Make a reservation through Friday, March 20, 2009 for a stay at Hyatt Place or Hyatt Summerfield Suites between April 8, 2009 and June 5, 2009 and save 30% off Hyatt’s Best Available Rate at 150 hotels.

Reservation must be prepaid and is non-refundable and non-changeable.

Hyatt Place Reservations 30% Discount link or call 1-888-492-8847 and use code: LTO401

Hyatt Summerfield Suites 30% Discount link or call 1-866-974-9288 and use code:  LTO401

Sample Savings:

Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Airport North,

Thursday, April 23, 2009

1 King Bed room

$150    Hyatt Best Available Rate

$143    Hyatt.com rate – nonrefundable

$135    AAA promo rate

$105    Hyatt Limited Time Offer 30% discount rate

Hyatt Place room layout is spacious

The Los Angeles Westin Bonaventure began a promotion today to give away 50 free rooms over four weekends beginning March 27-28, April 3-4, April 10-11, April 11-18 as part of its “Instant Tax Relief” campaign.  45 rooms each weekend will be given out to the first 45 website entries. Winners can choose a Friday or Saturday night.

5 rooms each weekend will be given away exclusively through Twitter to the first five tweets.

Twitter @Bonaventure #U.O.Me

Today, March 17 between 9am-12pm Pacific Time was the first date for the room giveaway for stays over March 27-28 weekend. There were not very many tweets on the #U.O.Me pages today.

Entries for remaining weekends can be made beginning 9am the Tuesday before the weekend.

Next Tuesday, March 24 at 9am you can try for a free room for Friday, April 3 or Saturday, April 4.

Winners also receive a 10% off coupon for the hotel restaurant or 20% off if you book a paid second night.

Westin Bonaventure Hotel website

Free Room Promotion link

Promotion terms and conditions

Press release link (discusses twitter)

25,000 points for two IHG hotel stays is for hotels in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East at most IHG brand hotels in participating countries.  InterContinental  Hotels are not included.  USA hotels are not participating in this promotion. This promotion is a great opportunity for someone traveling to Europe, Africa, or the Middle East by the end of April 2009. Registration is required.

This promotion is a great value for new members to try Priority Club, however, the promotion is open to new and existing members. The offer has high leverage value for hotel guests who do not normally stay in Priority Club hotels of Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Expressm Hotel Indigo, and Staybridge Suites brands as the promotion guarantees 25,000 points for two stays by April 30, 2009.

A guest could choose to fulfill the promotion with two one-night stays. 25,000 points earned June 15, 2009 are sufficient for many Priority Club hotels with daily rates of $300 or more.

This offer has more subtle terms and conditions than most hotel loyalty promotions

Stay two times at a participating IHG Priority Club hotel in the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, or Hotel Indigo in Europe, Middle East, or Africa and receive a minimum 25,000 points for the promotional period.  See list below for participating countries.

Important Note About Registering for this Promotion:

Points earned prior to registration for this promotion do not count towards 25,000 point total.  If you are currently registered for the 3,000 points every three nights promotion and earning lots of bonus points from that deal, then do not register for this promotion until your last two stays before April 30, 2009. The fine print states the promotion does not apply retroactively to stays prior to registration.

This promotion will guarantee 25,000 points bonus in your account for two qualifying stays during the promotional period of March 9 to April 30, 2009. Priority Club will issue the difference in points between the total points you earn during the promotional period for stays and bonuses (points are only counted after you register for the promotion) and 25,000 points total for this promotion.

This means the fewer points you earn during the promotional period after registering for this promotion, the greater your bonus points to take you to 25,000 points.

 The promotion is of greatest value to someone who will only have two hotel stays during the promotional period.  Hypothetically, a guest could spend $75US per night and $150 for two stays. The member would earn 1,500 points for the two stays. This promotion will earn an additional 23,500 points to the Priority Club member’s account on June 15, 2009.  The member can then redeem a free night at most IHG brand hotels.

On the other hand — A frequent guest signed up for the 3,000 points every 3 nights promotion and this 25,000 points for two stays promotion who spends $75 per night for 9 nights during the promotion period will earn $675 x 10 points/$1 = 6,750 base points + 9,000 bonus points for the every third night promotion = 15,750 points.

This frequent guest will only earn an additional 9,250 bonus points on June 15, 2009 to bring the member’s account total for the promotion period to 25,000 points. This is why a member should wait until the last two stays to register to minimize the points counted towards the 25,000 point total.

A Priority Club member who stays 15 nights at $100 per night by April 30, 2009 would earn 15,000 base points and 15,000 bonus points for 3,000 points every 3 nights. This member does not earn any bonus points for the two stays promotion since the member earns 30,000 points from the other promotions. This member can still benefit by waiting until the last two stays before April 30, 2009 to register for this 25,000 point promotion and increase the earning from this separate bonus offer.

