IHG has an extended time offer for 2 nights for the Price of 1 across the UK and Europe available for hotel stays through December 30, 2010 at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, HI Express, Hotel Indigo and perhaps even other brands in some locations. This deal has been available for most of 2010. You are allowed a maximum of one two-night stay using this rate, but there is nothing in the terms against stacking up these rates back-to-back at different IHG hotels or returning to the same hotel on the 2 for 1 rate after at least a one night break in your hotel stay. 

Priority Club Promotion Credit – To be, or not to be, that is the question

Some hotels will post these 2 nights for the price of 1 hotel stays as qualifying rates using this deal and some will not. The good news is the stay may qualify for the current stay twice and earn a free night Sweet Dilemma and Crack the Case promotions. The bad news is that some hotels will argue the rate is non-qualifying since it is less than 70% of standard published rates and you may have no luck getting Priority Club credit. In that case you need to just be happy with the great rate savings.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life – Samuel Johnson

Loyalty Traveler priced some London city hotels over the slow business travel period from Christmas through December 30 and found some amazing bargains. The streets of London may not provide the most hospitable weather in late December, but hey, if a week in ultra-cheap upper upscale hotel rooms in central London is your idea of a suitable holiday, then IHG has the deals. And there is no need to limit yourself to London since there are hundreds of hotels around Europe to get these 2-for-1 rates.

Crowne Plaza London – The City offers a full two-room suite at $264 per night with breakfast included over December 24-26, 2010 during the “2 nights for the price of 1 special rate offer”.

Hotel Indigo London Paddington – Executive King with complimentary internet for 72 GBP per night. This rate requires another 18GBP in VAT. Currently totals out at USD$142 per night on a two-night stay. 

Holiday Inn London Mayfair as low as 49.50GBP per night for a double bed. 58.17GBP after 17.5% VAT.  That is $91.52USD per night all in for a room.

Executive King for 87.54GBP all-in  =  USD $137.76 per night. 

Holiday Inn London Mayfair – Special Rate Rules:

DESCRIPTION:
2 night minimum stay required. Special Savings! Reservations are final and require full prepayment for the entire stay. Credit card is charged between time of booking and day of arrival. No refunds if cancelled or changed.

ADDITIONAL RATE INFORMATION:
PURCHASE 1 NIGHT(S) AND GET 1 NIGHT(S) FREE

PLEASE NOTE:
Thank you for making your reservation on our web site.

RULES:
- MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DISCOUNTED NIGHTS IS 1.
- MUST STAY AT LEAST: 2 NIGHTS
- MUST STAY NO MORE THAN: 2 NIGHTS
- CHECK-IN TIME: 02:00 PM
- CHECK-OUT TIME: 12:00 PM

DEPOSIT RULES:
A deposit for the entire stay is due at time of booking.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
Canceling your reservation or failing to arrive will result in forfeiture of your deposit. Taxes may apply. Failing to call or show before check-out time after the first night of a reservation will result in cancellation of the remainder of your reservation.

You can always splurge at the Holiday Inn London Mayfair with a One Bedroom Suite = USD $300 per night.

Crowne Plaza London Docklands (Dec 28-30, 2010)

 2 single beds = USD$165.81 for two nights or $82.81 per night.

Desiring more room? A King Bed Executive Suite with two rooms and a balcony, work desk, table and four chairs, sofa, free internet is 239.95GBP all-in for two nights. That works out to just $377 for two nights or USD$189 per night.

At hotel prices this low you can afford to take the kids too 

Holiday Inn Express London Limehouse

December 26-28, 2010 = 34.50GBP per night with VAT included.

That is a total nightly rate of USD$54.30 and within less than 4 miles of city center London.

Even better is the availability of a family room at this rate with a Double Bed and Double bed sofa for two adults and two kids. Travel and spend under $55 per day for a family of four at a Holiday Inn Express hotel in central London and even get your breakfast free. Now that is room rate value.

Pay attention to the 2-for-1 rate details 

Check these 2-for-1 rates carefully since some London hotels include the 17.5% VAT in the room rate and some do not. Also check for lounge access and complimentary breakfast rates which can save USD$50 to $80 per day when included in the room rate.

The main thing to keep in mind is the 2-for-1 rate is prepaid and does not allow cancellation. Show up and get the great bargain or you lose your money. You might consider trip insurance when booking nonrefundable rooms since you can get reimbursed if you miss the hotel stay due to something like an Icelandic volcano or a major U.S. snowstorm stranding you at an airport in the wrong city. 

