Radisson Rewards

My Radisson Big Night Giveaway 50,000 points posted

Thanksgiving week I stayed at Radisson Santa Maria Airport for one night on a $107 AAA rate for an upgraded room.

a hotel lobby with a large balcony
Radisson Santa Maria Airport atrium lobby and cafe.

This was my qualifying stay for the RadissonBigNightGiveaway.com promotion offering 50,000 bonus points for one stay at a Radisson Hotel in U.S., Canada or Caribbean by December 30, 2011.

a room with a fountain and a piano
Radisson Santa Maria grand piano and wall fountain with lobby seating.

50,000 points posted to my Club Carlson account last week.

a restaurant with tables and chairs
Radisson Santa Maria breakfast cafe in lobby.
a plate of food with eggs and potatoes
Radisson Santa Maria Airport breakfast eggs.
a plate of pancakes with strawberries and butter
Radisson Santa Maria Airport breakfast pancakes.

50,000 points are sufficient for one night at any Carlson Hotel globally. We still need to have another stay for my wife to earn her 50,000 points. My parents completed a stay over Thanksgiving week also at the Radisson Suites Buena Park near Disneyland. We both enjoyed our hotel stays.

Radisson Santa Maria Airport is truly at the airport. I didn’t hear any plane noise from our room, but the fitness center windows look directly out to small aircraft beside the hotel. The fitness room is kind of small, yet there is a sauna room.

a group of airplanes on a runway
Radisson Santa Maria Airport view.

Our hotel room was on the top 4th floor and had an outside balcony with chairs overlooking the pool area.

a swimming pool and palm trees at night
Radisson Santa Maria Airport pool view at night.
a swimming pool in a hotel
Radisson Santa Maria Airport pool area.

The room at Santa Maria was basic and comfortable. There was a chaise lounge and desk chair and two deck chairs on the outdoor balcony. The Best Available Rate (BAR) for Radisson Santa Maria Airport was $119 and I booked a AAA 10% discount rate for $107.10. There was a lower rate at $102, but for an extra $5 I received a top floor room with a Sleep Number bed and balcony. That was a good upgrade choice for this hotel.

a hotel room with a bed and a lamp
Radisson Sleep Number bed.
a remote control on a bed
Radisson Sleep Number bed control.

When I hit the bed I was ready for sleep. Kelley complained the bed was too hard and the Sleep Number remote was on my side of the bed. I didn’t bother to study the control options. I just reached over and pressed buttons until Kelley said the bed felt good and then I passed out.

The hotel room seemed to be comparable to a Four Points by Sheraton or Hilton Garden Inn style room. There was a desk with coffee maker for work space.

a desk and chair in a hotel room
Radisson Santa Maria Airport desk area.
a couch in a room
Radisson Santa Maria Airport chaise lounge.

Kelley and I arrived too late and left too early to try out the fine dining restaurant and bar at Vintner’s Grill. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the accommodations and facilities at Radisson Santa Maria Airport. I highly recommend this hotel for travelers needing a hotel midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles a couple of miles off Highway 101.

a sign on a building
Radisson signs in USA are typically underlined with green streak.

[Update Dec 8 10:11am Pacific – Note to all my readers  – I am colorblind. The photo above stated the Radisson sign has a yellow streak. The fine people at Carlson Hotels pointed out to me the color is actually green. I really am colorblind. I see color, just not the same way as most people see it. So help me out please with my disability when I mislabel colors. Thanks.]

 

In my post yesterday on transferring hotel points between members is the statement that Club Carlson currently has the most liberal points transfer rules of any hotel loyalty program. Basically points can be transferred between any two members.

I could spell out the possibilities for you. But I won’t. I don’t want the Club Carlson transfer rules to change.

 

 

14 Comments

  • dale m December 6, 2011

    Mine posted as well – same time frame. Good suggestion(s) and research on Carlson –
    Really appreciated!

  • Brian December 6, 2011

    We stayed in the Radisson next to LAX for our Thanksgiving trip and then last weekend stayed in the Radisson Suites Anaheim (technically Buena Park) to get the 50,000 points for both my wife and I. The stays cost me $80 and $100 respectively and in both cases I felt I got a good deal. Add in the 100,000 combined points we now have and it’s a great deal. The LAX Radisson has a nice lobby and the renovated rooms are not bad. We couldn’t hear the planes at all but has great views of the airport. The Buena Park Radisson Suites is an older property you can tell but is quaint and perfectly fine. They include a hot breakfast with omelettes in the price. My wife also loves the sleep number beds!!

  • Acker December 6, 2011

    Those possibilities make this promo a slam-dunk for creative types.

  • Benny December 6, 2011

    I stayed at a Radisson the week after Thanksgiving. I still don’t have my 50K pts in my account. Did you get yours? How long did it take?

  • Benny December 6, 2011

    Sorry, just saw it when it was posted!

  • Ric Garrido December 6, 2011

    @Brian – Yes it is actually called the Radisson Suites Hotel Buena Park in a city that is not actually Anaheim.

    I fell into the mindset of my parents were near Disneyland around Anaheim when they told me the name of the hotel. I should have looked up the hotel name and location.

    I added a link to the Radisson Suites Buena Park, California in this post.

    My parents liked their stay at the hotel, particularly the free breakfast part.

  • AS December 6, 2011

    Is breakfast complimentary with Radisson?

  • Derek Shaw December 7, 2011

    Great article here, and a MOUTH watering breakfast, I too am curious, is this totally complimentary? Nice post!

  • GARY December 7, 2011

    DO CLUB CARLSON POINTS EVER EXPIRE?

  • Ric Garrido December 7, 2011

    @AS – I paid for breakfast at Radisson Santa Maria. Radisson Suites Buena Park has complimentary breakfast.

    Breakfast is only complimentary for Club Carlson Concierge members at all hotels (30 stays or 75 nights).

  • Ric Garrido December 7, 2011

    @Gary – Club Carlson do not expire if you have earning or redeeming account activity within 24 months.

    http://www.clubcarlson.com/customerservice/earn/q8

  • IPBrian December 7, 2011

    My wife and I both have stays coming in a few weeks…looking forwards to those points on our trip to NYC!

  • Dave December 7, 2011

    Mine posted as well for a November 30 stay on best-rate-guaranteed rate!

  • Rich A December 7, 2011

    Stayed at the Radisson Rochester (NY) Airport at $82.07 all in for my 50,000 with breakfast included.

Comments are closed.

BoardingArea