A couple of weeks ago I needed to spend a night in San Francisco in order to get my Chinese visa, and unfortunately hotels were outrageously expensive. After looking at all of the options I ended up booking Le Meridien for $269 per night through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. By booking through Fine Hotels & Resorts I received a $100 food and beverage credit, complimentary continental breakfast, a room upgrade, and 4PM late check-out. As was the case with my stay at the Westin Grand Frankfurt, the food and beverage credit are incredibly valuable to me, while the room upgrade and 4PM late check-out benefit aren’t worth much to me, since I get those anyway as a Starwood Platinum member.

I made it to the hotel at 3PM and was promptly helped at check-in. All of the Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits were explained, and the agent commented that I would be getting a great room upgrade with “more room than [I'll] know what to do with.”

Lobby

Sure enough I did get an upgrade to a “named” suite on the 18th floor, the “Villa Magna Suite.” Starwood technically excludes “named” suites from Platinum upgrades, so this was the first Starwood stay I’ve ever had where I got a suite upgrade without asking, let alone an upgrade to a suite I wasn’t technically entitled to. So kudos to the hotel for that.

Room entrance

And the room was indeed massive. It wasn’t a traditional two-room suite but rather a huge single room with a small divider in the center.

Bed and desk

The divider in the center of the room had a flat screen TV facing the bed, and then on the other side was the living room.

TV

Desk and seat with ottoman

The living room was huge with a three piece sofa set.

Living room

Living room

The room boasted views of nearby buildings in the Financial District.

View from room

The bathroom featured a single sink, shower/tub, and toilet.

Bathroom

Sink

Shower

Since I had a $100 food and beverage credit and was alone, I decided to order room service. I had some crab cakes and mushroom ravioli. Both were good, though neither great. I wouldn’t order either without a food and beverage credit.

Room service

The following morning I had my “continental breakfast” in the restaurant, Park Grill. While the restaurant was decorated nicely, I was surprised to find out that “continental breakfast” consisted of coffee, juice, and a croissant OR toast. Instead of getting into a discussion of that here, see my previous post on the subject to chime in.

Park Grill

Continental breakfast

Overall I was very pleased with the upgrade I received, and compared to the rates the competition were charging, I think I got a fairly good deal. That being said, there was some element of “shabbiness” to this hotel that I can’t quite put my finger on. I love Le Meridien as a brand, but this hotel didn’t quite live up to the other great hotels they have, in my opinion (I loved my stay at Le Meridien Vienna, just as a comparison). In San Francisco my go to hotel remains the InterContinental, and I’ll continue to stay there whenever possible. But with a decent rate (<$150) I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this hotel as being a good value.

Last night I posted about Starwood adding several Platinum benefits as of March 1, and it appears they’re now official. Not only that, but they’ve also added some Gold benefits. I think it’s fair to say this is a massive overhaul to the program, in some ways for the better and some ways for the worse (at least for some).

The new benefits are as follows:

Lifetime Gold and Platinum status

Starting March 1
SPG Lifetime Gold

You’re golden. Enjoy Gold membership status for life when you achieve 250 eligible nights total and any five years of elite SPG status since joining the program. If you’re currently Platinum, don’t worry — your Platinum benefits are still intact. Likewise, as an SPG Lifetime Gold member, you can still earn Platinum status each year. Just enjoy the comfort of knowing that the benefits of Gold status are yours, even if you have a light travel year.

Starting March 1
SPG Lifetime Platinum

It doesn’t get any better than this. Enjoy Platinum membership status for life when you achieve 500 eligible nights total and any 10 years of Platinum SPG status since joining the program. Yes, it’s quite an accomplishment — and one that deserves to be recognized for life.

There’s no doubt this is a huge improvement to the program, and the thresholds are surprisingly low, much lower than the competition. The Gold threshold is especially low, but then again, it’s not like Gold status comes with all that many benefits.

Elite Amenities

Starting March 1
Gold Welcome Gift

Check in, and check out your new Gold welcome gift options. Choose one with each stay — you’ve earned it.

Bonus Starpoints. Get to the points. Receive 250 bonus Starpoints® per eligible stay at St. Regis®, Luxury Collection®, W®, Le Méridien®, Westin® and Sheraton® and 125 Starpoints per stay at AloftSM, ElementSM and Four Points® by Sheraton.

In-Room Internet Access. Online. On us. Surf, stream and stay connected in the convenience of your guest room with free
in-room Internet access for your entire stay.

Complimentary Beverage. Cheers. Sit back and relax with your favorite cocktail in the hotel’s restaurant or bar.

The best option there for most will probably be free internet, which puts Starwood Gold ahead of Hyatt Platinum in my book.