There’s no Christmas for travel junkies.  

Better yet. Imagine a  rainy deserted street on a blustery Dickens fantasy Christmas holiday in modern day London. Christmas Day and Boxing Day (Dec 26) will find many closed places, but come December 27 the museums will be up and running.

I freely admit that Chinese food for Christmas Day dinner has certainly been my restaurant of choice on several travel holidays in many places.

I am feeling the urge to pack the raincoat and brolly right now.

And if you find yourself in London on Christmas Day – have a pint for me.

Oberoi Hotels Advantage, the loyalty program for the luxury hotel chain in Asia, has a loyalty offer for two free nights at any of 11 Oberoi Hotels after 5 stays in one of the chain’s four business hotels in India by October 31, 2010. Qualifying stays can be at the Oberoi Mumbai, Oberoi New Delhi, Oberoi Bangalore and Oberoi Grand Kolkata. Free nights can be redeemed at any of 11 Oberoi leisure hotels and resorts including Mauritius, Bali, and several leisure resorts in India through October 31 or December 1-15, 2010.

This is a luxury hotel loyalty program promotion that has been around since June 1, but unfortunately I did not see this offer until this week. There are just five weeks left to take advantage of this promotion and you need to be in India. And unfortunately the month of November is not available for free nights redemption with this offer.

I am writing about this Oberoi Advantage offer just to bring the Oberoi Hotel chain to readers’ attention in case you find yourself traveling to India (11 hotels)  or one of the other locations with an Oberoi luxury hotel like Egypt (4), Saudi Arabia (1), Mauritius (1), Bali (1) and Lombok (1), Indonesia.

A couple of years ago I received a survey invitation from Oberoi Hotels. Bali is the only location I had ever visited with an Oberoi Hotel. The survey was professional and left me with the impression of Oberoi Hotels as a luxury hotel chain.

The Oberoi Hotels website is nice to browse just for the photos and descriptions of these wonderful hotels and locations.

I am particularly intrigued by The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore, India. This luxury property is a 25-room jungle resort located next to Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. Travel + Leisure Reader’s Poll 2010 rated this hotel Number 1 in Asia and the World. There appear to be only around 20 tigers living in the National Park according to IndianTiger.org and that data is from 2001. Apparently May and June are the best months for tiger sightings, but the park is closed from July through September. The park opens again next week on October 1.

Sample room rates for Friday, September 24 at the four Oberoi Hotels

Five stays at any one or any combination of these four hotels by October 31, 2010 earn two free nights. Kolkata is the cheapest and five stays can be done for under $900 at the Oberoi Grand.

Oberoi Grand Kolkata = 6,800 INR (7,480 after 10% tax) = USD$164/night (weekday rates about USD$180 after tax).

Oberoi Bangalore = 9,200 INR (10,304 after tax) = USD$226/night

Oberoi New Delhi = 11,000 INR (12,800 after tax) = USD$281/night

Oberoi Mumbai = 14,000 INR (15,400 after tax) = USD$338/night

Oberoi Hotel leisure sample hotel rates for two free nights in December 2010

The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore, India Dec 7-9, 2010 = 32,000 INR = 70,400 after tax for two nights = USD$1,546 for two-night stay.

Oberoi Mauritius,  Dec 7-9, 2010 = 500€/night = USD$1,341 for two-night stay.

This is a high value promotion if you find yourself in a position to take advantage of Oberoi Advantage.

Loyalty traveler 5-key promotion.

The completion of an endurance hike across the entire Amazon basis in 859 days by modern day explorer Ed Stafford, a 34-year old former British Army captain, is a story that received little fanfare in the media this week. The journey came to an end as he stepped into the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil last Monday. Ed Stafford, after 50,000 mosquito bites and 2 ½ years of hiking with periodic blog posts at http://www.walkingtheamazon.com/, has become the first man known to have walked the entire length of the Amazon.

Check out the adventure with extensive information on Ed Stafford’s websites.

http://www.walkingtheamazon.com/

http://www.edstafford.org/

Ed Stafford - WalkingtheAmazon.com photo

Can you imagine?

Thankfully Ed was also a travel blogger!

Starwood Hotels in Europe, Africa and Middle East have a promotion through December 31 for the third night free at a city hotel or two free nights on a six night resort hotel stay when paying with a Mastercard. Nonrefundable, prepaid advance reservations are required.

EMEA MasterCard promotion registration is required. Promotion code = MTA for rate searches.

