Kimpton Hotels has a great restaurant option available for someone like me who hates the huge mark-up on wine when dining out. Through Labor Day you can bring two bottles of your own wine to a Kimpton Hotel restaurant and receive complimentary corkage.

Serrano Hotel San Francisco — here I come.

“We’ll have the Ponzu specials and here is my restaurant.com $25 dining coupon.”

A $2 coupon (purchased during 80% off Restaurant.com sale which occurs every few weeks) offering a $23 discount on a $50 meal and BYOW makes for the kind of hotel dining expense I can enjoy on my Loyalty Traveler budget.

Crab cakes with a view at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room on top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel with my own bottle of wine.  That sounds like a delightful dinner date looking over Union Square San Francisco.

 

Kimpton Hotels have restaurants in 23 cities around the USA, however, there are alcohol laws and this offer is only valid in the more liberal states of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and the U.S. capital city of Washington, D.C.

When does a $1 breakfast cost $31?

When you are booking the Four Points by Sheraton “Breakfast for a Buck” room rate or perhaps in Las Vegas when you accompany your $1 breakfast with a table full of Keno cards.

Four Points by Sheraton, Starwood hotels mid-range hotel brand, has a promotional campaign hitting the hotel industry media outlets today.

MarketWatch.com – What’s a Dollar Buy These Days?

Hotel Check-In (USA Today) – Four Points by Sheraton Hotels offer $1 breakfasts this summer

“Four Points by Sheraton is launching an eye-opening “Breakfast for a Buck” package today, which gets you a delicious, hearty breakfast for just a dollar.”

Sounds great!

Unfortunately, the “Breakfast for a Buck” just isn’t true in the sense that most travelers would use when searching hotel rates. Breakfast for a Buck is $1 over the Best Available Rate, often written as the acronym BAR. The problem with promotions based on BAR is the Best Available Rate rarely means the lowest rate available when searching for hotel rooms.

There is actually a better promotional rate currently offered with AAA called the “Breakfast for Two Daily” rate with Starwood hotels rate code: AAABFS

This Starwood Hotels link shows participating properties for the AAA special rate offer.

Here is a comparison of the two special offers for the Four Points San Rafael in Marin County, California. Saturday, April 24 – Four Points San Rafael

“Breakfast for a Buck” rate = $110 night and includes one breakfast.

AAABFS rate = $102.65 night and includes breakfast for two.

AAA rate without breakfast is $81.75.

Who wouldn’t rather have two breakfasts for $7.35 less than one breakfast?

Here is my comment today at Barbara DeLollis’ Hotel Check-In column for USA Today regarding this breakfast offer.

The real deal!

Unfortunately this is one of those special offers that will likely cost you more than the value of the breakfast. 

First, the fine print for this offer states the “breakfast for a buck” only applies to one guest. The other guest pays regular breakfast rates. 

Second, the rates I checked showed a substantial premium for the “Breakfast for a Buck” room rate. I find AAA rates are generally the lowest rate about 50% of the time. 

Here are sample rates for Four Points hotels in San Francisco Bay Area for Saturday, April 24:

Breakfast for a Buck rate is coded “FPBPKG”. 

Four Points San Francisco Bay Bridge, Emeryville

FPBPKG rate = $100 or $112.07 after tax

AAA rate = $84.15 or $94.31 after tax.

Breakfast for a Buck actual cost = $17.76

Four Points San Francisco Airport

FPBPKG rate not available 

Four Points San Rafael

FPBPKG rate = $110 or $122.10 after tax

AAA rate = $81.75 or $90.74 after tax.

Breakfast for a Buck actual cost = $31.36 

Four Points San Jose Downtown

FPBPKG rate = $120 or $138.80 after tax

AAA rate = $101.15 or $117.31 after tax.

Breakfast for a Buck actual cost = $21.49

The real deal on the Breakfast for a Buck deal is that it is NO DEAL!

If the rates are going to be driven up for the Breakfast for a Buck deal, the least Four Points could do is offer breakfast for two adults on this rate.

