I generally get to Las Vegas one or more times a year. I rarely gamble.

Las Vegas for me is an opportunity to combine cheap hotel stays at the Planet Hollywood Sheraton Resort and the Westin Casuarina, along with seeing family relatives who have all moved away from the California Central Coast due to the high cost of living.  I occasionally see other hotels like the Wynn, Bellagio, Paris, Venetian, and Mandalay Bay through my sisters’ and friends’ rooms. They spend more money in Vegas on hotels.

November and December often provide a great opportunity to earn Starwood hotel stays during end-of-year lucrative SPG promotions. Getting the necessary 25 hotel stays, or less J, required for SPG Platinum status while earning a good promotion bonus on a sub-$100 rate is my idea of the Vegas trifecta.

Las Vegas is a sure bet for this Starwood Preferred Guest.

Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Casino view from Bellagio

The past couple of years I typically stay at both the Westin Casuarina and the Planet Hollywood while in Las Vegas. These hotels are separated by just one long Las Vegas block. Planet Hollywood is on the Las Vegas Strip and the Westin Casuarina is to the rear diagonally on East Flamingo and Koval.

Las Vegas Westin Casuarina

And now there is the Starwood-brand element hotel in the suburb of Summerlin (Loyalty Traveler review here). An aloft hotel is scheduled to open in 2011.

I have always been upgraded to a Resort Vista or Strip Suite at Planet Hollywood as a Platinum member upgrade on my $59 to $79 room rate. I have never been inside a Panorama Suite at Planet Hollywood.

Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Bellagio fountain view

Midweek nights are cheapest for the Las Vegas Strip hotels and the lowest rates can double or triple for Friday and Saturday nights.

Sample rates for Planet Hollywood for Wednesday, August 26 (and Saturday, August 29):

Hollywood Hip $79 ($189) 450 square feet

Hollywood Hip Bellagio Fountain View $129 ($239) 450 square feet

Resort Room $129 ($239) 560 square feet

Resort Vista $189 ($299)  570 square feet

Strip Suite $229 ($339) 850 square feet

Panorama Suite $579 ($689) 1,255 square feet

I had room 2339, a 23^rd floor Resort Vista room on the top floor of the short south facing front tower all the way at the front end of the hallway looking over Las Vegas Boulevard.

Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Room 2339 view of Strip south

There is always some gift package associated with the Planet Hollywood rate. Last week I received a free bottle of alcohol on the $71 “Drinks on Us” AAA rate. The room rate included one complimentary bottle for each night of your stay. The choice was vodka, whiskey, tequila, champagne, wine, and some others. I expected generic Planet Hollywood label bottles, but the Planet Hollywood store choices were actually name brands. I recall Skyy vodka, but not the others. I chose a Beringer Chardonnay, but I wish a 6-pack of Stella Artois had been one of the choices. 

Planet Hollywood was the Starwood Sheraton Aladdin Hotel and underwent its transformation in 2007. The rooms still have the Arabian features of the Aladdin Hotel present in the bathroom fixtures with genie lamp shaped faucets.

Genie faucet on Planet Hollywood round tub

Wikipedia offers a good description of Planet Hollywood along with historical information.

Planet Hollywood Room 2339 bathtub and 42-inch TV

Planet Hollywood attractions:

1.       Sizeable rooms and views

2.       excitement and location of being on the Las Vegas Strip

3.       entertainment options within the Planet Hollywood and Miracle Mile shopping complex

Planet Hollywood detractions:

1.       Self-park lot requires a half-mile walk through the Miracle Mile Shops from the parking garage to the casino and through the casino to the elevators. I am familiar enough with the property to be able to walk from the hotel to the garage without getting lost and I clocked my time at 25 minutes to go from my hotel room through the Miracle Mile shops to the car and back again for an item I needed to retrieve. Going to the garage by the street route outside the lobby doors and walking the pavement beneath Planet Hollywood can save five minutes, but is a more hazardous journey weaving through cars, taxis, and busses zipping around the garage area.

2.       Planet Hollywood has two large pools that have some of the shortest open pool hours of any casino in Las Vegas. Last November the posted pool hours were just 10am to 4pm. Last week the hours were posted as 9am to 7pm.