EMEA Participating Starwood Hotels.

Promotion Terms & Conditions. 

MTA promotion code hotel rate search link.

This promotion is similar to Starwood’s Exclusive Hotel Escapes and Resort Escapes ongoing promotions for discounted multi-night stays, except you need a MasterCard for this EMEA offer and there are no day of week restrictions for your three night stay. The third night free offer using Z3H (Exclusive Hotel Escapes) requires a Thursday-Saturday check-in date for your stay. I found 3^rd night free rates using the MTA promotion for a Monday-Thursday stay at some hotels.

Bottom line is that I did not find any lower rates using this EMEA MasterCard offer for five hotel checks, but there may be some discounted rates considering over 200 hotels are participating in this offer.

Sheraton Bratislava, Slovakia showed availability for a three night Monday-Thursday Aug 23-26 stay using the MTA code. The Exclusive Hotel Escapes link using Z3H offer stated promotion unavailable. But the MTA rate availability was a moot point considering the 3^rd night free MTA rate was 200€/night or 133.33€ per night for a 3 night stay. A default search returned a prepaid 119€ nightly rate for the same room category. The 3^rd night free offer was not the best deal for these dates at the Sheraton Bratislava.

Sheraton Luxor Resort, Egypt showed incredibly low rates for a six night stay August 23-29, 2010 at just $54 per night for four nights and two nights free. $216 + 24% tax for six nights at the Sheraton Luxor Resort. After tax the nightly rate is just $45 per night for a six night stay. This rate was found using the MTA link, however, the rate code used was Z6R, the same rate used for Resort Escapes which does not require a MasterCard payment.

Promotion analysis conclusion: The MTA MasterCard payment rate for 3^rd night free or two free nights with a six night stay at an EMEA resort may not necessarily be the best deal, but you should at least give this rate search a whirl to see if there is a bargain to be found for your hotel stays through the remainder of 2010 in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Sheraton Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

It seems to me every week I read about some new fantastic Hilton brand hotel opening in an exotic travel destination or major urban center.  And then the other day I saw a TV report criticizing private equity funds for buying up companies and dismantling them to the detriment of the employees and pension funds. The one group praised in the report was Blackstone Group for its role in growing Hilton Worldwide.

My interest is hotel loyalty programs and honestly, I have minimal knowledge or interest in the financials of Hilton, but the numerous press releases in the past couple of months on new hotels to the Hilton brand tell me some exciting destinations are being opened for HHonors members.

Here are just a few of the new hotels available for HHonors loyalty travelers.

Doubletree Olbia-Sardinia, Italy – You may not be familiar with Sardinia but this island in Italy is famous for its jetsetter scene. Starwood Hotels has only fifteen top level Category 7 award properties in the world and four of these are at Porto Cervo on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. Years ago I read a description describing the yachting scene of Sardinia as the place to be if you want to meet European royalty. Granted the truly rich and possibly famous may not be hanging out at the Doubletree Sardinia (HHonors category 5 award at 35,000 points per night), but the price is right for us plebeians who want to glimpse the social summer hotspot of the Mediterranean.

I am a real Tour de France cycling fan and this past year I watched the February Tour of Sardinia cycling race on TV. The first stage of the race started in Olbia. I’ll keep the Doubletree Olbia-Sardinia in mind for 2011. Rates at the Doubletree Olbia-Sardinia for February 2011 are only 76.50€ (about US$100) when I checked today. August 15-18, 2010 rates start at 101.50€. A top floor 73 square meter suite is 200€ per night.

Hotel Petrizzi, the cheapest of the four Starwood Hotels on the Costa Smeralda runs 690€ per night for the same dates in August and Hotel Cala di Volpe starts at 1,505€ per night. You can just Doubletree your hotel and rent a bicycle and ride to the beach if you can’t afford the Costa Smeralda hotel location.

Doubletree Kos-Helona, Greece

The first Doubletree hotel in Greece is located on an island in the Aegean Sea. The location on the southern coast of Kos in the Dodecanese Islands of Greece is aptly described in the press release as an outstanding leisure and incentive destination. The one-bedroom suites at this property feature a private swimming pool. There are 21 private and shared pools at the hotel. The property also has villas. I was just talking to my wife and sister yesterday about taking a trip to Greece. This property is an HHonors category 2 award for 12,500 points per night.

This hotel has rates at 44.50€ (under $60) including free breakfast for Sep 6-12. With rates this low you might as well splurge for a 44 square meter (473 sq ft) suite at 94.50€ per night, also with free breakfast.

