Toronto Harbourfront has been a 40-year redevelopment project of Toronto’s downtown port and warehouse district into a cultural, entertainment and residential district.

A sign on a pedestrian bridge at WestJet Stage says the Radisson Admiral Hotel opened in 1985.

Pedestrian Bridge at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Radisson Admiral Hotel is upper right with glass windows.

These days the Toronto Harbourfront lakeshore property has been nearly completely transformed into a multiple recreational use playground with the canoe and kayak centre, WestJet Stage with free concerts, museums, cafes and boat tours.

This month the new Amsterdam BrewHouse is scheduled to open in the building adjacent to the Radisson Admiral Hotel. I had to get by with The Beer Store, my favorite shopping place one block to the west of the hotel. They even take U.S. currency. Read More…

Club Carlson posted short notice 2013 changes to hotel reward categories with 97 hotels going up, 151 hotels going down and 2 uncertain changes to take effect May 1, 2013. This leaves about 48 hours to book reward nights at hotels increasing in reward category.

Club Carlson has 6 hotel reward categories starting at 9,000 points and rising up to 50,000 points for a reward night using Club Carlson points.

Club Carlson Reward Category Levels.

The greatest change comes between Category 2 and 3 reward nights where the price for a reward night increases from 15,000 to 28,000 points with an 87% jump in points.

These are hotels where booking reward nights before the May 1 change can have significant savings.

3 hotels see the harshest change rising from category 1 to 3. This is more than a 200% rise from 9,000 points to 28,000 points per night.

• Radisson Hotel Orlando – International Drive, Florida
• Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport West, Ohio
• Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Radisson Hotel Orlando – International Drive is a great loss for Disneyworld fans.

30 hotels rising from category 2 to 3 will have an increase in reward rate from 15,000 points per night to 28,000 points.

Club Carlson Hotel Reward Category Changes for 2013 – effective May 1, 2013.

Read More…

An interesting graphic I came across shows the number of hotels in the U.S. by the seven largest U.S. hotel chains.

U.S. Hotels domestic supply among major U.S. Hotel Chains

• Hilton Worldwide: 3,382 hotels; 506,455 rooms.
• Marriott International: 3,110 hotels; 501,070 rooms.
• Wyndham Worldwide: 5,815 hotels; 451,755 rooms.
• Choice International: 5,081 hotels; 385,827 rooms.
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts: 495 hotels; 152,693 rooms.
• Hyatt Hotels Corporation: 354 hotels; 91,590 rooms. 
• Carlson Rezidor Hotels: 549 hotels; 59,742 rooms.

Source: STR 12-31-2012 year end data.

I’m not sure why Best Western is missing from the list?

• Best Western International: 2,165 hotels (North America); 178,518 rooms (North America). Source: Best Western. What is impressive about Best Western is 1,312 hotels in Europe.

IHG is a UK based company, although, the majority of properties are located in the USA.

• InterContinental Hotels Group: 3,555 hotels; 449,617 rooms (North and South America and Caribbean). Source: IHG Fact Sheets. IHG has 628 hotels in Europe.

Starwood and Carlson have the highest proportion of hotels outside the USA among these chains. There are roughly 500 to 600 hotels outside the USA for Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and Carlson-Rezidor. 

The high number of hotels outside the USA is one of the features I most enjoy about Best Western Rewards. The Best Western chain can put you in many places the other hotel chains can’t. And for free with points stays.

And when you are in the U.S.A. there are nearly 25,000 hotels in just the top nine chains with global points-based hotel loyalty programs.

Radisson, Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn have a 25% off BAR hotel rate discount for rooms booked by Friday, April 12 for stays through the month of April 2013 in the USA and Canada. Book by 11:59pm (CT) Friday, April 12.

Radisson Hotels 3-Day Sale link.

Country Inns & Suites 3-Day Sale link.

Park Inn 3-Day Sale link.

There currently is no Americas promotion for Club Carlson so these stays will earn 20 points/$1. Online reservations earn 1,000 to 3,000 points per booking, depending on your elite status.

