Autograph Collection is Marriott’s brand for independent and boutique hotels who pay to be part of Marriott’s branding and marketing system. Three new members in the UK are now part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection with two hotels open in London and a third hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland  scheduled for June 2013 entry into Autograph Collection and Marriott’s reservations system.

• St. Ermin’s Hotel,  Westminster, London. Category 8 hotel at 40,000 points. June 2013 rates  196 GBP.
• Threadneedles, City of London Category 8 hotel at 40,000 points. July 2013 rates 302 GBP.
• Glasshouse Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland.

St. Ermin’s Hotel in London is a historic Victorian building.

Read More…

Boutique hotels comprise much of the art deco district of Miami Beach. Buildings of rich colors and curved shapes line the streets of Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive in restored properties originally built in the 1930s and 40s.

As I studied the lines of their faces, I photographed the architecture and realized most of the buildings are boutique hotels.

A sign caught my eye. Read More…

Marriott Seasonal Awards are a new redemption opportunity for a 25% discount on the standard reward cost available at select high end Marriott properties during off season dates.

The real value of these rewards is the ability to combine the 25% discount to the 20% discount of Marriott’s 5th Night Free Award. This creates a total 40% discount on the points needed based on the standard reward cost of a 5-night stay.

I wrote about these new Marriott Seasonal Awards last Friday, but given the holiday weekend many readers probably missed the post.

Marriott Rewards introduces 25% discount Seasonal Awards (Nov 23, 2012).

I consider Marriott Seasonal Awards to be one of the most exciting redemption opportunities since Hilton introduced Points & Money Awards in 2011. This is a big development for Marriott Rewards and brings back some of the deep discounts lost when Marriott Rewards eliminated their old progressively discounted awards in 2009 when a category 7 hotel for 7 nights was discounted 40%. They replaced that table with a maximum 20% discount on 5th night free awards. The new Seasonal Awards look to have far more participating properties than PointSavers awards over the past couple years.

Seasonal Award rate analysis Read More…

The Autograph Collection of Marriott is one of the most exciting concepts to come out of a major hotel loyalty program. In the past two years since the launch of this Marriott brand to market independent luxury and boutique hotels, the collection has grown to 32 hotels with the recent addition of two Miami South Beach properties: Winter Haven and Blue Moon. These properties have decent reviews on TripAdvisor. The cost of Miami Beach hotels is astronomical and the ability to use Marriott Rewards points is one way to save on room expenses for this hot spot for hotels.

Winter Haven and Blue Moon are both Marriott Rewards category 7 hotels at 35,000 points per night and 5th night free on award stays.

I have to say that I am not thrilled about the functionality of the Autograph Hotels website. I simply wanted to see what reward category the two Miami Beach hotels are assigned to and I couldn’t easily get from the Autograph Collection home page to the hotel page. It was far easier to just Google the hotel name and go directly to the website.

The Saint Hotel New Orleans is also a new addition to Autograph Collection and is a category 6 hotel reward at 30,000 points per night.

Marriott anticipates having 60 hotels in Autograph Collection by the end of 2012.

Here is the Marriott press release with more details about the three Autograph Collection hotels mentioned here.

The Carlton in Manhattan joins the Marriott family as the 27th hotel in the Autograph Collection brand. The Madison Avenue luxury hotel was previously a member of Preferred Hotel Group.

Originally opened in 1904 as the Hotel Seville, The Carlton Hotel recently  underwent a multi-million dollar makeover and is now a contemporary enclave for  both world travelers and local trendsetters who want to be in the middle of the action and surrounded by luxury in New York City.

The hotel is located in Midtown Manhattan and is only steps away from entertainment, architectural and shopping icons such as Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and Macy’s flagship Herald Square store.

Back inside, the hotel includes stylish rooms, suites and public areas influenced by renowned designer David Rockwell; New York’s best new restaurant of 2011 as acclaimed by Esquire Magazine; and a vibrant nightlife and live entertainment scene that has featured performances by Ne Yo, Swiss Beatz, Tito Puente Jr. and N’Dea Davenport.

