The St. Regis Monarch Beach resort opened in 2001 and is one of five high-end hotel resorts along the Orange County coast. The hotel and restaurants have an ocean view, but resort-owned Monarch Bay Beach Club on the beach is a half-mile away from the hotel. A golf cart shuttle leaves from the front of the hotel every 15 minutes or so to shuttle guests to the Monarch Bay Club at the northern end of the beach.  Alternative access is via paved paths through the golf course giving guests and the public access to the center of the beach. The beach is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

St. Regis Monarch Beach has 400 rooms on four to six floors located in a north and south wing. The central hotel public spaces include several restaurants, pools, a Grand Lawn in the center, the Pacific Lawn on the south end, Monarch Point lawn on the north end, and the Botanical Gardens to the west between the golf course and pools.

Beautiful sculpture fountains adorn the grounds. The resort is a pleasant environment for walking in gardens and golf course grounds, gazing at the beauty of the architecture, manicured landscape, and nature’s Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Our first night was typical of our hotel stays this year. Kelley just finished her last round of chemotherapy Friday and she slept most of the 7-hour drive Saturday from Monterey to Dana Point. We arrived around 6:30pm and Kelley lasted about 90 minutes before passing out in bed.

 

Left alone to drink German lager on our outdoors room patio, I drank myself to a good buzz then wandered the paved walkways of the grounds around the hotel taking photos.

 

Most night photos don’t come out too well with my small digital camera. The Ocean Pool at night is a cool place. Music plays in the potted plant shrubs surrounding the pool.

 

The interior of the hotel has several areas for seating without being in the restaurants.

 

Outdoor areas have some seating away from the bars and dining.

Most of the central hotel terraces are for restaurant diners and bar guests. There are a few balconies without seating for public views over the resort grounds.

Observation Deck

The Rotunda

The Rotunda is located near the Pacific Lawn on the south side of the South Wing guest rooms. The building looked gorgeous in the orange glow of sunset.

 

The ornamental floor had a grand piano.

The conference wing of the hotel has design features worth seeingif the area is not packed with people.

Remember, this is the St. Regis hotel that spawned the luxury hotel corporate backlash in 2008 after AIG racked up one extravagant folio. The lavish retreat for its high achieving employees soon after the company received government bailout funds sent a message reverberating through the luxury hotel industry. An LA Times article in August 2009 stated the St. Regis Monarch Beach received about 25% of its resort revenue from financial sector industry meetings.

Restaurants

Stonehill Tavern, a chef Michael Mina and designer Tony Chi creation, is the high-end dinner restaurant at Monarch Beach. While I appreciate beautiful spaces, I don’t appreciate fine dining, so here are links to restaurant reviews from others who may offer better insight.

http://www.zagat.com/Verticals/PropertyDetails.aspx?VID=8&R=105529

http://www.opentable.com/rest_profile.aspx?rid=1785

 

Motif Restaurant offers all day dining. Sunday brunch is their signature dining experience with a full buffet including a pancake bar, crab, oysters, desserts, and more. The $70 per person price tag ($90 with champagne) was too rich for my wallet on this trip.

 

Pool Bar & Grill is located outside, adjacent to the Grand Lawn on the pool level.

Crust is  Starbucks-style breakfast menu and environment located on the north wing side of the central lobby. There were bagels, coffee, juices, and muffins.

 

Monarch Bay Club is located on the beach. The club has a bar and restaurant for oceanfront dining. During the day there was a second bar set up outside on the lawn. Tables in the grassy area were in use by some guests who worked away on computers at the lawn area tables while relaxing near the beach.

The Wine Cellar is for private functions and was just outside our room. Saturday night there was a function and candelabras were positioned on the sidewalk in front of our patio adding a little more ambience to our room 146 ground floor location.

The Lobby Lounge and Terrace is the place for drinks inside or outside for the resort and ocean views.

 

 

Spa Gaucin offers café dining. I spent several hours in this part of the resort, but I never saw anyone order food. Complimentary dried fruits, grapes, oranges, and ice water flavored with fresh fruit slices were on a table in the café adjacent to the fitness room and just inside from the lap pool.

Club 19 is the golf clubhouse restaurant just west of the north wing of the hotel. Monarch Beach Golf Links is part of the resort at St. Regis.

 

Hotel Wing Exteriors

 

Related Loyalty Traveler posts:

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 1 – The Room

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 3 – Pools and Beach

My only regret is I spent my last two Starwood Preferred Guest Free Weekend Nights at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, California. If I knew a month ago what I know now, I would have burned six free nights at the Mobil 5-star, SPG Category 6 St. Regis Monarch Beach.  I rank this hotel stay in my all-time Fave 5 hotel stays.

And I didn’t even get a room upgrade!

View from Room 146, North Wing, St. Regis Monarch Beach

I have lots of photos of the Monarch Beach resort and I will write my review in several posts to break up the lengthy commentary and include more photos.

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 2 – The Hotel

St. Regis Monarch Beach – Part 3 – Pools and Beach

St. Regis Monarch Beach is truly a resort property. There is entertainment for all types. Water is a prominent feature at Monarch Beach. Three main swimming pools, a children’s wading pool, large Jacuzzi pools in two locations, small Jacuzzi pools in the men’s and women’s Spa Gaucin changing rooms, and an in-room deep Roman bath.

The Orange County Pacific Ocean water temperature was quite tolerable in the 85 degree sun of September for a day at the beach compared to our home area of Monterey on the Central Coast of California where swimming is an exercise in cold water endurance.

Golf, fine dining, exercise programs and personal trainers, tennis club, fitness center, beach club, surf lessons, and more await guests.

A mandatory $25 per day resort fee ($27.54 after tax and fees) covers local phone calls, internet access, and spa access for the saunas, Jacuzzis, fitness room, yoga room, and lap pool.

The most amazing part of the hotel stay for Kelley and me were the several hours we found ourselves swimming alone together in the resort pools while several hundred guests occupied themselves elsewhere on or off the premises.

We spotted porpoises leaping out of the water and pelican fly-bys while relaxing at the beach. We gazed on bats feeding in the twilight sky over the golf course from the Botanical Garden gazebo at dusk. We saw bobbing noses of bunnies on the grass lawns and in the shrubs all around the resort grounds throughout the weekend.

Relaxation and rejuvenation were welcome rewards from our weekend stay at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

I fell through a Crack in the 5-Star Service:

Pre-arrival: I received four separate emails from the St. Regis Monarch Beach. A staff member from St. Regis Monarch Beach even called me three days before my arrival to greet me, ask if I had any needs or special requests, and offer assistance with any arrangements such as spa, restaurant, or golf reservations. One email provided menus for the restaurants and spa services.

