I am on a lonely road and I am traveling,

traveling, traveling, traveling,

Looking for something, what can it be?

    

    All I Want –  Joni Mitchell

 

Mt. Shasta, California view from I-5 near Dunsmuir

 

I heard a blogger panelist at BlogWorld08 in Las Vegas tell bloggers never to apologize for not blogging.  I’m not apologizing – just writing.

 

I was on the Family and Friends plan this past week over the Thanksgiving holidays.  I have hotel reviews, stories, and photos from Las Vegas for Loyalty Traveler December blog posts.  There are still several pieces of the Vancouver, Washington, Oregon, and California trip I want to finish writing and posting to this blog. 

I drove around the western states for most of November.  It has been 12 years since I did serious road travel.  My realization this past month is writing as a road warrior is much more difficult than writing when flying the friendly skies.  Piloting and navigating a car takes a lot more physical and mental energy than being a high flyer drifting between airports penning thoughts.

Most of my November days were used seeing hotels (about 25 hotels or so), staying in hotels (11 stays), and driving between hotels (3,500 miles).  Gas dropped from $2.94 to $1.81 over a three week period of driving around California and the west.  Hotel prices also dropped by 35% in many locations from the time I started looking in mid-October/early-November to when I was booking rooms during November.  Airfares for domestic December holiday travel are some of the lowest fares I recall seeing in the past 7 years.

The new Starwood Luxury Collection hotel, the Nines Portland, Oregon has dropped rates as low as $149 for Christmas week.  This is 40% less than lowest rates were 30 days ago.  Recently opened hotels like the InterContinental Monterey are currently offering abnormally low rates like $117 per night (AAA rate) for an upscale hotel in a resort destination.

I was checking Denver hotel rates for stays around Christmas week and the Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt in downtown Denver are only $70 a night.  I am astonished and thankful.  Hyatt Gold Passport Faster Free Nights makes hotel rates this low essentially freebies.  A Hyatt Gold Passport member can stay upscale in downtown Denver at economy hotel room rates and redeem luxury hotel nights in a place like Scottsdale’s Hyatt Gainey Ranch Resort or a Park Hyatt for free during winter 2009.

I think we have about two to three weeks before the 2009 hotel promotions appear on the web to try and stimulate the hotel economy.  Hotels are mirroring the national economy in needing a jump-start to keep rooms occupied in 2009. 

Hotel industry news throughout November has repeatedly shown occupancy declines, luxury and upscale hotel market room rate cuts, and average room rate declines across the USA, although Texas hotel rates are rising at the moment. Forecasts offer an even bleaker 2009 hotel industry scenario.  Projects like the St. Regis Las Vegas and new Starwood hotels in Macau are postponed indefinitely.   

Much of the hotel industry occupancy projections in 2008 and into 2009 were based on increased international visitors to the USA.  The dollar was weak and the British pound and Euro were strong and made the USA a bargain destination.  Many international currencies have lost 20% to 30% of their value against the dollar since September and the likelihood of large increases in the numbers of international visitors to the USA has diminished.  The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar have plummeted against the US Dollar taking away the financial incentive and the financial resources for USA travel from our top two sources of international visitors. 

Time-Rich, Job Poor?  Go Travel!

Work interferes with seeing the world.  This is a great time to travel and see the world.

There are travel deals all around.  Last week, Holland America offered an inside cabin for $1,025 per person on a 16-day San Diego to Fort Lauderdale cruise via the Panama Canal.  A 16-day cruise for $2,050 all-in, including the fuel surcharges for sailing next week December 7.  $125 per day for a room, entertainment and recreational activities, and all the food you can eat is a great deal. 

 

Stanford University Day Tripping – So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA October 16, 2008

Rushing out of Monterey I had no idea what the temperature was in Silicon Valley, California.  The 70° Monterey air soon went to 90° on Highway 101 right where Monterey County changes to San Benito County.  Somehow the County line seems to be situated right at the point of the freeway where the Pacific Ocean air conditioning ends.

The beautiful hotel exterior of the Four Seasons caught my attention numerous times as I passed by on Highway 101 through Palo Alto. 

Four Seasons Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto, California

A room with a view of IKEA and the freeway always seemed like an odd location for a luxury hotel.  The dichotomy of social existence in California is reflected perfectly in a luxury hotel next to a freeway separating the predominantly lower socioeconomic households of East Palo Alto from the Stanford University dominated Palo Alto to the west.

Four Seasons Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto, California

I decided to check out the freeway-side hotel as I exited University Avenue in East Palo Alto on the way to Stanford University.  Ambient music played in the lobby.  The bright sun on this 90°F October day kept the west facing window seating “awash in clear sunlight by day”.  That descriptive phrase lifted from the Four Seasons website perfectly captures the light I experienced as I walked through the hotel.  Most of the people present were in the Quattro café/bar area.  http://www.fourseasons.com/siliconvalley/photo_gallery/

 

Four Seasons Silicon Valley lobby, East Palo Alto, California

I wasn’t dressed for public relations or The Bar.   The rooftop pool view will have to wait for another day.

Four Seasons Silicon Valley Quattro Restaurant

A quick lobby walk-through and photo snaps with a stop in the toilet comprised my visit.  Five star luxury bathrooms use hand towels, not paper towels in the public area restrooms.

Four Seasons, Silicon Valley has a $245 Bed and Breakfast rate which must make this hotel one of the lowest priced Four Seasons in the United States. 