Starting March 1
Platinum Continental Breakfast

Enjoy continental breakfast, bonus Starpoints or local amenities as your Platinum welcome gift. You and a guest staying on your reservation can start each day with juice, coffee, pastries, cereal, yogurt and more when you choose continental breakfast — along with our thanks for being one of our best members.

I’m happy to see that the continental breakfast appears to be daily for two guests. I was worried it would only be for one day during the stay, given that the Platinum welcome amenity is only given once per stay. That being said, I’m somewhat afraid continental breakfast will translate to a croissant and coffee. Interestingly, though, Sheraton hotels with club lounges are excluded, as Platinum members have to choose one of the other amenities. I’m not sure I understand the reasoning there. Furthermore, it appears Platinum members will have the option of upgrading to a full breakfast for the price difference between the continental and full breakfast.

And then the most interesting/controversial changes have to be their new nights benefits.

SPG Nights Benefits

Starting March 1
SPG® 50 Nights Benefit

Suite life. Stay with us at least 50 eligible nights in a calendar year and receive 10 Suite Night Awards™ to be used for confirmable room upgrades to a suite or premium room. Use them for the times that matter most — from a honeymoon in Bali to a family vacation in Florida. The choice is yours.

It’s interesting to note that this is retroactive, so if you spent 50 nights at SPG properties last year you’ll receive the suite upgrades in a few weeks. Starwood is really creating two tiers of Platinum members here — those that qualify on 25 stays, and those that qualify on 50 nights, making this a very interesting move. I’m surprised they didn’t instead offer one suite night for every five nights, for example, so that those Platinum members qualifying on stays aren’t at a disadvantage.

And the most interesting of all has to be the new benefits for those staying 75 nights:

Starting March 1
SPG 75 Nights Benefits

Four. It’s the new three. Complete 75 eligible nights in a calendar year and earn four Starpoints® for every eligible U.S. dollar spent. That’s the richest elite benefit in the industry — and a 100% bonus over Preferred membership.

Time on your side. Also get access to our new Your24™ benefit, which allows you the flexibility to choose your check in time. For example, if you check in at 9 p.m., check out at 9 p.m.

So if you complete 75 nights you get four points per dollar spent plus 24 hour stays for the remainder of the year and the entire following year. I’m curious if those with 75 nights will get some sort of designation making them “super-Platinums,” putting them first in line for upgrades.

In the end I’d say this is probably a wash for Platinum members qualifying on stays. While they now have the option of continental breakfast, upgrades may very well be a bit tougher to come by without any suite night awards. Gold members come out ahead, since they now get either bonus points or free internet.

Starwood Platinum members qualifying on points definitely come out ahead here, with those 10 suite night awards. And I think it goes without saying that those with 75+ nights come out way ahead here, since they’ll finally get added benefits for their incremental loyalty.

What do you guys thing? Excited? Indifferent? Angry? I’m curious to hear, and please also let me know your status and how you usually qualify for status (nights or stays) to add a bit of perspective.

While the announcement hasn’t officially been made, this FlyerTalk post by JohnSIN suggests he received an email from his Ambassador stating the new Starwood Platinum benefits. I had written about the speculation that Starwood would be introducing confirmed suite upgrades, and it seems like that is indeed the case, in addition to several other benefits. Anyway, based on the post, the changes seem to be as follows:

Starwood Lifetime Platinum Status. Members that have been Starwood Platinum for 10 years and have stayed 500 nights will get Platinum status for life. This is very generous compared to the competition (Hyatt requires you to be a member for 10 years and spend $200,000 in order to achieve Diamond status).

Continental Breakfast as a Welcome Amenity Option. As a Platinum member you have a choice of amenities at check-in, including bonus points, a welcome gift, etc. Complimentary continental breakfast will be a new option. Let’s hope hotels take a more liberal approach to continental breakfast than Le Meridien San Francisco.

10 Suite Nights When Staying 50 Nights. As previously speculated, Platinum members will earn 10 confirmed suite night upgrades for every 50 nights they stay.

Ability to Stay for 24 Hours and Earn 4 Points/Dollar. With 75 nights, Platinum members can choose their check-in time and then stay for 24 hours. Platinum members would also earn four points per dollar spent at that level.

Of course there are a lot of questions for each of these. For example, for lifetime status, do you need ten consecutive years of Platinum status, or not? For the breakfast amenity, how do hotels define continental breakfast? For suite upgrades, do Platinum members only earn suite nights when they stay 50 nights within a calendar year, or does a Platinum member that stays 50 nights over two years still earn them? For the 24 hour stay and four points per dollar policy, does that only apply if you achieved 75 nights the previous year, or only after achieving 75 nights in a given year?