Property Highlights

• Millesime Restaurant. Featuring the cuisine of 2 Michelin Star Executive Chef Laurent Manrique, the restaurant is a must for fans of classic seafood and fine French cuisine.
• Salon Millesime. This lounge is the place to be and to be seen. You can relax with a cool cocktail, dine on small plates and listen to hip sounds from live performers or a select roster of all-star DJs.
• The Waterfall. It cascades down two floors and comes to rest in the lobby, creating a dramatic backdrop as you enter the hotel.

I checked The Carlton Hotel website for a photo of this Waterfall and I don’t see it, unless it is water falling in front of the photo on the right?

Carlton Hotel NY lobby.

I am not familiar with The Carlton Hotel so I saw much more information on the hotel’s own website with video and 40 photos of the hotel and rooms compared to the four photos on the Marriott Autograph Collection site. The rooms look like fully luxury furnished rooms to me.

The Carlton Hotel, New York is Marriott Autograph Collection member.

A common complaint I read about hotel loyalty programs is the sameness of the hotels in each brand. The Autograph Collection debunks that criticism of chain scale hotels by offering Marriott Rewards benefits and redemption opportunities at independent hotels partnering with Marriott.

Several hotel chains have launched alliance brands to attract high-end independent properties to a hotel loyalty program for marketing purposes. IHG has InterContinental Alliance Resorts, Choice has the Ascend Collection, Starwood has the Luxury Collection and Hilton has the Waldorf-Astoria Hotels & Resorts.

Marriott plans to add several more member hotels to the Autograph Collection over the next few months including Union Station Hotel in Nashville rebranded from a Wyndham Grand Hotel property to the Marriott Autograph Collection just today and hotels rebranding in New Orleans and Miami South Beach.

Marriott Hotels has several promotion offers for gift cards now through January 8, 2012. Gift card shipping is $1 for U.S. addresses.

10% Bonus on Marriott Gift Card Value

Amtrak promotion code AMT or Marriott Associate Friends & Family promotion code MMT both offer 10% added value to a Marriott Gift Card. You can purchase any gift card amount from $25 and up. The 10% added value means the actual value on the card will be $1,100 when you pay $1,000 for a gift card.

Earn 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar for buying Gift Cards - up to 25,000 bonus points.

Another gift card promotion offers 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar in gift card value purchased, up to 25,000 bonus points. This could be a better than 10% value depending on how you use points. There are Ritz-Carlton Hotels for 30,000 points per night that are more than $300 per night.

Hertz Rental Car Marriott Gift Card Offer 

Get $50 Hertz rental car voucher with $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase. Promotion code = Hertz.

Save 10% on Marriott VacationCards and earn up to 10,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles.

A Marriott VacationCard promotion with Delta Airlines gives a 10% discount in the cost of a $1,000 or $2,000 VacationCard and 1,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles for each $1,000 in VacationCard value, up to 10,000 bonus miles. This offer is only available through January 1, 2012.

What is the difference between Marriott Gift Card and Marriott VacationCard?

See this FlyerTalk thread where Counsellor posted the difference between Marriott Gift Cards and VacationCards.

‘Joey Quits’ is a viral video of a guy who quits his job at Marriott Hotels Renaissance Providence accompanied by the ’What Cheer? Brigade’ band.

Barbara DeLollis, writer of Hotel Check-in at USA Today has a little more background on Joey’s story.

Hotel Check-in also has another story on a fired hotel employee at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida that is a Kessler Collection hotels and has the distinction of being the first hotel in 2010 to become part of the independent hotels affiliated with Marriott through the Autograph Collection brand.

Sean May was fired last week from his position as a front desk supervisor at the Casa Monica hotel for refusing to remove an American flag lapel pin he allegedly had been wearing to work for the previous two years.

Here are Sean May stories from Jacksonville News.

Employee told to remove US flag pin (October 13, 2011)

Hotel fires man who wore US flag pin (October 14, 2011)

The only other interesting Marriott news I have seen in the past week is Melanie Nayer’s piece on the new Autograph Collection website with no Marriott branding on its webpages. That move might be a public relations bonus in view of this flag pin issue at the Casa Monica Autograph Collection hotel.

I particularly like the disneyesque moniker for employees at the Casa Monica hotel who are called ‘Grand Performers’.

Perhaps the What Cheer Brigade should head south from Providence to Florida!

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection of independently branded hotels. Marriott won the musical chairs game in branding the Cosmopolitan for its Marriott Rewards members.