·          

The train tracks separate the few blocks of upscale shops, restaurants, and bars on University Avenue east of the tracks, from the Palo Alto Sheraton and Westin and Stanford University on the west side of the tracks.  I parked in the business district and joined the multilingual crowd on the sunny sidewalks. 

Electric Car, Palo Alto, California

Several people walking in front of me all turned right into a store.  Several people walking towards me all turned left into the same store.  I glanced in as I passed by the door and saw it was an Apple computer store.  Dozens of shops on the street and it seemed just about everyone on the sidewalk had walked into the Apple store.  There must have been fifteen people go inside in a 30-second period.

I turned around and went in the Apple store.  I have never been in an Apple store before.  Long white countertops had Apple products evenly spaced for consumer-user friendliness.  One counter had about six or eight computers.  There were several rows of these counters.  Another area had i-phones, and another area i-pods.  Headphones were dangling from overhead fixtures.  Dozens of people were standing in front of computers surfing the internet.   My little city of Monterey has nothing like this. 

 

The Palo Alto Sheraton and Palo Alto Westin are adjacent to each other and across the street from Stanford University.  I have stayed at both of these hotels.  The Westin is elegant and has nicer rooms.  The Sheraton has the better pool and is the place to be if you want to party.  The Westin exudes professorial sophistication and the Sheraton says California sunshine and tan maintenance.  Both hotels are outrageously high on most weekdays with $200+ rates.  Over the past year the Sheraton Palo Alto drops to $99 to $119 for some weekends, while the Westin tends to bottom out in the $129-$149 range.

The Sheraton concierge kindly provided me with a map of Stanford University and even a 10% discount card for dinner at Gordon Biersch Brewery near where I had parked my car. 

Palm Avenue, Stanford University

Along Palm Avenue, across the street from the Sheraton Hotel, it is a 15 to 20 minute walk to the University buildings.  In the hot sun, my ears burning, the distance to the Rodin Sculpture Garden was a bit farther than I had remembered and I wished I had brought a bottle of water from my car.  The temperature controlled environment of the museum was a respite from the early fall heat of California.

Cantor Center for the Visual Arts, Stanford university, Palo Alto, California

My Rodin knowledge is primarily from the 1989 Isabelle Adjani and Gerard Depardieu movie, “Camille Claudel”.   

The Thinker, Rodin sculpture, Cantor Museum, Stanford University

A museum that permits photography is a pleasant surprise.

I love this painting of Napoleon. 

 Napoleon (1798), Artist: Andrea Appiani (1754-1817)

I was disappointed to take two fuzzy photographs of a painting by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).  I purchased a print of Bouguereau’s “The Young Seamstress” in Ireland back in 1997 and it hangs in our bedroom.

There was a party scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 with a free band and $5 microbrew beers and wines ($8) in the Rodin Sculpture Garden.  I wandered on to look for food.

 

“Social Butterfly” 1990, Roger Brown, 1941-1997

·          

Naomi Klein (right) and Terry Karl, Stanford University, 10-16-08

Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo” and “The Shock Doctrine”, speaking at Stanford University was the purpose of this trip. 

What does a liberal journalist have to do with hotel travel? 

Well, the main thesis of Naomi Klein’s latest book, “The Shock Doctrine“ is the pattern of corporatism winning out over public good through privatization and appropriation of resources, money, and law in a catalytic way of change after a major disaster.  Her thesis is supported by four main examples: Chile and the corporate overthrow of democratic socialism in the 70s, Bush’s war privatization in Iraq, hotel development on appropriated beaches after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and school privatization in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Naomi Klein spoke primarily about the current economic crisis and expressed her activism in urging everyone to hound their legislators for securing a better bailout economic package to the one Hank Paulson negotiated with the banks.

Her main social point was to stay on your legislators to enable Barack Obama to address a grassroots call for change and generate reforms for infrastructure and social policy development in a climate that is unfortunately ripe for a continuation of disaster capitalism a la Bush Administration through corporate bailouts rather than changes more directly related to the working people of the USA.

·          

W Hotel Silicon Valley, Newark, California

The W Hotel Silicon Valley is an easy 20 minute drive from Palo Alto.  Crossing the Dumbarton Bridge over southern San Francisco Bay reminded me of the leftover fresh crab I cracked and ate for lunch before leaving my home in Monterey.  The scent from the sea at low tide pervaded my car.

W Silicon Valley is located near the East Bay shoreline in the estuary of Newark, California.   Estuaries are a great place for bird watching.  The darkness at 10pm kept my eyes from seeing the mudflats my nose detected.

The Check-in receptionist told me I was being given an upgrade.  The room was on the 4^th floor facing east.  The preferred view in this hotel is the west facing room or pool rooms.  I have stayed here probably a dozen or more times in the past six years and I have only had an interior facing room once and I couldn’t see the pool from that room, just the roof of the café area. The room looked like every room I’ve had at this hotel.  One time, years ago, I actually did receive a corner room upgrade. 

Room 410, W Hotel Silicon Valley, Newark, CA

At $89 on a Starpicks rate for a Thursday night I am not complaining.  This hotel is normally twice the price on Thursdays.

Lobby was dead at 10:00pm.  One man working on a computer at a café table.

Only one bar of soap in the bathroom.  That was inconvenient to have to move the soap from the sink to the bath and back to the sink.  Ecologically, I can’t bear the thought of throwing away bars of soap after one day so one bar is a “green” move.  Personally,  I always take the soap home with me and my home supply is a little low lately.   

 

Room 410, W Silicon Valley bathroom

Friday morning working on my computer and  I realize there is no coffee maker in the room.  I had to put on my glasses to read the W Hotel card on the sink counter.