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa in French Polynesia was named the “Top Hotel for Romance in the World” in the 2010 TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards. This resort has just completed an $11 million renovation for the 106 bungalows with the addition of plunge pools. Two Garden Pool Suites at the resort are 1,700 square feet of room space. This hotel property is an HHonors Category 7 award at 50,000 points per night. (This property was formerly the Sheraton Moorea).

Rates for October 4-10, 2010 start at 32,300 XPF (US$350) per night for advance purchase to 60,000 XPF (US$622) for an overwater bungalow.

This property is a great use of HHonors points.

Waldorf Astoria Syon Park, London

This 137 room property in west London is scheduled to open in November 2010. The property looks across the River Thames onto Kew Gardens. Syon House and its 200 acre park is the ancestral London home of the Duke of Northumberland. This hotel will be a luxury parkland retreat allowing guests use of the park grounds and exclusive access to Syon House gardens.

Chinese police shut down the Hilton Chongqing Monday June 21 after a vice squad raid on Saturday that detained 102 people and resulted in the arrest of 22 people in connection to a suspected prostitution ring being run in the Diamond Dynasty karaoke club in the basement of the hotel. The hotel is expected to be shut down for at least the next two weeks and possibly longer according to news reports.

A statement by the Chongqing police reported hotel staff including hotel managers, guards, and receptionists were involved in the ring.

A reservations check on the Hilton website shows no room availability over the next two weeks before July 6 at the Hilton Chongqing, but reservations can be made for dates after that.

A raid last month at the Passion Club next to the Sheraton Great Wall Beijing led to the closure of that club for six months. Here is a blog post about the loss of clubs for Beijing’s elite.

Does spending six nights in upscale London hotels for $600 sound like a good summer deal?

The IHG two nights for the price of one is one of the best offers available for summer 2010 travel in Europe through September 27, 2010. IHG 2-for-1 Reservation link.

The IHG two-for-one hotel nights offer is based on the Best Flexible Rate. Availability is primarily for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday arrivals, but most participating hotels appear to allow the rate any two consecutive nights of the week. Rates are variable for different nights of the week.

These IHG 2-for-1 rates are prepaid, nonrefundable and no changes allowed.

London has enough participating hotels that spending a week in Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels in central London can be done for about $100US per night and no extra charge for a second adult in the London hotels. Two kids can even stay free and at these rates you might be able to splurge for a cheap suite.

A Danube River view at the InterContinental Budapest at slightly over $80 per night is a traveler’s Eastern European dream price for a luxury hotel, although a second adult in your IC room can raise the cost of this room by another $50 per night according to the fine print for this specific hotel.

Here are sample hotels and rates found across Europe checking random dates. The rates shown below are the lowest rates listed. Many hotels have multiple rates and may even allow 2-for-1 room rates in suites.

InterContinental Hotels Group 2 nights for Price of 1 in Europe, May 1 to Sep 27, 2010

Tahiti tourism is way down in the past year.  When an overwater bungalow room at a luxury resort on Bora Bora goes for US$1,500 per night, well, got points? French Polynesia is seeking millionaire tourists.

Year-to-date tourist arrivals to French Polynesia from September 2009 showed a drop from 150,000 to less than 119,000 arrivals. International hotels averaged 45% occupancy during the first nine months of 2009, down by 7.8% over the prior year. Recent tourism numbers indicate tourists are staying two days longer this year, but arrivals were down 10% in January 2010 compared to 2009. Then a hurricane hit in February and damaged some hotels around the islands. The St. Regis Bora Bora is closed for repairs until June 2010.

Hotel statistics show 2010 is worse than 2009 for French Polynesia and many hotels are averaging just 30% occupancy. Hoteliers are worried.

South Pacific Management took over management of two former Starwood Hotels in January 2009, when the Sheraton Tahiti and Sheraton Moorea Lagoon were rebranded as Hilton Hotels. The hotels’ owner Louis Wane remains unchanged. He also owns the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort.

Flyertalk member Thunderroad (Springsteen fan?) has an extensive trip report of the Hilton Moorea and Hilton Bora Bora from a trip in fall 2009.

Hilton Tahiti closed last month citing the poor economy as the primary reason. The hotel had 189 hotel rooms and a conference center meeting space. 131 employees lost their jobs. A recent news report states former Hilton Tahiti employees have started a hunger strike. I couldn’t find a second independent corroborating source on the hunger strike. I am sure the employment situation is rather bleak if tourism is down to levels not seen in 15 years. 