Priority Club does a great job with their table showing different stay patterns and points earned on the promotion page.  They did much of my job for me in analyzing this promotion in an easy to read table.

Important points to remember for this promotion:

1.    A stay is defined as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/out.

2.    A stay is qualified when paying qualifying room rates, which include most business and leisure rates.

3.    No retroactive points or miles will be awarded for stays prior to promotion registration.

4.    You must have recorded a preference to earn Priority Club Points in your Member Profile to participate. Priority Club members with a preference to earn Miles are not eligible for this Holiday Nights promotion.

5.    No retroactive points will be awarded for stays which awarded Miles during the promotional period, regardless of registration for the promotion. The calculation of the additional points required to receive the minimum of 25,000 points will include all points earned from all hotel stay-related activities between the promotional dates only.

6.    All points will be credited to the member’s accounts by 15 June 2009. The free night will only be available to take after the points have been credited into the members account on 15 June 2009.

Promotion Terms and Conditions link.

Registering for this promotion automatically registers you for the 3,000 points after 3 nights promotion.

Pay attention to participating countries for this 25,000 point bonus. This offer is not valid for USA hotels or for hotels in several European countries.

Western Europe

·         UK,

·         Germany,

·         France,

·         Belgium,

·         Netherlands,

·         Italy,

·         Spain,

·         Switzerland,

Middle East/Africa

·         Bahrain

·         Egypt

·         Ghana

·         Jordan

·         Kenya

·         Kuwait

·         Lebanon

·         Mozambique

·         Oman

·         Saudi Arabia

·         South Africa

·         Tanzania

·         UAE

·         Yemen

·         Zambia

·         Zimbabwe

Example fulfillment of promotion:

Holiday Inn Cannes Le Cannet, France 90 EUR April 13, 2009

Holiday Inn Nice Port St. Laurent Resort 105EUR April 16, 2009

Spend about $275USD for two nights and you earn points sufficient for a free night at about 4,000 IHG Priority Club hotels around the world.  Your points will be worth more than $275 per night at some hotels. 

Say you spend $550 for four nights. Redeem your free night next summer at a $300 per night hotel and you get a better than 50% rebate on your international travel, as long as you are in one of the participating countries before the end of April to take advantage of this 25,000 bonus points promotion.

A nod to TravelZoo for this Qantas Airlines Australia sale fare alert, as low as $700 all-in :

http://www.travelzoo.com/Newsflash.ashx?553523-24703020

Art on Yarra Riverwalk, Melbourne, Australia 

I love the historic charm of the Fairmont Hotels I have visited. There may not be a lot of Fairmont Hotels around the globe, but a lot of them are great hotels. Fairmont Hotels currently has 56 properties and is planning to open 20 more hotels over the next few years.

One of the other features I love about Fairmont Hotels is the entry to top elite status in Fairmont President’s Club only requires 10 stays or 30 nights in a calendar year. The top elite qualifying bar is much lower than Starwood or Hyatt at 25 stays or 50 nights.

Internet and local/800 phone calls are other complimentary benefits for loyalty members.

Fairmont President’s Club is a value-added loyalty program meaning there are no points to earn and redeem.  Leveraging low fares for free nights is a little more difficult with President’s Club. Elite status and promotions are routes to free nights with Fairmont Hotels.

Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Fairmont President’s Club

Table of President’s Club benefits: 

Fairmont regularly offers added value promotions for room rate discounts, a free night on extended stays and double airline miles. A platinum member can add frequent flyer miles quickly with hotel stays at Fairmont properties.

Airline partners are Air Canada Aeroplan, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. It looks like Fairmont may be in the process of renegotiating airline partnerships as the benefits footnote states “Airline partners will be updated shortly.”

Current promotions at Fairmont Hotels offer room rate discounts or a free night, and double miles.

Rooftops of Fairmont Vancouver historic hotel (left) and newer Tower (right)

Waldorf Astoria Collection, the finer side of Hilton HHonors

This Waldorf Astoria Collection free night deal had me buzzing last weekend when I thought I found a high leverage promotion for a free vacation at the $500+ per night Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea Resort on Maui.

Then, the promotion fine print finally filtered through my brain to realize this deal has some leverage potential, but the deal is mitigated by the fact that to use the free night at Waldorf Astoria requires two paid nights in conjunction with the free night award. The deal is actually a third night free award on a future stay.

I am still confused on the fine print of the Great Getaway offer and the slight variations in Winter Escapes promotions with the same basic offer of $50 credit for two nights and a free night award. Different hotels seem to have different requirements for earning free night certificates and redeeming certificates.

The fine print of this offer is not consumer friendly in terms of stating the free night terms and participating hotels for redemption. It is confusing to see the promotion stating a $50 resort credit for a two night stay and an added bonus if booked and stayed by April 30, but then being told La Quinta Resort takes a three-night minimum stay to earn the free night award.