“WHO DO YOU HAVE TO KNOW TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE AROUND HERE?”

The sentence on the card was written in all caps like that.  The card then said “Join us for coffee or tea, at the W Café in the Living Room this morning. Along with coffee or tea, you will find fresh-baked pastries and other tempting treats to whet your appetite.”

The card does not say if coffee is complimentary.

I had to place the card under the lamp to decipher the line at the bottom of the card, set in a smaller size font: “Can’t live without your fix?  Call Whatever/Whenever to have a coffee maker delivered to your room.”

This is a change for the W Silicon Valley.  There was always a coffee maker in the room for my hotel stays over the past six years.

I tossed on some gym shorts and headed to the lobby for coffee.  Felt a little underdressed in the elevator with a perfumed, business attire woman.  Then again, I looked like I might be headed to the workout room or perhaps I was on my way to “Wet” (the W synonym for swimming pool).

Coffee fixed I proceeded to work on my computer.

W Hotels have interesting accessories for your stay.  On the desk was a silver tube sitting in a tray labeled “WISH” and the tube was in fact a kaleidoscope.  The hotel has complimentary DVD movies for check-out and a DVD player beneath the TV.  The room has a sink, microwave, and refrigerator and two sets of plates and utensils.  Magazines are everywhere from the selection of three in the room to three more titles in the elevator vestibule.  I grabbed a copy of “Wired” to take home.

The café was busy in the morning.  I have never seen it so crowded in my previous stays as I am usually here on a Saturday or Sunday morning.  They appeared to be business guests who probably have meetings in one of the tech buildings in the business park surrounding the W Hotel.  After all, it is called Silicon Valley for a reason.

 

 

 

 

 

LHW 1928 Promotion Saga – LHW Emails Respond to Promotion Disaster

The power of a social network site was demonstrated with the rapid fire posting of information yesterday on the FlyerTalk LHW 1928 thread (page 51 is when LHW responds to promotion meltdown).  Interspersed between the whines and calls for lawyers were cogent posts from an LHW representative proactively providing information to the FlyerTalk thread readers.  I learned about the rescheduled email promotion from an LHW representative posting on FlyerTalk a couple of hours before I actually received the email to my inbox.

Yesterday I received two emails from LHW regarding the 1928 promotion.

The first email provided a form for resubmitting a request for a reservation with space for up to 3 LHW hotels.  I was asked to submit the form during an 80 minute window beginning at 5am California time on Thursday, October 2, 2008.

The text of the email is shown here:

“Dear Ric Garrido,

 

We are deeply sorry for today’s disruption of the USD 19.28 sale. Demand for this promotion far surpassed our expectations, and due to the exorbitant amount of traffic to www.lhw.com/1928, we were unable to accommodate travel requests. Nonetheless, we intend on making every effort to honor the offer on a first come, first serve basis, and have devised a plan to enable you to apply for the USD 19.28 rate. (The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. makes no representation or guarantee that it will be able to fulfill your request.)

 

Please click here to download the form for details. As a reminder, below is a complete list of the hotels participating in this promotion.

Thank You,

 

The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. “

 

And this is the form:

 

 

 

 

 

Approximately four hours later a second email from Ted Teng, Leading Hotels of the World President and CEO, arrived stating the October 2 email promotion is suspended and email registrants for the 1928 promotion will be contacted next week with further details.

 

Dear Ric Garrido,

 

Thank you so much for your continued patience with The Leading Hotels of the World. We are extremely sorry for the inconveniences we have caused and regret to advise you that the USD 19.28 email promotion scheduled for tomorrow October 2nd shall be postponed.

 

Although our original back-up plan provided a viable solution for the 150,000 people who were registered, it was met with some confusion over submission procedures and timing. In addition, we have become increasingly concerned that a large number of non-registered respondents plan to submit forms which would inundate the system and greatly diminish your chances of securing a USD 19.28 rate.

 

In view of this, please do not email your form tomorrow. You will most likely receive an error message we have put in place as a safety mechanism.

 

We are sincerely committed to restoring your faith in our brand and do not want to risk disappointing you again. We are working tirelessly to develop a solution that will be fair for you and all registered participants. We will email you next week with further details.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ted Teng

President & CEO

The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

 

Unfortunately, what looked to be a great marketing campaign caught fire with the media and the public.  I googled the LHW 1928 promotion yesterday morning to see how my blog post ranked and all I found was page upon page of mainstream media news reports from local papers and TV stations reporting on the promotion for the past three weeks.  I am surprised only 150,000 people registered for the 1928 promotion. 

I had this story marked since September 5 for writing a blog post about the LHW 1928 promotion.  I decided to wait until just two days before the promotion so the idea would be fresh in readers’ minds to be prepared for the 80 minute booking window.

My thoughts on the resolution of the PR disaster is persons who registered for the promotion will likely receive a discount offer for an LHW stay in addition to another opportunity for $19.28 roomnights.  The point of a marketing campaign is to get loyal customers.  Repeat customers are much less costly to direct market hotel advertising than a shotgun blast to the public.

LHW states they have 150,000 of us registered for the 1928 promotion.  That is a good direct marketing base and now all they have to do is come up with a plan to keep us interested in LHW.  I don’t expect all 150,000 of us to receive a $19.28 room night reservation as compensation for our wasted time, although that would be nice. 