The two remaining Hilton hotels in French Polynesia have 225 rooms – Hilton Moorea Lagoon, a 10-minute flight from Tahiti, and the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort, a one hour flight from the French Polynesia international airport at Papeete, Tahiti. 

Hotel room math

Two Hilton hotels at Moorea and Bora Bora have 82,125 available room nights over the course of the year and 365 days.

Assume a tourist spends an average of 7 room nights, but assume half of the visitors are couples staying together in one room. There are single travelers of course, but there are also couples with kids not booking two rooms.

French Polynesia had 120,000 tourist arrivals in the past year. One room night for every two tourists is 60,000 room nights x 7 nights per tourist stay = 420,000 room nights needed over the course of the year.

Hilton’s three properties were around 160,000 room nights by themselves.

The closure of the Hilton Tahiti removed nearly 70,000 room nights out of the French Polynesia hotel room supply. South Pacific Management decided to focus resources on the Hilton Moorea Lagoon that has just seen a US$12 million renovation and improvement including a new pool and new suites. Hilton Bora Bora Nui is planning to upgrade furnishings in 2010 and build a kids club. 

French Polynesia is seeking millionaires; the kind of people who spend money to take their kids to Bora Bora luxury hotels.

 The St. Regis Bora Bora offers a 7th night free with a 6-night hotel stay.

This seems to be a good time to try for a free night in Bora Bora and lobby your host for a paid upgrade to the overwater villa. Hilton HHonors free night promotion certainly makes a trip like this much more affordable in 2010. But you will need points for Le Meridien Bora Bora or St. Regis Bora Bora since the SPG free weekend night doesn’t apply for these category 7 SPG hotels.

In case you aren’t aware, there is a major battle brewing in Bangkok’s Pathum Wan tourist hotel district where the InterContinental Bangkok, Grand Hyatt Bangkok, Four Seasons Bangkok, Holiday Inn Bangkok, and Courtyard Bangkok hotels are located. This is the sharpened bamboo poles and guns kind of street battle. Rocket propelled grenades were fired at a fuel depot near the airport today. See “Thai Government offers talks if protestors abide by law.”

“Red Shirts” have been demonstrating for over five weeks in Bangkok and since April 3 the protests moved into the hotel area with encampments and barricades on the streets of one of Bangkok’s most prominent luxury hotel and business districts. This part of the city has become a “no-go” zone. The Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton stores are closed at the Gaysorn shopping mall. Thai military encounters led to some of the worst violence in the city in two decades earlier this month with 25 killed. Hotels and retailers in the area have lost millions of dollars in revenue and several hotels have closed for the time-being, citing guest safety as a major concern.

The InterContinental Bangkok and Holiday Inn Bangkok have both temporarily closed as of April 20 and are scheduled to reopen April 26. Four hotels in the demonstration area have over 1,500 rooms and employ 2,000 people. Renaissance Bangkok and the Four Seasons Bangkok are not currently taking reservations for hotel stays this week. Guests have been relocated to other hotels in the city, particularly the Sukhumvit area.

Slum Living in Bangkok City Center Tourist District (2004)

The Four Seasons and Renaissance hotel websites show no traveler notices regarding the protests and safety concerns for guests at these hotels.

InterContinental Bangkok website mentions the Red Shirt protests at the end of the hotel overview, but states the city Skytrain stations are open.

*** NOTE: The red shirt demonstrations in the City Centre at Rajdamri road are still ongoing and could affect street traffic around the hotel due to the volume of people. However, BTS Sky train and Ploenchit Road in front of the hotel are still operating. Report was announced that these rallies will go on with no violence. We suggest that you check with your Foreign Ministry for any updates and possible travel advisories. ***

Grand Hyatt Bangkok has the most detailed warning for potential guests located as the first paragraph of the Hotel Overview.

Bangkok, April 20, 2010 – Protests by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) have been taking place in the vicinity of Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok since April 3, 2010. The government announced a State of Emergency in Bangkok on Wednesday, April 7. Visit News & Events to read more.

The link goes to this statement:                 

Media Statement on Latest Situation in Bangkok

Bangkok, April 20, 2010 – Protests by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) have been taking place in the vicinity of Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok since April 3, 2010. The government announced a State of Emergency in Bangkok on Wednesday, April 7.
For the safety and security of our guests and employees, Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok has at this stage decided to suspend all guest services and not to accept any reservations until April 24, 2010. Security measures remain at the highest level at the hotel. 

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