The confusing part to me is the promotion states “up to $400” in bonus offers, yet a free night at the Grand Wailea Resort in Hawaii is typically over $500 per night for the lowest priced room. The free night award participating hotels include the Grand Wailea Resort.

The Great Getaway and Winter Escapes offers:  Stay two or three paid nights (check with specific property to determine minimum stay for free night certificate) at a participating Waldorf Astoria Collection hotel (and some Hilton resorts) on a Winter Escapes rate by April 30, 2009.

Winter Escapes rate provides a $50 resort credit for every two nights of your stay.

The promotion also states that bookings and stays by April 30, 2009 will earn up to $400 in valuable bonus offers including a free night certificate for a future stay.  The third night free award is valid for a future Waldorf Astoria hotel stay between May 1 and December 15, 2009.

Type WAC into Group Field on reservations page or call 1-800-925-3673 for rates and reservations.

Waldor Astoria Collection Link:

The Waldorf Astoria Collection Great Getaway

Beach. Mountains. Desert. Amenity-rich destinations at every elevation. Enjoy a $50 resort credit after every second night of your stay. You will also earn a complimentary night stay gift certificate. Book and stay from March 1, 2009 – December 15, 2009. Learn more.

Participating Hotels: Initially I saw this Great Getaway offer for three Waldorf=Astoria Collection hotels: the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Grand Wailea Resort, Maui, and a  third resort Dakota Mountain Lodge, Park City, Utah that is not scheduled to open until summer 2009.

Further research detected a similar Winter Escapes deal for about a dozen Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Resort hotels including several in Florida, Puerto Rico, and California. Honestly, I have not sussed out the extent of this promotion.  Suffice to say, many more Hilton resort properties are participating than the three shown above.

Hilton is running the promotion between participating Hilton and Waldorf=Astoria Collection hotels, and LXR, luxuryresorts.com, is running this promotion among its hotels.  

The Value: Winter Escapes promotional rates tend to be higher priced than the lowest available rate for many hotel properties.  The deal may not be worth the effort unless you have definite plans for getting value out of the free night certificate. Advance Purchase and AAA rates will not have the benefit of a $50 resort credit per two nights or a free hotel night certificate, but may be a better deal overall.

This deal is best for someone who may have been planning a resort vacation at one of the participating properties for 2009. The Winter Escapes free night may allow you to get enough value out of free nights to pay for winter vacations over the next six weeks.

Paying less now with a nonrefundable internet or refundable AAA rate can be a huge savings at these luxury hotel properties and may work out to be a better value than going for this promotion if you just want to travel now.  This also means you are not held hostage to a future reservation at Waldorf Astoria hotels in 2009 to get the best value on your initial Waldorf-Astoria qualifying stay for the free night.

This deal is a per stay offer.  You could earn several free night awards with multiple two-night or three-night stays over the next six weeks (check the property requirement to earn free night). You can have luxury spring vacations and have discounted luxury hotel stays throughout 2009 since the free night awards are valid for most of the year.

Rate Analysis for Promotion:

Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa ($28 daily resort fee is in addition to room rates and total shown below)

Winter Escapes rate, Monday to Friday, 4-night stay, April 13-17, 2009

(cancel up to two days prior to arrival)

Rate includes $100 resort credit for 4-night stay and third night free certificate for 2009 stay

·         $259 Classic King Room (Total after tax = $1,163)

·         $289 Resort King (Total after tax = $1,298)

·         $309 Premier King (Total after tax = $1,388)

·         $699 Villa Suite (Total after tax = $3,169)

Advanced Purchase Rate (Nonrefundable prepaid rate, no changes allowed)

·         $179 Classic King Room (Total after tax = $804)

·         $200 Resort King (Total after tax = $898)

·         $214 Premier King (Total after tax = $961)

·         $483 Villa Suite (Total after tax = $2,169)

AAA group rate (cancel up to two days prior to arrival)

·         $190 Classic King Room (Total after tax = $853)

·         $212 Resort King (Total after tax = $952)

·         $226 Premier King (Total after tax = $1,015)

·         $263 King Club Level (access to Club lounge and Club pool) – (Total after tax = $1,181)

·         $292 Deluxe Club Level (Total after tax = $1,311)

·         $483 Villa Suite (Total after tax = $2,299)

I view the AAA rate as a vacation insurance policy worth the small premium for the higher room rate, but flexible cancellation policy as opposed to the lower-priced, nonrefundable Advanced Purchase rates.

The Winter Escapes rate at $1,163 for a Classic king room is $310 more than the AAA rate for this four night stay. The $100 resort credit is nullified and $210 of the free night certificate is lost due to higher room rates paid to earn the certificate.  The longer the stay and the higher price paid for a better category room makes the Winter Escapes deal even less valuable.