I expected to have wasted time in trying to secure a room for a particular date at a specific hotel.  I have played the auction bidding game and know it is a matter of patience and trying to be clever enough to get the right bid.  I’ve spent hours planning flights on a great airfare sale and then have the fare reprice higher before getting my ticket purchase finalized.  I wasted a couple of hours in the past month trying to get low hotel rates through the Sheraton San Diego and Super 8 motel promotions.

What makes the LHW sale different is I just didn’t expect to be locked out of any possibility of getting a room reservation.  And if it weren’t for the transparency facilitated by a social media site like FlyerTalk I, and you, would probably have assumed we were just unlucky and some 6,000 other people beat us to the bargain rooms for $19.28 per night.

FlyerTalk made us aware that it was a system-wide failure on LHW’s part.  When nobody can access the promotion site, trying from countries all over the world, then you know there is something not working with the promotion rather than just your own bad luck.

The registration and posting of information on the FlyerTalk thread from Marshall Calder, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Leading Hotels of the World, showed a sincere attempt to keep the public informed through an active social media channel which also allowed those of us reading FlyerTalk to disseminate information to others not reading FlyerTalk. 

I do expect some attempt will be made to provide a generous discount on an LHW stay or some other promotional offer to try and retain the attention and place a positive spin on the potential customers who generated an overwhelming interest in the LHW 1928 promotion.

I think LHW is now taking the necessary time to really plan an appropriate response.  We may not all get $19.28 rooms, but I predict registered participants will get something in the way of a discount offer from LHW that is not available to the general public.

Some of us will likely still get $19.28 rooms and I imagine the rest of us will get some stay incentive for an LHW hotel member rather than being left empty-handed if we still miss out on the cheap room nights when the promotion is resumed.

 

 

 

I’ll keep you posted as developments occur.

 

 

 

Hilton Rome Cavalieri Rebranded as Waldorf=Astoria

Waldorf=Astoria Collection, The Cavalieri, Rome, Italy  (photo courtesy of Hilton)

The Rome Cavalieri has been the premier European hotel property of Hilton International for years.  This hotel was one of the few HHonors Category 6 hotels when I started looking in 2000 for wonderful Hilton Hotels to spend my points.  Unfortunately my plans to Italy were canceled twice and I have never made it to Rome to visit this prestigious hotel.

Rome Cavalieri Free Nights Using Points

Don’t Delay and Book Today while you can still get a free night at the Rome Cavalieri for 40,000 points or even better, a VIP-only GLONP2 6-night reward for 175,000 points. 

I was able to find availability for a 175,000 points, six-night GLONP2 on my first selection of dates for November 13-19, 2008 when I called HHonors reservations today.

Stays at the Waldorf=Astoria Cavalieri beginning after February 28, 2009 will require 60,000 points per free night or a VIP-Only Waldorf=Astoria Collection award will cost 265,000 points for a 6-night stay. 

The HHonors redemption level increases to 60,000 points per night from March 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009.  This Loyalty Traveler does not expect to see the redemption rate drop back to 40,000 points per night again. [link here for Rome Cavalieri redemption chart]

Get more value out of your Hilton HHonors points and plan that Italian getaway.

You don’t really want to spend $400 for a paid night, do you?

November 17-20, 2008 Monday to Thursday stay:  $1,200USD for the 3-night stay

Nonrefundable internet rate = 275€/night (tax included) or about $400USD per night.

There is a long-running FlyerTalk thread on the Rome Cavalieri.  This link goes to page 77 of this discussion with comments about the hotel from September 2008.

Hilton links:

Waldorf=Astoria Collection Rome Cavalieri home

Links to HHonors information at top right of Rome Cavalieri home page or use links below and navigate from the benefits page to pages showing Colosseo lounge and free night redemption levels:

Rome Cavalieri HHonors benefits selection

Rome Cavalieri Colosseo Lounge

News Story on Rome Cavalieri rebranding from Hotels’ Daily News Service

 

Leading Hotels of the World $19.28 Promotion for 80 Minutes on Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is the largest luxury hotel brand around the globe.

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, California, Leading Hotels of the World participating member in 1928 promotion

The LHW Offer:  6,000 luxury hotel rooms — 96 luxury hotels — 45 nights — $19.28 room rates

… if you are lucky enough to secure a reservation.

Booking Window: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 beginning at 8am Eastern time for an 80 minute window at $19.28 rates.

Eligible hotel stay period:  November 1 – December 15, 2008 is the stay period eligible for $19.28 room rates.

Registration required at this LHW link to be eligible for $19.28 rates.

Maximum of one hotel reservation per household and maximum 2 nights at $19.28 rate.

LHW 1928 Promotion Terms and Conditions – link here.

Bernardus Lodge croquet lawn, Carmel Valley, California

Steps to success:

1.      Register for LHW promotion here.

2.      Study the hotel properties.  Pick your top 3 to 5 hotel locations for destinations that you are confident in being able to travel to during the 45 days eligible for the $19.28 rates.  

3.      Remember one reservation per household for a maximum two nights at $19.28 per night.

4.      Keep in mind that hotel urban locations tend to have better availability on weekends and resort locations tend to have better availability on weekdays.  This may or may not be the case for this promotion.

 

Bernardus Lodge pool, Carmel Valley, CA

This is a good promotion for exposing travelers to the Leading Hotels of the World group of luxury accommodations.  And this is an incredible opportunity for hotel room rate savings with the most expensive luxury hotel brand in the world.  A news report last February showed the average room rate for the Leading Hotels of the World hotel members in 2007 was $470.  This group of hotels had the highest average room rate of the luxury hotel segment. 

1928 is the year the Leading Hotels of the World was founded hence the $19.28 promotional rates.

