I have to face the fact that I do not like staying at the St. Regis San Francisco. The hotel has many endearing qualities like a fantastic bed and linens, great bathtub, a large fitness center and pool. There is even a yoga room.

But I get a bad vibe every time I stay at this hotel.

In December I stayed two nights at the St. Regis San Francisco courtesy of the SPG American Express Amex Stars blogger outreach program I was invited to participate in for 2012.

Luxury hotel stays are aspirational for some travelers. After taking advantage of free hotel stays with SPG Amex Stars to visit St. Regis Princeville Kauai, St. Regis San Francisco and St. Regis Bal Harbour (Miami Beach), I have developed the opinion that I love luxury class hotel rooms, but I do not like the luxury hotel environment. The cost of nearly everything at a luxury hotel is more than I care to spend. And the commonly free items at hotels like ice and coffee can set you back $5 to $10 an order throughout your stay.

Even worse for me than the high prices at large luxury hotels are the multitude of staff. The staff members are almost always kind and engaging. There are frequently more staff than guests walking around when I am at a St. Regis. It is kind of like being in a beautiful office building. Most of the people around are employees. And all the greetings from a staff member require a reciprocal response from me. Isn’t it rude not to return a greeting?

St. Regis San Francisco Read More…

The hotel room is truly the environment that matters when you really want to be inside from the world. The room at the St. Regis Bal Harbour met nearly all my needs.  Access to ice and a coffee maker without staff assistance would have been better.

Room 1110 at St. Regis Bal Harbour is a Grand Luxe Ocean View Guest Room. This is the same 650 square feet design as Deluxe Ocean View Guest Room on lower floors 4-7. The hotel has 24 floors. Read More…

Watching the surf roll into shore while taking a shower in a luxury hotel room is a very different experience than my last stay on Kauai 35 years ago when I lived on the beaches of Kauai.

Hanalei Bay view from St. Regis Princeville, Kauai.

In 1977 I flew from California to Honolulu with a 6-inch hunting knife in my carry-on backpack and in my possession was an open date ticket to fly standby between the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii. The times have changed travel and me. I have no memory of what airline I flew to Hawaii back then.

For the weeks I stayed in Kauai I lived on the beaches seen in the distance in the photo I snapped today. In 1977 I hiked the infamous Na Pali coast to Kalalau Valley where I was out of reach of Hawaii Five-O, the beach police who harassed me frequently arguing I was not allowed to camp without a state camping permit as I argued back that the State of Hawaii would not allow me to purchase a camping permit since I was a minor at 17 years old.

I’ll probably share more about my youth in the coming days as I reminisce about life on Kauai and the major alterations of travel in general and my personal travel style specifically.

The Bar, St. Regis Princeville

Where will you go with 50,000 Starpoints?

This post is my SPG Amex Star giveaway while I am staying at the USA Starwood Hotel of my choice. 50,000 Starpoints, to be precise, is what I have been authorized to give away to one lucky reader who can use the points for their own special hotel getaway.

One of the hotel stays as part of my SPG Amex Star contract benefits was two complimentary nights at any Starwood Hotel I desired in the USA.

St. Regis Princeville on Kauai was my Starwood Hotel preference of any Starwood Hotel in the USA. I picked this location in combination with an American Airlines ticket I purchased to pick up double elite qualifying miles and double redeemable miles on a trip that will earn me American Airlines 50,000 mile Platinum elite status for 2013.

Flying over the vast Pacific Ocean on American Airlines to Lihue, Kauai.

In addition to picking up American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum elite status, this stay is my third stay at a Starwood Hotel this week in my quest for SPG Platinum elite status for 2013.

Enough about me and my loyalty plans. It is time for you to think about what you would like to do with 50,000 Starpoints.

Rules to enter the Loyalty Traveler 50,000 Starpoints Sweepstakes:

1. Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter.com.

2. Post a tweet sharing which Starwood Hotel in the USA you would choose to stay with 50,000 points. NOTE: Winner of this prize receives 50,000 Starpoints and there are no restrictions to how you use the points. You can stay in any Starwood Hotel you choose or transfer them to airline miles or whatever. I simply am interested to know which hotel you would choose, if like me, you had to choose one hotel in the USA for a Starwood Hotel stay.

3. Use the hashtag #SPGAMEX in the tweet and use @LoyaltyTraveler in the tweet. This allows me to filter tweets and see all the entries on Twitter to pick a random winner.

4. Eligible entries accepted from 9 pm Pacific time Monday, December 3 through 11:59pm Pacific time Friday, December 7, 2012. Note #2: This giveaway is open to SPG members worldwide.

5. Limit of one tweet entry per calendar day.

6. Prize winner will be chosen at random.

7.