La Quinta Resort & Club, La Quinta, California (Palm Springs area)

La Quinta Resort, near Palm Springs, had Winter Escapes rates as low as $159 per night that matched the lowest available rate, and a three night La Quinta Resort stay qualifies for the free night certificate good for the Grand Wailea Resort and several other Waldorf Astoria properties in the USA and Puerto Rico. 

$550 for a three night stay at La Quinta Resort will earn a free night at Grand Wailea worth about $550. The certificate requires paying two nights for the free night certificate, so you still have to spend the $1,100 for two nights at the Hawaiian resort to take advantage of the free night certificate.

Winter Escapes

·         $50 Resort Credit per room for every 2 nights stayed/paid.

·         $100 Resort Credit for 4-night stay

·         $150 Resort Credit for 4-night stay

·         $200 Resort Credit for 4-night stay

Book and Stay at least 3 consecutive nights on Winter Escape rate by April 30, 2009 and receive an additional bonus offer including:

·         Third night free certificate for participating Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotels for a stay between May 1 and Dec 20 (some properties may have Dec 15 end date).

·         50% off second equally or lower priced spa treatment when at least $100 spent on one spa treatment.

·         One free ½ day session in Kids Club at participating hotels.

·         $30 to $35 discount on golf rates.

Some of the participating properties mentioned by the reservations agent for free night award certificate included:

EL CONQUISTADOR RESORT &
GOLDEN DOOR® SPA
THE WALDORF ASTORIA COLLECTION
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

LAS CASITAS VILLAGE &
GOLDEN DOOR SPA
THE WALDORF ASTORIA COLLECTION
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

EDGEWATER BEACH HOTEL
Naples, Florida
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

CASA MARINA RESORT &
BEACH CLUB
THE WALDORF ASTORIA
COLLECTION
Key West, Florida
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

NAPLES GRANDE BEACH RESORT
THE WALDORF ASTORIA
COLLECTION
Naples, Florida
Book your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

REACH RESORT
THE WALDORF
ASTORIA COLLECTION
Key West, Florida
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

LA QUINTA RESORT & CLUB
THE WALDORF ASTORIA COLLECTION
La Quinta, California
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
877.202.1447

ARIZONA BILTMORE RESORT & SPA
THE WALDORF ASTORIA COLLECTION
Phoenix, Arizona
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
877.202.1447

GRAND WAILEA RESORT HOTEL & SPA
THE WALDORF ASTORIA COLLECTION
Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
Book Your Winter Escape Now.
Or call 877.202.1447

Carmel Valley Ranch Resort, an LXR property

Another company, LXR, luxuryresorts.com, owns a number of Hilton branded properties, Hyatt Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale, and a variety of other resorts.  LXR is also running this promotion outside of HHonors.

LXR is offering the same free night certificate and $50 resort credit for stays through April 30, 2009.

The advantage of the LXR offer is the opportunity to expand the free night certificate to other properties outside of Hilton branded hotels like one of our local Monterey County resorts in Carmel Valley, about 8 miles from where I live.

Winter Escapes is available at the Carmel Valley Ranch Resort for April rates as low as $129 per night for a 650 square foot Santa Lucia suite. $149 will land you a Verandah Suite with 1,100 square feet of space and cathedral ceilings.

Carmel Valley Resort Dining Area

Offer: Pay for Friday and Saturday night and receive Sunday night free at participating InterContinental Hotels. Some hotels in Islamic countries offer Saturday night free with Thursday, Friday night paid stay.

Promotion Dates: for stays between December 17 and April 30, 2009

Participating Hotels: There are only about 25% of IC Hotels participating in this promotion.

EUROPE

·         InterContinental Madrid

·         InterContinental Athens

·         InterContinental Vienna

·         InterContinental Berlin

·         InterContinental Frankfurt

·         InterContinental Cologne

·         InterContinental Dusseldorf

·         InterContinental Warsaw

·         InterContinental Budapest

AMERICAS

·         InterContinental The Barclay New York

·         InterContinental Toronto Yorkville

·         InterContinental San Francisco

·         InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco

·         InterContinental Dallas

·         InterContinental Houston

·         InterContinental Stephen F. Austin

·         InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa

·         InterContinental San Juan Resort

·         Presidente InterContinental Cancun Resort

·         Presidente InterContinental Cozumel Resort & Spa

·         InterContinental Tampa

MIDDLE EAST

·         InterContinental City Stars

·         InterContinental Taba Heights

·         InterContinental Abu Dhabi

·         InterContinental Al Ain

·         InterContinental Jordan

·         InterContinental Muscat

·         InterContinental Doha

·         InterContinental Jeddah

·         InterContinental Riyadh

·         InterContinental Mzaar

ASIA PACIFIC

·         InterContinental Hong Kong

·         Grand InterContinental Seoul

·         The Strings by InterContinental Tokyo

·         ANA InterContinental Tokyo

·         InterContinental Yokahoma The Grand

Priority Club points are not earned for free night, however, InterContinental Hotel stays earn 2,000 points per stay and free night should not impact points earned. 