I’ll keep you guys posted when I see the official announcement, though this is very exciting news. I’m happy to be a Starwood Platinum member today (along with Hyatt Diamond, for that matter)!

Check out this indie film that Luxury Collection unveiled last week:

I don’t even know how to describe it, though I’m curious to hear what you guys thought. Love it? Bored to death? Both?

(Tip of the hat to Colin)

Introduction
Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago
Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Lufthansa Business Class Zurich to Frankfurt
InterContinental Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 First Class Frankfurt to Tokyo
Park Hyatt Tokyo
ANA First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita, Lufthansa A380 First Class Tokyo to Frankfurt
Westin Grand Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Orlando

Out of habit I’ve been staying at the InterContinental for years now when visiting Frankfurt, including during the outbound overnight of this trip. It’s a fine hotel – by no means exciting, but always reasonably priced and they take good care of Royal Ambassadors.

Then last year I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Mainz. While Hyatt doesn’t have a hotel in Frankfurt, they do have one in neighboring Mainz, which is where my aunt lives (which in and of itself is a reason to avoid Mainz).

It’s a very nice hotel if you want to be in the area, though given that we had about a 18-hour overnight I preferred to stick to Frankfurt.

So I figured it was about time to try out one of the Starwood hotels, and decided on the Westin. The Westin is actually an American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts property (though not Virtuoso), so I booked through them. The rate was 169 Euros for the night (the same as the rate being charged directly by Starwood), except the Fine Hotels & Resorts amenities were an 85 Euro food and beverage credit, complimentary breakfast for two, 4PM late check-out, and a room upgrade.

The last two amenities aren’t worth anything to me given that I’m a Starwood Platinum member and get those benefits anyway. The 85 Euro food and beverage credit and restaurant breakfast are awesome, though.

We took a cab from Frankfurt Airport at around 3PM, and the ride to the hotel took about 20 minutes and cost about 25 Euros.

The exterior isn’t as “grand” as the hotel’s name suggests, though the lobby was quite nice, if not a bit neon-y.

Lobby

The front desk agent was polite and advised me we had been upgraded to an executive room, though I asked about the possibility of a suite upgrade. After getting the front desk manager’s approval we were assigned a junior suite without any argument. While it’s frustrating that you have to ask at Starwood hotels for an upgrade (even though it should be automatic), it works out in the favor of savvy Platinum members, since it leaves more upgrades for us. What I take issue with is when you have to argue. So this experience was perfectly pleasant.

Our room was a junior suite on the 4th floor, all the way at the end of the hallway.

Hallway

The room featured a nice sized living room with a couch, two chairs, and flat screen TV.

Living room

Living room

That led to a smaller room with a desk.

Desk

To the left was the bedroom, and to the right was the bathroom, featuring a shower tub and double sinks.

Bedroom

Bathroom

Shower

Now here’s where it gets embarrassing for me as someone that stays at hotels partly for the purposes of reviewing them – I didn’t visit the club lounge once, and I didn’t use any part of the 85 Euro food and beverage credit.

I was so tired when I landed that I slept from 6PM to 11:30PM, at which point I went outside to see the fireworks. Then I went back to bed at about 1AM and slept till about 8AM, at which point I headed to the airport.

So yeah, the food and beverage credit and club lounge went to waste.

I will say this, though – this is definitely my go to hotel in Frankfurt now. I thought the rooms were very nicely decorated, not to mention modern, and it seems that suite upgrades are fairly easy to come by. The other Starwood property in town is the Le Meridien, and it’s much more “old world” than this place.

So there’s no doubt that the Westin will replace the InterContinental for me (a hotel that doesn’t even have wifi or flat screen TVs), and being able to book through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts and get an 85 Euro food and beverage credit per stay plus daily restaurant breakfast is just the icing on the cake.

It has been rumored for a while now that Starwood would be adding a major benefit for Platinum members this year, and everyone has assumed it would be free breakfast as of March 1. While Starwood hasn’t confirmed or denied that, check out this FlyerTalk thread, which suggests Starwood will be adding confirmed suite upgrades for Platinum members. Basically Starwood posted an FAQ about “Suite Night Awards,” but then promptly yanked it. So while it’s no guarantee they’ll fully introduce this, I do think it’s worth at least mentioning in the meantime.

Basically, the way it would work is that Platinum members that stay 50 nights annually (notice they’re excluding people like me that qualify on 25 stays) would earn 10 “Suite Night Awards.” Each of those can be redeemed for a one-night room upgrade that can be confirmed between one and five days of arrival.

One part of the T&Cs that stands out to me is the following:

Can I request an upgrade to any room in the hotel?

You can request an upgrade to a suite or select premium room as designated by the hotel. Premium rooms include rooms with great views, or larger rooms.

