5,000 points for a $25 online registration as a virtual walker and support cancer research at the same time.

Let’s compare summer promotions across the major chains.

Marriott Rewards – free night up to Category 4 Hotel with every 3 stays by August 31. The value of the free night should be at least a $100 and will be around a $200 value at many properties. Hilton’s 10,000 points after 5 stays is a $100 value based on the cost to just buy 10,000 points for $100 from HHonors.

Hyatt Gold Passport – 2,500 points per stay when paying with MasterCard through September 15. Five stays at Hyatt will provide enough points for a free night at all but the highest category hotels. A free night at a Category 4 hotel like the Hyatt Regency San Francisco is 15,000 points and a member with five stays should earn about 15,000 points with 2,500 points assuming $500 in spending and 12,500 bonus points. A free night will be worth $200+.

Starwood Preferred Guest – The free weekend night promotion after two stays is ending July 31 and a new promotion has not been announced yet.  If history is a sign, Starwood has been providing the best offers this year.

Wyndham Rewards – 10,000 miles for 3 Stays in different brands through September 10. This is at least a $100 value for hotels where the average daily rate is around $60 per night. I don’t have Hilton’s average room rate data, but likely higher room rates for 3 stays at Hilton brands than the economy Wyndham brands.

Choice Privileges – 3 stays earns 14,000 points through August 13 and these points can be used for savings at an all-inclusive Barcelo resort stay.

IHG Priority Club – free night after two nights through August 15. Six stays could be worth 3 free nights at InterContinental Hotels with Priority Club that would otherwise cost 120,000 points or $900+ in room rates at an upper upscale hotel. This is a high value loyalty promotion.

Hilton HHonors’ summer entry in this lush hotel loyalty travel landscape is to offer 10,000 points after 5 hotel stays. The maximum bonus is 10,000 points. A $100 value-added incentive.

I used to be a Hilton HHonors loyalist when I was getting great value from the program in the first half of this decade. Over the past several years I have found greater value with other hotel chains. In the midst of the travel industry meltdown of 2009, I see Hilton HHonors offers little incentive to draw this loyalty traveler back into the Hilton family of hotels.

Double Dip is a nice feature for points and miles, but there is generally more hotel value for the frequent guest in the other major hotel loyalty programs.

 

 

 

Priority Club’s spring promotion for a free night after every two paid nights was extended from the original ending date of July 3 to August 15.

Priority Club members who did not earn four nights in the original timeline can re-register for the promotion extension. Members who already earned four free nights in the original timeline from May to July 3 and members who prefer points can register for Double Points.

Loyalty Traveler analyzed the original promotion in this post from April 27.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/04/27/ic-hotels-group-promo-one-free-night-for-every-two-nights/

Register or re-register for this promotion at

www.priorityclub.com/register4FreeNights.

Terms and Conditions for Free Nights Promotion

Terms and Conditions for Double Points

Book by 11:59pm EDT, July 20 for Starwood Hotels Summer Sale Rates for hotel stays from July 16 through October 12, 2009.

Promo code: “July LTO” Book online or call 1-866-924-8704 and mention promo code.

Link: http://www.starwoodpromos.com/hotel-deals

The “Biggest” Starwood Hotels sale is becoming a seasonal occurrence. This time around there seems to be more good deals, but Loyalty Traveler’s advice is buyer beware! These are prepaid, non-changeable, and non-refundable rates.

Making a nonrefundable hotel purchase has risks. The nonrefundable part is the known risk. The unknown is whether hotel rates will continue to drop over the next few months.

This offer includes hotels in North America, South America, and Asia/Pacific.

These are good rates for the San Francisco area hotels where rates fluctuate wildly during the month.

I follow San Francisco Bay Area rates closely, so I can give an assessment of how these room rates stack up against low rate observations at Starwood Hotels this summer.  Keep in mind that the San Francisco Bay Area reaches peak season in September and August when the weather tends to be warmest along the coast, although it was nearly 90 degrees in the City yesterday. Rates can skyrocket here. These are good rates historically for the Bay Area in August and September.

The best deals I see regionally are for Sonoma and Napa. This summer sale rate is the lowest rate I have seen for these two hotels in the past month.

San Francisco Area Starwood Hotels	Starwood Summer Sale	Loyalty Traveler Comments
Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf	$119	Good rate. This is near lowest rate of past couple months.
Palace Hotel	$149	Rates as low as $152 before sale. Rates have been as low as $119 in past two months.
Westin Market Street	$109-$159	Stayed here in July for $99. Rate frequently drops to $99.
Le Meridien San Francisco	$119	$119 common weekend rate since May. Beware – labor dispute may disrupt sleeping in.
Westin St. Francis	$139	Stayed for $107 (AAA) in May. Rates have been as low as $111 in past month. $139 is good rate most dates.
W San Francisco	$189	$159 has been recent low rate.
Sheraton Gateway SFO	$79	Matches lowest rate, but special offer past couple of months included parking for $79.
Four Points SFO	$99	This hotel frequently drops to $79 and is frequently a BRG opportunity.
Westin SFO	$99	Common weekend price.
Sheraton Sonoma County	$107	Good deal. Lowest rate has been $119 lately.
Westin Verasa Napa	$169	Good deal. The low rate has generally been $189. This offer is good any day of week. Weekends are generally much higher.

Starwood Hotels ran this promotion for a week during fall 2008. I did an analysis showing the nonrefundable sale rates I could have booked during the fall season sale would have cost about 20% more than what I ultimately paid for a trip I took to Vancouver, Canada. November 2008 was an unusual occurrence and I would not expect rates at many of the California hotels shown to drop much below the rates shown for this sale.

This special offer is a great way to secure some free room nights before the end of the Two Stays = One Free Weekend Night through the end of July.