San Francisco rates using the Sunday night free for Friday, March 20 to Monday, March 23 brings the nightly rate down from $169 to $113 per night at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. The InterContinental San Francisco nightly rate drops from $159 to $106 on a three night stay for the same dates.

$106 per night for the San Francisco InterContinental Hotel sure is cheap rooms.

InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, Nob Hill, San Francisco

InterContinental Ambassador

There is a new website for the InterContinental Ambassador loyalty program.  The annual membership fee of $150 comes with a Buy One Night, Get One Night Free (BOGO) certificate good for any InterContinental Hotel weekend stay. Ambassador members also receive benefits when staying at InterContinental Hotels including:

·         Guaranteed room upgrade

·         Fresh fruit and mineral water

·         4pm checkout

·         Complimentary Pay TV film per stay

·         Ambassador Accelerator for 20,000 points after 15 nights at IC Hotels (Ambassador Accelerator registration required.)

Waldorf Astoria is Hilton’s luxury hotel brand.  Two rebranded properties in Europe resulted in two new Waldorf Astoria Collection hotels.  The Hilton Cavalieri rebranded last fall into Rome Cavalieri – Waldorf Astoria Collection, and the rebranding of the Westin Trianon Palace to the Waldorf Astoria Trianon Palace Versailles, France.

Trianon Palace has four night reward discounts of 20% for stays booked and stayed by July 15, 2009.  The 40,000 points per night low season awards ended February 28, 2009.  The discounted per night rate was 32,000 points or 128,000 points for four nights in low season with a TR4LS Reward. 

Through July 15, 2009 the rate is a 20% discount on 60,000 points per night or 48,000 points per night.  The four night reward stay TR4HS is 192,000 points.

The Hilton HHonors Offer:

“Enjoy a 20% discount on reward stays of four nights at any of four luxurious Hilton Family hotels in the world’s most romantic city, including our newest addition to The Waldorf Astoria Collection. Offer valid for reward stays booked and completed between now and July 15, 2009.

 *TR4LS valid for reward stays between January 19 and February 28, 2009.
**TR4HS valid for reward stays between March 1 and July 15, 2009.Special Offer

Dates: January 19 – July 15, 2009

http://www.trianonpalace.com/specials-and-packages/index.cfm

New Launch special rate of 279EUR per night includes breakfast buffet and spa pool access for Trianon Palace guests who prefer to earn points than spend points for the hotel stay.

I speak from experience when I dole out my advice:

Don’t book a Paris four night stay at an airport hotel.

Part three of Europe Vacation Planning is a look at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) properties around London for April 10-18, 2009 room rate deals. Hotel search strategies I am using to find low cost, upscale hotel lodging for London is applicable to much of Europe.

European Vacation Travel Planning Part 1 is an example of the low airfare deals to Europe currently available in this tough economic climate.  Europe is cheap right now.

London Calling, but can I afford the charges? Europe Travel Planning Part 2 is about finding a hotel with Starwood Preferred Guest hotel options. Starwood options are upper upscale hotels at a total cost of about $1,500 for 8 paid nights. SPG Cash & Points awards could bring the total cost for 8 nights to $600 and 30,000 Starpoints. 30,000 starpoints in lieu of $900 is a fair exchange, however, paid nights would also earn thousands of Starpoints and receive elite credit to my account. I like to receive at least 3.5 cents per Starpoint redeemed and the Starwood hotels plan using 30,000 points does not achieve that objective.

Part 3 Planning a London Vacation: The IHG Factor in London

There are loads of InterContinental Hotel Group hotels, 60 or so in the greater London area. With a dozen or so properties in the central London tourist area, there are plenty of options to consider.

First, I checked for IHG PointBreaks hotel award for 5,000 points per night.  These are basically $60US room rates if you are around a participating hotel.  You can buy 40,000 points for $460 from Priority Club. There is one participating Holiday Inn at Stevenage, about 13 miles east of Luton Airport, north of London. Stevenage sounds like a nice place to visit for a boring sod like me.  No Pointbreaks properties in London.

Next, I checked www.frequentflyerbonuses.com for Priority Club links and that site showed me a 2 nights for Price of 1 link for Europe hotels.  The promotion states for two night stays through March 31, 2009 and for mostly Friday to Sunday stays, however, over the past two years this “2 nights for the price of 1” offer typically allows mid-week bookings at many hotels and allows bookings for dates past the stated deadline.

