20
May
Club Carlson announced last week that a major hotel reward category reassignment will occur May 31, 2012. The full list of 264 hotels changing reward category and organized by geographic location with state and country has been published.
137 hotels going up in reward category. Read More…
Priority Club Points & Cash Rewards have increased to $70 for 10,000 points from the previous $60 rate. This is a relatively minor 17% increase on the reward cost.
This post looks beyond the Points & Cash Reward nights to examine how Priority Club Reward Nights have increased by as much as 63% in the past six months using $7 per 1,000 points as the fair exchange rate for points. Read More…
Last June I reviewed the hotel site Room77.com and its feature of showing the view from specific rooms in a hotel. It is kind of like SeatGuru for hotels.
Room77.com has grown over the past year with new features. The website now loads a more traditional looking hotel rate search homepage. Room77 is a metasearch engine that compares rates from different hotel booking sites in the way Kayak.com functions, but with more useful search capabilities for the loyalty traveler seeking hotel points and group rates. Read More…
‘Project Grow’ is the lobby refresh initiative for Hilton Garden Inn hotels to bring new color schemes and seating arrangements with updated floor and tile work to these commonly cookie-cutter properties.
The Phase 1 addition of column accents is expected to be completed at over 400 of 540 Hilton Garden Inn properties by the end of 2012. Project completion is scheduled for year-end 2013. Read More…
Lake Las Vegas, about 20 miles from the Las Vegas Strip outside the suburb of Henderson, Nevada has a new Starwood Resort today with The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa.
The hotel has actually been around since 1999, first as the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort. Since 2006 the property has been the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort.
The Westin Lake Las Vegas enters SPG as a category 3 hotel.
Rates tonight are $179. There is a grand opening special stating rates from $125, but I did not see any rates lower than $161 for dates I checked in April and May. I didn’t find any availability for $125 per night before June 1.
I expect some good deals that will be significantly lower than $179 after the initial rebranding launch. Cash & Points stays at $45 and 2,800 points are also a good option, but again no availability today until June.
Lake Las Vegas: a man-made resort folly.
The economic recession that has resulted in 1 out of every 9 homes in Las Vegas in foreclosure also impacted the region’s hotels. The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas went bankrupt, closed down in May 2010 and reopened February 2011 as Ravella at Lake Las Vegas, a Dolce conference center resort.
Loews Lake Las Vegas defaulted on a $117 million mortgage in 2009 and was placed in receivership. Pyramid Hotel Group has been managing the hotel since it defaulted and also manages the Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa since the previous owners turned over the keys last year in bankruptcy.
Westin Las Vegas Hotel was seized by lenders after defaulting on a $160 million mortgage. I have to wonder if Starwood will drop Westin Las Vegas Hotel since it is generally not a highly rated hotel by SPG members. There are very few suites and I have never had anything more than a standard size room in several stays. The hotel is a couple blocks off the strip and kind of a letdown when there are so many great values in the major casino hotels for the same rate as the Westin.
I really enjoy the family environment around Lake Las Vegas and the Ravella property and now the Westin Lake Las Vegas. I think this is a great addition for Starwood Hotels.
Here is a Loyalty Traveler post from August 2009 on Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. I also did a piece on Ravella Lake Las Vegas in June 2011 when there was a $59 rate. This piece has links to two other posts with photos of the former Ritz-Carlton property.
Las Vegas Sun (March 28) -
Loews hotel at Lake Las Vegas switching to Westin brand.
Travel media is buzzing over the new hotel booking site Tingo.com that launched yesterday. Tingo.com is a hotel booking site that lets a person book a hotel and then receive an automatic refund if the hotel rate drops before the hotel stay’s cancellation date. Some press articles are calling this site a major game change for consumers that could “potentially corner the travel/hotel booking market”.
The Tingo.com concept is simple and a radical shift from other online travel agency hotel booking sites. Read More…
The long anticipated W Paris-Opera is finally open. There is a 75 second video on the hotel’s website visualizing “New York Energy Meets the Lights of Paris”.