Unfortunately, I missed opening the one email offering a room upgrade for additional cash.

Arrival: The hotel was easy to locate in Dana Point using Google Map directions. The main entrance wall has a large water fountain feature.

There were several cars in the entry drive at 6:30pm when we arrived. A valet came over and Kelley directed him on our luggage while I checked in.

Front Desk:  There were three staff members working the front desk. I had no wait. Check-in was prompt.

No room upgrade as an SPG Platinum member. I was surprised to hear the front desk staffer state “Your reservation is for a King bed in a garden view room.”

Well yes, that is what my reservation stated for the room I booked.

This was the first time in at least a couple of years I did not receive any kind of hotel recognition as a SPG Platinum member. Just mentioning the words “Starwood Preferred Guest” and “Platinum member” elicited the response, “We are a resort. We don’t have to provide a platinum amenity.”

This was promptly followed by “Is there anything I can have sent to your room?”

The message seemed clear. The free night in the lowest category room was my only free ride. Any additional perks would require additional cash.

This was the missed upsell opportunity by the St. Regis. I hadn’t read the email before arriving that offered me an opportunity to upgrade my room category for additional cash. The front desk staff did not pitch an upgrade offer. We were celebrating the end of Kelley’s 9-month long cancer treatment and her birthday and I would have paid a supplement for a room with a view.

Parking: I thought it odd but I appreciated the staff member insisting he walk out to my car with me to see if my luggage was being attended to promptly. Our luggage was already loaded on a cart. The parking valet explained my two parking options for $30 per day valet parking with in-and-out privileges or $24 per day for self-park with no in-and-out privileges.

I told them I would self-park since I had a third parking option plan. Stonehill Drive, one long block away from the resort, has about 100 yards of unmetered, unrestricted parking. The street parking was only half-full when I passed it on the way to the resort. Stonehill Drive leads to upscale residential gated communities and is located across from a fire station. Stonehill Drive free parking is less than a ten-minute walk from the hotel. I parked my car there for two days.

The St. Regis self-park garage beneath the hotel allows one free hour and then charges $5 per hour up to the daily self-park fee limit. You must have your ticket validated and pay parking garage charges upstairs at a window just to the right of the front lobby entrance before you can exit the garage.

Kelley was escorted to the room with the luggage as I self-parked the car for my free hour before moving the car to Stonehill Drive for the weekend.

The Room:

St. Regis Monarch Beach has north and south hotel wings. The south wing is the smaller wing located on the conference center side of the resort. Rooms either face interior to the resort pools and gardens, exterior to resort grassy areas and gardens, or face the ocean at the ends of these two wings.

Our room was #146 on the ground floor of the north wing.

The room itself was lovely.  The location within the resort was not so lovely. Our room was a ground floor interior resort facing room. We were one room away from the main central building and our room view gazed out to the wall of a stairway leading to the third floor restaurant Motif. I would place this room location in the bottom 20% of room locations at the resort.

There really aren’t bad room locations at Monarch Beach from my visual observation of the property. Our particular room location at 146 just happened to gaze out on one of the more crowded pedestrian walkways in the resort due to anyone on the upper floors of the north wing taking the elevator down to the First Floor doors exiting the hotel to the grounds and pools. A parade of guests, children, and dogs passed just outside the patio of our room throughout the day heading to and returning from the resort pools.

The advantage of Room 146 was the proximity to the only elevators in the north wing and ground floor access to the resort pools. Last time I stayed at St. Regis Monarch Beach in 2005 I was upgraded to a deluxe ocean view room on a middle floor at the end of the north wing (back then I did receive a complimentary SPG platinum member upgrade). The ocean facing rooms at the west end of the north wing are about a 150-yard walk down long hotel corridors from the elevators.

Having also spent several nights in the St. Regis San Francisco this month I can compare and contrast the two rooms. Bathrooms in each hotel are comparable. They are nice. Monarch Beach rooms, like most San Francisco St. Regis rooms, have shutters on the wall between the bath and bed. San Francisco has a nicer rain shower feature.

Our Monarch Beach standard bathroom had two sinks.

Remede bath products are provided at both St. Regis hotels.

There were plenty of towels for our weekend stay without needing any replacements. My effort at being hotel “green” is to avoid changing towels during a hotel stay when I can get by with the standard room allotment.

The only issue with the room we encountered was the shower leaked onto the marble floor and even to the carpet. There was a slight bit of rot in the doorjamb. We kept pool towels on the floor to absorb water and prevent slippage. The towel covered floor kind of detracted from the beautiful décor.

The beds and bedding are higher quality in San Francisco. The Monarch Beach bed was a little broken down on the edges. I could feel the mattress metal springs on the side.

The other pieces of room furniture were better quality at Monarch Beach.

Our standard room had two desk chairs, a cushion chair, chaise lounge chair and two metal patio chairs, whereas the basic rooms in San Francisco only have one chaise lounge and one or maybe two desk chairs. Overall, I thought the room décor at Monarch Beach was better.

Every room at Monarch Beach has either a patio or balcony and window door.

 

Somehow I overlooked taking a photo of the desk and large slanted floor standing wall mirror used as a prominent design element within the hotel. I think we had so much stuff it was always cluttered.

In the closet were wooden hangars, an iron and board, umbrella, shoe shine brush, and safe.

There are no ice machines which I find to be a drag at any hotel. I find calling for ice an unnecessary inconvenience. Evening maid service provides a bag of ice for the room.

The room description on the Starwood website states rooms have a 47” LCD TV. My measurement of the LG brand screen showed 42”.

The room is listed as 535 square feet on the website room description. My measurement of the room interior was 33 feet from door to window and 13.5 to 14.5 ft wide. This works out to about 470 square feet plus the patio. With the patio the room space is slightly over 535 square feet, but an upper floor room has a much smaller balcony than the patio. The rooms are sizeable and feel spacious.

A hotel guidebook on the desk provided details about the facilities including how to lock the patio door. I actually made a trip to the desk to tell them I thought the patio door lock was broken. Apparently the bellhop had shown Kelley that you must lift the door handle to lock the door and I wasn’t there for the demonstration.

 

 

Resort Charge Policy

The hotel has a daily resort charge of $25.00 that includes the following: spa facilities (steam room, whirlpool, relaxation room, refreshments, shower facilities, sauna); high speed internet access; toll free and local phones calls. Amenities and prices are subject to change without notice.