I have followed Europe hotel rates through this IHG promotion for the past couple years and this most recent survey of London hotels just has me saying WOW!

Rates are so incredibly low for London hotels.

Per night rate using 2 Nights for Price of 1 booking link for London:

There are actually Holiday Inn Express hotels in the greater London area for under $35 per night using the 2-for-1 reservation link.  Holiday Inn Slough-Windsor has rates at 21GBP.  I’m thinking Ricky Gervais and The Office.

I’ll take a hotel in central London please.  I still remember being 14 in 1974 and commuting an hour each way by train to travel from the campground in north London where our family slept to the city center during our week in and around the city.

From my travel experience, the rule of thumb I developed is get as close to the city center or in the vicinity of places you want to see.  Travel is costing you money and spending your time transiting from the place you sleep to the place you want to see can be a lot of wasted time.

Hotel Recommendations Anyone?

I am not IHG Priority Club elite and aside from the Crowne Plaza St. James where I stayed for my honeymoon in 1989, before it was a Crowne Plaza, I am not familiar with the IHG properties in London.

TripAdvisor was too daunting.  I searched and there are over 1,000 hotels in the database for London.

I quickly moved on to FlyerTalk where I could get the IHG experts’ opinions on the benefits of particular hotels.

Within 30 minutes I found a consensus for the InterContinental as the top choice for London. Crowne Plaza The City seems to be a popular choice.  The main complaint is the closure of the Tube station by the hotel this month for two years means a five to ten minute walk to the next station.

Crowne Plaza-The City has standard rooms for $86 and a Club room for $152 per night. TripAdvisor.com shows the Crowne Plaza-The City as having a $362 average rate. The hotel has an overall four star customer rating with 123 reviews. 80% of the TripAdvisor reviews are at least a 4 and mostly 5 star ratings.

The Holiday Inn Kensington Forum also is a popular choice for one of the best IHG hotels and the 2-for-1 offer has standard rooms for $73 or even a suite for $131 per night. TripAdvisor has 440 reviews for Holiday Inn Kensington Forum and mostly 4 and 5 star ratings, but more 4 star than 5 star.  Average price is listed at $209.

Crowne Plaza Shoreditch at $90 per night including Club lounge access with free breakfast sounds like a great deal. According to FlyerTalk posters this hotel would put me in the clubbing district. There was also the comment the club lounge is closed on weekends and guests receive vouchers for a much better breakfast at the hotel restaurant. That sounds good to me.  Looking for breakfast on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday holidays is not as easy as you might think in a major city like London.

TripAdvisor.com gave Crowne Plaza Shoreditch the highest popularity rating (#71 of 1,169 London hotels) of the three hotels.  Guests have supplied 153 hotel reviews, although the Crowne Plaza-The City has overall higher guest rating. Average price is listed at $205.

Conclusion

IHG can place me in central London for under $100 per night with a choice of hotels.  I can even book a suite at a popular hotel like the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum for $130 per night. A Crowne Plaza Club Room in central London (CP-The City) for $150 per night can easily save $50 a day or more in breakfast, snacks, and drinks for a couple.

My initial budget allows about $900 for my hotel and transportation for the week.  The closer I am to the central London sites, the less I spend on transportation around London. 

The IHG “Stay 2 Nights, Pay 1” special rates allow me to stay in central London hotels for under $600 for eight nights.  Counting on an elite status upgrade with Starwood or Hyatt is not so important when I can just pay for a suite.

Priority Club’s current 3,000 points for 3 nights along with the regular base points earned for $500+ in room spending for IHG stays will add another $100 value to the paid rooms through points received. 

Another advantage of the IHG plan for this April trip to London is my Starwood points can be saved for another vacation destination where there may not be such a good alternative like the IHG 2-nights-for-1 rates.

Note on IHG 2 for 1 London rates: Rates vary depending on the dates selected for two day stays.  I only included a sample of the rates for comparative purposes.  Rates during the April 10-18 period vary by as much as $50 per night or more depending on the dates selected.

Finding an affordable London Hotel – Step-by-Step Guide

My wife and I arrived in London for Easter Sunday 1989 and stayed at the St. James Court Hotel, currently branded as the Crowne Plaza St. James.  K was living a dream with her first trip to Europe and our hotel was located just a few minutes walk from the front of Buckingham Palace. I booked the St. James Court in 1989 on a 2-for-1 rate for 6 nights through the Entertainment book before we headed to Edinburgh.

My 2009 budget is $2,000.  Currently, roundtrip airfare San Francisco to London is $1,094 for two tickets. I have $906 left for eight hotel nights, food, and transportation for a week in one of the world’s most expensive cities.  While we might splurge for a play (50% day-of-show tickets of course), restaurant dining is certainly eliminated due to budget constraints.

