Starwood Hotels says the future of luxury hotels is catering to the luXurY traveler, according to an exclusive interview given to Melanie Nayer in her column at 4Hoteliers.com.

The article says 85% of Starwood’s luxury guests are Generation X and Generation Y wealthy travelers. These are the people who were born 1966-1976 Gen X, and 1977-1994 Gen Y.

Generation X and Generation Y are the two age groups that encompasses most of the BoardingArea bloggers, although a few of us are older Baby Boomers and there is even a Generation Z blogger or two who were born after 1994.

Generation X in the USA is also called the ‘lost generation’ since they were exposed to a much higher divorce rate and time in daycare than baby boomers. This cohort of 40 million or so is considered to be the generation of people who tuned out the news and politics. They had the lowest voter participation rate of any generational cohort. Yet, this is the best educated cohort with nearly 1 in 3 earning a college bachelor’s degree.

Generation Y is a cohort of 70 million in the USA born from 1977 to 1994. This generation is supposedly characterized by their immunity to advertising and marketing pitches. They are characterized by diversity and segmentation due to the expansion of cable TV, internet, and satellite radio during their lifetime. This cohort is less brand loyal.

In the USA the Generation X and Generation Y cohorts are less likely to become the millionaires and billionaires of tomorrow.

Starwood appears focused on its Asia properties for revamping and expanding luxury.

The new luxury hotel environment is geared for the tech savvy with personalization catered to the guest’s interests. One of the topics I frequently read articles about is using social media for data mining to build a personalized profile for hotel guests. This is a rapidly growing area in hotel and revenue management.

[Three bottles of Stella Artois and a fruit plate please! That makes this hotel traveler a happy guest upon arrival.]

Generation X and Generation Y are big on credit cards. This is another great source of data mining on personal spending habits and interests.

Melanie Nayer is a popular hotel industry columnist I read regularly.

Her Starwood luXurY trends article was focused on the Chinese traveler.

Do Generations X and Y in China have the same characteristics as Americans?

Chinese Gen X/Y traveler desires, according to Starwood Hotels:

• full-service urban hotel.
• breakfast option at hotel.
• dual sinks, shower and separate vanity make-up area to reduce congestion in the bathroom.
• in-room amenities like coffee/tea maker, WiFi and internet access.

That does not sound too demanding to me.

I like those same features in hotels.

My other primary request is an ice machine where I can cool the warm bottles of Stella Artois. Sometimes I just can’t squeeze enough beer bottles in between all the other items in the electronic mini-bar.

One of the BAcon bits that was made clear to me over this past weekend is most readers find the slideshow image on Loyalty Traveler of the hot tub with rose petals ‘creepy’. I heard that word a lot over three days.

This photo is from the Holiday Inn Express in Yreka, California November 2008. The newly opened hotel had an open house for the community.

I arrived on a road trip from Portland, Oregon heading south back to Monterey in November 2008. The hotel stay was a Priority Club 5,000 points PointBreaks award night. Besides a cheap room using points, the hotel was serving complimentary Sierra Nevada beer for the two hours of Open House.

There were several hotel rooms open for visitors to see. The hot tub with rose petals was in one of the open house rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, Yreka.

There was no hot tub in the room where I stayed the night.

The slideshow will soon be gone from Loyalty Traveler

My website was reviewed by Andy Hayes in a seminar session for BAcon, the Boarding Area conference in Colorado Springs May 10-12, 2013.

Andy recommended the entire slideshow be removed since the reader has no control to stop and gaze at any photo and there are no captions to the photos.

Andy also said the rose petals around the hot tub were creepy.

My mental association with the hot tub photo is remembering a cheap hotel night drinking free beer with the great people of Yreka, California. I wonder if the community members from Yreka thought the hot tub room was creepy at the time?

What association do you make with the hot tub and rose petals that makes it so creepy?

The hot tub image has been removed from the front page, although still visible if reading an older post from 2012 or earlier. The entire slideshow will be removed from Loyalty Traveler soon. The changes have to be made by BoardingArea technical staff. I do not have control over that plug-in which is why it has not been changed to date.

Another hot tub photo

Today I photographed another hot tub on my BAcon to KPIG road trip from Colorado Springs back to Monterey.

No rose petals.

Is this hot tub creepy?

Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas, Avon, Colorado hot tub on 7th floor with view of Beaver Creek ski area.

Last night I was blessed with a sighting of three Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep near Georgetown, Colorado as I was driving Interstate 70.

Finally a dream come true after many trips through the Rocky Mountains without ever sighting bighorn sheep.

The sighting came as I was driving I-70 going 60 mph at about 10,000 feet in elevation. No cars immediately behind me meant I could slow down as I moved to the left lane and passed by the bighorn sheep going about 25 mph.

