19
May
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…
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.
HHonors Premium Room Rewards were introduced in April 2011 as one of three expanded reward options of Points & Money, Premium Room and Upgraded Room reward options. Premium Rewards offer the ability and option to book a higher room category, even a suite using only points.
Upgraded Room rewards offer the ability to book a confirmed upgrade using points to upgrade a confirmed reservation. Points & Money reduce the cost of a reward night to a fixed dollar amount and 50% points of a standard reward. Points & Money rewards were analyzed in this Loyalty Traveler post last week.
Premium Room Rewards Analysis
The Waldorf=Astoria New York room rate for Wednesday, October 19 is $709.
[Note: Click on images below to view full size in separate window.]
Waldorf Astoria New York BAR rate Wednesday 10-19-11 is $709.
The checkbox in upper right corner, “Use HHonors Points“, allows a search for reward availability. The points reward availability appears when the box is checked. The $709 lowest Best Available rate makes a 60,000 points Standard Reward a high value points redemption. But what if there is no standard reward availability?
Waldorf Astoria New York Premium Room Reward 10-19-11 is 212,487 points.
There is no standard reward availability for the Waldorf-Astoria New York for the October 19 date. Premium Reward availability is 212,487 points for a small room at 250 to 300 square feet. This is more than three times the high season standard reward rate of 60,000 points per night.
The extremely high rate for a small room makes paying a bit more points for a one bedroom suite with twice the room space look like a feasible option on this date for an HHonors points millionaire.
Waldorf Astoria New York Premium Room One-Bedroom Suite 10-19-11 is 272,427 points.
Compare Redemption Value of HHonors points for Premium Room Rewards
Both Premium Rewards offer the same redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 points compared to the Best Available room rate. This is a relatively low redemption value for HHonors compared to the $5.00 per 1,000 points most redemption rate analyses for HHonors points. NerdWallet.com changed its point value analysis for HHonors points to a points value extended range from $1 per 1,000 points (0.1 cent/point) to $17/1,000 points (1.7 cents/point).
Using Flexible Dates Calendar tool to find Standard Reward Availability for Waldorf Astoria New York
Standard Rewards at 60,000 points per night will allow a three night stay for 180,000 points compared to a one night premium reward stay at 212,427 points. Flexible Dates calendar tool makes this an easy search option.
Restarting my search and checking “Flexible Dates” box allows me to quickly check two weeks of dates for standard reward availability.
HHonors Flexible Dates reward search tool.
The Flexible Dates search shows there are several dates in a two week period around October 19 where peak season standard rewards are available for 60,000 points per night.
Waldorf Astoria New York Flexible Dates reward search shows several dates with Standard Rewards at 60,000 points.
Moving the hotel stay forward by one week provides a Standard Reward room for three nights at 60,000 points per night or 180,000 points for three nights.
Waldorf Astoria New York Standard Reward availability is 180,000 points for three night stay October 14-17.
When I go back to flexible dates and input October 14-17 I find there is actually much more Standard Reward availability for a 3-night reward stay compared to when I checked Standard Reward availability for a one night stay.
One would think that Premium Rewards would be less for these dates since the Best Available room rate is less for the lowest category rooms. That does not appear to be the case.
In the earlier search for October 19 the flexible dates returned only Premium Reward availability at 212,000+ points per night for each night from October 19-22. When searching 3-night stays there is Standard Reward availability at 60,000 points per night.
Waldorf Astoria New York Flexible Dates search for 3-night stay shows plenty of Standard Reward Availability.
Returning to the original search date of October 19, the flexible dates reward calendar now shows a three night stay is available for 180,000 points in a Double Deluxe Guest Room on HHonors Standard Rewards compared to my previous search showing only Premium Reward availability at the one night rate of 212,487 points for a King Bed Superior Room.
Waldorf Astoria 3 night Standard Reward October 19-22 is 180,000 points total.
HHonors Redemption Value for this three night stay Oct 19-22 using 180,000 points for Standard Rewards is $10.98 per 1,000 points for a stay that is $1,977 + tax compared to the original Premium Room reward rate of 212,487 points for a $709 Superior King room for one night with a redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points.
The King One Bedroom Suite is still available as a Premium Reward for October 19-22, however the rate is unchanged from the initial search at $909 or 272,427 points per night for a redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points.
Dozens of searches for Premium Rewards at hotels around the world reveal a fairly constant redemption value for HHonors Premium Rewards at $3.34 per 1,000 points. The exceptional case is when a hotel has Point Stretcher Reward availability. In these cases the Premium Reward Redemption Value improves significantly.
HHonors Flexible Dates search tool using points provides members the ability to quickly search and compare paid stay and reward stay rates in a two weeks calendar.
The Flexible Dates Calendar tool allows you to search for better reward and paid stay rates when your dates are flexible.