 

Hotel Rate Quick Tutorial

Best Available Rate usually means a refundable reservation with a cancellation window from one or two days before arrival. Some hotels even allow day of arrival no-charge cancellations on the Best Available Rate.

There are commonly lower rates than BAR.

1. Prepaid, non-refundable rates
2. AAA auto club  
3. Senior rates.

Prepaid nonrefundable rates are generally a discount based on BAR. Prepaid rates can be significant savings but are a risky strategy since any changes to your plans means forfeiting the full price of the room nights.  Free night rates and percentage discount rates are generally based on BAR and often have restrictive cancellation policies.

AAA auto club rates are most frequently the lowest rate available or within a few dollars of nonrefundable prepaid rates. One of the great benefits of AAA is the cancellation policy is usually the same as for BAR rates. The annual cost of AAA membership is worth the money for frequent guests in hotel savings. I have seen high-end hotels drop over $100 per night just by booking AAA room rates. Most hotels offer 10 to 30% off using AAA rates.

Senior rates are variable. Sometimes they are lower than AAA, but generally not, and generally not as widely available. Different hotel chains have different age qualification requirements.

Four Points Promotions – Choose from four great deals (link)

Breakfast for a Buck is just one of four package deals being offered by Four Points.

Great Beer package rate includes two full breakfasts and one half-price beer sampler per hotel stay. Another not so great deal considering the high mark-up on BAR.

Family Friendly Fun package rate is probably the worst value of these four package offers. This rate includes a free buffet or child’s entrée for one child 12 or younger with an accompanying adult purchase of a buffet or entrée.

Drive In, Fly Out package rate. I can’t even give an opinion on this package rate since I could not locate the rate for either the San Francisco or Los Angeles Airport Four Points hotels at various times over the summer. In the past I have found the Four Points SFO parking rate gave me a night’s stay and 10 days of parking for just $50 more than the cost of parking alone at the airport lots.

Unfortunately, I have to say my opinion of these four great deals from Four Points is at least three of the four deals are total BS wrapped up for the undiscerning guest in a pretty webpage and PR.

The air is cold and I wrap the white bed comforter tighter around my neck.  I continue to stay in bed at the Sheraton Colonia, Uruguay on a cloudy June morning. Two large palms on the golf course are illuminated by subtle lighting. These palms are the primary feature of the vista through the windows from my bed. Outdoors is bird land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open curtains and windows allowed me to enjoy the serene quiet of night as I occasionally awoke and counted twelve flashing navigational lights in the distance marking islands on the Rio de la Plata. Nine days of travel have taken me to Washington, D.C., New York City, Atlanta, and Buenos Aires. I am not a city person. I like outdoor walks in the woods and on the beach.  I instantly fell in love with the Sheraton Colonia Golf Resort & Spa in Colonia, Uruguay. A sense of calm relaxation enveloped me from the moment I arrived.

 

 

 

 

Winter here means temperatures in the 40s and 50s. The outdoor pools are drained for maintenance and repairs. The sandy beach is littered with yellow leaves from the marshland trees, and the occasional plastic bottle.

 

The only sounds I hear are the variety of bird songs and the lapping water of the Rio de la Plata on the sand. Serenity and quiet, well-being and relaxation, these are the offerings of the Sheraton Colonia in the off-season.

 

 

 

 

Colonia, Uruguay is an easy one hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina on the Buquebus. There is a world of difference between the two locations. In Buenos Aires I walked the broken stone sidewalks while choked by auto and bus exhaust coming from the crowded streets. My senses were abused by mechanical noise and noxious fumes.

 

 

 

 

I feel totally wrapped in silence after more than a week of planes, trains, busses, and subways. Having no loud sounds bombarding my ears is a soothing respite from travel. This is rural Uruguay. This is vacation land and just the remedy I needed to recuperate from all the urban hustle of this past week.

 

 

 

 

The palm fronds blow in the breeze awash in subtle orange light. A gentle beat of a ship’s motor echoes off the water. The open patio door hasn’t cooled the room as much as I hoped. This is one of the darkest hotel locations I have ever seen. There are so few lights outside beyond the orange glow of palms at the resort. The stars must be incredible to view here, however, the sky has been cloudy and the air thick with fog for most of the past two weeks. The airport in Buenos Aires has been closed for days at a time.