Bernardus Lodge lobby seating, Carmel Valley, CA

Total room night sales of 1.65 million in 2007 with fewer than 250,000 of those rooms booked over the internet at www.lhw.com may be a primary reason for this discount promotion.   With five of six hotel room nights booked for LHW stays not happening through the lhw.com website this promotion is a good marketing tool to increase reservations traffic over the internet.

Promotions like the 1928 online promotion are a clever marketing strategy for increasing LHW brand awareness, new Leaders Club members, and lhw.com website activity.  The Leading Hotels of the World has over 450 hotel members and about 84,000 rooms worldwide.  A bit more than 20% of the LHW hotel members are participating in this promotion. 

Bernardus Lodge cabin room surrounded by spring flowers, Carmel Valley, CA

Leaders Club is a $300 membership hotel loyalty program for Leading Hotels of the World.  For hotel travelers who plan to stay at a LHW member hotel on regular paid rates, the Leaders Club is a means to complimentary upgrades that will likely result in a rebate equivalent to the membership fee after one hotel stay.  Complimentary membership to Leaders Club is available for newsletters and special offers, but don’t expect the complimentary upgrades with a complimentary Leaders Club membership.

Bernardus Lodge fountain and rooms, Carmel Valley, CA

Geographic regions for 97 participating

hotel members in the 1928 promotion.

 

South Africa    2 hotels

South America    5 hotels

Caribbean    2 hotels

North America    14 hotels

Europe    63 hotels

Asia    11 hotels

 

Bernardus Lodge tennis courts, Carmel Valley, CA

 

If at first you don’t succeed…try…try…try again.

The past month has seen me frustrated with trying to secure these “first-come, first-served” promotions with unsuccessful attempts at getting the Sheraton San Diego for $5.01 a couple of weeks back (LT post here) and prior to that the Super 8 Motels $8.88 rooms (LT post here). 

Bernardus Lodge Spa, Carmel Valley, CA

While I don’t count on landing this incredible hotel deal, the opportunity to book a luxury hotel room night selling for less than 5% of the average daily rates for most of these participating hotels will have me setting my alarm clock, and readying my mouse finger for scrolling and clicking at 5am California time Wednesday morning, October 1. 

 

 

Bernardus Lodge Ingrid’s Vineyard, Carmel Valley, CA

 

 

The ultimate question for every loyalty traveler is:

            What is the best hotel frequent guest program for me?

I could work out an individual profile for your travel lifestyle to suggest the best hotel program, but you will have to pay me for that kind of personal attention.  For all you internet freeloaders I have this blog which should help you make an educated decision based on information.

Last week I addressed the issue of hotel brands in hotel market segments using the JD Power survey on guest satisfaction.  The more important aspect of brands for the loyalty traveler choosing a hotel program is knowledge of the proportion of hotel brands in the different market segments and the proportion of USA and international hotels participating in a frequent guest program. 

Choosing the “best fit” hotel loyalty program should be based on matching the hotel brands and locations with your desired travel pattern.  The best hotel program can vary depending on the market segment you tend to travel within (free breakfast at a midscale hotel or full restaurant room service dinner at upscale hotels?), your hotel stay pattern (single nights vs. multi-night stays), your hotel room redemption opportunities (do you want lots of nights at midscale hotels or a few nights at luxury hotels?), and whether the locations you travel are strictly USA, global travel, or particular cities and regions.

I look at this stuff all the time and I have difficulty remembering the ratios of USA vs. international hotels and the ratio of upscale brands vs. mid-scale brands.  I decided to recheck information for this post on choosing the best hotel program for your travel lifestyle.

Loyalty Traveler’s Look at Hotel Market Segment and Geography by Hotel Loyalty Program

Marriott Hotels Corporation

USA = 2,518 hotels  (434 upscale hotels; 1,753 midscale; 860 extended stay)

International = 369 hotels (269 upscale hotels; 81 midscale; 19 extended stay)

Marriott Brands:

·         JW Marriott = 39 hotels (16 USA, 23 international)

·         Marriott  = 521 hotels (343 USA, 178 international)

·         Renaissance Hotels = 143 (75 USA, 68 international)

·         Courtyard = 770 (697 USA, 73 international)

·         Residence Inn = 547 (529 USA, 18 international)

·         Fairfield Inn = 535 (527 USA, 8 international)

·         TownePlace Suites = 145 (145 USA)

·         SpringHill Suites = 187 (186 USA, 1 international)

Marriott Rewards has the competitive advantage of the number of hotels in several different market segments.

Marriott has the competitive strength in the extended stay market with nearly 900 hotels in three brands: Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and SpringHill Suites.  Extended stay hotels are where hotel guests have the ability to live apartment-style with a refrigerator and stove in the room.  Starwood is just entering the extended stay market with their Element Hotel brand.  Hyatt has Summerfield Suites as a new brand in Gold Passport for 2008, but with only 31 hotels this is not yet a real player in the extended stay market.  Hilton’s extended stay brand, Homewood Suites, is still relatively small at 200 hotels.  IHG has Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, but these still number only 300 hotels total.

At the high end (think over $200/night much of the time, but some locations and dates will have rates in the $100 to $150 range some of the time), Marriott has luxury and resort locations in 3 hotel brands, JW Marriott, Marriott, and Renaissance, each with a strong international presence. 

