Register now: earn double IHG points
IHG had a targeted 5k bonus points offer earlier, and they just released a global promotion for Q1.
You can sign up to the offer here:
- Register by Jan 31st
- Stay between Feb 1st and March 31st
- Earn double points for all qualifying stays
Not a great offer, but to my surprise the bonus points are elite qualifying. Remember that soon it will be much harder to retain status via elite qualifying points, so if it’s your usual approach it may be worth planning a few stays between February and March.
Revealed: Marriott Q1 promotion to start on Feb 8
(Read here – the promotion is now live)
@sydneyboi on Flyertalk received an email from Marriott today, at the bottom of which there’s a peek of the upcoming promotion:
Coming Soon: Every Night Counts Even More Watch your inbox for our newest promotion! You’ll earn more each night you stay between February 8 – May 4, 2022. Registration starts soon.
So we know the promotion period for certain, and it’s night-based rather than stay-based. From the phrasing I guess it’s similar to what Marriott had last year for Q1: double points and double elite night credits. Registration should start soon anyway so there’s no need for speculation.
In the meantime, Marriott just sent out another wave of targeted offers. Again I received nothing, but watch your mailbox, or check the Promotion Centre on their website.
My review of Ritz Carlton Abama, Tenerife
Failing to visit Mauritius, my friend and I decided to spend the Christmas holiday in Tenerife instead, which is also a popular winter sun destination.
Surprisingly there isn’t a strong presence of international hotel chains on the island – none of Hilton, IHG and Hyatt has any property at all, whereas Marriott has one each of Sheraton and Ritz Carlton. Gran Melia Palacio de Isora, generally regarded at the best Melia hotel, is also at Tenerife, and redeeming points for a half-board package can be an awesome deal.
[Getting Here]
This is the first time I stay at a Ritz-Carlton, and in fact it’s the main reason why I wanted to choose this hotel. From the airport (TFS) we grabbed a taxi which took us only around 20 minutes, and it usually costs between 40 and 50 euros.
It actually brings up my first point – the hotel is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and you have nothing to do or see outside the hotel unless you drive or hail a cab. Unless you want a staycation, don’t pick the Ritz-Carlton and the Sheraton is probably a lot better.
Check-in is very slow although to be fair we are sat down and offered free drinks. The receptionist hands us the room keys but explains nothing at all. We only realise it afterwards and come back to ask about elite benefits, facilities and food options etc.
[Room]
We paid 200,000 points (off-peak) for five nights in a standard room. In terms of upgrade we are offered a choice: standard room with sea view, or junior suite with resort view. We end up with the former.
Apologies for the mix-up, we switched from a double room to twin:
The room is huge, about 50-60 sqm in size. If you are not with kids I don’t see much need of a suite.
Balcony is nice with a partially blocked but still impressive view.
A special holiday gift is prepared in the room – a bottle of Cava and chocolate.
[Facilities]
The hotel is massive and signage can be confusing at times. The swimming pool is well designed:
Very disappointingly, the spa centre is closed due to Covid, which I think is a big let-down for a resort hotel. There’s only a small gym and you need to make prior bookings.
All these facilities are in the main building, a.k.a. Citadel. Behind it there’s also a massive Villa area which offers residences with better privacy.
I don’t get a chance to see the inside (although a friend who used to stay in Villas didn’t like it), but it’s definitely a much quieter area, and feels more exclusive.
Villa guests have their own swimming pools, as well as a mini gym.
If you walk past all the villas, you reach the hotel’s private beach.
There are frequent shuttle buses between the reception, villas and the beach.
A few more random photos of the hotel:
[Dining]
The hotel features a Club Lounge in Citadel and a Villa Club in the villas. However both are closed at the moment.
All paid rates include breakfast, but redemption rate doesn’t. We are offered a half-board package at €65 pp which we think is fair and have accepted.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant La Veranda.
This is literally one of the worst breakfast I’ve ever had at any hotel, to the point that the only edible dish is the freshly-made omelette. I’m shocked how a Ritz-Carlton can get away with it – I guess breakfast is inclusive for 95% of the guests anyway so they don’t need to sell it, and they put you off having breakfast then you have to spend more on lunch and dinner.