Here are my hotel loyalty program resources:

·         SPG points 30,000 points and one free award night credit (up to a Category 5 hotel)

·         Hilton HHonors 25,000 points

·         Hyatt Hotels 30,000 points

Starwood and Hyatt elite status will likely mean an upgrade for a hotel stay with one of their brands.

Starwood Hotels are my first search. 

SPG will provide a high quality hotel and the length of our stay allows me to access some of the best rates available through SPG using the exclusive Starwood hotel rate discounts for multiple night stays up to 2 nights free on a 6 night stay. This Starwood link has some additional resort hotel properties with the same discount offers.

Starwood Hotels offer: Buy 4 Nights, Get 2 Nights Free (April 10-16, 2009)

·         Le Meridien Piccadilly, London = 796 GBP + 15% tax = $1,309US or $218 per night

·         The Park Lane Hotel, London = 676GBP +15% tax = $1,112 or $185 per night

·         Sheraton Park Tower, London = 796 GBP + 15% tax = $1,309US or $218 per night

·         Sheraton Belgravia, London = 716GBP + 15% tax = $1,177 or $196 per night.

Starwood is out of my budget range.  I can stay 6 nights and get two additional nights for free using points.  If I spend $1,100 just for my hotel stay, then I will likely spend $2,700 total for the week with added ground expenses in London .

Starwood Cash & Points Availability

Finding Cash & Points awards for a week-long vacation can take multiple searches of stay dates to find available awards.

            Cash & Points Awards

Category 6 hotel = $150 + 8,000 points

Category 5 hotel = $90 + 4,800 points

Category 4 hotel = $60 + 4,000 points

London Hotels SPG Category

·         Sheraton Park Tower, London, Category 6

·         Le Meridien Piccadilly, London, Category 5

·         The Park Lane Hotel, London, Category 4

·         Sheraton Belgravia, London, Category 4

SPG hotel category determines the points required for a free night.  Three of four SPG-participating hotels in London went down one SPG redemption category as of March 2, 2009. The Lanesborough, St Regis does not participate in SPG.

When searching Cash & Points you need to try a variety of hotel stay dates.  My first attempt to find a room for 8 nights using Cash & Points shows no availability at any hotels.  My London searches indicate a 5 day limit for Cash & Points stays. All 6-night stays I tried showed no availability.

Finding all the Cash & Points opportunities requires a little combinatory math.  Here is what I mean:

Cash & Points Availability for London during week of April 10-18, 2009

·         Le Meridien Picadilly Friday, April 10

·         No Cash & Points options April 11

·         No Cash & Points options April 10-12

·         No Cash & Points options April 11-13

·         Le Meridien Piccadilly April 10-13, April 10-14, April 11-14, April 10-15, April 14-18, April 15-17, April 15-18. April 15 is not available when trying April 10-16, yet is available when trying April 15-17. (5 night stay possible on Cash & Points, but appears to be a 5 night limit.)

·         Park Lane, Sheraton Park Tower, and Sheraton Belgravia available April 15.

·         Sheraton Belgravia  April 12-17, April 13-17, April 14-17, April 15-17 (5 night stay possible)

April 17, a Friday night, shows Sheraton Heathrow available for 45 GBP.  This airport hotel dropped to SPG Category 2, an incredible 2 category drop from a Category 4 hotel in the 2009 SPG redemption category realignment.

Considering we need to be at Heathrow by 7am on April 18, I would opt for going to the airport on Friday night and paying $75US for a room at the Sheraton Heathrow and earn nearly 2,000 Starpoints or spend 3,000 Starpoints for a free Friday night at the Category 2 airport Sheraton.

Here are my best priced options in the combinations I tried:

·         Le Meridien Piccadilly April 10-13, 3 nights for $270 + 14,600 points.

·         Sheraton Belgravia April 14-17, 4 nights for $240 +16,000 points.

·         Sheraton Heathrow April 17, 1 night, $75US

8 nights in London with Starwood Hotels = $585 + 30,600 points.

I also have one free SPG night awarded as a SPG Platinum gift for 2009 that I could use at the Le Meridien Piccadilly to eliminate one award night using Cash & Points to save $90 and 4,800 points from the total expense.

Starwood is an option, however, London has other loyalty program options that will likely result in a less luxurious hotel experience, but possibly be more affordable in the long run if saving money is my priority.

And for travelers not sitting on 30,000 Starpoints there are still low cost options before resorting to Priceline or Hotwire for a discounted hotel.

Europe Travel Planning Part Three: The IHG Factor 

Starwood Preferred Guest has enhanced its Night After Night promotional offer with an additional 500 points per night for stays at select hotels in the US and Canada, French Polynesia, and Asia.

Now, SPG members will receive 1,000 bonus points per night at about 30% of Starwood Hotels.  Stay 10 nights by April 30 and the bonus comes out to 1,500 points per night.