Sample Eligible Tweet:

@LoyaltyTraveler St. Regis Monarch Beach #SPGAMEX

Here are some Twitter Guidelines I read over to help with this sweepstakes:

• Creating multiple accounts on Twitter to win a contest can result in all your Twitter accounts being suspended. I discourage you from doing this.
• Posting the same tweet over and over is discouraged by Twitter. Try and change up the order of words or hotel. One #SPGAMEX tweet per calendar day for my Loyalty Traveler sweepstakes is acceptable. Posting more than one tweet per calendar day for this contest is discouraged and may result in your elimination from the prize.

Every winner is surprised. Back in 2000 I won a prize for 50,000 Starpoints. It happens. But, I have not won any big prizes since.

Good luck.

Lobby view at St. Regis Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Last month I stayed at the W New York Union Square. I am happy to report that no young republicans harassed or assaulted me. I didn’t even notice any condoms in my room – used or new.

Lindsay Lohan news stories this week showing the outside of a familiar looking hotel triggered my recall that I had not yet written about the W New York Union Square where I stayed two nights, FOR FREE, courtesy of SPG Amex Stars gig to attend New York Fashion Week.

The W New York Union Square hotel is one I enjoyed for a nice room in a century old building with a great location for a New York tourist.

W New York Union Square seen from Union Square.

The hotel address is 201 Park Avenue South and the cross-street is East 17th Street.

Obviously I was mistaken when I stated after my trip to New York the week before that I walked a half-marathon around Manhattan and never crossed east of 5th Avenue to the E Streets of Manhattan. I had walked by the W Union Square a week earlier when I snapped this photo of the hotel from Union Square. Read More…

Reader Alert: Make it through this post and you will find out how to enter a Loyalty Traveler contest for a $250 American Express giftcard courtesy of SPG American Express.

Anyone who knows me would likely say I am the least qualified person to be writing about fashion week. I did put on a pair of pants for the show which is something I am reluctant to do when the temperature is over 65 degrees. It was 75 in New York.

I am definitely qualified as a leading candidate for an Extreme Makeover. Too bad designer Rachel Zoe was not my childhood friend. As an 8 year old she said she tired of a family friend who never wore anything but soccer outfits and she went to his house and planned his outfits for better style. Read More…

One of the Daily Getaways offers for Friday April 27 is two nights at Loews Hotels for $350 ($315 with Amex). There are five hotels for this offer:

• Loews Miami Beach Resort, Miami Beach, FL
• Loews Don Cesar Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL
• Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando^®
• Loews Coronado Bay Resort, Coronado Bay, CA
• Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, AZ

There are only 20 packages available in this sale and the hotel stay certificate must be used by November 30, 2012.

Universal Express Unlimited ($89 value per day)

Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando offers a special advantage for people interested in visiting the Universal Orlando theme parks with on-site hotel benefits. I certainly would like to visit the Harry Potter park.

Guests at Loews Royal Pacific Resort get complimentary access to Universal Express Unlimited which bypasses the regular lines to fast-track your way on to rides at the theme parks. TripAdvisor reviews for the hotel state this can save a couple of hours in your vacation day riding the rides rather than standing in the lines while visiting the parks.

Early Park Admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man one hour before the theme park opens (valid theme park admission required) before nearly all other guests.

Priority seating at select restaurants throughout both theme parks and enjoy first available seating at select Universal Orlando and CityWalk restaurants.

TripAdvisor.com reviews indicate the rooms are nothing special at the Loews Royal Pacific, but plenty of people rave about the great value of early park admission and express lines for rides.

The extra time enjoying the park and bypassing long lines when you are spending what turns out to be hundreds of dollars for a visit to Universal Orlando might warrant buying one of the 20 packages for this Daily Getaways Loews offer.

I don’t often write about family travel, but I think this Loews offer is an incredible deal for Universal Orlando. Especially since most dates I checked show the Loews Royal Pacific hotel with rates in the $250 to $300+ per night range.

There are three other packages for Loews in Friday’s Daily Getaways.

Two nights for $275 ($247.50) at these Loews Hotels (16 available)

• Loews Annapolis Hotel
• Loews Atlanta Hotel
• Loews Denver Hotel
• Loews New Orleans Hotel
• Loews Philadelphia Hotel
• Loews Regency Hotel
• Loews Santa Monica Hotel
• Loews Vanderbilt Hotel Nashville
• Loews Hôtel Le Concorde – Quebec City, Canada
• Loews Hôtel Vogue – Montreal, Canada

2-nights at Loews Miami Beach in Suite = $1,110 ($999 with Amex) – 5 available.

2-nights in Grand King Suite Loews Santa Monica = $1,110 ($999 with Amex) – 5 available.

The suites are geared for a totally different kind of vacation than family travel.

The Loews Hotel offers in the past, as with Omni Hotels on Daily Getaways have tended not to sell out. Still, if Universal Orlando is in your plans for 2012, be ready at 1pm Eastern Friday to try and score one of the 20 certificates for sale that you can use for two nights at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando.