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…

Triple Club Carlson points for stays worldwide from January 8 to March 15, 2013 is a high value promotion in my opinion. In my review of hotel loyalty promotions of 2012 for InsideFlyer magazine, I realized the 60 points per dollar offer from Club Carlson last year was one of the best promotions that I did not earn.

Club Carlson offers a standard earn rate of 20 points per dollar for Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inn & Suites brands. Triple points adds 40 bonus points/$1 for a total earn rate of 60 points/$1. Elite bonus points, online booking points, and credit card points, if applicable, are additional bonus points for stays. Read More…

Club Carlson members can book six Radisson Blu hotels in Europe at a 50% points discount for stays November 1 to March 31, 2013. This offer looked more exciting a couple of days ago when the Club Carlson list of 47 hotels in Europe and Middle East was leftover from the summer 2012 promotion.

Now that the hotels are actually bookable the participating hotels list only has six hotels for booking at 50% points. Still, there are some nice properties.

Promotional Code = 50REDEEM

Belgium

Radisson Blu Palace

Croatia

Radisson Blu Resort, Split

France

Radisson Blu Resort Nice

Georgia

Radisson Blu Hotel, Batumi

Germany

Radisson Blu Resort Ruegen

Ukraine

Radisson Resort & Spa, Alushta

Read More…

Club Carlson has a B&B package rate at Radisson and Radisson Blu Hotels for two or four people. This package offers 2,000 bonus points per stay + Triple Goldpoints (60 points/$1).

Radisson B&B rates for this special rate offer are higher than other rates available. Some Radisson hotels provide inexpensive bonus points with this offer. For other Radisson hotels this deal should be avoided.

My general view is take this offer if the additional points earned with the 2K bonus and 60 points per dollar are earned at a rate less than $5 per 1,000 points. You can get $5 per 1,000 points redemption value easily with Points + Cash award rates at Carlson Rezidor Hotels, and probably $8 per 1,000 points or better.

Read More…

Club Carlson is offering half-priced reward stays at 47 Radisson, Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa from August 1 to September 30, 2012.

• 50% discount for award stays August 1 – September 30, 2012.
• Booking is allowed up to September 29, 2012.
• Stay must be completed by September 30, 2012 to receive 50% discount.
• Offer applies only to Standard Room Award Nights and not Points + Cash awards.
• Promotional code 50REDEEM.

Offer must be booked using your Club Carlson member number and promotional code 50REDEEM at clubcarlson.com or by phone with Member Services available at +44 207 949 0378. Read More…

Club Carlson will announce in the next couple of hours that existing reservations made prior to the May 15 launch of the Radisson Big Night Giveaway, Country Inn and Park Inn promotions will count for the promotion bonuses.

A few minutes ago I received a call from Molly Biwer, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The Club Carlson team have decided to change the promotion terms in light of the inaccurate information going out on Facebook and through my blog last week that existing reservations booked prior to May 15 would count for the current Club Carlson promotions.

The good news is that this change in the promotion terms applies to any existing reservations made prior to May 15. So even if you booked in January 2012 for a stay in the May 15-July 15 promotion period for Radisson and Country Inn or May 22-July 22 promotion period for Park Inn, you can register and earn bonus points for your hotel stay. Read More…

Club Carlson normally sells points for $7 per 1,000 (limit 40,000 points in calendar year) and the Daily Getaways price is as low as $3.50 per 1,000 points with a 50,000 points purchase for $174.60 when paying with American Express.

There are two Club Carlson points offers on sale Thursday, May 10 at 1:00pm Eastern. There is no noon presale for these offers.

Members can buy 2 sets of points from each offer for a total 300,000 points for $1,042.20. There are dozens of Radisson Blu hotels around the world where six hotel nights for $1,042 or less than $175 per night will be a substantial savings on the published rates. Read More…

I deserve to win 365 hotel nights because …

Radisson Blu wants to give you 365 nights over five years for the greatest holiday in the world at your choice of over 200 Radisson Blu hotels.

Europeans – this one is for you. First, you must be an EU citizen or a citizen of Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland to enter the competition.

Second, you must tell why “I deserve to win 365 hotel nights”.

Third, upload photos and/or videos to support your claim.

Fourth, to win the 365 hotel nights grand prize you must receive the most votes for your entry by July 24, 2010. Candidates can only enter once, but anyone in the world can vote. People can vote once per day.

Contest entry and information. Here are tips for running a campaign to win this 59,000 EUR prize.

Hotel nights must be used by August 1, 2015 or remaining prize nights expire.

I particularly like the 2010 World Cup party idea. World Cup has cut down my productivity these past 18 days.

Go Netherlands. This might finally be your year…if you survive the Brazilian giants Friday.