New York City saw a blistering rise in the points price for HHonors Standard Rewards with the March 28, 2013 changes. Many hotels that were 50,000 points per night are now 80,000 to 95,000 per night.

New York City was the first U.S. city to make a striking comeback in room rates following the 2008-2010 hotel recession. At one point nearly all the hospitality industry gains in the U.S. were coming from New York and a couple other cities. New York room rates are back up in the $400 range for an upper upscale hotel and even Hampton Inn is fetching that rate after taxes in Manhattan.

DoubleTree Suites New York Times Square is a hotel rising from 50,000 to 95,000 points per night as a new HHonors category 10 hotel reward. Hilton Times Square goes from 50,000 points as a Category 7 to 80,000 points peak season in may as a category 9 hotel in the new rewards system.

The Waldorf-Astoria is 80,000 points per reward night for the historic flagship property of Hilton’s luxury brand while the hotel charges a $459 room rate.

And the Hampton Inn Times Square North is also 80,000 points per Standard Reward night at Hilton’s upper midscale brand with a $359 rate.

New York lights up the topsy-turvy world of the new Hilton HHonors rewards.

New York is the fifth city in my five U.S. cities survey of Hilton HHonors rewards following the March 28, 2013 changes to the loyalty program. Read More…

Greenville, South Carolina is not a place I have ever been, but I did analyze hotel rates and award values across Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG and SPG for that location in February 2010.

Recent announcements of hotel award category changes in 2013 had me thinking about plotting the same hotels I analyzed in February 2010 to see what changes have happened to hotel awards in Greenville, SC over the last three years.

The results actually surprised me.

Room rates in June 2013 are generally quite a bit higher than room rates were in February 2010. The seasonal month of June versus February likely accounts for some of the higher rates and the fact that February 2010 was deep in the hotel recession. Read More…

Where are hotel rates climbing in the USA? Where are rates dropping? Hint: not many places.

HotelNewsNow.com hotel industry data from Smith Travel Research confirms one fact about hotel rates that I had intuitively discovered by my own observations: San Francisco hotel rates skyrocketed faster than any other location in the US in 2012.

Smith Travel Research (STR) is the Tennessee based hotel data industry firm. Many of yesterday’s statistics from the pwc report I cited in Thoughts on Europe 2013 pwc hotel forecast were based on STR data analysis. STR and STR Global data is published in industry reports and through their media outlet HotelNewsNow.com. Data published below is from Smith Travel Research hotel industry presentations. Read More…

Thriving or surviving: European cities hotel forecast 2013 is a report by pwc.com/hospitality sharing data from 19 European gateway cities. You can access the full report yourself through the link. I picked up a print copy at the ALIS conference last week in Los Angeles.

Best report line: “With fewer customers to go round in 2013, loyalty and reward programmes could make the difference to the bottom line.” pwc.com

The presentations at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit #ALIS 2013 conference appeared bullish on the 2013 hotel industry year for the USA.  Stocks are reaching record highs, companies are sitting on piles of money, and Americans are spending.

Europe is a different matter with the Euro crisis still being resolved.

I picked out some data from the pwc.com European cities hotel forecast 2013 report to share with readers on how the Europe forecast may affect loyalty travelers in 2013. Read More…

Hotels in Hawaii are on my radar now with my trip coming in two weeks. I recall seeing many hotel bargains in Hawaii in their lean tourism years of 2008-09.

Hawaii is coming back strong now as a hot list tourist destination. Visitor arrivals are climbing fast with Asian tourism to Hawaii growing fastest. USA and Canada arrivals are also climbing which means hotel occupancy is up and room rates are increasing. Hawaii average room rates at $202.90 at the end of September 2012 are now second only to New York City’s $236.58.

Hawaii Hotel Flash Report Third Quarter 2012 is a 9-page pdf report showing the hotel data for the Hawaiian islands state. There are some interesting visitor statistics listed in this report created by Smith Travel Research data and Hospitality Advisors.

Hawaii Room Revenue reached $2.45 billion in first nine months of 2012. This is 14.8% more than 2011. Add in food and beverage, retail, parking and hotel fees and Hawaii hotel revenue increases to $3.62 billion. Hawaii hotels are pulling in 48% more on top of room rates through other hotel services.