For the midscale hotel traveler the average hotel rates tend to be in the $70 to $100/night for much of the country.  Some locations will have midscale rates as low as $50 at times and other popular locations will go over $200 at times. Marriott has a range of midscale hotels in two brands of over 500 hotels each in the USA.  The upper midscale brand (Courtyard) is often combined with an adjacent Residence Inn property allowing some facilities and services to be shared.  The two properties combined have an economy of scale to meet two market segments of short-stay and extended stay hotel guests. Marriott also has the lower midscale brand  of Fairfield Inn hotels offering the basic room and often with limited hotel facilities. 

For USA travelers there are over 2,000 Marriott Rewards participating hotels located in the USA with five hotel brands (Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, SpringHill Suites) in the midscale segment. 

The full-service brand hotels in the upscale market segment approach 450 hotels in the USA and another 300 international hotels in the Marriott and Renaissance brands.

2,500 hotels in the USA across several market segments from upscale to extended stay to a range of midscale hotel brand options makes Marriott Rewards a strong program for a traveler who needs hotels in places where other chains might not be present.  Marriott is the only major hotel chain to have hotels in the city of Salinas, California – population 150,000 and the largest city in Monterey County.

 

How the other hotel programs compare by number of hotels:

Hilton Hotels Corporation Brands – over 2,800 hotels  (HHonors repeatedly uses over 3,000 hotels in their press releases, however, the brand fact sheets only add up to a little more than 2,800 hotels currently open.)

USA = 2,506 hotels; upscale 600 hotels; midscale 1,700 hotels; extended stay 220 hotels

International = about 350 hotels (almost all upscale)

·         Homewood Suites – 220 hotels (almost all in USA)

·         Hilton Garden Inn – 312 hotels (293 USA, 19 international)

·         Embassy Suites – 185 hotels (almost all in USA)

·         Doubletree Hotels – 180 hotels (almost all in USA)

·         Hampton Inn – 1,400+ hotels (almost all in USA)

·         Hilton Hotels – 511 hotels (231 USA, 280 international)

·         Conrad Hotels – 18 hotels (3 USA, 15 international)

·         Waldorf=Astoria Hotels – 5 hotels (4 USA, 1 Saudi Arabia)

Hilton HHonors is well-matched with Marriott Rewards for hotel brand segments.  Hilton has the edge over Marriott with more upscale properties in the USA and international, and is comparable to Marriott domestically in the number of midscale hotels, while Marriott has more hotels in the extended stay market.

 

InterContinental Hotels Group

IHG Fact Sheet: http://www.ihgplc.com/files/pdf/factsheets/group_at_a_glance.pdf

·         InterContinental Hotels – 153 hotels (20 USA, 133 international)

·         Crowne Plaza – 308 hotels (140 USA, 168 international)

·         Hotel Indigo – 14 hotels (12 USA, 2 international)

·         Holiday Inn – 1,369 hotels (809 USA, 560 international)

·         Holiday Inn Express – 1,819 hotels (1,532 USA, 287 international)

·         Staybridge Suites – 130 hotels (121 USA, 9 international)

·         Candlewood Suites – 169 hotels (168 USA, 1 international)

3,962 hotels globally

Upscale – 1035 hotels  (Many international Holiday Inn hotels fall in upscale market and are included here.  Most USA Holiday Inns included in midscale market segment.)

Midscale – 2,600 hotels – Holiday Inn Express and most Holiday Inns in USA

Extended Stay – 299 hotels in Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites

USA = 2,500 hotels (upscale 200 hotels; midscale 2,100 hotels, extended stay 290 hotels)

International = 1,160 hotels (upscale 860 hotels; midscale 300 hotels; extended stay 10 hotels)

Competitive advantage: IHG has the largest number of upscale hotels internationally with more upscale hotels outside the USA than Marriott and Hilton combined.  The Priority Club loyalty program offers plenty of opportunities to earn points at lower rates than a program like Starwood, but with many more hotels for redemption opportunities.  The upscale side of Priority Club is best experienced with travel outside the USA.

 

Hyatt Hotels Corporation

399 hotels globally (Upscale 241 hotels; midscale 127 hotels; extended stay 31 hotels)

USA 284 hotels; (upscale 126 hotels; midscale 127 hotels; extended stay 31 hotels),

International 115 hotels; (all upscale)

·         Grand Hyatt – 36 hotels (USA 11, international 25)

·         Hyatt Regency – 164 hotels (USA 99, international 65)

·         Park Hyatt – 27 hotels (USA 3, international 24)

·         Andaz – 1 hotel (international 1)

·         Hyatt Summerfield Suites – 31 hotels (USA 31)

·         Hyatt Place – 127 hotels (USA 127)

·         Hyatt Vacation Club – 13 hotels (USA 13)

Hyatt is the small hotel program in this set.  Frequent guest promotions are high-value in this program and loyalty is well rewarded if your travel pattern includes destinations with Hyatt Hotels.

 

Starwood Hotels Corporation

June 30, 2008 data: source

899 hotels (Upscale 768 hotels; midscale 130 hotels; extended stay 1 hotel)

North America 453 hotels (361 hotels upscale; 91 hotels midscale; 1 hotel extended stay)

International 446 hotels (408 hotels upscale; 38 hotels midscale)

·         Sheraton Hotels – 404 hotels; 141,000 rooms (205 hotels North America)

·         Westin Hotels – 158 hotels; 63,000 rooms (104 hotels North America)

·         Four Points – 130 hotels; 23,000 rooms (92 hotels in North America)

·         W Hotels – 22 hotels; 6,600 rooms (18 in North America)

·         Luxury Collection – 57 hotels; 9,700 rooms (12 in North America)

·         St. Regis – 13 hotels; 2,900 rooms; (8 in North America)

·         Le Meridien – 111 hotels; 29,000 rooms (10 North America)

·         Aloft – 3 hotels; 400 rooms

·         Element – 1 hotel (Lexington KY)

Starwood is heavily weighted to the upscale market segment.  Only Hilton Hotels has more upscale properties in the USA and only InterContinental Hotels Group has more upscale properties internationally.  This is another program with great loyalty program promotions if the more limited locations fit your travel lifestyle. 