I suspect the hotels that are currently stingy with upgrades would be delighted to upgrade you to “rooms with great views” in lieu of suites. If they are going to introduce this upgrade scheme, I certainly hope they published which rooms at each hotel qualify for a “Suite Night Award,” since I doubt anyone will want to redeem them for a hotel that will only give you a room with a view.

Anyway, this would be a very interesting development. While I probably wouldn’t personally benefit from this (since I doubt I’ll do 50 nights with Starwood per year anytime soon), I don’t see much downside. That being said, these suite upgrades wouldn’t be nearly as useful as Hyatt’s, since they can only be confirmed five days out. With Hyatt you can plan a special trip a year out and confirm a suite upgrade then. With this program, not so much.

And I think it goes without saying that this better not come at the expense of “unlimited suite upgrades” upon availability at check-in.

I’m still crossing my fingers for free breakfast, though after seeing this leaked, I suspect this was the “enhancement.”

To Starwood Platinum members (or non-Platinum members), what do you think of this leaked benefit?

Via Deals We Like:

Yup, another Facebook promotion! The Westin Charlotte is giving away 250 starpoints for signing up for the “Charlotte Insider eClub” via their Facebook page.

You must sign up by February 1, 2012, but as we’ve seen before, Facebook promos can sometimes get pulled fast – DO NOT DELAY. These points won’t get you a free night, but every little bit counts.

The terms state that the bonus points will be awarded to your account by March 1, 2012.

Let’s hope they do a better job managing this promotion than they did last time. Based on the comments section of the post, it seems like they don’t ask for your SPG number, though I suspect they’ll email you at some point to request it (or make you email them).

Now I would’ve written this post on my own, but unfortunately I’m in the great People’s Republic of China, which means I can’t use Facebook, Twitter, etc. I was going to go on Twitter to bitch about not being able to use Facebook, but then I realized they blocked that too.

Here’s a great idea for a reality TV show. Instead of locking 12 strangers in a house for months, how about sending a dozen Generation Y’ers to China and seeing how long they last without being able to update their Twitter or Facebook? I’m not even that addicted to Facebook or Twitter, though I’m already experiencing withdrawal symptoms after just 12 hours. So if you try to talk to me on Facebook or Twitter, my apologies for not responding over the next few days.

I’ll be the first to admit that this ranks just slightly above the relationship status of the Kardashian sisters on the list of things that matter in life, but I figured I’d mention it nonetheless.

I had my first Starwood stay of the year last night at the Westin San Francisco Airport for a quick overnight layover, and at check-in was informed that “as a Platinum member we’ve upgraded you from a traditional room to an accessible room.” Let’s compare the descriptions:

Same price, same square feet, but one has safety bars in the bath and a visual alarm clock. Also of interest is that the “visual alarm clock” went off three times during the night, hence the crankiness.

But here’s a question for you guys — the beds here are definitely NOT Heavenly Beds. Could it be that the accessible rooms don’t have Heavenly Beds, while the others do? I realize it’s not in the description, but I figured that was to save space.

On one hand I actually have to give the front desk agent credit. He wanted to make me feel like I got upgraded, unlike many Starwood front desk agents that pretend there’s no such thing as a Platinum room upgrade.

But please, if I’m not getting an upgrade, just say “we’re fully committed tonight and while we value your Platinum status, unfortunately we don’t have any rooms to upgrade you to.”

Rant over…

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Starwood’s first quarter promotion, Better By the Night. Through this promotion you earn double base points for stays of two nights, and triple base points for stays of three or more nights.

Anyway, registration for the promotion opened today, so be sure to register here so that you can start earning bonus points.

Starwood has just announced the details of their first quarter 2012 promotion, “Better By the Night,” which runs from January 9 to April 8, 2012. Through this promotion they’re offering two bonus points per dollar spent on stays of at least two nights, and three bonus points per dollar spent on stays of at least three nights.

As a Starwood member you earn two points per dollar, plus you earn one bonus point per dollar if you’re a Gold or Platinum member, for a total of three points per dollar. Then if you use the Starwood American Express you earn another two points per dollar spent.

Therefore through this promotion you’re earning seven points per dollar on a two night stay if you’re an elite member paying with the Starwood American Express, or eight points per dollar on a three or more night stay. Starwood points are worth at least two cents each, so that’s a return of at least 14-16%.

Lastly, there’s a pretty big list of excluded hotels, which The Points Guy posted here. That’s one thing that really irks me about Starwood. So many of their hotels seem to only participate in SPG very half-a$$ed, be it regarding participation in promotions or taking good care of elite members.

Better than nothing, though I’ll be curious to see what Hyatt comes up with…