Types of visitors to State of Hawaii

• Visitor arrivals in Hawaii are up 9.2% in 2012 over same time 2011.
• Honeymooners increased 12.2%
• Independent travelers increased 9.8%
• Non-convention business travelers increased 5.1%
• Japan arrivals increased 15.9%
• Other Asia countries arrivals increased 45.4%

Oahu

• Hotel room occupancy 85.6%
• Hotel average daily rate = $181.50
• arrivals from U.S. West increased 5.3%
• arrivals from Japan increased 16.2%

Maui

• Hotel room occupancy 73.3%
• Hotel average daily rate = $259.07
• Wailea area occupancy 77.4%
• Wailea area average daily rate = $388.54
• arrivals from U.S. West increased 4.8%
• arrivals from Japan increased 7.9%
• arrivals from Canada increased 4.0%

Kauai

• Hotel room occupancy 70.5%
• Hotel average daily rate = $212.23
• arrivals from U.S. West increased 6.1%
• arrivals from U.S. East increased 6.1%
• arrivals from Japan increased 17.7%
• arrivals from Canada increased 7.7%

Hawaii

• Hotel room occupancy 62.2%
• Hotel average daily rate = $190.18

Hawaii Statewide Hotel Market Segments

Luxury Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 71.4%
• Hotel average daily rate = $421.73

Upper Upscale Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 83.4%
• Hotel average daily rate = $224.52

Upscale Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 72.8%
• Hotel average daily rate = $166.43

Upper Midscale Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 80.1%
• Hotel average daily rate = $119.24

Midscale Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 76.7%
• Hotel average daily rate = $109.55

Economy Hotels

• Hotel room occupancy 79.5%
• Hotel average daily rate = $95.27

Loyalty Traveler commentary on the numbers: Luxury hotels with an average daily rate of $421.73 are truly a market segment separated from the masses and well above the rate of upper upscale hotels at $224.52.

St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Waldorf-Astoria and JW Marriott resorts are raking in the big bucks in Hawaii. There is no breakdown of specific hotels but suffice to say there should be a notable difference in hotel market segments between those charging $400+ nightly and those in the $200 range.

Every hotel market segment from Upper Upscale to Midscale hotels looks like a supply and demand basis of $100 to $200+ per night.

My advice for someone thinking Hawaii vacation is to look at hotel rates before airfare. Find the low hotel room rate period and you will likely save more money for your trip compared to paying a $100 to $150 more per airline ticket. There are some good deals to be found at specific times of the year, even in the luxury hotel segment.

Starwood Preferred Guest Cash & Points is the feature I sought out when looking at Hawaii as a means to save significantly on hotel rates. Oahu and Maui had the most limited SPG Cash & Points availability. Kauai was wide open and Hawaii had frequent dates.

Starwood Hotels in Hawaii

• 3 of 11 hotels are category 6 awards (20,000 or 25,000 points per night; 80,000 to 100,000 points for 5 nights; or Cash & Points $150 + 8,000 points per night)
• 7 of 11 are category 5 awards (12,000 or 16,000 points per night; 48,000 to 64,000 points for 5 nights; or Cash & Points $90 + 4,800 points per night)
• 1 of 11 is category 4 (10,000 points per night; 40,000 points for 5 nights; or Cash & Points $60 + 4,000 points per night)

4,800 points + $90 per night is a far better deal than 12,000 points per night in Kauai for the Westin Princeville or Sheraton Kauai Resort at $300+ per night.

Hawaii Starwood Hotel Rates for February 12-15, 2013

Currently you can buy 5,000 points for $140. SPG Cash & Points allows you to book category 5 Starwood Hotels for $230 per night when many of these hotels are in the $350+ range after tax.

ALERT: Buy Starpoints at 20% discount through November 30, 2012.

Five most expensive hotel markets 2012 in USA (Smith Travel Research)

• New York $236.58; occupancy 82.4%
• Hawaii $202.90; occupancy 77.8%
• San Francisco $170.84; occupancy 81.5%
• Miami $162.71; occupancy 76.5%
• Boston $157.95; ?
• Los Angeles is #4 city in hotel occupancy at 76.9%.