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.

Hotel loyalty elite status has the primary benefit of a “room with a view”. Last week I stayed two nights at Westin Hotel resorts and one night at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. A day in Palm Springs and two days in Phoenix gave me time to see about 14 other hotel resort properties in these two winter havens.

The Palm Springs area of Coachella Valley is a string of resort towns built on the valley desert flatland at the base of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. Palm Springs merges into Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells. The valley is a patchwork of long straight roads with frequent and quick-changing traffic lights. I ran more lights in 24 hours trying to drive around the valley towns looking for streets like Frank Sinatra than I have in 24 years. Shopping centers, schools, public parks, and gated communities coexist with golf courses, hotel resorts, and Indian gaming casinos.

The single most prevalent observation I made in Palm Springs was the probability of being booked in a room with an undesirable location within the resort. Paying $300 per night and looking out the room window to someone’s Cadillac in the parking lot is not my idea of resort vacationing. The view of the high mountain peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains towering above the valley with the highest peak at nearly 11,000 feet is an incredible sight and the surrounding mountains are a beautiful view to behold.

San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains form a picturesque backdrop to the resort

My first hotel stay was the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, about 10 miles from downtown Palm Springs. The hotel portion of the resort is a series of 16 two-story guest buildings. The odd-numbered rooms are ground floor and even-numbered rooms are upstairs. There are no building elevators so top floor rooms are handicap inaccessible.
Adjacent to the Guest Buildings are the Westin Mission Hills Vacation Villas located in 11 buildings to the east of the hotel buildings. The Villas are available for rent and tend to be lower priced than the hotel rooms much of the time, but this portion of the property has limited participation in the Starwood Preferred Guest program and no Starpoints will be awarded.

Fountain outside Guest Building 6, Hibiscus, near Las Brisas main pool.

My room was located above the foilage arch on the second floor of Joshua Building #8.

Golf Course View from my room #814

As a Starwood Preferred Guest platinum elite, at check-in I received a coupon for complimentary drinks for two at the lobby bar. A quick glance at the menu and $12 cocktail prices gave this amenity a $25 added value. I noticed the misspelling “Starwood Preffered” on this coupon. I also received a coupon for 15% off breakfast at the Restaurant Bella Vista, 20% off a spa treatment, and $15 off a Westin Kids Club session.

Mission Hills lobby bar

Outdoor dining at Bella Vista restaurant

About half the buildings are located adjacent to the golf course and the other buildings are situated around the three resort swimming pools. Unfortunately, most of the buildings have about half their rooms facing the resort parking lots. Each ground floor room has a patio and the rooms facing the parking lot tend to have thick bushes surrounding the patio. These rooms would have a bedroom view of a bush with a car just on the other side of the bush. The upstairs rooms have an unobstructed view of the parking lots.

My room faced the golf course and being a second floor room had the attribute of a high sloping ceiling that peaked at about 14 feet. The high ceiling gave the room a feeling of additional space.
A large part of the resort lobby was dedicated to vacation property sales and this seemed to be a common feature of the resorts in this area and Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Sunrise view from my room

The two main pools, Las Brisas and Las Hadas were in good use for the afternoon with the temperature in the mid-90s. La Paloma is a smaller adults only pool to the east of the lobby and this pool was deserted at 5:00pm when I walked by.

Las Brisas pool

All in all, the Westin Mission Hills is a pleasant resort with plenty of water activities, tennis and golf. I must complain about the $20/day resort fee. I just don’t get it when a property charges $260/night and then feels the need to tack on another $20 as a resort fee. Why not just make the price $280/night?

My words of advice are to be sure and secure a golf course or pool view room. Golf course view rooms are likely to be much quieter. I would have a difficult time enjoying myself at this resort when trying to quell the feeling I was ripped off if I were in a room staring out to a bush and the parking lots.

An all too common view for this resort.

Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage (Starwood website hotel page)
Starwood Category 4 hotel; 10,000 points for a free night.
AAA 3-diamond rating
TripAdvisor Reviews #3 of 7 Rancho Mirage hotels Average price $248/night
TripAdvisor photos

I used a Starwood Preferred Guest Cash & Points award for this stay.
$60 + 4,000 Starpoints. The $20 resort fee was added to the rate and my total cost was $87/night.

The lowest available paid rate for my stay would have been $259 +10.07% tax + $20 resort fee = $305/night. (Midweek rates appear to have dropped about $50 night for May bookings. Palm Springs area has peak rates on weekends.)

Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero, San Francisco

12th floor room Bay Bridge view at night

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Revisited

As it happened, my room last week at the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero, San Francisco was the newly remodeled interior. The restaurant that used to be on top of the hotel has been remodeled and just opened Wednesday, March 26 as the new Regency Club. I was offered an upgrade to Regency Club for $75 at check-in. I turned it down figuring I wouldn’t get $75 worth of use out of the lounge.

Also, the Regency Club upgrade only costs $50 when booking online.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Bay Bridge room view

Well, I was surprised to check into my 12th floor room to discover this room was completely different from the room last week on the 16th floor. The older style room provides some rationale behind all the TripAdvisor poor reviews regarding the dated décor and need for remodeling.