Missed Upsell Opportunity

Unfortunately for my overall guest experience, I missed opening the email titled “Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach” sent to me Thursday afternoon offering me the opportunity to upgrade my room to a resort view for $30, ocean view for $60, or executive suite for $120.

The St. Regis guest services person who phoned me Wednesday never mentioned this option and the front desk staff member who checked me in never mentioned the upgrade for cash option. I actually just saw the email today, two days after returning home, as I was looking over the four emails I received last week from Monarch Beach regarding my hotel stay.

A different title for the email suggesting an upgrade opportunity would have caught my attention when scanning email. The first email I received on Tuesday was titled, ”Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort” and the email contents simply stated my reservation information with the following message:

 

Dear Richard Garrido,

Congratulations. You have successfully redeemed your Starpoints. Thank you for selecting The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. It is our pleasure to confirm your reservation, and we look forward to welcoming you once again as a guest to our hotel. Best regards, Johnny So General Manager The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort

 

On Thursday, the same day I booked a second night at Monarch Beach using my last free weekend night, I received another email also titled, ”Welcome to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort” that simply showed my second reservation confirmation number in the email content line.

I never opened this since I thought it simply stated my reservation information similar to the first email.

Instead the contents of this email read:

Dear Richard Garrido,

Congratulations. You have successfully redeemed your Starpoints. Thank you for selecting The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, California’s Only Mobil Five-Star Resort. It is our pleasure to confirm your reservation, and we look forward to welcoming you as a guest to our hotel. We are pleased extend to you an exclusive offer to upgrade your room from $30 per night. Click image to the right for details. Note: Special Conditions regarding the spa lap pool and Jacuzzi exist at this time.  Best regards, Johnny So General Manager The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort

 

The other interesting feature of this email is the “Special Conditions” link makes no reference whatsoever to the spa lap pool.

The image on the right regarding room upgrades linked to this page:

Resort View Room = $30 per night.

Ocean View Room Upgrade = $60 per night.

Executive Suite Upgrade = $120 per night.

 

While I do mind paying $50 to park at the hotel when I can park down the street for free, or $150 for breakfast, I would have gladly paid $60 to $120 to upgrade my hotel room if I had been offered that option at check-in.

 

 

 

 

The more complex programmes become, the harder it is for consumers to compare them.

 

“The average consumer will not try and work out return on spend (the monetary value of earning points), never mind factoring in the value of value-added services, such as, early check-in or access to an executive lounge,” Conradie maintains.

 

– Razor’s Edge Business Intelligence press release for the Multinational Hotel Rewards Programmes 2009 report. http://www.razorsedgebi.com/

 

Thank goodness there is Loyalty Traveler for the average consumer.

 

I received an email the other day regarding Razor’s Edge Business Intelligence recently published report on Multinational Hotel Rewards Programmes 2009.

 

The altered spelling of ‘Programmes’ may clue you in on the fact that this report is not published in the USA. Razor’s Edge Business Intelligence is a South Africa company.

 

The report sounds like a great resource for Loyalty Traveler.

 

12 major hotel loyalty programs are profiled in detail.

 

·         Accor A|Club

·          Best Western Gold Crown International

·          Carlson Goldpoints Plus

·          Choice Hotels Choice Privileges

·          Golden Tulip Flavours

·          Hilton HHonors

·          Hyatt Gold Passport

·          InterContinental Priority Club Rewards

·          Marriott Rewards

·          Sol Meliá Mas Rewards

·          Starwood Preferred Guest

·          Wyndham Rewards

 

 

Loyalty Traveler has written about all these hotel loyalty programs in the past year, except for Golden Tulip. I hold a grudge against Golden Tulip Flavours. I am not convinced Golden Tulip Flavours ever got their act together. 

 

Soon after the Flavours program was launched a few years ago I had Golden Tulip stays in Amsterdam and spent time educating the staff at each hotel’s front desk on their own chain’s hotel loyalty program. I never received credit for any of my stays. Follow up emails with the company came back with replies that I would not receive any benefits or a membership card until I completed a hotel stay.

 

Those Dutch customer service representatives at Golden Tulip understood my English perfectly well, they just didn’t understand their hotel loyalty program.

 

Golden Tulip hotels are fine and I do not hesitate recommending these hotels to guests. Actually, I did include a little piece with photos of the functional and well-designed little space of my Golden Tulip Amsterdam Art 160 square feet room in this June 2009 Loyalty Traveler blog post.

 

 

The 200-page Hotel Loyalty Programmes 2009 report by Razor’s Edge is only US$1,900 if purchased by December 31, 2009. US$2,200 after that date.

 

I double-checked hoping it was priced in South Africa Rand.

 

Hey Razor’s Edge. Can you cut Loyalty Traveler a free slice?

 

Loyalty Traveler is free hotel loyalty program business intelligence for consumers.

No deep pockets here.

 

 

 

 

 

Goldpoints Plus is offering unlimited double points with all Carlson Hotel stays through December 15, 2009. Goldpoints Plus regular earning rate is 20 points per $1 for Radisson, Regent, and Park Plaza brands; 15 points per $1 for Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites. Double points boosts these earning rates to 40 points per US$1 or 30 points per US$1. The high points earning ratio  is negated by the high points redemption cost for free hotel nights.

Promotion registration is required:  https://www.goldpointsplus.com/home.do 

 

[Sep 28 update: Looking back over this post I see I focused more on Goldpoints Plus Cash&Points. After taking another look at this promotion and checking some local hotels, I see room rates are significantly higher for the Double Goldpoints rate compared to the lowest available rate.

 

Here are two examples:

 

October 16-18 (Fri-Sun) two night stay at Radisson San Francisco Airport.

$115.50 per night Double Goldpoints rate

$84 per night same room and includes $10 breakfast credit (nonrefundable).

 

October 16-18 (Fri-Sun) two night stay at Country Inn & Suites, San Carlos (near SFO).

 $97.90 per night Double Goldpoints rate.

 $66.75 per night 25% off special offer rate for same room (nonrefundable).

Those are hefty premiums for earning Double Goldpoints and the significantly higher room rate being charged for Double Goldpoints effectively negates the value of the extra points.]

 

Loyalty Traveler hotel loyalty promotion key rating = 1.5 of 5 keys.