The first quarter SPG promotion, Night after Night, offers 500 points per night and a 5,000 points bonus after 10 nights for stays through April 30, 2009. Registration is required by April 15, 2009.

This promotion had value before, but not enough to make my stay.

Now SPG has my attention.

Two weeks ago I stayed at the Westin Market Street in San Francisco on a $99 rate.  I earned the 500 points for the Night after Night bonus.  As a SPG Platinum elite, I also received a 500 Starpoints amenity gift for the stay.  The $99 stay earned 297 base points + 1,000 bonus points = 1,297 points.

For SPG members without elite status the points earned for Westin Market Street with this additional 500 points per night bonus will be 1,198 points on a $99 stay.  The points work out to about a $42 rebate if you get a redemption value of 3.5 cents on a future stay.

I regularly receive 3.5 cents per point when I redeem points.  The past couple of years I have used most of my Starpoints for Cash & Points awards. Last year at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale I stayed for 4,800 points and $90 for a night when the lowest available rate for the hotel was something like $420 per night after tax.  Spending 4,800 points instead of $330 cash is nearly 7 cents per point redemption value.

Even better, the Westin Kierland upgraded me to a full suite.

Points Math for SPG

I am looking to rack up hotel points for our trip to Australia this summer.  My wife and I would like to return to the Sheraton Noosa for a five night stay.  Noosa is dropping from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hotel in the 2009 SPG Category realignment going into effect next week.  This hotel was a category 3 when we stayed there in 2003.

I need 40,000 points for a five night stay at the Category 4 Sheraton Noosa using the 5^th Night Free award stay option. The hotel is currently offering rooms for around $200US per night.

I tend to approach hotel promotions with a points earning target and a hotel redemption goal in mind. I have a summer vacation in Australia and I want to estimate how many Starwood nights I need to earn 40,000 points with a projected redemption value of $1,000.  That is only 2.5 cents per point and below my average redemption rate, but then again spending $1,000 is more money out-of-pocket this summer.  I will go with a Cash & Points rate, available now, rather than free nights if I have that option later in the year.

In the San Francisco area there are at least five hotels with weekend rates in the $80 to $120 range over the past month on the select hotels list offering the additional 500 points per night.  Category 5 Le Meridien San Francisco ($119) and Sheraton SFO and Four Points SFO are frequently around $80 per night on weekends.

Assume I get 10 nights with SPG during the promotion at an average $100 per night.

10 nights  x 1,000 points per night = 10,000 points for Night after Night + 5,000 points for 10-nights bonus = 15,000 Night after Night bonus points.

$1,000 x 2 points per $1 = 2,000 base points

1,000 elite bonus points (Gold and Platinum members)

If I have 10 separate one night stays x 500 platinum amenity points per stay = 5,000 points.

10 nights could earn 23,000 points for $1,000 as a platinum elite.  A Gold member could have one 10-night stay and earn 18,000 points and a non-elite would earn 17,000 points.  I am well short of the 40,000 points for five free nights, however, SPG is offering Cash & Points for my projected hotel stay dates.

Category 4 Cash & Points = $60 + 4,000 points per night.  In this instance, I would spend $300 + 20,000 points for 5 nights.  My 20,000 points would save $700 on the current room cost of $1,000 for 5 nights and my redemption value increases to 3.5 cents per point.

Value of points earned with 10 nights at the select hotels offering 1,000 bonus points per night in the Night After Night SPG promotion (based on $100 average room rate).

Non-elite = 17,000 points x 3.5 cents = $595 in SPG future hotel value.

Gold elite = 18,000 points x 3.5 cents = $630 in SPG future hotel value.

Platinum elite (earning 500 points per stay and all 1 night stays) = 23,000 points =$805 in future hotel value.

Your hotel choice and stay pattern is often dictated by necessity, but even for a discretionary investment, there is high rebate value in this offer.

I see SPG potential for my hotel stays over the next two months.  My analysis here shows me I can spend $1,000 and with the right combination of hotels and low rates I will see a potential of receiving nearly $2,000 in room value for about $1,150 after taxes expenditure. And I am not even factoring likely room upgrades for most of the hotel stays.

Or from another viewpoint, I can spend 10 nights in hotels here in the USA ($1,150 assuming $100 average room rate + 15% tax) and I will earn sufficient points to effectively receive a 70% rebate on my spending now that I can apply to my summer vacation hotel stays.

The rebate value drops if your average daily room rate is higher, however, even a $200 per night spender with no elite status could see a 30%+ rebate value through this promotion.  Spend $2,000 and receive points good for about $600 in future hotel stays.

The amended SPG Night after Night promotion offer has got my attention now.  This promotion has gone from just average in SPG historical terms to a recommended investment in my opinion.

Fountain Glass Sculpture at Sheraton Noosa, Queensland, Australia