 

 

 

 

I turn on the TV to check the airport situation and see more bad news of the Iraq war. I turn off the TV after 15 minutes to turn the serenity back on here in Colonia by the Rio de la Plata. The patio tile is cold on my feet as I open the sliding door wide to let more cool 11 degree Celsius air into the room. I slip on sandals and stand outside listening to the river.

 

 

 

 

Not since being in Bali in 2003 at the Nusa Dua Resort the year after the Kuta bombing have I been in such a beautiful resort to find the hotel staff outnumbering the hotel guests. I have 1,200 square feet in a two-room, two full bath suite – both with spa tubs, an office decorated in gorgeous stone walls, a closet large enough to sleep in, two wall mounted TVs, a kitchenette, seating for 12 persons, and two patio balconies.

 

 

 

 

This is a lovely resort even in the winter off-season. The estuarial environment may lose more of its beauty and solitude as a large housing development is scheduled to be built and encompass the existing Sheraton Golf and Spa resort.

 

 

 

 

The indoor/outdoor pool is heavenly. Three or four people were working out in the adjacent fitness room and a trainer was working with a couple. I swam for an hour with nobody else using the pool.

The indoor pool has a narrow channel extension to the outdoors. The warm water surrounded my body while the cool breeze blew across my head. Birds singing songs in the shrubs and bushes outside the hotel created a living musical soundtrack to soak by.

 

 

 

 

Twice I was the solo diner at the hotel restaurant. The table by the window was decorated with fresh flowers. My noontime meal had three kinds of bell peppers, eggplant, carrots and three pieces of a sole-like fish. There was also some crispy leaf vegetable unfamiliar to me. The plate was streaked with a chocolate sauce.

 

 

 

 

A staff of women watched my every move. It was necessary to maintain my gaze at the plates of food or out the window since anytime I glanced toward the group of women it triggered a service request for anything I might need. My table was loaded with beer, water, three kinds of bread, a cheese plate, and the fish entrée. What more could I need?

Note to self: Remember in future to sit facing away from the kitchen and staff to avoid being watched stuffing my face.

UB 40 played over the restaurant speakers. Rock & Roll is the global constant. In contrast, the spa ambience kept soundscapes music softly playing.

 

 

 

 

Here is a 4-minute video slideshowI made from Sheraton Colonia photos during my stay. This video has several more pictures of the hotel and my hotel suite.

Starwood Hotels Sheraton Colonia Golf & Spa Resort was a category 3 hotel when I was a guest in June 2007.  My room cost $45 and 2,800 starpoints for a Cash & Points stay. The lowest available published rate at the time was $160 per night.

Sheraton Colonia is now a Starwood category 4 hotel and available for $60 + 4,000 starpoints as a Cash & Points award or 10,000 points per night as an all points award. Published room rates are between $160 and $300 per night.

August 2009 BuquebusBuenos Aires-Colonia ferry rates: $138ARS (Argentina pesos) or about US$36 one way for tourist class and $188ARS, about $50 one –way in First Class.

 

 

 

 

Stayed 5-28-09

Link to Sheraton Denver West hotel homepage:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/search/hotel_detail.html?propertyID=883

 

Sheraton Denver West is across the city and a world apart from Sheraton Denver Tech Center.  This hotel offered great value. From the time I started looking at Denver hotel rates in late April to my arrival, the room rate dropped from $144 to $79 for any night Thursday through Sunday, May 28-31. The Friday and Saturday night room rates were $104 and dropped to $79 over the month of May.

There is an underground parking garage beneath Sheraton Denver West in addition to outside parking at the street level. Parking is free at the hotel.

The first impression was hearing classic rock Allman Brothers “Melissa” over the speakers outside as I approached the lobby. This hotel made me feel like I was finally on a Rocky Mountains vacation after our unsettling night at Sheraton Denver Tech Center. The lobby was bright and spacious. We had a room facing the mountains, although the city view rooms looking across to the Denver Central Business District skyscrapers five miles away would also be a decent view.