 

 

 

 

 

Radisson Hotels is Carlson Hotels’ flagship brand with over 400 hotels globally. Radisson Hotels are comprised of Radisson, Radisson Blu (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Radisson Edwardian Hotels in the UK. Regent Hotels are the luxury brand of the Carlson portfolio with just a handful of hotels in destinations like Turks and Caicos, Maldives, Singapore, Bordeaux, Zagreb, Taipei, and Beijing.  Country Inn & Suites is a midscale hotel brand with about 480 hotels primarily located in the US. Park Plaza and Park Inn round out the Carlson Hotel portfolio.

Carlson Hotels is a slightly larger hotel chain than Starwood Hotels by number of properties with just over 1,000 hotels globally. Although Starwood Hotels has almost twice as many rooms globally.

The large amount of points required for a free room night reduces the value of Goldpoints Plus points and is Loyalty Traveler’s primary complaint about the program. The option for Points & Cash awards, periodic promotions like 50% off award nights, and brand-specific room rate discounts all combine to make Goldpoints Plus a competitive hotel loyalty program if you spend your points and cash wisely and take advantage of special offers.

 

https://www.goldpointsplus.com/offers/displayDetail.do?offerId=1826172

 

Earning Goldpoints Plus

Hey Goldpoints Plus. You need to redesign this webpage to enhance consumer useability. See my comments below.

I have not spent much time on the Goldpoints Plus website this past year. My first critique of the website is the difficulty in locating information about the points earning rate per dollar for hotel stays. There is a tab for “Earn” but the webpage it links to turns out to be hit or miss with information about how a member earns points from hotel stays.

The page highlights several ways a member can earn points. Unfortunately, the link for earning points from hotel stays is just one of a list of rotating options. Chances are that some consumers will have the page load without the link showing how points are earned from hotel stays. This happened to me several times as shown below.

You have to be lucky enough to have the Earn Points with Every Stay option be one of the choices loaded on the page to link to hotel stay earning rules. Several page loads did not show this link choice and I had almost given up before I noticed the link in an earlier screenshot I had saved. Refreshing the page several times eventually brought the “Earn points with every stay” link back.

 

 

https://www.goldpointsplus.com/fgp/earn/home.do

 

Earn points with every stay link (if you are fortunate enough to have it appear when the page loads), shows most hotel stays earn 20 points per $1, except Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn earn 15 points per $1.

Sizing Up Points Redemption with Goldpoints Plus

There are three Radisson Hotels locally in my area of San Francisco Bay coastal California. Radisson San Jose Airport,  Radisson San Francisco airport and the Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. These three locations allow a comparison of the redemption rate of the Radisson Hotel compared to the redemption rate at a hotel with another major hotel chain at these same locations.

Comparing hotels across chains is challenging. Different hotel design, location, and amenities make it difficult to compare redemption rates, but it is a valid comparison for the frequent guest looking to assign comparative value of points with different hotel loyalty programs.

 

San Francisco Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf vs. Starwood’s Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf

Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf is a Goldpoints Plus Category 5 redemption property at 60,000 points per night. The double points promotion allows a member to earn 40 points per US$1 at Radisson Hotels.You would need $1,500 in spending to earn 60,000 points for a free night. Without the double points promotion you would need $3,000 in hotel spending.

Assume as a Goldpoint Plus member you have 10 stays at $150 per night during double points. The member will earn 60,000 points + 5,000 points for online booking. 65,000 points earned for $1,500 in hotel spend.

Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf is across the street from the Radisson. With Starwood Preferred Guest you need 10,000 points for a Category 4 hotel free night. At 2 Starpoints per $1 that would require $5,000 in hotel spend.

Assume an SPG member has 10 stays at $150 per night over the next couple of months during the 1,000 points per stay bonus. This SPG member earns $1,500 x 2 starpoints = 3,000 points from hotel spend. SPG bonuses add another 10,000 points. 13,000 points earned for $1,500 in hotel spend with Starwood.

$1,500 in hotel spend with Radisson earns sufficient points for one free night at Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf. The same spend and stays with Starwood hotels also earns one free night at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf.

Goldpoints Plus and Starwood Preferred Guest tie for value with these two hotels in San Francisco. 

Goldpoints Points & Cash vs. SPG Cash & Points

Tuesday, October 20

10,000 points + $107.40. The lowest paid rate is $143.65.

 

Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf

No Cash & Points available for October 20. Paid room rate is $179

GoldPoints wins. 10,000 points saves $36.25 + tax on room rate, but I believe it is better to save points in this situation since $143 would earn 5,720 points for this stay during the double points promotion. 

These are roughly equivalent values for two hotels in different hotel loyalty programs in the same location.

In my opinion though, the Sheraton is a nicer property.

San Francisco Airport: Radisson SFO vs. Hilton’s Homewood Suites SFO

Radisson SFO actually shares a parking lot with Homewood Suites in a bayside business park a few miles north of the San Francisco Airport in Brisbane.

Radisson SFO is a Category 3 redemption requiring 30,000 points per night. Assume the same $1,500 in hotel spend for 10 stays and the 65,000 points earned is sufficient for 2 free nights at Radisson SFO.

Homewood Suites SFO

HHonors Category 3 Hotel = 25,000 points for free night.

Hilton Points& Points preference earns 15 points per US$1 for non-elite members. Assume $1,500 in spend for 10 stays = 22,500 points earned.

Hilton currently has a promotion to earn 10,000 points after 5 stays. The frequent guest would earn 32,500 points after 10 stays with $1,500 in hotel spend.

The Goldpoints Plus member earns two free nights with equivalent spending while the Hilton member only earns one free night.

Radisson SFO Points & Cash rate for Tuesday, October 20

Rate is 5,000 points + $95.40. The lowest available paid rate for this night is $135.15. In this case 5,000 points is worth a $40 cash savings. The value of Goldpoints is double at the airport hotel compared to Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf Points & Cash example since 5,000 points for the SFO property is only 50% of the 10,000 points needed at Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf using Points & Cash to save $40.

Note to Carlson Hotels’ Goldpoints Plus and InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club on your Points & Cash bad and good points:

I had a boss once who repeatedly would say, “Don’t just tell me the problem. Give me a solution.” I have been on a Priority Club rant this week about the widespread promotion of Points & Cash option over the web without any substantial information on how this option works.

Looking over the Goldpoints Plus website I have to commend the designers for laying out an easy-to-follow page for points redemption choices. Under the Goldpoints homepage is a Redeem tab with a direct link to the Points & Cash option containing descriptive information.

This is a page IHG Priority Club could try to emulate in promoting their new Points & Cash hotel option.

The Priority Club and SPG models for Points & Cash are more consumer friendly with a defined Cash portion for this hotel payment option. Goldpoints Plus has the Points & Cash disadvantage of the member having to look up each hotel and a specific date to determine how much cash is required for a Points & Cash stay.