The three sheep were standing next to the freeway at dusk. There was no barrier to keep the bighorn sheep from stepping five feet into the I-70 road traffic.

My first impression is these bighorn sheep were huge. A little Wikipedia reading informs me that Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep are the largest of the three North American sub-species. Males can weigh up to 500 pounds. The three bighorn sheep I saw looked to be full sized males. The bighorn sheep’s curved horns can weigh more than 30 pounds.

Unfortunately my camera was in the trunk of my car.

This photo is from Wikipedia. Imagine three of these images side-by-side and that was my sighting.

I pray they headed back into the wilderness to survive the night.

Wikimedia Commons: Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) in front of Mount Wilbur in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Washing the gravel out of my travel

The second best thing I saw last night was this hotel room amenity at the Westin Riverfront Villas in Avon, Colorado.

After seven days and nights on the road, I needed to wash out the dirt and gravel from my travel.

Patio view of Beaver Creek Mountain ski area from Westin Riverfront, Avon.

This property has average rates of $322. My rate last night was $116.

Full review of Westin Riverfront Resort to come soon. I have to visit some Beaver Creek area resorts today and touch Moab, Utah for stargazing tonight.

Today is checkout day for the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs for the final day of the Boarding Area blogger conference hosted by Randy Petersen and the House of Miles.

I was looking for a hotel tonight in Colorado and checking Denver rates.

Sheraton Denver Tech Center:

• BAR = $179
• AAA = $69

This is the largest AAA discount I ever recall seeing.

While that hotel rate looks tempting, the Sheraton DTC hotel is one I have stayed at before and I did not have great things to say in my previous reviews. As I recall, the walls were paper thin and carried sound from room to room.

Going Upscale

While a bit more expensive, the rates for Starwood Hotels in Beaver Creek (near Vail) are truly deals right now.

Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas, Beaver Creek, Colorado

• AAA = $116
• 12,000 Starpoints (SPG category 5)

This looks like the right time to be heading for the mountains and a nice resort.

Registration for the Double Take current promotion with Starwood Preferred Guest is open. This promotion offers 2 bonus points per dollar.

There are many nonparticipating Starwood hotel properties for this offer. Check the list carefully for your planned stays.

The best part of the promotion is the mobile booking bonus of 500 points per stay for any booking worldwide, even for hotels not participating in the double points offer.

SPG Double Take May 1-July 31, 2013.

When I registered I received a notice that I had not yet registered for Delta Skymiles Crossover Rewards.

Thanks for the reminder SPG.

Related post:

Elites meet when SPG and Delta Skymiles Crossover Rewards begins March 1, 2013 (Loyalty Traveler Feb 7, 2013).

HotelNewsNow has an article this week, “W put ‘lifestyle’ on map 15 years ago,” sharing some insight into how W Hotels impacted the development of lifestyle hotels.

Interestingly the comments on this article point to Kimpton Hotels as launching this trend a decade earlier, but without the marketing power of SPG to push the concept into the public eye.

My first W Hotel stays were in 2003 at W Newark Silicon Valley (now an Aloft hotel) and W Sydney in Woolloomooloo (now a Taj Hotel).

Since then I have stayed at W San Francisco, W Chicago Lakeshore, W Washington D.C. and W New York Union Square. I have also visited a couple other W Hotels.

Lost W Hotel of Woolloomooloo (8-26-2012).

My hassle-free stay @W New York Union Square (10-5-2012)

W Silicon Valley, Newark, California (5-30-2011)

W Silicon Valley Fly-by in HD (July 28, 2009) – This piece touches on the adjacent wildlife refuge and history of sea salt production in San Francisco Bay.

W San Francisco in HD (Sep 4, 2009) – Loads of photos

My Square Foot – Are Hotels Like Men? (8-30-2010) – commentary on W San Francisco room size.

W Chicago Lakeshore Hotel (Oct. 26, 2010)

W Chicago City Center in Blue Ray (October 27, 2010)

W Barcelona Extreme WOW Suite (9-19-2012)

SPG has a nice offer of double points or a 25% off (Gold elite) or 35% discount (Platinum elite) on one award stay for SPG members who qualify or requalify for elite status in 2013.

The 15-page FlyerTalk thread on this promotion is filled with  questions from members on the specifics which were clarified by the Starwood Lurker representatives.

1.) Gold members can choose between double Starpoints for a month or 25%-off a Starpoints redemption.

2.) Platinum members can choose between a double Starpoints month of their choice (from the three months listed as options at time of registration) or 35%-off a Starpoints redemption.

3.) The %-off redemption awards are valid for up to 5 nights at a Category 1-6 hotel or resort and are valid for 6 months from the month of registration. Fifth Night Free benefit can be combined with this award.