Villa guests have breakfast at El Mirador, but it’s also a buffet and I assume quality will be similar.
For lunch and dinner, there are around five restaurants available and you can use your half-board/full-board package at most of them. More expensive items (often half of the menu) require surcharges though.
El Mirador is probably the most popular restaurant, next to the villas.
Txono is another restaurant by the swimming pool. I ordered a wagyu steak at a hefty surcharge, and it tasted no better than a £5 Waitrose steak!
The last restaurant we tried is the Melvin. It’s owned by a Preferred hotel nearby, but Ritz-Calton’s half-package is also accepted here.
Food here isn’t much better than the Ritz Carlton, but service is at a totally different level: the shuttle driver is super welcoming, and a waitress proactively apologises for us waiting too long and offers a couple of complimentary dishes. We’ve had so many issues at Ritz Carlton on the other hand: waiting more than half an hour for the appetisers, the waiter forgetting our requests etc…
If you want to eat out, there’s a small town nearby called San Juan. It costs €5-€7 to get there by taxi, and there are many cheap restaurants in that area. You can have a promenade by the sea too.
In a word, I’m very disappointed by the stay. First of all the location is very weird and it’s anything but easy to get around; secondly the room and hotel facilities don’t feel luxurious at all – I mean they are adequate but far below the Ritz Carlton standard; last but not least, as friendly as they are the staff needs substantial training too, to avoid the so many teething issues we’ve had throughout the stay.
Marriott discontinues Travel Package, and will refund in points
There was a blip in Marriott’s terms and conditions last week which mentioned the discontinuation of travel packages on January 19th. It was quickly removed, but now confirmed again with more details.
You can read Marriott’s help article here. Basically you can no longer make a travel package redemption, and if you hold an existing travel package you must reserve by February 28th.
What’s interesting is, if you decide not to redeem your package or later cancel your reservation, the hotel portion of the package will be fully refunded in points, and
The refund will be based on the current Points redemption category levels and will equal the sum of the Peak Points Redemption Rate per each Night of the Travel Package Award, at the highest category for which the Award was eligible.
In other words, you may be in for a treat if you have an unredeemed travel package.
- Cat 1-4 Hotels + 100k Miles cost 330k points, and you are entitled to a refund of 30k*7=210k points. You are buying 100k miles for 120k Marriott points
- Cat 7 Hotels + 100k Miles cost 750k points, and you are entitled to a refund of 100k*7=700k points. You are buying 100k miles for 50k Marriott points
For United miles there was additional 10% bonus so the deal is even sweeter. If you have a travel package and don’t have a strong intent to use it, you may just want to wait till March and cash it out.
BREAKING: IHG revamps the rewards program, Silver tier introduced, Spire renamed to Diamond
(EDIT: you can now find the official announcement here)
IHG has, very quietly, released its plan to introduce a new Rewards Club program in March.
I got hold of a pdf file with some more details. The file is in Chinese, and to be honest doesn’t contain much useful information. Here’s a summary of what’s happening:
- New elite tiers will come into effect in March
- a new Silver tier is introduced, and from its qualification criteria it matches to the old Gold tier
- Gold tier now has higher qualification criteria and probably enhanced benefits
- Spire is renamed to Diamond to be inline with industry convention
Note that IHG elite status has all been extended through February 2023. I assume that current Gold / Platinum / Spire members will be matched to Gold / Platinum / Diamond directly when the new program launches regardless of your activities in the last year.
In the new program, it’s significantly harder to retain status via elite qualifying points.
In terms of benefits, welcome drinks for Club members in Greater China is being cancelled. So is the choice benefit of Spire Elites, but hopefully they are replacing it with something more exciting.
It’s mentioned that new benefits will be introduced too, however we don’t have any details yet – hopefully free breakfast and lounge access for Diamond elites?
New: join InterContinental Ambassador and earn 20k bonus points
You may recall that there’s an ongoing bonus points offer for Ambassador renewals. The offer has now been extended to new sign-ups too.