These cities around the USA are expensive for hotels.

SPG Cash & Points, Priority Club Points & Cash, HHonors Points & Money are all ways to cut the expense of hotel stays in Hawaii and elsewhere for an even better deal than standard reward nights when hotel rates are too high for your budget. Marriott and SPG also offer 5th night free. Hilton HHonors elite members or American Express card members save on HHonors award stays of four nights or more.

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.

The great feature of Hyatt Gold Passport for Americans is the ability to stay at Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotels where the average rate is about $100 per night and earn loyalty points and promotion bonuses on far less hotel spend than international travelers staying at Hyatt Hotels.

Hyatt House and Hyatt Place are select service brands and all 220 properties in these two brands are located in North America. The other 249 Hyatt Hotels in the brands of Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Park Hyatt have a far higher average room rate of $175 to $235 per night.

Read More…

Starwood Hotels released its 2011 Q-4 financial report for investors February 2. My interest is seeing the number of hotels in each Starwood brand and the average rates globally. Starwood Hotels has grown to 1,090 hotels worldwide.

Aloft brand has the lowest average rates at just over $100 and Four Points hotels are slightly more at $114 average daily rate.

Sheraton still squeaks in at under $150 ADR as a hotel brand. Westin and Le Meridien still come in under $200 per night.

W Hotels, Luxury Collection and St. Regis are in the $300 range.

The hotels in the lowest priced brands of Four Points and Aloft are concentrated in the USA making North America average room rates lower than other regions. Latin America has seen the highest rate increase of almost 10%.

Europe had no rate growth in 2011 and this is primarily due to the stronger US dollar in the region. This is good news for American travelers since Starwood Hotels in Europe already had the highest average daily rates at over $200 per night.

“Consumers should remember that hotel affordability across the world has not been this good since 2004.” – David Roche, President Hotels.com 

Hotels.com Hotel Price Index is a good report for the frequent guest to gauge global hotel prices and price changes over the past year. There are many tables and graphs for the reader accompanied with some insightful commentary that coincides with industry forecasts from other sources I’ve read this summer.

The survey provides travel destination indicators like Bali, Indonesia. Hotel prices have gone through the roof year-over-year – up 57% from $129 per night 2009-Q2 to $203 per night 2010-Q2 in the wake of ”Eat, Pray, Love” fascination with this location. A flood of tourism dollars is a good sort of tsunami for the region, but rapidly inflated prices steer me to better value locations for my travels.

Bargain destinations like Ireland and Portugal may be the better choice for a budget vacation.  Eastern Europe is giving out great value for travel dollars.

The Hotel Price Index preface notes by David Roche, President of Hotels.com, indicate hotel room rates have shown a global rise, about 2% year-over-year for the first time since 2007.  

Asia is recovering most rapidly. Singapore and Bali aid that growth.

Much of North America, Europe and the Middle East are sitting at hotel rates common to 2004. David Roche points to corporate travel picking up more in North America than in Europe in 2010.

And staycations seem here to stay. Recession travel. There are tables showing the average room rates for the 50 states and major cities.

Hotels.com Hotel Price Index survey

1. Global price changes in the first half of 2010
   Overall
   By region
2. Price changes in global destinations
   Prices across the world’s top cities
   Most expensive destinations
   Highest price rises and falls
3. U.S. hotel prices by state
4. U.S. hotel prices by city
5. Caribbean and Latin American destinations
6. European city destinations
7. Prices paid at home and away
8. Where to go for $150 or $100 per night
9. Average room prices by star rating
10. Luxury for less
11. Travel habits
    Top U.S. destinations for U.S. travelers
    Top overseas destinations for U.S. travelers
    Top U.S. destinations for travelers from overseas

I particularly like the sections “Where to Go for $150 and $100 per night” and “Average room prices by star rating”. Cities where I can expect to find a 4-star hotel for $150 per night is the kind of information I find valuable for travel planning.

“Average Room Prices by Star Rating” table shows a European vacation can be upscale and significantly cheaper if you stay in hotels in countries like Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. 4-star hotels may be half the rate in cities around these countries compared to Paris, Rome and London.