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas could have been a Grand Hyatt. That was the plan reported in the Las Vegas Sun April 6, 2005 when the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino was scheduled for an early 2008 opening. Hyatt pulled out of the project.

Then the Cosmopolitan was reported to become the first representative of Hilton’s new Denizen hotel brand. Months after Deutsche Bank foreclosed on the Cosmopolitan project in 2008, the news broke in March 2009 that Hilton would rebrand the hotel-casino project.

Denizen Hotels never got off the ground due to legal troubles brought from an April 2009 corporate espionage lawsuit by Starwood Hotels claiming Mr. Ross Klein, former president of Starwood’s luxury brands group  took proprietary Starwood Hotel plans to Hilton Hotels Corporation when he became head of Hilton’s luxury and lifestyle brands and launched the Denizen brand project in amazingly short time.  USA Today story of Denizen. Lawsuit puts Denizen brand on hold - Hotel World Network (April 17, 2009). Mr. Klein was suspended from his position and the Denizen hotel brand was shelved by Hilton.

Finally in August 2010 Marriott Hotels penned an agreement with the Cosmopolitan to brand the hotel in the Autograph Collection of independent properties.

Identity – The Cosmopolitan loyalty program

No wonder the Cosmopolitan came up with the name “Identity” for its gaming rewards program. The hotel also participates in Marriott Rewards, so there is confusion with two hotel loyalty programs competing for guests.

Marriott Rewards members earn 10 points per dollar at the Cosmopolitan just like other full service Marriott Rewards hotels. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Rewards category 7 hotel reward at 35,000 points for a free night. FlyerTalk members report there is a Marriott Rewards representative at the hotel working with the Cosmopolitan to integrate loyalty benefits for its Marriott Rewards members.

Identity may be the preferable rewards program for guests more interested in the Cosmopolitan property than Marriott Hotels in general. Identity members receive 10 points per $1 for hotel room rate and a free night after 8 nights at the Cosmopolitan. Assume $200 per night average room rate and you earn a free night after just $1,600 in hotel spend. Use your free night on a weekend for best value.

Marriott Rewards requires $3,500 in base spend to earn a free night, although elite members and promotion bonuses may reduce that hotel spend amount significantly.

The big advantage of Identity is for gamblers.

Earning Identity Points

Identity Points reside in a member’s personal account and are based on the amount of dollars either spent or wagered.

Identity Points can be earned by members as follows:

· 10 points for every $1 spent on room or suite accommodations

· 10 points for every $4 of other resort spending (e.g., restaurants, spa, selected retail)

· 10 points for every $15 wagered on reel/video reel slot

· 10 points for every $50 wagered on video poker

· 10 points for every $100 wagered on table games (approximate – varies by game type)

· Identity members who book their hotel stay through a third-party partner or online travel agency will receive a flat amount of 1,000 points per night of accommodations, in addition to points earned on their other expenditures.

Identity points may be used for room upgrades. 

FlyerTalk member Cova provides a detailed description of the Identity loyalty program and membership tier benefits with qualifications.

The Rooms at the Cosmopolitan

The vibrant blue of the couch, contemporary art and open space  bathrooms are modern decor for guests. The type of guest being marketed by the Cosmopolitan is a little difficult to ascertain from this 60-second TV spot.

The Cosmopolitan appears to be a pet-friendly hotel!

Cosmopolitan Las Vegas One Bedroom Terrace Suite (photo courtesy of The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas)

The club scene of the Cosmopolitan with the Bond Bar located right on Las Vegas Boulevard and the upstairs Marquee nightclub extending right out to the adults pool area with eight elevated clear glass hot tubs is the kind of place you lounge with a martini, but not in solitary comfort. The Cosmopolitan  is designed for partying, playing, dancing, dining and viewing Las Vegas from your room terrace. The Cosmopolitan is designed for people to hang out.

There is gambling too at The Cosmopolitan.

The Cosmopolitan is the last major new casino and hotel planned for Las Vegas over the next three to five years. Rates in the $200 to $300 range for the lowest category rooms over most of the next few months is a bold move in this economy.

One of the unique features of The Cosmopolitan is 70% of the nearly 3,000 hotel rooms have terrace balconies. No other major casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip offers terrace room balconies in regular hotel rooms.