Starwood Hotels St. Regis Florence, Italy is a hotel built in the 15th century Giuntini family palace in the center of the city near the Uffizi Gallery and within 500 meters of the Duomo. This SPG category 6 hotel has River Arno views and commendable reviews on FlyerTalk since the hotel rebranded from Luxury Collection Grand Hotel Florence earlier this year. The hotel history is available on the St. Regis website.
SPG.com Starwood Hotels Compare Rates Tool
The main point of this article is to examine features of the SPG.com Compare Rates tool that allows three additional Starwood corporate, group and promotional rates to be compared to Standard Rates in a display.
My initial rate checks for the St. Regis Florence pulled up several dates with low rates at 550EUR or USD$752 per night in October and November 2011. This certainly seemed the appropriate time to search the SPG.com Compare Rates and Browse Dates/Rates tools. I also checked St. Regis Florence hotel special offers.
SPG Compare Rates allow me to check different rate types while Browse Dates/Rates allow rates on different dates to be compared far more quickly than simply plugging dates into the homepage calendar search.
Finding the SPG Compare Rates and Rate Calendar tools
SPG.com St. Regis Florence Nov 3-6, 2011
Both screenshots show the option to compare more rates or browse dates/rates. My account is set to show AAA rates shown as SET/Corporate Account # 298940.
Compare more rates allows three rates to be compared and even a specific promotional or corporate rate code to be used.
Starwood Compare More Rates checklist for quick rate checks.
When my interest is paid rates rather than using points, then I can compare AAA, Senior and Breakfast rates together.
Starwood Compare Rates display for AAA, Senior and Breakfast rates.
Different dates I tried resulted in rate differences of a couple hundred euros per night.
Promotion Code Z3H is a third night free offer I entered into the Compare Rates option and the St. Regis Florence returned availability.
St. Regis Florence Compare Rates Display for November 3-6, 2011
The 3 nights for the price of 2 rate is prepaid and nonrefundable. The rate discount looked to be the best deal going.
St. Regis Florence 3rd night free rate.
Two special offers at the St. Regis Florence showed a 20% discount for a 3-night stay and 30% discount on a 4-night stay. These rates have the same prepaid, nonrefundable terms as Z3H and provide a smaller discount for a three night stay compared to Z3H for November 3-6, 2011.
St. Regis Special Offer 20% off Rate is higher than Starwood Z3H rate.
St. Regis Florence Rate Comparison November 3-6, 2011
Deluxe King (no river view)
Deluxe King – Panoramic river view
Premium Deluxe Panoramic River View
St. Regis Florence Rate Comparison on 4-night stays
St. Regis Florence has a hotel special offer 30% discount on four night stays. This rate should be lower than Z4H fourth night free which works out to 25% discount. I went back to the SPG.com Compare Rates function to input Z4H.
Starwood Compare Rates function for Z4H 4th Night Free promotion.
Search results show no Z4H availability, but the lowest rate is the 30% discount on a four night stay.
St. Regis Florence 30% discount on four night stay.
The lowest rate so far is 262 EUR per night on a four night stay November 20-24, 2011.
Rate Calendar for Quick Checks of other dates
The 30% discount special rate on 4-night stays is the best deal seen. The Starwood Rate Calendar allows a quick check of other four-night dates to see if there are even lower rate dates for November 2011.
Starwood Rate Calendar for quicker comparative rate checks.
The 262EUR rate is for November 20-24, 2011. I can enter alternate dates and see a quick rate display.
Starwood Calendar Quick Rate Check Nov 19-23 St. Regis Florence
Shifting the arrival date one day earlier pushes the rate up 100EUR per night for the entire stay from 262EUR/night to 363 EUR/night. About $600 more to arrive one day earlier on a four night stay. The calendar rate function shows this rate instantaneously once dates are inserted into calendar.
Shifting the Arrival date one day later has no impact on the 262EUR rate. I can quickly check every date of the month using four night stays and find 250EUR/night is available beginning November 24.
Starwood Rate Calendar quickly reveals rate drop Novemebr 24-28, 2011 for St. Regis Florence.
Starwood Rate Comparison and Rate Calendar make searching for the best rate a simpler task. The features could be improved by showing lowest daily rates on calendar without having to enter specific dates.
Finding the lowest rates for your hotel stay can be challenging. Starwood’s tools make the task a little bit easier. There is still room for improvement.
Hotel rate data from STR compiled over the past decade show Fridays are the lowest rates of the week and Tuesdays are the highest rates of the week. Sundays have the lowest occupancy of any day on average for US hotels.
TGI Fridays
TGIF is my motto when the weekend comes around and big city hotel rates drop.
While the low occupancy for Sundays is probably accurate for most hotels across the country, the low Friday rates depend on the location of the hotel.