I look most closely at the spread between the 3-star, 4-star and 5-star room rates. In Europe I particularly prefer the 4-star rating due to several experiences in unacceptable 3-star hotels. I am looking for a place where there is a low spread in room rates between 4-star and 3-star hotels and a high spread between 4-star and 5-star.  A place like Amsterdam shows a 4-star hotel is on average $36 more than a 3-star hotel. The rate difference is a high $72 to move up to 5-star room rates. This is a good example of a city where the step up to 4-star is half the cost compared to the step up from 4-star to 5-star rates.

15 cities with the best 5-star value is another great table for cities where a luxury hotel is still available for under $200 per night. Las Vegas is the only cheap hotel destination in the USA.

New York City just blows my mind with its room rates. $150 per night doesn’t even buy a 2-star hotel room. $300 is the average room rate for a 4-star hotel. When I wrote about the InterContinental Hotel New York Times Square yesterday all I could think is how I could save $500 to $600 per night on this luxury hotel by using 40,000 points. Loyalty points are a great investment travel plan if you have need for NYC hotel rooms and you are paying your own bill.

There are several Starwood resorts in Portugal on my bucket list and  I see Cash & Points awards at 4,000 points + $60 for a hotel like the Convento de Espinheiro, Evora. Provided the right SPG promotion I might even go for 149€ per night. My frequent flyer accounts call to me – redeem.

Marriott Hotels released 2010 first quarter financial results a few days ago. What I like about hotel quarterly financial reports is the ability to see how many hotels are currently in the chain and what has changed with room rates over the past year. The number of hotels in a hotel company is an important metric for loyalty travelers. The more hotel locations a chain has to offer frequent guests means the better opportunity to meet the traveler’s needs for paid room nights and award room nights. I particularly like to keep an eye on the full service Marriott Hotels, and the high end J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton properties for nights using points.

Marriott had 3,457 properties as of March 26, 2010. This is 230 additional properties opened in the past year under Marriott brands. This is more than 7% expansion of the Marriott chain in the worst year of the hotel industry in decades. The strong hotel chains grow stronger in this weak travel environment. (Loyalty traveler note: there is a discrepancy of one hotel between Marriott’s financial report at 3,457 and the numbers in the table below at 3,456. I can’t figure out where the missing hotel is located. In the big picure this is not so big a discrepancy.)

Marriott International Hotels by Brand as of March 26, 2010

Rates have continued to drop and are significantly lower in 2010 than a year ago. Rates have dropped on average by 5% to 10% in the USA. Occupancy has actually picked up slightly. The luxury sector with Ritz-Carlton in the lead has seen the largest occupancy increases of any Marriott brand in the past year. The mid-scale and extended stay market segments show slower occupancy growth. Looks like the well-to-do guests are well-off again while frequent guests are returning back to mid-tier and extended stay travel more slowly.

Marriott’s domestic hotel performance lags behind the international hotel room rates and occupancy levels. Asia-Pacific has seen great occupancy growth. The USA has only seen a 3.0% occupancy increase over the past year and worldwide a 3.6% increase. Rates meanwhile have continued to drop and the average daily rate in the US is $120 compared to $165 international.

Marriott forecasts rate increases in 2010 as hotels attempt to push up average daily rates in the face of higher occupancy.

Marriott International Domestic and Regional Average Daily Rates and Occupancy

Source: http://investor.shareholder.com/mar/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=462338

So why is my hotel award so much more?

Hotels.com has released their 7^th annual Hotel Price Index (HPI). This Expedia owned company has extensive hotel data from over 94,000 hotels in 16,000 locations globally, providing comprehensive data on the state of the hotel industry.

This is a fantastic resource for hotel rate data. There are plenty of visuals with geographic detail on hotel rate changes around the world in the 38 page report. You can even see a breakdown of US states and major cities to get an idea of average hotel rates in your location.

Bottom line is hotel rates dropped significantly over 2009. The HPI states hotel rates were actually lower at the end of 2009 than they were at the time of the first set of hotel rate data gathered in the first quarter of 2004.

This might be helpful in planning your vacation if you want to get an idea of where to find the bargain travel destinations. Or perhaps you want to know where the jet set are vacationing? Could it be Capri?

Link to Hotel Price Index Study – March 2010