W Paris-Opera is a small hotel at 91 rooms including 20 suites and 2 Extreme WOW Suites.
Here is a description of the hotel building from a BusinessWire article:
the hotel is set inside a historic 1870s Haussman-era heritage building near Opera Garnier, Galeries Lafayette and Place Vendome in the eclectic, historic 9th Arrondissement in Paris.
“Haussman-era” had no meaning to me when I woke up this morning. 19th century Paris has a setting in my memory of artists whose work I’ve seen in museums and pop culture. Turns out that I now realize I was fully immersed in the Haussman-era experience of Paris architecture on the times I have walked the long boulevards of central Paris. Those times when I wandered and wondered if the street of unbroken building fronts would ever end and give me the option of turning to the left or right. Haussman was the lead city architect who transformed Paris from a medieval city of alleys into a city designed for modern transportation with long straight avenues into the city center and the improvements in sanitary conditions suitable for urban living in the middle of the 19th century. This is an informative Wikipedia read on Haussman’s Renovation of Paris.
But back to the hotel and the hype of press releases for the W Paris-Opera:
Designed jointly by W Global Brand Design and the award-winning Rockwell Group Europe, W Paris – Opera was conceptualised to create a dynamic dialogue between the building’s historic facade, Paris as the “City of Light” and W Hotels’ DNA by infusing New York’s dynamism and never-ending energy into the quintessentially sophisticated Parisian neighbourhood.
W Paris-Opera jumps into the SPG Hotel Reward Category 7 at 30,000 points per night and 35,000 points in peak season dates. Currently there are no peak season dates listed for this hotel on the SPG website.
Starwood in Paris Rate Analysis for a 5-night stay April 15-20, 2012
Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world for city center brand name hotels.
Starwood Hotels has Prince de Galles, Paris as a Luxury Collection member and that hotel is closed for remodeling most of 2012.
Westin Paris Vendome and W Paris-Opera and Le Meridien Etoile are three options for Starwood Hotels.
W Paris-Opera Category 7 at 30,000 points per night. 120,000 points (5th night free award) or 365 EUR/night for a prepaid, nonrefundable rate = US$482/night. Best Available refundable rate at 480 EUR per night = US$633.48/night.
W Paris-Opera redemption value = US$20.08 per 1,000 points using prepaid rate. US$26.40 per 1,000 points redemption value using BAR rate.
Westin Vendome Category 6 at 20,000 points per night. 364 EUR/night = US$480/night.
Westin Vendome redemption value = $30.00 per 1,000 points.
Le Meridien Etoile Category 5 at 12,000 points per night. 196 EUR/night = US$259/night.
Le Meridien Etoile redemption value = $26.98 per 1,000 points.
W Paris-Opera Rooms
W Paris-Opera is a hotel where Platinum elite status will definitely pay back some dividends with a potential upgrade and free breakfast.
The standard size “Wonderful” room is a small 226-269 sq. ft. The 365 EUR rate shown in the analysis above is the 20% discount rate for a prepaid, nonrefundable Wonderful size room with a King Bed and a rainshower head.
The next category is the Spectacular Room which sounds like mostly the same room design and size with the Opera House view. The rate rises to 445 EUR for the advance purchase prepaid nonrefundable rate or 580 EUR for BAR rate.
The Marvelous Suite at W Paris-Opera is listed at 344 sq. ft. This is actually about the average size of a typical upper upscale standard hotel room. W Hotels are clever at loading a surprising amount of functionality in a small space. The size of the Marvelous Suite probably seems much larger than the actual space allocated for the room. I teased the W San Francisco back in 2009 for a room their website claimed to be 400 sq. ft. but my tape measure couldn’t account for much more than 300 square feet of room space.