Planet Hollywood North Pool

 Westin Casuarina Attractions:

1.       Self park garage has easy and quick access

2.       Pool is open nearly 24 hours.

Westin Casuarina Las Vegas pool is open nearly 24 hours

3.       Compact hotel and while the hotel has a casino in the lobby, the hotel has a much quieter adult ambience.  There are no pole dancers around the slot machines at the Westin.

Westin Casuarina detractions:

1.       Rooms are mostly same Classic type and relatively small (370 square feet) compared to planet Hollywood. There are only six top floor Executive suites (750 square feet) and I have never been upgraded to a suite here. There are four top floor Deluxe Suites (1,100 to 1,500 square feet).

Westin Casuarina Las Vegas Traditional Classic room

2.       Generally more expensive than Planet Hollywood.

3.       The view one block east of the Las Vegas Strip consists primarily of large empty lots and the backside parking garages of the Las Vegas Strip casinos. This will likely change in the coming years as more casinos and hotels are built off the Strip, but for now the better view is facing north looking across to the Wynn and Encore Casinos.

Westin Casuarina view to north November 2008

Westin Casuarina Sample Rates for Wednesday, August 26 (and Saturday, August 29):

Classic Room, Low Floor $130 ($140)

Classic City-View, High Floor $155 ($165)

Deluxe Room, cardio equipment in room $155 ($165)

Westin Casuarina view to south. Planet Hollywood is on left.

I never turned on the 42-inch TV over the tub in Room 2339 at the Planet Hollywood. The view through the window kept me mesmerized.

Planet Hollywood TV Eye

 Westin Casuarina attractions:When comparing the hotel experience at the Planet Hollywood and Westin Casuarina I have mixed feelings.The Miracle Mile shopping and entertainment center still looks like Desert Passage when looking up at the disneyesque building façades.

August 25 update: I just looked at some YouTube videos of Planet Hollywood Suites and I was blown away by the upgraded rooms in some of those videos.

There is also a TravelZoo special rate for Panorama Suites for the rest of this year from $199 midweek, however, I just tried 10 sample dates and did not find rate availability for a Panorama Suite.

http://lasvegas.destinations.starwoodhotels.com/Planet_Hollywood/TZOO_08.htm

On a side note: I just read an article from the Las Vegas Sun this morning that ended with a statement that pissed me off. Economic class warfare has placed many hotels in the predicament they now face and is not the way to improve hotel occupancy in this dire economic time for the industry:

Hotels might be discounting more than is necessary while alienating regulars and people with higher expectations,  UNLV professor Erdem said.

“Not everyone staying at these hotels minds paying $300 for a room but may mind hanging out with the people who paid $120 at the pool,” he said. “Price isn’t a simple matter.”

 

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/24/seduction-room-rate/

Tomorrow, August 6, 2008, Wednesday, 12 noon Eastern Time

Be ready to apply for free golf tournament tickets at

https://www.spgpromos.com/pgatickets/.

There are ten pairs of passes available to the following tournaments:

THE BARCLAYS – Paramus, NJ;

Deutsche Bank Championship – Norton, MA;

BMW Championship – St. Louis, MO;

SAS Championship – Cary, NC;

THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola – Atlanta, GA;

Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship – Timonium, MD;

Valero Texas Open – San Antonio, TX;

Administaff Small Business Classic – The Woodlands, TX;

AT&T Championship – San Antonio, TX;

Charles Schwab Cup Championship – Sonoma, CA.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has some of the best discount rate offers available for the online shopper.  Loyalty Traveler is a true fan of the frequently offered 2 Nights for the Price of 1 special rates; a frequent discount rate for hotels in Europe that can save you hundreds of dollars with one reservation. 

Another special rate is the prepaid (nonrefundable) 25% Off Weekend Bed and Breakfast stays in Europe and the Middle East.  This offer is valid through 2008 primarily for weekend stays on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, however, some locations may offer mid-week special rates.  Terms for this offer. 

My searches showed much lower nightly rates for the 2-for-1 special offer rate than with the 25% B&B link.

Holiday Inn Amsterdam, Netherlands,  Sep 19-21, 2008

79.50€/night or 159€ for the 2-night rate compared to

105€/night using the 25% off rate. 