Urban hotels in central business districts are the kinds of places where hotel rates often drop by more than half. San Francisco is my go to location for good hotel promotions where I can stay in an upper upscale market segment hotel like a Westin, Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt for under $150 (in the winter season) when the typical weekday rate is close to $300.
A location like my hometown of Monterey, California tends to have higher rates on weekends when the tourists come to town. Tuesday might very well be the lowest rates of the week for a place like Monterey.
Sunday can be a bargain rate for a resort location where the occupancy drops and the rate often drops too.
Need a Saturday night? Check two night rates for better deals.
One strategy I have learned over the years is to check rates for a two night stay when the Saturday night rates are high. In a city like San Francisco, hotel rates can be much higher for a Saturday night alone. Saturday is a night where there is typically a larger walk-up population for guests who make a last minute decision to stay in a hotel. Frequently hotels will have a higher base rate for a Saturday night stay. Sometimes the rate is significantly lower if booking Saturday night as part of a two night hotel stay for Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday. It pays to check out the two day rate if that is an option for your hotel stay.
FlyerTalk has a 56-page thread on Hilton’s Best Rate Guarantee with over 800 posts covering 7.5 years since 2003. Over 80 posts from the past 12 months indicate there have only been a couple of posted successful Best Rate Guarantee claims approved by Hilton Worldwide and even these often required escalating the claim to Hilton supervisory levels after initial denials of claims. All in all, it appears the chance you will have a successful BRG claim with Hilton is about the same probability you will stay at an Embassy Suites with no children on the premises.
Hilton Worldwide has one of the most restrictive Best Rate Guarantee policies of the major hotel chains.
Anecdotal evidence indicates Hilton BRG claims are denied for a variety of factors due to some discrepancy between different wording used on third party sites to describe the basic room category for the hotel, the room bed size, different check-in times posted, third party website booking fees and taxes combined and breakfast rates on third party sites.
The general consensus on FlyerTalk is even taking the time to submit a Best Rate Guarantee with Hilton is a waste of time. Advice FlyerTalkers frequently give to Hilton HHonors members is just book the lower rate on the third party site and forget the loyalty benefits, since you will unlikely ever get a rate match and even if you manage to get a rate match, the likelihood of getting the $50 American Express voucher is low without follow-up at higher management levels.
Another common piece of advice is book with Marriott.
Marriott’s Look No Further threadon FlyerTalk has 48 pages with 719 posts since April 2006. Since the beginning of 2010 (page 35 of the FlyerTalk thread), there are over 200 posts in the Marriott Look No Further thread and almost all of the posts report an approved Best Rate Guarantee claim for a Marriott brand hotel.
Marriott Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee Policy
Starwood Hotels and Hyatt Hotels actually allow the guest to file a Best Rate Guarantee claim prior to making a confirmed reservation for the hotel. Starwood Hotels Best Rate policyoffers 10% off lower rate or match the lower rate and gives 2,000 bonus Starpoints for an approved Best Rate claim. I generally take the 2,000 points if the 10% savings off the lower rate is less than $50.
There are 45 pages with 671 posts since January 2008 in the FlyerTalk Starwood Best Rate Guarantee thread. Denied claims tend to be related to specific third party websites. Most seemingly eligible claims appear to be approved.
In my experience, I find Starwood Hotels to be fairly straightforward with their approval of Best Rate Guarantee claims. I actually book between 25% and 50% of my Starwood Hotels using BRG claims and earn an additional 2,000 points per stay for most of these bookings. In summer 2009 when Starwood Preferred Guest offered a free night after two stays, I completed 16 stays and half of those stays earned a 2,000 points Best Rate Guarantee claim bonus. And SPG was giving out Delta/Northwest miles too. That was a great year for hotel travel.
Now in 2011 we really need the Best Rate Guarantee backup as many hotels are skyrocketing rates.
Hyatt Hotels, on the other hand, reminds me a bit of the Hilton policy. Getting a Hyatt BRG claim approved for 20% lower than the third party rate is more difficult in my experience than with Starwood Hotels. A check of FlyerTalk Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee thread shows several successful Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee claims over the past year, however, there are only 37 posts in the three page thread since June 2009.
Priority Club is a Best Rate Guarantee program that I have little knowledge of its practical use. I couldn’t find the FlyerTalk thread covering IHG Best Rate Guarantee anecdotes.
The IHG Lowest Room Rate webpage does not instill much faith in me for the program. This is why.
Here is a piece describing how their Best Rate Guarantee works:
The following is from IHG Lowest Room Rate webpage.
Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee Claim Questions & Answers:
Is that lower rate for the same type of accommodations?
Same type of accommodations includes the same hotel, the same type of room(s), same dates and length of stay, and same number of guests.“Example of a resolution to a valid Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee claim:
A guest books a one night’s stay at the lowest available rate through the Best Available Rate search for a hotel in Atlanta, GA, (USA) on an IHG branded site for a rate of $200.00.