April 15-20, 2012 room rate for a Marvelous Suite is 605 EUR prepaid, nonrefundable (US$799/night) or 780 EUR BAR rate ($1,030/night).
805 EUR (US$1,063) includes breakfast which is certainly a deal for an extra 15 EUR per night. I mean the breakfast addition is a good deal compared to the BAR room rate. $1,000 per night tiny suite is certainly well beyond my financial means for travel. I wonder if those new SPG Suite upgrades can get a member into the Marvelous Suite. I bet they can!
Should I go on with the higher room categories at W Paris-Opera?
Fabulous Room – King Bed: 420 –450 square feet. Now this is a comfortable size room. 896 EUR prepaid (US$1,182) /1,150 EUR BAR ($1,517/night) April 15-20, 2012.
WOW Suite – King Bed: 484-635 square feet. 1,306 EUR ($1,723/night)prepaid/1,660 EUR BAR ($2,190/night).
Extreme WOW Suite – King Bed: 947 square feet. 1,946 EUR (US$2,568/night) prepaid or 2,460 EUR BAR ($3,246/night).
There is a W Paris-Opera hotel page with special offer rates for 4th night free, two free nights on a 6-night stay and 30% off BAR room rates for bookings made by March 31.
Pinch me now. I am still dreaming.
Links: Starwood site for W Paris-Opera
W Paris-Opera hotel site.
Marriott Rewards this morning released the full list of hotel category reassignments effective Thursday, March 15, 2012.
Reservations can be made using the current reward category rates until March 14, 2012. Reward reservations you already have at a hotel that will be dropping in category can be adjusted downward after March 15 to the lower rate by calling Marriott Rewards Customer Support at 801-468-4000.
The full list of hotel category changes with explanations and a category distribution graphic is available through the link in this FlyerTalk post. The hotel reward category distribution shows a competitive edge for Marriott Rewards with the high proportion of hotels in the lower four of eight reward categories.
On a personal note:
The past three years I have mounted social media attacks primarily on Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors each February and March when the announcement was made that hotel reward categories were being changed, yet these programs refused to release the full list of hotels changing categories prior to the changes taking effect.
Big thumbs up to Marriott Rewards for changing to a fully transparent announcement. Many of us using hotel loyalty programs take our loyalty as a serious investment in our travel budgeting for hotel stays. This is a consumer friendly move by Marriott Rewards. Thank you.
I will follow up this post in the next day or two with a detailed analysis of the Marriott Rewards hotel category reassignment changes.
Starwood Preferred Guest announced hotel category changes for reward nights effective March 1, 2012. The net effect is something like 138 hotels will drop in category level while 183 hotels rise in category level.
Update March 15, 2012: The tables here were based on the initial February 16 release of SPG category changes in a pdf. I copied those changes into a spreadsheet. Several of the hotels showing category changes in these tables were removed from the final change list. Starwood Lurker on FlyerTalk stated March 2 that the initial pdf was outdated.
Here are a few of the hotels originally listed that did not change category and some new hotels that did change category since the February 16 list was published.
[original Feb 21 post content continues below]
The numbers shown in this post may be off by a couple of hotels compared to the Starwood pdf. There are some hotels listed on the Starwood pdf of category changes that are no longer in the system (Syria) or exiting the Starwood family soon (Le Meridien Cancun). Four Points Seattle is shown as a change rising from category 2 to category 3, yet that hotel already is listed as category 3 on the SPG site.
The bad news is the hotels going up are concentrated in the upper tiers while hotels going down are primarily in lower tiers. This means that many resorts and high priced urban hotels will cost more points while many Sheraton and Four Points hotels already in the lower tiers will cost even less as of March 1.
The major news item for Loyalty Traveler readers from day one of the Carlson Rezidor Global Business Conference 2012 was an announcement that the hotel group just signed a deal with US Bank to issue a Club Carlson Visa credit card. I have no details on earn rates for the credit card and the launch date was not announced, although I was told it may be available Q4 2012.
