Club Carlson posted short notice 2013 changes to hotel reward categories with 97 hotels going up, 151 hotels going down and 2 uncertain changes to take effect May 1, 2013. This leaves about 48 hours to book reward nights at hotels increasing in reward category.

Club Carlson has 6 hotel reward categories starting at 9,000 points and rising up to 50,000 points for a reward night using Club Carlson points.

Club Carlson Reward Category Levels.

The greatest change comes between Category 2 and 3 reward nights where the price for a reward night increases from 15,000 to 28,000 points with an 87% jump in points.

These are hotels where booking reward nights before the May 1 change can have significant savings.

3 hotels see the harshest change rising from category 1 to 3. This is more than a 200% rise from 9,000 points to 28,000 points per night.

• Radisson Hotel Orlando – International Drive, Florida
• Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport West, Ohio
• Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Radisson Hotel Orlando – International Drive is a great loss for Disneyworld fans.

30 hotels rising from category 2 to 3 will have an increase in reward rate from 15,000 points per night to 28,000 points.

Club Carlson Hotel Reward Category Changes for 2013 – effective May 1, 2013.

Read More…

Club Carlson members can earn double points on two night stays, 40 points per $1 for bookings by May 3 and completed stays between April 2 and May 10, 2013 at particpating hotels in Europe and Africa.

Club Carlson promotion registration is required.

There are only 28 hotels participating Carlson Rezidor hotels in Europe and Tunisia (2), mostly Belgium (8) and France (13). Other countries with one participating hotel include Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands and Spain.

Belgium

Park Inn by Radisson Antwerpen

Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel, Antwerpen

Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Midi

Radisson Blu EU Hotel, Brussels

Radisson Blu Palace Hotel, Spa

Radisson Blu Hotel, Hasselt

Park Inn by Radisson Liège Airport Hotel

Park Inn by Radisson Leuven

France

Radisson Blu 1835 Resort & Thalasso, Cannes

Park Inn by Radisson Lille Grand Stade

Park Inn by Radisson Lyon Ouest

Radisson Blu Lyon

Radisson Blu Hotel Nice

Radisson Blu Hotel, Boulogne

Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Resort, Paris

Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan, Paris Eiffel

Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees, Paris

Radisson Blu Dokhan Hotel, Paris Trocadéro

Radisson Blu Hotel, Biarritz

Radisson Blu Ambassador Hotel, Paris

Park Inn by Radisson Charles De Gaulle

Italy

Radisson Blu es. Hotel, Rome

Luxembourg

Park Inn by Radisson Luxembourg City

Malta

Radisson Blu Resort, Malta St. Julian’s

Netherlands

Park Inn by Radisson Amsterdam Schiphol

Spain

Radisson Blu Prado Hotel, Madrid

Tunisia

Park Inn by Radisson Ulysse Resort Djerba

Radisson Blu Resort & Thalasso, Djerba

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

April 2013 is a time of reassessment for many hotel loyalty program members. The sudden and dramatic changes to the structure of hotel rewards across five of the top ten global hotel loyalty programs in the first quarter of 2013 was an incredible amount of information to digest.

The changes in the opening months of 2013 comprise the biggest overall change in the hotel loyalty program industry over the past decade.  Read More…

Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago offers rooms in two styles with ‘Naturally Cool’ light woods and ‘Mansion House’ blue tones and sparkling bathroom tile. The room I stayed in for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group 2013 Full Service Brands conference was the Mansion House style. The three nights at the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago were complimentary as a press attendee for the conference.

Mansion House décor in King bed room, 9th floor, Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago. Read More…

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group held a full service brands conference at the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago the last three days of February 2013.

This is my second stay at the hotel courtesy of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. I was there for three free nights last month during the Carlson Rezidor Full Service Brands (Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza brands) hotel conference. In November 2011 I was invited for the media familiarization trip for the hotel opening.

Links to hotel articles from the 2011 trip are at the end of this post.

This post focuses on the Radisson Blu Aqua hotel public spaces and The Lounge on the 17th floor. The room will be covered in a separate post to show the difference in detail between the two room styles and their décor. Read More…

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London has prime location for stepping outside directly into the vicinity of the iconic sites of London.

View of Big Ben and Houses of Parliament from hotel room.

That’s Big Ben out the window. This is not even the preferred location for a room in the hotel, although better than many other locations in the hotel. Best location is a room on the front side, Thames River facing side of the 12-story hotel. Read More…

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group had its Country Inns & Suites global business conference at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach this week. The major announcement from the conference is a new brand identity for Country Inns & Suites and the debut of the new hotel prototype for the brand.

The new Country Inns & Suites brand logo was introduced to the public.

In 2010 Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announced Ambition 2015, a five year global initiative to make the hotel brands of Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Park Plaza and Park Inn recognized leaders in their market segments of the hotel industry.

In the past three years we have seen

• the introduction of a unified Club Carlson hotel loyalty program replacing the disjointed Gold Points Plus;
• the introduction of Radisson Blu in the U.S. market with Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago and the opening this past week of the second Radisson Blu Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota;
• the introduction of a Club Carlson credit card which comes with the industry leading benefit of one free night on every award stay of two or more nights.

The unveiling of a Country Inns & Suites prototype this week is another major step toward reaching the objectives of Ambition 2015. Read More…

Oslo has three Radisson Blu hotels in the city center. Radisson Blu Plaza Oslo is adjacent to the city train station. Radisson Blu Scandinavia Oslo is about 1.6 km or one mile from the train station. I did not see Radisson Blu Park Hotel Oslo.

Radisson Blu Plaza is near the train station supermarket and a multi-story shopping mall Oslo City. Read More…

Zurich, Berlin, Oslo, Helsinki, London in 12 days out of San Francisco Airport. I was surprised at how much of Europe I could visit on one trip using 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for three one-way economy class award tickets and no other transportation except to and from airports on city trains, trams and busses.

No car travel.

Miles and miles of walking.

Lesson #1  Travel with two small bags and a small backpack if you plan to walk with your luggage.

In Oslo, London and Chicago overnight layovers I  traveled without my one checked bag. Read More…

Scuba divers working in the lobby of a city center hotel far from the ocean is not the typical sight to see. Radisson Blu Berlin is not your typical hotel.

Aquadom in atrium lobby of Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin is the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium.

Aquadom is a 25 meter tall cylindrical aquarium opened in 2004 inside the lobby of the Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin. The tank holds about one million liters of water.

An elevator runs through the center of the aquarium. Aquadom is a Sea Life property owned by Merlin Entertainments. Think the British version of Walt Disney. Tickets are 17.50 euros and discounted to 12 euros as a guest at Radisson Blu Berlin. Read More…