Within 24 hours, that same guest finds a rate of $190.00 on a competing Web site for the same hotel, same night and same room type (same number and type of bed(s)).
The guest contacts IHG to claim the Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee either by phone or by filling out the online form.
Once the Guest Relations team confirms that the Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee claim filed is valid, they will modify the guest’s room rate to $181.00 to uphold IHG’s Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee policy! That’s 10% better than the lower hotel rate reported.”
Loyalty Traveler Analysis of IHG methodology:
InterContinental Hotels Group Lowest Room Rate Guarantee Example is incorrect math.
The example as shown is $9 off of $190 room rate. That is not a 10% modification of the lower rate. IHG is showing a discount of less than 5% below the lower third party rate.
The modified room rate should be $171 to be 10% lower than $190. ($190 x 0.90 = $171)
Readers, please share your experiences of claiming Best Rate Guarantees. Specifically people who have made claims in different programs can share some comparisons of the experience across hotel chains.
What are your good and bad stories about Best Rate Guarantee claims?
Loyalty Traveler Best Rate Guarantee Hotel Report Card
Starwood Hotels = A (Guest may file claim before booking room and easy claims process)
Marriott Hotels = B (Guest must book room first with Marriott, file claim. Easy validation process.)
Hyatt Hotels = C (Guest may file claim before booking room, but not so easy validation process.)
InterContinental Hotels Group = no grade (need more data to assess program)
Hilton Hotels = F (Guest must book room first with Hilton, file claim within 24 hours and seemingly valid claims denied for variety of reasons.)
American Airlines AAdvantage program offers car and hotel awards for miles. The hotel awards have some very good redemption values for hotels starting under 10,000 miles per night. Some hotels I checked like Park Hyatt Washington, D.C. were around 24,000 miles for a night in February when the published rate is over $600 per night after tax.
Cash and Miles, beginning at just 1,000 miles is another option for American AAdvantage car and hotel awards. The same Park Hyatt hotel is only 1,000 miles and $281.71 for a free night. This offer gives a whopping $300+ value for 1,000 AA miles or more than 30 cents per mile. This value is near the upper end value of a high value international flight award (equivalent in value to a $30,000 ticket for 100,000 miles).
Award Restrictions
AAdvantage Elite members
There is a limited time special offer for AAdvantage Platinum and Executive Platinum elite members giving a 20% discount in miles and AAdvantage Gold elites 10% discount in miles.
Sample Hotel Rates: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Washington, D.C.
American Airlines AAdvantage Hotel Award = 24,100 miles for Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Park Hyatt Washington D.C. for 24,100 AAdvantage miles = 2.6 cents/mile
Related Loyalty Traveler post: High Hotel Award Value for 1,000 AA miles (Feb 6, 2011) provides examples of hotel award value in the 25 cents to 50 cents per mile range for New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Sydney, Australia.
Some people think I get free travel. The hotels and opportunities I get for discount rooms are the same opportunities open to any loyalty program member who plans with good travel strategies. I do not take complimentary rooms from hotels when I travel.
My goal is to show readers what is possible with hotel loyalty programs. Sometimes I probably get a nice upgrade due to being Loyalty Traveler, but the nice upgrades were a benefit I received as an elite hotel loyalty program member for many years prior to writing this blog.
Here is an example of how I stayed mostly in upper upscale and luxury hotels in Chicago for under $100 per night this past week even though a major Opthalmologist Convention was happening and filling many of the downtown Chicago hotels.
Holiday Inn Elk Grove (O’Hare Airport)
Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village (O'Hare)
Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers
Room view from Sheraton Chicago
View of Navy Pier from W Hotel Whiskey Sky Bar (similar to my room view)
Chicago at sunset from 40th floor rooftop pool deck at Hotel Avenue Crowne Plaza
Breakfast at 7th floor NoMI Restaurant Park Hyatt Chicago
5 hotel nights in Chicago = $564.25 for Loyalty Traveler
Actual lowest published rates for these hotel rooms = $1,649.06
That is why I am a loyalty traveler.
Three weeks ago I suggested San Francisco Starwood Hotels had optimistically high hotel rates for the July 4 weekend. Rates today for this July 4 weekend have dropped to their lowest level for six of the seven San Francisco city hotels (Le Meridien had an incredible $109 rate last week).
AAA rates are at their lowest level of the past three weeks for all seven San Francisco Starwood Hotels just three days before the weekend.
Four of the seven Starwood hotels loaded their lowest rates of the month just today.
Last minute rate drops are the primary reason to avoid prepaid, nonrefundable room rates.
Update: July 1 – Rates dropped even more down to $129 today for the Westin St. Francis for tomorrow night. Westin Market Street dropped to $109. These are the lowest rates of the past month for these two hotels. Le Meridien dropped to $129 today for this weekend.