Currently the lowest rates over the next several months are $135 for a Studio Terrace on January 2 and 3. You can book a Terrace Suite on these dates ($235) for less than the price of a Studio Terrace on most weekends (Studio Terrace $260 Friday Jan 28; Terrace Suite $410) for the next three months .

The rooms at The Cosmopolitan add 1.5% more rooms to Las Vegas. My gut feeling is room rates over the next few months will drop to the $120 to $150 range from their current $160 to $200 average. The Cosmopolitan will be a good indicator hotel to watch for rate fluctuation settling somewhere more specific in the Aria to Encore to Mandarin Oriental price range.

Pre-Opening Press Tour Tuesday, Dec 14

The pre-opening press tour did not permit photography inside the hotel. This Loyalty Traveler post has links to websites showing photos and videos of  The Cosmopolitan. YouTube video links uploaded by The Cosmopolitan show room tours. Room photos posted here were received from The Cosmopolitan hotel PR department.

There are five basic room types at The Cosmopolitan:

• Terrace Studio (620 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – kitchenette with microwave and refrigerator)
• City Room (460 sq. ft. studio with two queen beds – no terrace)
• Terrace One Bedroom (610 sq. ft. + 110 sq. ft. terrace – Japanese square soaking tub; kitchenette with stove, microwave and refrigerator)
• Terrace Suite (910 sq. ft. + 160 sq. ft. terrace – two bathrooms with master bath spa tub )
• Wraparound Terrace Suite (1,200 sq. ft. + 480 sq. ft. terrace - in-suite washer/dryer )
• Terrace Studio Premium View, Terrace One Bedroom Premium View and Terrace One Bedroom Plus with oversize terrace are better locations for these hotel room categories; likely a  Bellagio Fountain view.

The Cosmopolitan Room Data - source: The Cosmopolitan Fact Sheet pdf press release

The two Cosmopolitan tower buildings are about 600 ft. tall. The floor numbering is creative just like at Aria Resort where floors 40-49 do not exist.  The Cosmopolitan is confusing too with guest floors starting at 15 and no room floors in the 40s.

How to fit 75 floors in a 603 ft. tower?

Las Vegas has creative floor numbering.  My memory recalls 75 as the top floor elevator button in the east tower of the Cosmopolitan. I read a review by a person who stayed on the 68th floor last week. So how does a hotel not built for hobbits get 75 floors in a 603 ft. building?

I noticed during my stay at the Aria Resort that no elevators had buttons for floors 40 to 49 in the 59 floor tower. I asked several employees about the missing floors. Nobody simply explained that no floors in the 40s exist in the hotel. The floor numbering goes directly from 39 to 50. The 59th floor penthouse is actually a 49th floor location.

Wikipedia lists the tallest buildings in Las Vegas. Aria Resort at City Center is 600 ft. and 50 floors. The Cosmopolitan East Tower I toured last week is listed at 603 ft. and 51 floors. Check out the elevator numbers when you are going up the tower. There must be a lot of missing floor numbers between the Promenade restaurant level and the 75th top floor.

The reason cited for no floors in the 40s is an association with bad luck/death in Asian cultures. Others think it is just a way to make Las Vegas hotels appear taller to hotel guests than they actually are. Encore, Wynn and Palms Place also do not have room floors in the 40s.

Room Photos

The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio

Terrace Studio Living Room-Bedroom (photo courtesy of LV Cosmopolitan)

Terrace Studio Bathroom (photo courtesy of LV Cosmopolitan)

Terrace Studio Bed (photo courtesy of LV Cosmopolitan)

Video: The Cosmopolitan Terrace Studio (YouTube 33 sec)

The Cosmopolitan City Room

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas City Room (photo courtesy of the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas)

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas City Room beds

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas - City Room Shower

Video: The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas City Room (YouTube – 21 sec)

The Cosmopolitan  – Terrace One Bedroom

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas - Terrace One Bedroom

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas - Terrace One Bedroom

Video: The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas = Terrace One Bedroom (YouTube – 27 sec.)

The Cosmopolitan - Terrace Suite

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Terrace Suite

The Cosmopolitan Terrace Suite living room

Video: The Cosmopolitan – Terrace Suite (YouTube – 49 sec.)