This room facing Market Street has a great view of the Bay Bridge and I can see across to the East Bay cities. The bathroom is old-style, with a tub. The TV is a 27 inch traditional style compared to the 37 inch TV of the remodeled rooms. And the mini-refrigerator is an electronic mini-bar style.

I have been to 6 different Hyatt hotels in the past two weeks.

The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Regency Club floor room was the best of the rooms I have stayed.

I probably would not have come back to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco if I had known the room would be completely different. The hotel asked for $75 to upgrade when my rate is $179 and $40 more than what I paid last week.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco – room decor

The Regency Club is at the top of the hotel in what used to be The Equinox revolving restaurant. The circular room of the Regency Club has seating 360 degrees around the perimeter for magnificent views of the city.

Computer Stations in Regency Club lounge, Hyatt Regency San Francisco

The Regency Club lounge is located above the 17th floor. There is a concierge and a couple of computer stations. I was almost ready to buy the upsale, but a quick inspection of the lounge revealed the air quality was quite poor due to the liberal use of Pledge furniture polish being sprayed on all the table tops by a couple of employees. I have a poor sense of smell and the odor was overpowering to me. I didn’t feel it was healthy to breathe in that much Pledge.

In another week I will have Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status, so I will wait for my next stay at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero with complimentary Regency Club experience. Photos and a more detailed description of the new Regency Club lounge will come at a later date.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Club Lounge

I’d recommend the extra $50 to book a Regency Club room if you can afford the difference.

The remodeled rooms on Floors 15-17 are vastly superior in style to the older rooms. A walk-in glass walled shower, TV embedded in the bathroom mirror, flat-screen HDTV  in bedroom (but no HD channels when I was there), new furnishings, desk and ergonomic chair, and feather pillows, in addition to the free internet access and lounge meal and beverage services make the extra $50 for Regency Club room a good value.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, remodeled bathroom

TV is darker rectangle embedded in mirror.

Is there a Priceline Master in the House?

I am not a real doctor (PhD). I only have a Master of Science. That is why I work for consumers instead of pocketing the lucrative research paycheck from the hotel industry.

The doctor, Chris K. Anderson, Ph.D., at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research has come out with a report advising hoteliers how to squeeze more pennies out of our consumer pockets. This time the research is aimed to maximize hotel profits from Priceline.

http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-14705.html

The report is available for free download upon registration with the center.

Loyalty Traveler has a few comments on the report.

Cornell Report Statistic:
60% of online hotel rooms are booked through hotel-branded websites (I assume this is what is meant by “supplier-managed” websites).

Loyalty Traveler view: Hotels have provided incentive for customer reservations through hotel-managed channels by offering exclusive loyalty program benefits. In other words, Hotel points and frequent guest member perks are only guaranteed when booking through hotel-managed websites. The hotel websites generally offer a better rate , although special offer rates are often hidden from view to the casual online reservationist of a hotel room.

Report Statistic: 40% of online hotel bookings are made through online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.

Loyalty Traveler View: Expedia and Travelocity and Orbitz are convenient. Priceline and other opaque sites like Hotwire.com generally offer the best discounts on room rates. A traveler has to weigh the factor of cost with the uncertainty of hotel location and brand. A frequent guest member does not earn hotel points and the reservation is likely to be booked in lowest category hotel room on property.

Priceline Bidding data:
A graph shows the number of bids in the two weeks prior to the date of arrival for the sample hotel. Data shows about 50% of all Priceline bids occurred in the 2 days before arrival.

The minimum acceptable Priceline bid for the hotel, within a one week period, ranged from mostly $55/night to $65 per night with one outlier night at $235/night.

An interesting chart is Exhibit 8, which if I have interpreted correctly, indicates that about 1 in 25 Priceline winning bids represented a 90% discount on commonly published rates for the hotel. And about 5% only got a 20% discount on the going room rate.

The vast majority of bid winners receive less than a 50% discount on the regular room rates. About 60% of winning Priceline bids received a 28%-36% discount on the room rate. Technically, the Priceline slogan “Save Up to Half Off” appropriately represents the Priceline reality. The Cornell graph shows about 10% of bidders received between 67% and 90% off the regular room rate.

The last time I used Priceline was for a night in Washington D.C., June 2007. I ended up with the Marriott Key Bridge, Arlington, VA for about $100 and the lowest available room rate through the Marriott site was $329 for that night.

My initial analysis of the Priceline tool provided for hotel managers seems to indicate some trends for consumers.

Consumers may find the most favorable room rates booking Priceline the day before or day of arrival. Booking at 10 to 14 days in advance of arrival may also provide the best opportunity for higher discounts. The Cornell Priceline tool appears to encourage hotels to not discount Priceline inventory rooms as deeply between 2 and 10days before arrival as a means to maximize profits.

An interesting analysis would be to compare the Cornell Priceline data with consumer bidding data from www.biddingfortravel.com to see if there is useful consumer information to be gleamed from the comparison.

Anyone planning to make a hotel bid through Priceline.com or Hotwire.com should check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see what successful bids are pricing out and then try and use that data with the knowledge that 10-14 days before arrival may provide the best opportunity for deep discounts on Priceline. And if you are desperate and lucky, the day before and day of arrival Priceline bids may save you enough cash to buy gas and pay for hotel parking.

The PointsWizard blog on BoardingArea.com had a link to this article detailing strategies for successful Priceline bidding.