 

InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, and Holiday Inn Hotels across Australia, New Zealand , and Fiji are a little more than half-way through a 72 hour sale that ends at midday Sep 19 (AEST). Rates are advertised from $179 Australia Dollars for InterContinental Hotels. Crowne Plaza Hotels are from $119 and Holiday Inn from $99.

The time zone clock I checked tells me the sale ends 6pm Friday, California time, if I am reading it correctly.

Here is the IHG Australia, New Zealand, Fiji sale web link

 

Special rates are available for stays through November 30, 2009. These sale rates earn Priority Club points.

Loyalty traveler analysis:

I easily found availability for these special offer rates in the IHG hotels I sampled.

I tried InterContinental Sydney for Friday, October 2, 2009. A 32 square meter King City View room shows up for $179 Australian Dollars = USD$156.

Crowne Plaza Darling Harbour-Sydney, Australia showed as $270AUD for Tuesday October 20, but the rate dropped to $119AUD = $103.69USD for Friday, October 9. Like many urban business centers the rates drop significantly for most weekend stays in Sydney.

Holiday Inn City Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand, shows up as $99NZD for Tuesday night, October 20, 2009.  $99 NZD = $70.36 USD.

Rates are prepaid and nonrefundable. The prepaid part is not bad for Americans who will probably see a continuing decline in the value of the US Dollar over the next ten weeks.

Aside: I saw a currency exchange report the other day showing one of the largest currency gains around the globe over the past 6 months is the Australia Dollar against the US Dollar. This means hotels in Australia are quite a bit more expensive now than six months ago for Americans.

September 17, 2009 currency exchange rate

$100 Australia Dollars = $87.25     (March 17, 2009 exchange rate $100AUD = $65.83USD)

$100 New Zealand Dollars = $71.07 US Dollars  (March 17, 2009 exchange rate $100NZD = $52.81USD)

(xe.com 9-17-09)

Faster Free Nights returns for October 1 through January 31, 2010. The recurring Hyatt Gold Passport promotion packs even more punch this time around. No specific credit card brand is required and stays will count double for elite qualification.

Faster Free Nights allows a Gold Passport member to earn a free night at any Hyatt hotel worldwide after every two eligible stays. An eligible stay is generally any paid stay booked through Hyatt website or Hyatt customer service.

Free nights can be redeemed from October 15 through March 31, 2010.

Registration is required and the Hyatt Gold Passport link will be available as of Friday, September 25. Currently there is a link-less description of the offer on Gold Passport.

http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/index.jsp

Road warriors who just don’t care for free nights have the option of earning 3,000 bonus points per stay starting with your 2^nd stay during the promotion period. Unlike free nights, points do not expire March 31. This option may be a better choice for someone unable to take advantage of free night redemption before March 2010.

A member must choose between free nights or bonus points for the duration of the promotion. Once your choice is made the promotion terms are set for the duration of this offer. You can’t alternate stays between earning bonus points and free nights.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Faster Free Nights is straightforward.  A Gold Passport member will earn a free night credit after every two stays. A stay can be one night, 2 nights, even 7 nights. Some members will earn a free night after two 1-night stays. Some members will have a 7 night stay and still need another stay to earn a free night.

Leisure travelers and flexible business travelers can maximize this deal. Last Christmas season, at the end of the last Faster Free Nights promotion, I stayed at the Denver Hyatt Regency one night for $70 and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Denver the next night for $70.

A month later I redeemed my free night for a $600 per night room at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn.

This promotion normally has high leverage value. A member can have ten 1-night stays at an average cost of $100 per night and earn 5 free nights. The five free nights will have a redemption value of $400+ per night in many Hyatt locations. Spend $1,000 for ten hotel nights and take a $2,000 free hotel vacation. That is the value of Faster Free Nights to the loyalty traveler.

Stays Count Double Analysis

Hyatt has two elite status levels. Platinum elite normally requires 5 stays or 15 nights in the calendar year. This promotion allows a member to earn Platinum status with just 3 stays during October 1 – December 31.

Diamond elite is the highest Gold Passport tier with privileges like four guaranteed advance upgrades, 1,000 bonus points per stay at most hotels or the choice of an amenity like a food tray, free movie, or mini-bar credit. Qualification normally requires 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year.

The value-added component of this Faster Free Nights offer is the ability to earn free nights while fast-tracking your way to high elite status.

A member with no Hyatt hotel stays currently can register for this promotion and stay 14 times between October 1 and December 31.  The cost for 14 Hyatt hotel stays may cost as little as $1,100 to $1,500 for some members.

In addition to earning 7 free nights for any Hyatt Hotel worldwide and securing Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status before the end in 2009, the member will retain Hyatt Gold passport Diamond status through February 2011.

And for the truly ambitious the feat can be repeated or even delayed until January 2010. A member with 14 Hyatt hotel stays in January 2010 would earn 7 free nights and retain Diamond elite status through February 2012. January is traditionally the lowest hotel rates of the year in many locations.

Bottom Line: Hyatt has unveiled an unprecedented high value offer for the frequent guest who has the ability to leverage hotel stays into high value free nights while attaining high elite status in Gold Passport.

Sep 30 update: Hyatt’s Gold Passport Concierge, a company representative on FlyerTalk, announced today in Post 49 in link below that Gold Passport members selecting miles for hotel stays will qualify for Faster Free Nights and double stays elite credit .

Note on United Airlines 5,500 miles per stay bonus. Initial chatter on Gold Passport Concierge promotion FAQ on FlyerTalk indicates the Faster Free Nights and United miles bonus are mutually exclusive offers. I’ll report more about this when details become clear.  Gold passport members must earn points to earn free nights and stays count double credit. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt-gold-passport/998020-next-best-thing-ffn-2009-promotion-t-cs-faqs.html

 

 

Starwood Preferred Guest ran a 1,000 Delta or Northwest miles bonus per stay in conjunction with the free weekend nights promotion from May through July. These promotions were combinable and did not require the SPG member to change account earning from Starpoints to miles. These were simply a gratis bonus for members who registered for the miles.

Loyalty traveler referenced this promotion last May 14 in this post.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/05/14/spg-adds-1000-nw-or-dl-bonus-miles-per-stay-to-free-nights/

Yesterday I happened to be doing some Northwest Airlines research. To my surprise I saw there were no miles posted to my Northwest account from the SPG promotion. I went back to check if I had actually registered.