Most other aspects of Atlantis are impressive. This place definitely is impressive as a full service resort. More posts with conference details and a review of Atlantis Resort will come later when I have a stable internet connection.
The Royal Towers at Atlantis
The Royal Towers is the iconic Atlantis hotel structure with the central arch. This photo gives the appearance of being one long building. The far right is actually a separate Atlantis hotel building called the Cove and is located a few hundred yards northwest of Royal Towers.
View from my room in Royal Towers Atlantis.
Another view from the room.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
The Carlson Hotel Group and Rezidor Hotel Group (EMEA – Europe, Middle East, Africa region hotels) was officially renamed as Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group January 18, 2012.
Junkanoo – A party Bahamian style
The Royal Deck opening night party outdoors included some noise makers on the tables. Later in the evening their purpose was revealed when the Junkanoo paraded through the evening party crowd.
This is a traditional Bahamian celebration that takes place at 1am on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas and also on New Year’s Day where extravagant costumes and music play out on the streets of Nassau.
In the walkway to the west tower of the Royal Towers is the Dec 26. 2011 costume winner ‘Atlantis Rising’ from the Shell Saxons Superstars Junkanoo Group.
“Atlantis Rising”
The Water of Winter
This is the fourth time I have been to a Caribbean island. This is the first time I have visited in winter and the ocean is not like the warm bath water temperature I experienced in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and US Virgin Islands in summer months. The ocean temperature is certainly tolerable and probably as warm or warmer than swimming at the beach in Southern California in summer.
On the flip side though, the air temperature is ideal for me at 65 to 75 degrees and low humidity. I have been sleeping with the patio door open and listening to the beach surf at night. The skies have been almost totally clear of clouds and the stars are lovely to watch from bed in the tranquil hours from midnight to dawn.
Blogger Disclosure
I am attending the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Global Business Conference 2012 as a media guest. My hotel room at Atlantis and conference fee are provided complimentary by Carlson. I paid my own airfare to come to Nassau.
In between the schedule of events from 9am to 9pm meetings, meals and parties are a few precious moments of down time to relax. I haven’t turned on the TV since my arrival.
Starwood Preferred Guest has outlined a good balance of new benefits to recognize its frequent guest elite members. The changes coming March 1, 2012 reward hotel loyalty with enhanced upgrade benefits for more frequent SPG Platinum elite members.
SPG Benefits website presentation.
Overview of SPG Elite Changes
SPG Gold members
· Hotel Stay Welcome Gift – Choose from Starpoints (up to 250 points/stay) or free internet or free beverage.
· Lifetime SPG Gold elite membership earned after 250 nights and 5 years as SPG elite member. Award nights from October 1, 2011 onward count.
SPG Platinum members
· Hotel Stay Welcome Gift – Choose from Continental Breakfast for entire stay or Starpoints (up to 500/stay) or local gift.
· 50+ nights Platinum members only – 10 Suite Night Awards. This is in addition to the existing and continuing policy of complimentary upgrades upon arrival for SPG Platinum elites that has been a long time competitive edge of Starwood preferred Guest.
· 75+ nights Platinum members only – Earn 4 points per dollar on hotel spend. Lower tier Platinum members earn 3 points/$1 on hotel spend.
· 75+ nights Platinum members only – Your24 check-in at any hour and maintain room for 24 hours. Check in at 9pm and the room is yours until 9pm 24 hours later.
· 100+ nights Platinum members only – Personal Starwood Hotels Ambassador to help travel planning.
· Lifetime SPG Platinum elite membership earned after 500 nights and 10 years Platinum elite status. Award nights from October 1, 2011 onward count. SPG American Express 5 annual nights credit will not count for Lifetime elite nights. Years of Platinum Elite status earned as a benefit of American Express Centurion credit card membership will count.
· NOTE: Members who achieved the 50 or more nights Platinum thresholds in 2011 will receive their new benefits March 1, 2012.