I was upgraded to the top of the hotel 12^th floor Club Level, room 1202 with spa tub. The Club Lounge was an open room, however, due to lack of guests there was no concierge or food service. We were given restaurant and bar vouchers instead.

·         Received a complimentary cocktails and appetizers for two coupon at the Red Rocks Grille. ($20+ value)

·         Breakfast Buffet for two at Red Rocks Grille ($20 value)

·         Complimentary room internet and free internet access at Link@Sheraton computer center.

I felt guilty paying a $79 weekday rate and receiving so many complimentary hotel benefits.

The Club Floor guest room had an entry hall of dark wood flooring with a closet. Turn left and you face the bathroom door with the toilet and walk-in shower stall (5’ x 3’ ft).

Booked $89 rate with 6pm day of arrival cancellation policy and the rate dropped to $79 so I changed reservations to the lower rate on the day of my arrival.

 

The sink and counter and a spa tub were in an open space on the left.

The 9 ft high ceilings made the 460 square foot room seem even more spacious.

The bed was the firmest hotel bed we slept on in the past month. I loved it. Nice padded headboard too.

My main complaint about the room, and it is subjective, is the 37-inch TV should be a 42-inch TV for the size and layout of this particular room. Laying in bed we were 16 feet from the TV screen and a 42-inch screen would have been nice. The 37-inch TV screen was adequate for our second stay in Room 1210 where the bed was on a different wall and only 12 feet from the TV. The main difference in the rooms was no spa tub in 1210.

Also, I noticed in both rooms that some fixtures had been mounted to the walls with a disregard for vertical alignment. The wall paper has vertical lines so it is quite apparent when the mirror is not aligned vertically straight against the wall paper. The shower knob plate in the bathroom of room 1210 was also not aligned vertically when it was mounted on the tile.

 

The second floor workout room is massive. There are actually two fitness rooms adjacent to the pool.

 

 

The indoor pool was divided for a lap swim lane. I swam each day around noon with my niece and sister-in-law and the pool was empty most of the time both days.

 

 

There is also a sauna in the fitness center. The fitness center had multiple showers and lockers so guests do not need to ride the elevator back to the room in wet swimwear.

The “Link @ Sheraton experienced with Microsoft” is a communications concept introduced last year for computer centers in Sheraton Hotel lobbies. Sheraton Denver West had the most expansive set-up I have seen yet. The Denver West  Link@Sheraton center was located in an open space room next to the check-in counter. There were five computer stations, a large TV, and a seating area. Each computer had a mounted webcam and instructions were provided for creating and emailing a video postcard. Guests receive 45 minutes free access.

The waitress at the Red Rocks Grille was so nice and friendly that Kelley made me double the $5 tip I left for our complimentary drinks and appetizers.

The buffet Friday morning had omelettes, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, potatoes, juices, pastries, breads, and cereals. Denver Tech Center had only bread pudding and oatmeal as hot items.

5-31-09 our second stay at Denver West in room 1210. The main difference in rooms is this one had a single bath area with no tub. The shower stall had a seat ledge and a second rain shower head.

Two items we did not notice on our first stay was the abnormally loud AC. And when I closed the curtains in the morning I could see light spots all through the drapes where the evening sun had eroded the plastic coating cover on the interior side of the fabric.  We never closed the drapes on our first stay. 

Kelley was exhausted after five days in Denver and my hotel hopping tour. Waking her up for morning breakfast by 9am was a challenge at both Sheraton Denver Tech and Sheraton Denver West. We went to breakfast at 8:55am Monday morning Sheraton Denver West for the 6-9am complimentary buffet.

Staff were around, but we waited ten minutes and specifically had to request service to get a glass of water. This was definitely not the same service level we had last Thursday and Friday during our stay.

All in all, this hotel was the best bargain hotel of our Denver trip. The hotel location was ideal for a day trip to Golden, Colorado.  The hotel is also next to a downtown commuter parking center for easy mass transit access to downtown Denver if you don’t want to take a car into the city center.