Here is the value of the Microsoft Office program OneNote. If you have not used OneNote, the basic function is OneNote allows portions of web pages to be copied into a notebook.

I rely on OneNote for record keeping. I went back to my May OneNote records and saw my SPG registration confirmation for the Delta or Northwest miles bonus.

SnagIt is another program that functions in the same way and SnagIt has the advantage of being able to copy entire web pages with embedded links. Also SnagIt allows you to draw, mark-up, and write on the web page.

While on the phone with Starwood customer service I was navigating through my Northwest account and I actually saw where 15 transfers for 1,000 miles were listed on my Northwest account from September 1, 2009, yet the miles were not showing up in my redeemable miles balance.

After a few minutes with an SPG agent it turns out there was some technical glitch with all the miles transfers from SPG happening as separate transactions and a limitation of one airline miles transfer per day.

Regardless of the technical issue, I am happy to report that my Northwest balance rose 15,000 miles today (15 days after 15 transactions posted – coincidence?).

Thanks Starwood and Northwest Airlines.

Now I just have to figure out if I am missing 1,000 miles due to a nonparticipating Starwood Hotel or if one of my stays was overlooked.

Loyalty Traveler record-keeping is time consuming.

 

I opened my Priority Club News email from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today. The title of the email reads “New! Points & Cash Reward Nights”.

Here is the page the link took me to:

 

 

So, I move my mouse around the page. Nothing lights up in the text.

I move my mouse around the page some more.

Guess what?

There are no links on this page taking me to any information explaining what Points & Cash Rewards are or how I get one.

I actually try to book a reward night in Saco, Maine using the ”Find a Hotel” box on the left side of the page.

The results of a “Reward Night” search are several paid room rates and a 25,000 points per night offer at the bottom of the page. I still don’t see any reference to Points & Cash.

My question to Priority Club.

Do you want a million Priority Club members calling the reservations line to learn from a live person how Points & Cash works?

Hey! Designers at Priority Club web sites.

I am Loyalty Traveler. I wrote an in-depth blog article about the benefits of Priority Club’s Points and Cash reward options on June 20th.  In fact, I set this June 20^th Loyalty traveler post on Priority Club’s Points & Cash option in a teacher standards format for educational purposes by explaining the objectives of my post.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/06/20/ihg-cash-points-award-nights/

As Loyalty Traveler, my thoughts are geared around the millions of Priority Club members who simply know they have a few thousand points in their account from those Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express stays over the past few years. Thousands of those Priority Club members will never use their points because they can’t figure out in a timely fashion the inherent value of their points.

Priority Club sends an email webpage announcing to me, the general Priority Club member, the introduction of a new offer for Points & Cash Rewards that will “Get Rewards Faster”, yet there is no link anywhere on this page to explain to me what the details are for Points & Cash Rewards!

Message to Priority Club – You blew a good opportunity to inform your members with high value information through this email.

 

[Oct 5, 2009 - deleted remaining portion of blog post that I thought was funny intially, but later decided was inappropriate for the blog.]

Earn a free Starwood Hotels weekend night in Asia for up to a Category 6 hotel after two stays between October 1 to December 31, 2009 at any participating Starwood Hotels in Asia and pay with MasterCard. The two stays do not need to be at the same hotel.

Limit of one free night may be earned during promotion period. Free weekend night (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) may be redeemed from November 1, 2009 through January 31, 2010.

Starwood Preferred Guest members must register online at www.SPG.com/mastercardfreeweekend or by calling their nearest Customer Contact Center no later than December 31, 2009 and requesting Registration Code “MFD“. Registration opens September 15, 2009.

The terms do not specifically state this offer requires registration before the stays. It appears the offer may be valid retroactively for eligible stays during the promotion period.

 

Link: Participating Asia-Pacific Starwood Hotels.

Advance reservation for Free Weekend Night Award stays is required. All Free Weekend Night Award reservations must be made directly through a Starwood Customer Contact Center.

Members must quote “MFDFN“ when calling to redeem the Free Weekend Night Award.

 

Free weekend night is not transferrable to another SPG member.

 

There are only three Category 6 hotels currently in Asia-Pacific region including the Westin Tokyo, Sheraton Full Moon Resort in the Maldives, and Le Meridien Iles des Pins in New Caledonia.

 

Australia currently has all top end Starwood Hotels at Category 4. I expect some Australian hotels may see category increases next year when properties are revaluated for 2010 points redemption. The Australian dollar lost a lot of ground last year, but has made substantial gains in the past 6 months against the US Dollar.

 

Participating Asia-Pacific Hotels

 

Australia

Four Points by Sheraton Geelong   

Geelong

 

Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa Gold Coast        

Gold Coast

 

The Westin Melbourne        

Melbourne

 

Sheraton Noosa Resort & Spa       

Noosa Heads

 

Sheraton Perth Hotel          

Perth

 

Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort       

Port Douglas

 

Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Sydney

 

Sheraton on the Park

Sydney

 

The Westin Sydney  

Sydney

 

Bangladesh

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel        

Dhaka

 

The Westin Dhaka    

Dhaka

 

Brunei

Sheraton Utama Brunei Darussalam

Bandar Seri Begawan

 

Cambodia

Le Méridien Angkor  

Siem Reap

 

China

aloft Beijing, Haidian 

Beijing

 

Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian   

Beijing

 

The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing       

Beijing

 

The St. Regis Beijing (Category 5)

Beijing

 

The Westin Beijing Chaoyang         

Beijing

 

The Westin Beijing Financial Street 

Beijing

 

Sheraton Changsha Hotel    

Changsha

 

Four Points by Sheraton Changshu 

Changshu

 

Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel

Chengdu

 

Sheraton Dongguan Hotel    

Dongguan City

 

Sheraton Shunde Hotel

Foshan

 

Four Points by Sheraton Guangzhou, Dongpu

Guangzhou

 

The Westin Guangzhou       

Guangzhou

 

Sheraton Guilin Hotel

Guilin

 

Sheraton Guiyang Hotel      

Guiyang

 

Sheraton Haikou Resort      

Haikou

 

Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang        

Hangzhou

 

Sheraton Hohhot Hotel – Opening December 15, 2009

Hohhot

 

Le Méridien Cyberport

Hong Kong

 

Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers (Category 5)

Hong Kong

 

W Hong Kong  (Category 5)

Hong Kong

 

Sheraton Huizhou Beach Resort     

Huizhou

 

Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort

Jiuzhaigou

 

Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa

Lhasa

 

Four Points by Sheraton Lianyungang – Opening December 1, 2009

Lianyungang

 

