Home » Hotel Groups (Page 10)
Category Archives: Hotel Groups
Buy a Marriott bed or mattress and earn two free nights!
Marriott, or more precisely Shop Marriott has launched an interesting promotion.
The headline says “2 Free Night with Bed Purchase”, whereas here are the terms:
Marriott Bonvoy Members receive two 35,000 point Free Night Awards* with the eligible purchase of a mattress set. Exclusive to Marriott Bonvoy Members purchasing mattress and base sets between August 10th and August 20th for beds that are delivered in Europe. Marriott Bonvoy Number must be entered at checkout. Free Night Awards will be issued up to 4 weeks after mattress delivery.
If I understand correctly, you can buy either a bed or mattress to qualify.
The two free night awards are worth at least $400 so it’s a good rebate. Remember that you can top up as much as 15,000 points, so each free night award can be redeemed at a 50K property.
However they are not an average mattress you see on Ikea or Amazon! The cheapest mattress (British Model – Double) costs €1595 or $1435.
When you’ve accrued 50 or 75 night credits in a year, one annual choice benefit you can pick is $100 off a mattress purchase, which makes the deal much more reasonable. However, I’m not confident that the two offers can stack, although there’s no evidence that suggest otherwise.
New wave of Marriott devaluation landed
Marriott transitioned into dynamic redemption pricing a couple of years ago, and although it was all good news at the very beginning, devaluation has progressively spread at many regions / properties since. It seems that a new major wave kicked in last Saturday (August 5th).
My friend Zaozao who developed a pricing monitoring tool, noticed the phenomenon and here are sone examples of the price increase:
From left to right these three hotels are: W Osaka, Westin Singapore and St Regis Bangkok.
The devaluation seems to be still unfolding and stabilising over the last few days. Here is how Westin London City’s prices changed over night:
Hilton has completed sabotaged their program after the introduction of dynamic pricing, and it looks like Marriott thinks it’s a good idea to follow the same path. Thankfully, IHG appears to be in their right mind and they still offer many great redemption options.
Hilton’s confusing new paid upgrade feature at online check-in
I’m going to Cancun for a few days and chose the Canopy by Hilton hotel as my first stop. I booked it via Amex’s The Hotel Collection, and the reservation appeared on my Hilton app immediately. There is the Request Upgrade page which you are probably familiar with:
Basically these are standby options that offer room upgrade, meals or credit at a discounted price. When you arrive at the hotel they will inform you whether the standby has cleared, and you don’t pay anything until then.
There are very good deals occasionally but I very rarely pay for an upgrade. One thing I really like about Hilton’s app though, is that you can view floor plan of the hotel and even pick your room accordingly at online check-in. However this time I noticed something rather unusual:
It is advertising paid upgrade to some enhanced rooms, including a suite.
Quite confusingly, they are paid but the price is confidential. How can people pay for something when they don’t even know the price?
I sent an inquiry using the app’s Chat feature. A friendly member of staff came back to me saying that they’d upgraded me to the premium room, however for the suite I’d need to pay more than 500 dollars. It is awkward as the confidential price ended up being higher than what eStandby offered!
There was some news October last year about a new upgrade feature offered to elite members and I guess it’s related, although I’m not sure how prevalent Hilton hotels are selling it right now. Personally I think it adds little value as eStandby is already well integrated, especially as the price is not disclosed.
My review of Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower
After one-night in central Barcelona at the Le Meridien hotel, I booked the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower hotel with my own Hyatt Leverage plan. I received a nice free-night promotion from Hyatt, plus was (for a very short period) upgraded to Globalist due to a loophole…
The hotel is fairly far out by the Hospital de Bellvitge station, last stop of the red metro line. It’s about 30 minutes by metro to the city centre, or 20 minutes to the airport by bus.
The hotel building is quite prominent once you have exited the station, on top of which there’s a huge Hesperia sign that is the owner of the hotel.
The lobby is large and impressive.
Once having confirmed my name and ID, the receptionist lady greeted me with a very warm welcome, and invited the duty manager to have a chat with me. She then gave me a thorough introduction of the hotel facilities, breakfast and the club lounge, while accompanying me to the lift.