Crowne Plaza – The City, London, UK,  Sep 19-21, 2008

£62.50 / night or £125.00 for 2-night stay using the Pay for 1, Get 2 nights special rate.

£113.00/night using the 25% off B&B rate. 

Priority Club Rewards 

The IHG hotel corporation loyalty program is Priority Club Rewards.  Priority Club was recognized for best award redemption for hotel loyalty programs in the Americas at the 2008 Freddies Awards.  The PointBreaks free nights for 5,000 points per night are one of the highest value hotel opportunities around.  Crowne Plaza free nights at 25,000 points regardless of location makes these hotels one of the best values for a free night in many cities when compared to the redemption rate for a comparable hotel in another loyalty program.  InterContinental Hotels are among the premier hotels for the region in many of their locations and the 30,000 points to 40,000 points per night are highly competitive with the redemption rates for comparable hotels in other programs.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

A hotel chain as large as the InterContinental Hotels Group makes Priority Club Rewards a valuable loyalty program investment for some travelers.  The Holiday Inn Express brand (1,700 Hotels) of IHG far surpasses in numbers and locations the entire Starwood Hotels group (about 800 hotels) and Hyatt Hotels group (fewer than 500 hotels).  Priority Club is one to rival Hilton and Marriott for road warriors.  InterContinental Hotels (about 150 hotels) and Crowne Plaza (about 300 hotels) are upscale redemption opportunities and offer a higher level of service than your typical Holiday Inn (1,400 hotels).  IHG’s new brand Hotel Indigo is still limited to a few markets with only 14 properties opened since launching in 2004.  Candlewood Suites (150 hotels) and Staybridge Suites (125 hotels) offer extended stay apartment style lodging.  IHG is a leading player in all market segments of the hotel industry.

Priority Club Fall 2008 Promotion for Double Points or Double Miles

Later this week I will write about the upcoming IHG Priority Club Rewards promotion for Double Points or Double Miles.  Registration is required.  The promotion starts September 15, 2008 and runs to December 15, 2008.

Learn more now, if you can’t wait for my post.

Starwood’s Summer Value hotel rates sale didn’t go off smoothly last week.  There were numerous examples of rates available at many hotels lower than the Summer Value sale offer.  Another quirk was the fact that the timer on the screen counting down the days and hours before the sale ended ran down to the final hour last evening while the fine print at the bottom of the Promotion Offer Page stated the sale ended at 11:59pm EDT on August 5, 2008 which is tonight.

Terms:

·         Reservations are prepaid, non-refundable and non-changeable.

·         Book by 11:59pm EDT on Monday, August 11, 2008 for stays by September 30, 2008.

·         Thursday, Friday, or Saturday arrival necessary for discount rates.  Some hotels may have minimum stay requirement.  (Terms do not mention Sunday, and the previous Summer Value sale included low room rates for Sunday.)

Starwood has extended the sale for another week and the terms and calendar are now aligned.  This is Day 1 of the 7-day sale and the sale ends at 11:59pm EDT on August 11, 2008.

My observation from dozens of searches is the sale fares show up during regular default searches on the Starwood Preferred Guest booking sites and there is no need to follow the promotional offer link above to get the lower rates. 

Bookings are non-refundable and non-changeable so make sure your plans are firm before booking.

My observation was several hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area had their lowest rates since 2006 with this offer.  W Silicon Valley ($87), Sheraton Palo Alto ($99), and Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf ($149 is a bargain for high season August and September.  Winter can be $129.) These rates are in the region of low off-season winter rates.

Other hotels like the W Hotel San Francisco, The Palace, and Le Meridien San Francisco have been $20 to $100 cheaper at times in 2008.

Bargains are there, but you have to look carefully.

Register by Friday, August 8^th to earn 888 bonus points for your next weekend stay. 

Terms and Conditions:

Offer is valid on new reservations only and reservation must be booked by September 28 for stays completed by September 30, 2008.

Offer valid only for arrivals on Friday or Saturday.

Participating properties are primarily located in 26 states east of the Mississippi River, Washington D.C., Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, and some Caribbean hotels.

Omni Hotels operates 39 upscale and luxury hotels and resorts in North America.  Hotels offer wifi and high speed internet access (complimentary for Select Guest members).  Omni Select Guest Gold Level membership normally takes 6 stays in a 24 month period.  Omni Hotels has a special offer in conjunction with Emirates Airlines.