Swiftwater Cafe, Hyatt Regency SFO
San Francisco Airport, Burlingame, CA

The Entertainment.com discount books are available at significant discounts these days. The membership year started November 1, 2008 and the Entertainment’08 edition has less than six months validity left. I picked up books for the San Francisco, San Jose, and Monterey/Santa Cruz regions for $15 each with free shipping last week.

San Francisco/San Mateo Counties Entertainment ’08 edition has at least 10 hotel restaurant dining opportunities and several other dining options in close proximity to major hotel locations in the San Francisco Bay area. These discounts are almost always valid for 2-for-1 on a lunch or dinner entree.

Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Starwood hotel brands all have restaurants represented, however, there are no hotel restaurant offers from InterContinental Hotels Group in the editions I looked over. Dining earns hotel loyalty points in some programs (Starwood) even without an associated hotel stay.

So invite your spouse, business colleague, or date and do some hotel dining on the cheap (relative to normally overpriced hotel dining), courtesy of Entertainment.com 2-for-1 dining partners.
Different editions have different offers. The Monterey fine dining section has been significantly reduced over the past few years to less than one-third of the offers five years ago. Many of the dining restaurants in the Monterey/Santa Cruz edition are not even in the counties.

Entertainment.com ’08 San Francisco/San Mateo area Membership Book
Coupons for restaurants in or adjacent to hotels:

Downtown San Francisco
1a. Hilton San Francisco, Kiku of Tokyo $18
1b. Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant (next to Hilton SF hotel), $20

2. Grand Hyatt, San Francisco, Grandviews Restaurant, $32
Grandviews Restaurant – 36th floor dining with one of city’s best views of San Francisco
$32 value for a free lunch or dinner entrée with purchase of lunch or dinner entrée.

3. Hyatt Regency, San Francisco, (these restaurants are located in the Embarcadero shopping area adjacent to Hyatt regency hotel and are not affiliated with hotel).
3a. Gaylord Indian Restaurant (outside Hyatt) $18
3b. Tony Roma’s in Embarcadero Promenade level, $5 off $15, or $10 off $40 purchase, or up to $8.00 free appetizer/dessert with purchase of two entrees.

4. Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, The Compass Grill, $22

San Francisco Airport, SFO (Burlingame addresses, about 14 miles from downtown)

5. Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, Swiftwater Café $26

6. Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, Knuckles Sports Bar $16

7. Doubletree Hotel, SFO, San Francisco Airport, Burlingame $19

8. Sheraton Gateway SFO, San Francisco Airport, Burlingame, Windows on the Bay $18

San Mateo (8 miles south of SFO, San Francisco Airport, directly adjacent west of Highway 101)

9. Marriott San Mateo, California Grill, $19

Palo Alto (Stanford University) (19 miles south of San Francisco Airport)
Two Starwood Hotels are located across the street from Stanford University campus, adjacent to each other, and within walking distance of upscale Stanford Shopping Mall (less than 1 mile).

10. Westin Hotel Palo Alto, Soleil Restaurant, $27
2-for-1 lunch or dinner entrée

11. Sheraton Palo Alto, Poolside Grill $18

San Jose/Santa Clara Entertainment book
1. Westin Hotel Palo Alto, Soleil Restaurant, $27
2. Sheraton Palo Alto, Poolside Grill $18
3. Stanford Park Hotel, The Duck Club, Menlo Park $25
4. Biltmore Hotel Santa Clara, Montague’s Café, $14 (or $7 off single entrée)
5. Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, Swiftwater Café $26
6. Sheraton Gateway SFO, San Francisco Airport, Burlingame, Windows on the Bay $18

Monterey / Santa Cruz Entertainment Book

1. Monterey Marriott, Characters Sports Bar, $11
2. Portola Plaza Hotel, Monterey, Peter B’s Brewpub, $10
3. Hilton Scotts Valley, Café Max, $19
4. Biltmore Hotel Santa Clara, Montague’s Café, $14 (or $7 off single entrée)
5. Hilton San Francisco, Kiku of Tokyo $18
6. Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, The Compass Grill, $22
7. Doubletree Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, California The Bar Grille, $25
8. Harrah’s Reno, Café Napa, Reno, NV $19