The Westin Resort, Macau

Macau

 

Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers 

Nanjing

 

Sheraton Ningbo Hotel        

Ningbo

 

Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort – Opening December 1, 2009

Qiandao

 

Sheraton Sanya Resort       (Category 5)

Sanya

 

Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning 

Shanghai

 

Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Pudong

Shanghai

 

Le Méridien She Shan Shanghai     

Shanghai

 

Le Royal Méridien Shanghai (Category 5)

Shanghai

 

Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel 

Shanghai

 

Sheraton Shanghai Hotel & Residences, Pudong    

Shanghai

 

The St. Regis Shanghai       (Category 4)

Shanghai

 

The Westin Bund Center, Shanghai (Category 5)

Shanghai

 

Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel       

Shenyang

 

Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen 

Shenzhen

 

Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen      

Shenzhen

 

Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel     

Shenzhen

 

The Westin Shenzhen Nanshan – Opening October 1, 2009

Shenzhen

 

Le Méridien Shimei Bay Beach Resort & Spa        

Shimei Bay

 

Four Points by Sheraton Taicang – Opening December 1, 2009

Suzhou

 

Sheraton Suzhou Hotel & Towers   

Suzhou

 

Sheraton Tianjin Hotel        

Tianjin

 

The Westin Tianjin – Opening December 1, 2009

Tianjin

 

Sheraton Urumqi Hotel       

Urumqi

 

Le Méridien Xiamen – Opening December 1, 2009

Xiamen

 

Sheraton Xiamen Hotel       

Xiamen

 

Sheraton Xian Hotel  

Xian

 

Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel

Zhongshan

 

Sheraton Zhoushan Hotel    

Zhoushan

 

Fiji

Sheraton Denarau Villas

Nadi

 

Sheraton Fiji Resort 

Nadi

 

The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, Fiji

Nadi

 

Guam

Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort

Guam

 

The Westin Resort, Guam

Guam

 

India

ITC Mughal, Agra

Agra

 

Le Méridien Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

 

ITC Windsor, Bengaluru (Category 5)

Bangalore

 

Le Méridien Bangalore

Bangalore

 

ITC Hotel Park Sheraton & Towers  

Chennai

 

Le Royal Méridien Chennai   

Chennai

 

Sheraton Chola Hotel, Chennai

Chennai

 

Le Méridien Cochin Resort & Convention Centre

Cochin

 

The Westin Sohna-Gurgaon, Resort & Spa 

Gurgaon

 

ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad

Hyderabad

 

The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace – Opening October 5, 2009

Hyderabad

 

Le Méridien Jaipur

Jaipur

 

Sheraton Rajputana Palace Hotel, Jaipur

Jaipur

 

ITC Sonar, Kolkata

Kolkata

 

Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi

Mumbai

 

ITC Grand Central, Mumbai

Mumbai

 

ITC Maratha, Mumbai

Mumbai

 

Le Royal Méridien Mumbai

Mumbai

 

The Westin Mumbai Garden City – Opening December 1, 2009

Mumbai

 

ITC Maurya, New Delhi

New Delhi

 

Le Méridien New Delhi

New Delhi

 

Sheraton New Delhi Hotel

New Delhi

 

Le Méridien Pune

Pune

 

The Westin Pune Koregaon Park – Opening November 15, 2009

Pune

 

Indonesia

Le Méridien Nirwana Golf & Spa Resort

Bali

 

The Laguna Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali

Bali

 

The St. Regis Bali Resort (Category 7 Hotel)

Bali

 

The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali

Bali

 

Sheraton Bandung Hotel & Towers

Bandung

 

Le Méridien Jakarta  

Jakarta

 

Sheraton Bandara Hotel      

Jakarta

 

Sheraton Media Hotel & Towers

Jakarta

 

Sheraton Lampung Hotel     

Lampung

 

Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort    

Lombok

 

Sheraton Surabaya Hotel & Towers

Surabaya

 

Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort and Spa

Yogyakarta

 

Japan

The Westin Awaji Island Resort and Conference Center   

Awaji

 

Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers

Kobe

 

The Westin Miyako Kyoto    

Kyoto

 

Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort      

Miyazaki

 

The Westin Nagoya Castle   

Nagoya

 

Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Osaka       

Osaka

 

The Westin Osaka    

Osaka

 

Sheraton Sapporo Hotel      

Sapporo

 

Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel  (Category 5)

Tokyo

 

Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Tokyo       

Tokyo

 

The Westin Tokyo    (Category 6 Hotel)

Tokyo

 

Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers   

Yokohama

 

Korea

The Westin Chosun, Busan  

Busan

 

Sheraton Grande Walkerhill 

Seoul

 

Sheraton Incheon Hotel

Seoul

 

The Westin Chosun Seoul    

Seoul

 

W Seoul – Walkerhill 

Seoul

 

Malaysia

Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu   

Kota Kinabalu

 

Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel

Kuala Lumpur

 

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur   

Kuala Lumpur

 

The Westin Kuala Lumpur    

Kuala Lumpur

 

Four Points by Sheraton Kuching

Kuching

 

Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort   

Langkawi

 

The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa 

Langkawi

 

Sheraton Subang Hotel and Towers

Subang Jaya

 

Maldives

W Retreat & Spa – Maldives (Category 7 Hotel)

North Ari Atoll

 

Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa (Category 6 Hotel)

Male’

 

New Caledonia

Le Méridien Ile des Pins      (Category 6 Hotel)

Ile des Pins

 

Le Méridien Nouméa 

Nouméa

 

New Zealand

The Westin Auckland, Lighter Quay 

Auckland

 

Singapore

Sheraton Towers Singapore 

Singapore

 

The St. Regis Singapore   (Category 5)

Singapore

 

Taiwan

Four Points by Sheraton Chung Ho, Taipei

Taipei

 

Sheraton Taipei Hotel

Taipei

 

The Westin Taipei

Taipei

 

Thailand

Sheraton Hua Hin Resort & Spa      

Amphur Cha-Am

 

Le Méridien Bangkok

Bangkok

 

Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel    

Bangkok

 

Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers      

Bangkok

 

Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok      

Bangkok

 

The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok   

Bangkok

 

Le Méridien Chiang Mai       

Chiang Mai

 

Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand    

Chiang Rai

 

Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort 

Khao Lak

 

Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort         

Krabi

 

Sheraton Pattaya Resort     

Pattaya

 

Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort   

Phuket

 

Sheraton Grande Laguna, Phuket   

Phuket

 

Vanuatu

Le Méridien Port Vila Resort & Casino

Port Vila

 

Vietnam

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel

Hanoi

 

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers (Category 5)

Ho Chi Minh

 

Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa – Opening November 1, 2009

Nha Trang City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just enrolled my wife in Accor Hotels A-Club.  New members joining A-Club by September 30, 2009 will receive 2,000 A-Club enrollment points as a special offer celebrating the 1^st birthday of A-Club. The 2,000 points may then be redeemed for a US$60 A-Club voucher. A-Club Enrollment link.