My (suite) upgrade experience with Marriott, IHG and Hilton has been pretty poor in Europe. This is the first and maybe only time I’m staying as a Globalist, and they upgraded me to a Regency Suite on the 24th floor. The highest guest floor is the 25th, and there’s a famous(?) rooftop restaurant on the 29th.
As there’s no separate living room, it’s probably more of a junior suite. However the TV-mounting wall segregates the space well, and you definitely won’t find it confined here.
The room has a traditional layout, is well furnished, and there’s no apparent sign of wear and tear. It is surely a very high standard as of hotels in Europe.
The bathroom comes with a small wardrobe as well as a jet tub.
It is the tallest building in the neighbourhood by a good margin so you have a nice view.
You can cast content to the TV via Chromecast or the Hyatt mobile app.
As recommended by the hotel staff, I had my breakfast in the main restaurant.
Here’s the buffet:
Classic Spanish breakfast with a large selection of cured meat. The quality is decent, although I’m a bit disappointed that they don’t offer churros here.
The Hyatt Regency Club is located on the fifth floor, and it is Huge!
As a business hotel they’ve done a good job catering to business clients’ needs. There are four conference rooms in the club lounge.
Fruits, snacks and drinks (including beer and wine) are displayed throughout the day.
Happy Hour is 5pm to 7pm every evening. In addition to salad and cheese etc, there are two hot items offered each day. I had a lot of fried meat balls and beef stew…
Liquor and spirited are also on offer.
Breakfast in the club lounge is a lot simpler, although they make some special dishes here such as the Bao.
Gym is very small and I’m not impressed. The swimming pool is contracted so all guests including Globalists must pay a €10 fee per day, which I didn’t use.
When I was checking out, the receptionist again called for the (general?) manage who was on his way out to have a personal chat with me. He was very attentive and asked if I wanted to bring a couple of bottles of water with me.
I’m truly impressed how well Globalists are treated at Hyatt Hotels. Although they don’t have 4pm guaranteed late check-out which I find very useful, it is better than my Marriott Titanium experience is almost every way. Sadly I was (duly) downgraded back to Explorist shortly after my stay.
Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower is a very solid hotel with great guest rooms and club lounge. The location is inconvenient though, so I only recommend you to stay here on your first or last day utilising its proximity to the airport.
Hilton targeted offers – up to 4,000 bonus points
Hilton initiated a new wave of targeted offers, and there are two versions that are being circulated.
I received an email of the first offer the other day. I couldn’t register at that time though due to “technical difficulties”, but it seems to have been fixed. I couldn’t register to the other offer.
My review of Hilton Nottingham
(Update: refurbishment has now completed. Again I received no upgrade as there were quite a few events going on in the city, but the room’s interior is much nicer now. Note that the hotel is very stingy with check-out time: standard check-out is 11am and the generous late check-out for Diamond members is 12am…)
(Originally posted in October 2021)
Stuck in the UK, I’m going to Nottingham for a weekend to visit a friend and their German Shepherd puppy.
Weekend hotel prices are ridiculous at the moment in almost all the UK cities I’ve checked, which means using points is a good call. I spent 60,000 points for two nights at the Hilton hotel at Nottingham, despite the fact they don’t have very good reviews.
The hotel is about 15 minutes’ walk from the railway station, and right next to Victoria Centre which means it’s very central.
It’s very busy this weekend. The gentleman at reception spent a long time trying to find me an upgrade, and was very apologetic when it turned out impossible unless I wouldn’t mind changing room the second day. I was given two drinks vouchers though as a Diamond treat, which I don’t think many UK hotels are still doing nowadays.
The room on the hand, is compact, dated and dysfunctional just as I had imagined…
As you can tell from the little fan on the desk, the room is not air-conditioned. Fortunately the two days I stay here aren’t really warm so I didn’t suffer.
Bathroom looks okay comparatively.