Emirates Airlines Skywards Double Miles promotion with Omni Select Guest hotel stays from August 15 through November 30, 2008.

Emirates Skywards members will be upgraded to Omni Select Guest Gold status with a stay at any of the five participating properties and receive double miles for a stay at:

·         Omni Berkshire Place – New York, NY

·         Omni Houston Hotel

·         Omni Houston Hotel at Westside

·         Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza

·         Omni San Francisco Hotel

Benefits of Omni Hotels Select Guest Gold Level membership:

·         More rates qualify for 500 frequent flyer miles.

·         Late check-out up to 5 pm.

·         Occasional certificates for room upgrades and room rate discounts.

Loyalty Traveler note: Customer service told me the international airline partners are relatively new to the program and the website updates have not yet been programmed to allow registration of these airline partners online in your profile.  You will need to call customer service to have your Emirates frequent flyer number placed in your guest profile. 

Normal frequent flyer miles earning for Omni Select Guests is 500 miles per stay.  This Emirates offer will award 1,000 miles per stay and your first stay at one of the five participating hotels listed above will trigger the Gold Level upgrade.

Starwood Hotels 7 Day Summer Value Sale (up to 50% off rack rate)

Starwood Hotels has launched a 7 day sale on hotel rates in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean.  Save up to 50% off rack rate for stays in August and September.  Reservations must be booked by 11:59pm EDT, August 5 and rates are non-refundable.  A hotel search by location will show the hotel lowest prices available for these special rates.  Some hotels may impose a minimum stay requirement for this special rate and some hotels have blackout dates.

My initial ten searches only located one hotel available for the lowest rate shown with this summer special at $87/night for the W Hotel Silicon Valley in Newark, California.  This hotel has had a regular rate of $109 for most weekend nights of the past two years and this $87 special rate is the lowest I have seen in quite some time.

San Francisco Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf is shown at $149 per night. August/September are the hotel high rate months for San Francisco.  I was unable to find a rate anywhere near $149 for dates I checked.  But there are thousands of combinations of hotels and dates and I did find an example of good savings using this special offer (20% off the normal low rate for W Silicon Valley).  

Check out Starwood Hotels sale rates and possibly save some summer cash with your Starwood Hotel travel for reservations made this week.

Starwood Hotels Summer Value Sale Terms and Conditions

July 31 Update to this post:

I have seen the summer sale rates more prevalent since yesterday.  I am now finding the low advertised rates more frequently than when I wrote this post two days ago at a number of California hotels.  The rates are coming up in regular Starwood website hotel searches even without searching through the special summer link

Wyndham Rewards Double Airline Miles or Rail Points for Summer 2008 Stays

With over 6,000 properties in Wyndham Rewards this is an inexpensive way to earn some airline miles with your hotel stays.

Terms and conditions:

-         No registration is required. 

-         Set your earning preference to airline miles in your guest profile. 

-         Participating countries are USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany or China. 

-         Hotel stays must be booked by September 4 and stays completed by October 4, 2008.

-         Limit of 4 Stays will earn Double Miles or Points per member

Wyndham Rewards has benefits like free internet just for joining.  Hotel points or airline miles can be earned for stays at 10 hotel brands, including Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont Inns and Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn, and AmeriHost Inn.  And just 3 stays in a calendar year brings some additional Wyndham ByRequest elite benefits such as preferred location in a hotel.

Regular Earning System for Wyndham Rewards                                                                                      (Double Miles or Rail Points promotion will double the earning shown below for miles).

Wyndham Rewards allows members the choice of hotel stay earning preference:

10 Wyndham Rewards points per $1 hotel rate paid

or

2 airline miles per $1, except Wyndham Hotels earn a set 500 miles per stay.