The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite

The Cosmopolitan - WrapAround Terrace Suite

The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite living room

The Cosmopolitan - Wraparound Terrace Suite bedroom

Video: The Cosmopolitan Wraparound Terrace Suite (YouTube – 1:03)

This Loyalty Traveler Dec 14 post shows the room view from a wraparound terrace suite on the 58th floor of the east tower.

Blog.Vegas.com has a gallery of photos of the lobby floors of the hotel and the central focal point of the hotel-casino Chandelier.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Spent about four hours at The Cosmopolitan today. This hotel is branded as a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel and officially opens in 24 hours (8pm Dec 15). Extensive tour of the property followed by extensive champagne and signature drinks. This media pass gig is kinda cool.

Unfortunately photography of the hotel interior was not allowed today and the press packet has some room photos, but not any others of the property. There are some very cool spaces in The Cosmopolitan. I am about to board a flight so this post may abruptly end.

While I could not photograph inside the hotel, I was allowed to photograph from the balconies. Loyalty Traveler likes a room with a view and the Cosmopolitan may be unsurpassed for incredible room views right on the Las Vegas Strip from the 75-floor east tower. There is also a west tower. About 70% of the hotel rooms have balconies; a unique feature for a major Las Vegas Strip Hotel. This is the place to be for a photography buff.

patio view from 3rd floor Comme Ca French Bistro

The Italian Restaurant has wonderful window views of the Bellagio fountains.

But the room views are quite spectacular from the 58th floor.

Room 5878 Terrace Suite 58th floor balcony view looking north

Take off. More tomorrow.

Dec 15 update: Here are more photos from the wraparound corner room balcony of  Terrace Suite 5878 on the 58th floor of the East Tower overlooking Bellagio Fountain and Las Vegas Boulevard.

Incredible view of Bellagio Fountains. The show was not in progress.

I have stayed at Planet Hollywood and had incredible views of the Bellagio Fountain, but the windows are an obstruction to great photography. The Cosmopolitan has totally unobstructed views from the balconies on the north side of the east tower.

View to the northwest of Bellagio and Rio.

Looking down on the Eiffel Tower from the Cosmopolitan hotel.

View east to Planet Hollywood directly across Las Vegas Boulevard.

View southeast along Las Vegas Blvd to Marriott Grand Chateau (center left) and MGM Grand (black building on right) and LAS airport in background.

The other side of the hotel is across the street from City Center with views of Aria. The tour did not take us to that side of the hotel. I’ll post a thorough review in the next day or two with room photos and links to property photos from other articles showing the interior spaces I found appealing. There should be plenty of photos after tonight’s opening.

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

The concept behind the Autograph Collection is high-personality independent hotels. The properties are upscale and luxury hotels located in urban and resort vacation destinations. Marriott projects around 25 Autograph Collection hotels within the next year. The independently run hotels gain access to Marriott’s worldwide promotion network and 32.5 million Marriott Rewards members gain familiarity with a new set of desirable hotels.

Marriott announced last March the first member of Marriott’s new Autograph Collection was Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine. This hotel is one of seven Kessler Collection hotels to become part of the Autograph Collection to date.

Hotel Duval in Tallahassee, Florida is the 11^th member of the Autograph Collection. The 117-room hotel originally opened in 1951. The hotel served as student housing for Florida State University in the 1970s and was remodeled into a Radisson Hotel in the 1980s. In 2007 the hotel underwent a $15 million renovation.

“Each one of the six floors of guest rooms and suites features a dedicated color palette (blue, green, neutrals, orange, red, and yellow) and you can select a color based on your mood or personal preference!”   http://www.hotelduval.com/

Some news articles state the entire Kessler Collection of hotels became part of the Marriott Autograph Collection. I came across a standout last week in Colorado. Perhaps the Beaver Creek Lodge in the gated resort community of Beaver Creek a few miles west of Vail located at 8,100 feet on the ski slopes above the town of Avon will become part of the Autograph Collection in the near future. As for now this Kessler Collection property, just a short walk from the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, is not yet a member of the Autograph Collection. However, I noticed the Spa & Lodge link on Marriott’s Autograph Collection webpage states “Coming Soon”. 

Beaver Creek Lodge would be a nice hotel addition to the Autograph Collection for Marriott Rewards members.

Beaver Creek Lodge, Avon, Colorado (Kessler Collection hotel, not yet in Autograph Collection)