I was told by the receptionist that the 5th and 6th floors are currently undergoing renovation. I guess the owner of the hotel has finally realised that they can’t get away with the old and ugly decor anymore…
Breakfast is served at the Bric restaurant, which is in the fashion of a buffet.
The quality is excellent for a 4-star hotel, especially after you have seen how distasteful the room is. My favourite is the vegetarian sausages which reminds me of a delicacy from my hometown in China.
The hotel also features a gym and spa, which is a nice bonus. You don’t need to make prior reservations and can just walk in.
Unfortunately there were many hotel guests so I didn’t manage to take a lot of photos. Overall the facilities are quite okay although again quite dated. Swimming pool is big enough; jacuzzi too but not warm enough as it’s connected to the pool; sauna is closed due to malfunction; steam room is a bit too steamy.
I think you should already have a very good idea of the hotel at this point. I believe the rooms will be a lot more comfortable after the renovation has completed, but in the meantime you still have to make peace with it and your chances of getting an upgrade will be slimmer as a consequence.
Great deal: Lindner hotels now redeemable using Hyatt points
Hyatt acquired Lindner Hotels, a hotel group in Germany a while ago. It looks like they’ve more or less completed the system integration work and Lindner hotels can now be redeemed using Hyatt points.
Here is a list of all the Lindner hotels, as well as me and all which was a sub-brand:
Austria
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Vienna Am Belvedere
Belgium
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Antwerp
Czech Republic
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Prague Castle
Slovakia
- Cat 1 / Lindner Hotel Bratislava
Spain
- Cat 4 / Lindner Hotel Mallorca Portals Nous
Germany
Cat 1
- Lindner Hotel Berlin Ku’damm
- Lindner Hotel Cologne Am Dom
- Lindner Hotel Cologne City Plaza
- Lindner Hotel Dusseldorf Seestern
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Hochst
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Sportpark
- Lindner Hotel Leverkusen BayArena
- me and all hotel ulm
Cat 2
- Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Main Plaza
- Lindner Hotel Hamburg Am Michel
- Lindner Hotel Hamburg Hagenbeck
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Congress
- me and all hotel dusseldorf
- me and all hotel dusseldorf oberkassel
- me and all hotel hanover
- me and all hotel kiel
- me and all hotel mainz
Cat 3
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Ferienpark
- Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Motorsport
- Lindner Hotel Oberstaufen Parkhotel
And many of them are already bookable.
As you can see, most of the hotels fall under Category 1 or 2 which makes the deal very attractive, as you can redeem for a reward night for as little as 3,500 points. As a benchmark 1 Hyatt point is worth roughly 1.5p / 2c.
Not all Lindner hotels are showing award availability yet so it’s probably still work in progress. If your travel destination is on the list and you have some Hyatt points to spend you are in luck!
My review of Le Meridien Barcelona
I was close to accepting a job offer finally, and I decided to treat myself to a holiday in Spain! I’m staying three nights in Barcelona before heading to Valencia, and besides the two nights with Hyatt for the Q1 promotion, I’m staying at Le Meridien for one night as well for its more central location.
The hotel acts as a great base to explore Barcelona. It’s near the Universitat metro station, with many shops and restaurants nearby, and you can even walk to the beach.
The receptionist lady is very friendly and professional. She welcomed me warmly, explained all the benefits and hotel facilities, as well as offered me a choice of different rooms.
If I remember correctly they are usually quite generous with room upgrade. Unfortunately there happens to be an international mobile conference going on in the city so they are a bit tight on availability. I chose a Premier Deluxe room on the first floor.
Size-wise Premier Deluxe rooms are identical with the standard Deluxe rooms, but they are more recently refurbished.
The sixth floor and higher appear to be a totally different building. Rooms look much nicer at least from the outside.
The hotel has rooftop terrace, with a (small) pool, jacuzzi and sauna / steam rooms. They are good enough for me.
Breakfast is served in the lobby restaurant.
Spread is decent with quiche and churros!
Lacking a club lounge and a proper swimming pool, Le Meridien Barcelona may not be my first choice of the city. The location is great though, and if I can fare a good upgrade I wouldn’t hesitate to come back.