            Earning rules vary among airline partners:

            2 airline miles per $1

                        American Airlines AAdvantage,

                        Continental Airlines OnePass

                        Delta Skymiles

                        Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles

                        Northwest Airlines WorldPerks

                        Spirit Airlines

                        United Mileage Plus

                        US Airways Dividend Miles

            Air Canada Aeroplan

                    Greater of 2 airline miles per $1  or  250 miles per stay

            SunCountry Airline UFly points

                        2 UFly points per Wyndham Hotel stay or

                        1 UFly point per stay at other Wyndham brands

            Air Berlin

                        500 miles per stay

            Air China Phoenix Miles

                        800 kilometers per stay at Ramada, Howard Johnson, or Days Hotels in China         

                        400 kilometers per stay at Days Inn or Super 8 in China

                        3 kilometers per $1 for stays at Wyndham Rewards hotel brands outside China

            Lufthansa Miles & More

                    500 miles per stay at participating Wyndham Hotels and Ramada Inn

            Amtrak Points (available for stays at USA and Canada hotels only)

                        2 points per $1 at all Wyndham brands, except 500 points per stay at Wyndham                                          Hotels

That $50 Travelodge hotel night can be worth 200 American Airlines miles with the Double Miles promotion.

Double Starpoints for 1^st Anniversary Promotion at 28 Starwood Hotels

There are 28 hotels in North America celebrating their 1^st anniversary as Starwood Hotel members and Starwood Preferred Guest is giving double Starpoints to celebrate.

Registration is required for this Double Starpoints 1^st Anniversary promotion.

Valid for stays booked and completed between July 10 and October 31, 2008.

Only base points are doubled and not bonus or elite points. 

By the numbers:  Regular earning for Starwood Preferred Guest members is 2 Starpoints per $1 in hotel spending. 

Assume $100 room rate for one-night stay

Preferred Guest = 400 Starpoints earned

Gold Preferred = 500 Starpoints earned

Platinum Preferred = 1,000 Starpoints earned (assumes 500 points platinum amenity)

$100 room rate earns 200 base Starpoints.  Double Starpoints will be 4 Starpoints per $1 or 400 Starpoints on a $100 room rate. 

For elites: Gold member would earn a 50% bonus on 200 Starpoints for base spending = 300 Starpoints + 200 Starpoints (double promo) = 500 Starpoints on a $100 room rate.

Platinum member selecting 500 Starpoints amenity can earn 1,000 Starpoints on a $100 room rate.]

Go HoJo and possibly save 15% on your hotel rate for summer bookings.

Howard Johnson hotels advertise a 15% discount off Best Available Rate with their “Stay 2, Save a Few” summer offer for 2 nights or longer stays.  Free high speed internet and a continental breakfast are added benefits of this budget hotel chain.  The Howard Johnson hotel brand is a member of the Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program so your stays can earn points.  The recent InsideFlyer analysis of hotel loyalty programs viewed Wyndham Rewards solidly in the lower-middle range for free nights earning power based solely on spending among nine major hotel frequent guest programs.

Reservations need to be made by September 1, 2008, but reservation dates can be made this summer for a hotel stay later in the year as I found the 15% rate for dates in November 2008 during my rate searches.

The Wyndham reservations process has some interesting features not common among hotel reservations systems.   A regular hotel search returns special offer rates without the need to specifically search for special offers.  AAA and group rates do need to be checked separately, however, this promotion only applies to a discount on the publicly available Best Available Rate.

Ironically, when I used the promotional rate link for “Stay 2, Save a Few” for Monterey, the search return showed a higher rate for the Howard Johnson, Fremont Street in Seaside, than the rate shown in a default-mode search for Best Available Rate. 

The Stay 2 promotion reservation link returned a rate at $67 per night,  or 10% more than the $60 rate when searching for Best Available Rate (BAR).  When searching for the BAR rate a “Manager’s Special” promotional rate came up at $60 per night.  The “Stay 2, Save a Few” reservations website link returns the $67 higher rate at the Howard Johnson, Seaside and the rate does not state 15% off and the traveler is not shown the “Manager’s Special” rate in the search returns when using the “Stay 2, Save a Few” special offer link.

The 15% discount provides a good deal for Monterey for some dates at the three Howard Johnson hotels on the Monterey Peninsula for some dates.  The “Stay 2” rate will show in a search using the Best Available Rate standard search method, if available.  The “Stay 2, Save 15% Off Best Available Rate” will display as a header above the room rate.

To be safe, make sure to check the hotel rate using the regular reservations page.  My rate searches revealed the “Stay 2” link may not be the lowest available rate for your stay.