There’s a promo page in IHG’s weixin mini-program:
The terms appear to be exactly the same with the renewal offer:
- Join InterContinental Ambassador by March 31st
- Stay two paid nights at any participating hotels by April 30th
- Earn 20,000 bonus points
Stays booked using the weekend BOGOF voucher also qualifies for the bonus. The official tnc page isn’t updated yet, so for your peace of mind you may want to wait for the update before enrolling.
Hilton status match is back
Hilton started an official status match program a few years ago and it has been on and off since, whereas the rules have also changed multiple times in the meantime. The website just went live again with a newer version of the offer.
You can access the offer here. To participate you need to be an elite member with one of the following hotel programs:
- Marriott Bonvoy (Gold+)
- IHG Rewards Club (Gold+)
- World of Hyatt (Explorist+)
- Best Western Rewards (Diamond+)
- Choice Privileges (Diamond)
If your program is not listed you could still select Other and provide the details. Some of these statuses are extremely easy to obtain – take IHG for example, you can simply pay $200 to join their Ambassador program (which is well worth it) and be upgraded to IHG Platinum straightaway.
Once your application is approved you will be upgraded to Gold for a 90-day trial period. During the trial period, you can:
- Stay 7 nights and keep the Gold status, or
- Stay 12 nights to upgrade to Diamond
If you fulfil any of the challenge, your status is valid through March 31, 2024, which is more than two years from now.
The rules are tougher than last year, as back then you only needed 5 nights / 9 nights respectively.
If don’t have status with Hilton and have an upcoming stay with them, it’s a no brainer to sign up to this status match promotion. Gold status gets you free breakfast right away (except in the U.S. where you only get a credit) and room upgrade, and if you can stay enough to achieve Diamond, you will enjoy guaranteed executive lounge access at most of Hilton’s branded hotels.Facebook Twitter WhatsApp
My review of Great Scotland Yard Hotel, London
It was almost the end of 2021 – although I didn’t plan to complete my Hyatt Globalist Challenge, there were still a few £100 cashback offers on my Amex cards. I decided to use these offers on the Great Scotland Yard hotel, which is part of the Unbound Collection.
I booked the Hyatt Prive rate under the ongoing 3-for-2 offer. Hyatt Prive includes free breakfast, $100 credit to spend on property, room upgrade and 2pm checkout. The total comes to £690 for three nights pre cashbacks – remember that you’ll only get two night credits for the stay though.
The hotel is very centrally located, just a couple of minutes’ walk to Embankment and Charing Cross stations. The building is on a quiet lane though so you don’t need to worry about noises.
The hotel sits on the original site of the (Old) Scotland Yard which is where the name comes from. It’s a total rebuild though so has nothing to do with the old MET office.
Its public space is full of classy and graceful decorations, and they are truly beautiful.
And of course there’s a Christmas tree.
The wall arts in the corridor are funny British humour.
I’m very impressed by the enamelled door – it must be expensive to make.
I’m upgraded one-level to a room with city view, which isn’t much of an upgrade. The Explorist status has been virtually useless to be honest, even combined with Hyatt Prive which supposedly enhances the room upgrade benefit.
The room is – unsurprisingly – small, however it feels very tasteful. It reminds me of Marriott Park Lane, although the styles are quite different.
The bathroom is very beautiful too, equipped with a smart toilet seat.
The welcome letter is wax-sealed.
At the same time, I have quite a few complaints as well:
- No bottled-water provided
- No bathrobe provided
- The toilet smells really bad
- Bed is very uncomfortable for me
Also calling the room one with city view is probably way too euphemistic.
Breakfast is all a-la-carte, which is unusual but very welcomed.
The food is good, but not on par with Marriott Park Lane or the Andaz.
I have £75 credit to use on property, which isn’t easy. There’s only one restaurant Ekstedt but I don’t fancy it, and ended up having two meals in the pub 40 Elephants instead.
The dinner is average and nothing to write home about.
The hotel features no spa or swimming pool. There’s a small gym, but if you want a jog Green Park and Hyde Park are just around the corner.
The hotel has very impressive interior design and the room is pretty, and in the meantime its rate is not excessively high. If you are Hyatt Globalist and can fare a suite upgrade, I think it’s a good choice for central London.