Accor Hotels, based in France, has more properties globally than either Marriott or Hilton. The chain currently ranks number 5 in the world for most hotels. There are more Accor brand hotels outside the USA than any other global chain.

Americans may recognize Accor Hotels as the parent company of Motel 6. The Motel 6 brand is Accor Hotels largest brand by hotels, however, Motel 6 is not even a participating hotel brand in Accor A-Club.

(Thanks jumpdogjump for posting link in comment section below for limited time promotion offer allowing A-Club vouchers to be used at Motel 6 through October 31.  http://www.a-club.com/en/index-offer-detail.html?promoId=887&promoDir=promo.)

Accor Hotels high-end hotel brands are Sofitel, Pullman, and M-Gallery. Mercure, and Novotel are mid-scale to upscale brands, ranking in the top 20 hotel brands in the world based on rooms.

In the United States there are eight Sofitel Hotels where you can use the $60 A-Club voucher.

Sample low rates for Saturday, September 19 are shown below, except Sofitel Philadelphia unavailable for this date. Philadelphia rate is based on November 10 search.

                Sofitel Minneapolis (suburb) $95

                Sofitel Los Angeles (city center) $265

                Sofitel New York (city center) $385

                Sofitel Miami (airport) $105

                Sofitel Chicago Water Tower (city center) $245

                Sofitel San Francisco Bay (near airport in Redwood City) $130

                Sofitel Washington D.C. Lafayette Square (city center) $210

                Sofitel Philadelphia (city center) $220 for Nov 10, 2009

A-Club is a monetary based hotel loyalty program. Points have cash value. 2,000 points may be redeemed for a cash equivalent voucher worth 40 Euros or US$60. Simply redeem your points for a cash voucher you can redeem at check-out to pay a portion of the bill.

Unfortunately, I already belong to A-Club. My wife wasn’t a member until today.

I checked the rates for our local Sofitel San Francisco Bay in Redwood City. I saw rates as low as $95 per night for November.

Redwood City is the home of the global headquarters for Oracle Corporation software company.

Signing Kelley up for A-Club should allow us to spend the night at the Sofitel Hotel San Francisco bay for $50 all-in after tax. That certainly beats Motel 6!

 

The Loyalty traveler column for the September 2009 issue of InsideFlyer covered Accor A-Club. Here is the A-Club column.

Accor Hotels A|Club for the global traveler

 

Hilton, IHG, and Marriott hotels are not everywhere you may need to be for international travel. Accor Hotels, one of the global top 5 hotel chains, has more hotels worldwide than Marriott or Hilton, and more hotels outside the US than IHG.

 

Accor Hotels’ 4,000 properties far outnumber the branded hotels of any other major global chain in regions outside of North America. Brazil, for example, has 133 Accor brand hotels while IHG, Hilton, and Marriott combined have 10 hotels.

 

Accor Hotels’ A-Club loyalty program represents over 2,100 hotels in 8 brands. Sofitel, MGallery and Pullman are upscale brands. Novotel, Mercure, and Suitehotel are midscale. Ibis and allseasons are economy segment. A loyalty program this large is too big to ignore; especially for the global traveler. Membership in A-Club is free.

Link: A-Club Enrollment link.

 

A separate, fee-based (270€ per year) Accor loyalty program, A-Club Favorite Guest, offers hotel rate discounts, additional hotel benefits, and accelerated A-Club points earning of 3.5 points per 1€.

Link http://www.a-club.com/en/subscription-program-description.html

 

Accor is a sizeable hotel chain, however, 40% of the Accor global portfolio are budget brand hotels, including Motel 6 (US/Canada), Etap (Europe), Formule 1 (global), and Hotel F1 (France). These brands do not participate in Accor’s A|Club loyalty program.

 

Earning and Redeeming A|Club Points

 

A|Club base-level members earn 2 points per 1€, except 1 point per 1€ for Ibis and allseasons hotels. 2,000 A|Club points may be exchanged for a 40€ hotel certificate or US$60 certificate valid for unrestricted use at over 2,000 Accor hotels worldwide in Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, allseasons, Ibis, and Accor Thalassa properties. Accor certificates are also valid for ClubMed resorts.

 

4,000 A|Club points may also be exchanged for 2,000 miles with several airline partners, but this exchange is less favorable than hotel stay rewards.

A|Club Elite status

A|Club elite status is earned by either total nights or reaching point thresholds in a 12 month period. All A|Club points earned count as elite points. Hotel spending, bonus points, and partner activity all count for reaching elite status just as with IHG Priority Club.

Silver elite status requires 10 nights or 2,500 points and earns 50% elite bonus points; 3 points per 1€. Gold elite requires 30 nights or 10,000 points and earns 75% elite bonus points; 3.5 points per 1€ . Platinum elite requires 60 nights or 25,000 points and earns 100% elite bonus points; 4 points per 1€.

 

The basic way to get more value out of A|Club is the same as with other major hotel loyalty programs – attain elite status and use loyalty promotions to increase the points earned per € in spending. A platinum member staying at a hotel during a triple points promotion can potentially earn 8 points per 1€.

Accor and A|Club Promotions

Accor has experienced the same economic downturn as other major hotel chains. A myriad of summer promotions offered 50% off rates, 2x and 3x points, and free nights on multi-night stays. Most of the summer promotions ended in August. Look for new loyalty promotions for September stays at http://www.a-club.com/en/offers-list.html.

Accor Advantage Plus for Residents of Asia

Accor Advantage Plus is a loyalty program exclusively for residents of Asia with attributes of A|Club and Favorite Guest. A US$200 annual membership fee provides instant A|Club Silver elite status, a free night certificate, hotel rate discounts of 10%, and hotel food & beverage discounts from 15% to 50%. A unique feature is a free supplementary card granting member hotel discounts to a partner. There are over 340 Accor hotels in the Asia-Pacific region including 50 Sofitel Hotels. Advantage Plus members may earn and redeem A|Club points worldwide. 

http://www.accorhotels-asia.com/advplus/default.aspx