4.) Earning and redemption dates are served up at time of registration and they will always be in the future (may not be chosen retroactively). If you qualified today but wanted to wait and register later in the year for a double Starpoints month later in the year, or for a later redemption window on your %-off award, you may do so but there is no going back to choose previous months.

5.) Members who earn or requalify their elite status this calendar year (10 stays or 25 nights for Gold; 25 stays or 50 nights for Platinum) will be sent an email letting them know they can choose their gift. If you are not opted in to SPG promotional emails, you will still be able to access the site if you are eligible (spg.com/elitegift2013).

6.) Preferred members who achieve Gold status and Gold members requalifying are eligible for the Gold gift. Gold members who achieve Platinum status and Platinum members requalifying are eligible for the Platinum gift.

7.) If a member obtains Gold status by meeting the spend threshold on their SPG Amex cobrand credit card, they will also be eligible for the Gold gift.

8.) Lifetime Gold members who hit the Gold stay or night thresholds and Lifetime Platinums who hit the Platinum stay or night thresholds will also be eligible for gift selection.

9.) The campaign will run all year so if you haven’t earned or requalified yet there is plenty of time.

10.) All offers can be used in tandem with other promotions in market.

Starwood Lurker on FlyerTalk

To clarify the eligibility part:

Members without SPG elite in 2012 will earn the Gold and Platinum gifts in 2013 for reaching those levels in 2013.

Members with Gold elite status in 2012 will earn the Gold and Platinum gifts in 2013 for reaching those levels in 2013.

Platinum members in 2012 need to requalify for Platinum in 2013 to earn this benefit. Current SPG Platinum members do not earn the Gold elite gift for 10 stays or 25 nights in 2013; only the Platinum gift upon requalifying with 25 stays or 50 nights in 2013.

Other important specifics:

Members who earn both the Gold elite gift and Platinum elite gift need to register for their Gold elite offer first. The Gold elite offer is forfeited if the SPG member registers for the Platinum elite gift before registering for the Gold elite gift.

The reason this matters is some members may want to wait before registering for their Gold elite gift since the 25% off an award stay is valid only six months from registration date.

The award discount gift has a 6-month validity from time of registration.

Say I receive the Gold elite gift email offer today and I want to use the discount award stay in November. The discount is only available from April 25 to October 25. I would want to wait another month or two before registering my Gold elite gift so I can use the discount for a November stay.

And if I qualify for SPG Platinum in May and receive another email offer for the SPG Platinum gift, then I need to be sure to register first for the Gold elite gift and wait on the Platinum elite registration. The Platinum elite registration can even be done in December 2013 to get a 35% discount on an award stay in early 2014.

This offer is valid for all 2013. Members who qualify in December 2013 for the Gold or Platinum gift will have a few months in 2014 for redeeming the gift.

Starwood Hotels has a large presence in New York with 25 hotels in the New York City area and over a dozen hotels in Manhattan and several in Harlem and Brooklyn.

Starwood Hotels in New York range from St. Regis to Aloft Harlem.

Starwood Hotel Brands in New York area:

• St. Regis = 1
• Luxury Collection = 1 (The Chatwal)
• W Hotels = 5
• Westin = 3
• Sheraton = 7
• Le Meridien = 1
• Four Points = 4
• Element = 1
• Aloft = 2

SPG Hotel Reward Categories for New York

• Category 7 (30,000 or 35,000) = 2 with 1 hotel peak season.
• Category 6 (20,000 or 25,000) = 6 with 1 hotel peak season.
• Category 5 (12,000 or 16,000) = 12 with 3 hotels in peak season.
• Category 4 (10,000) = 4
• Category 3 (7,000) = 1

Starwood Hotels New York SPG Rewards Survey

Read More…

One block west of North Michigan Avenue, the major shopping district and upscale retail section of Chicago called the ‘Magnificent Mile’ is Four Points Chicago Downtown-Magnificent Mile. The hotel is next to Trader Joe’s supermarket for access to food and drink when a restaurant is not in your meal plans. 

This hotel stay was a Starwood Hotels Best Rate Guarantee claim where I saved about $10 on the room rate and earned 2,000 bonus Starpoints. Starwood Hotels had a prepaid, nonrefundable room rate of $105 for a room with two Double beds and Hotels.com rate was $95 for a King Bed. Read More…

Starwood Preferred Guest has a Starpoints sale at 25% off when you buy 13,000 to 20,000 points by April 30, 2013. Normally Starpoints are $35 per 1,000 points.

Periodically SPG offers Starpoints at 20% discount for $28 per 1,000 points. This sale reduces the cost of points to $26.25 per 1,000 points.

Members can only purchase 20,000 points in a calendar year. You must have had an active account for a minimum 14 days to purchase points.

20,000 points is $525.

Read More…