Club Carlson members can earn double points on two night stays, 40 points per $1 for bookings by May 3 and completed stays between April 2 and May 10, 2013 at particpating hotels in Europe and Africa.

Club Carlson promotion registration is required.

There are only 28 hotels participating Carlson Rezidor hotels in Europe and Tunisia (2), mostly Belgium (8) and France (13). Other countries with one participating hotel include Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands and Spain.

Belgium

Park Inn by Radisson Antwerpen

Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel, Antwerpen

Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Midi

Radisson Blu EU Hotel, Brussels

Radisson Blu Palace Hotel, Spa

Radisson Blu Hotel, Hasselt

Park Inn by Radisson Liège Airport Hotel

Park Inn by Radisson Leuven

France

Radisson Blu 1835 Resort & Thalasso, Cannes

Park Inn by Radisson Lille Grand Stade

Park Inn by Radisson Lyon Ouest

Radisson Blu Lyon

Radisson Blu Hotel Nice

Radisson Blu Hotel, Boulogne

Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Resort, Paris

Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan, Paris Eiffel

Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees, Paris

Radisson Blu Dokhan Hotel, Paris Trocadéro

Radisson Blu Hotel, Biarritz

Radisson Blu Ambassador Hotel, Paris

Park Inn by Radisson Charles De Gaulle

Italy

Radisson Blu es. Hotel, Rome

Luxembourg

Park Inn by Radisson Luxembourg City

Malta

Radisson Blu Resort, Malta St. Julian’s

Netherlands

Park Inn by Radisson Amsterdam Schiphol

Spain

Radisson Blu Prado Hotel, Madrid

Tunisia

Park Inn by Radisson Ulysse Resort Djerba

Radisson Blu Resort & Thalasso, Djerba

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

Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago offers rooms in two styles with ‘Naturally Cool’ light woods and ‘Mansion House’ blue tones and sparkling bathroom tile. The room I stayed in for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group 2013 Full Service Brands conference was the Mansion House style. The three nights at the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago were complimentary as a press attendee for the conference.

Mansion House décor in King bed room, 9th floor, Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago. Read More…

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group held a full service brands conference at the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago the last three days of February 2013.

This is my second stay at the hotel courtesy of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. I was there for three free nights last month during the Carlson Rezidor Full Service Brands (Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza brands) hotel conference. In November 2011 I was invited for the media familiarization trip for the hotel opening.

Links to hotel articles from the 2011 trip are at the end of this post.

This post focuses on the Radisson Blu Aqua hotel public spaces and The Lounge on the 17th floor. The room will be covered in a separate post to show the difference in detail between the two room styles and their décor. Read More…

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London has prime location for stepping outside directly into the vicinity of the iconic sites of London.

View of Big Ben and Houses of Parliament from hotel room.

That’s Big Ben out the window. This is not even the preferred location for a room in the hotel, although better than many other locations in the hotel. Best location is a room on the front side, Thames River facing side of the 12-story hotel. Read More…

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group had its Country Inns & Suites global business conference at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach this week. The major announcement from the conference is a new brand identity for Country Inns & Suites and the debut of the new hotel prototype for the brand.

The new Country Inns & Suites brand logo was introduced to the public.

In 2010 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announced Ambition 2015, a five year global initiative to make the hotel brands of Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza and Park Inn recognized leaders in their market segments of the hotel industry.

In the past three years we have seen

• the introduction of a unified Club Carlson hotel loyalty program replacing the disjointed Gold Points Plus;
• the introduction of Radisson Blu in the U.S. market with Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago and the opening this past week of the second Radisson Blu Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota;
• the introduction of a Club Carlson credit card which comes with the industry leading benefit of one free night on every award stay of two or more nights.

The unveiling of a Country Inns & Suites prototype this week is another major step toward reaching the objectives of Ambition 2015. Read More…

Oslo has three Radisson Blu hotels in the city center. Radisson Blu Plaza Oslo is adjacent to the city train station. Radisson Blu Scandinavia Oslo is about 1.6 km or one mile from the train station. I did not see Radisson Blu Park Hotel Oslo.

Radisson Blu Plaza is near the train station supermarket and a multi-story shopping mall Oslo City. Read More…