The Wigwam Golf Resort Starwood Luxury Collection

Starwood Luxury Collection Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa, Litchfield Park, Arizona (western suburb of Phoenix). Starwood hotel page.

Adobe style casitas

The Wigwam Resort, main pool area

The Wigwam lobby entrance

hallway to Red's Steakhouse

lobby seating lounge

AAA 4 diamond
TripAdvisor Rank #1 of 1 hotel in Litchfield Park
SPG Category 4 hotel = 10,000 points for a free night or
$60 and 4,000 points on Cash & Points award.

The highest degree of satisfaction with this resort expressed in online hotel reviews seems to be among golfers. I came across several reviews on TripAdvisor praising the three golf courses.

Among Starwood members discussing the property on FlyerTalk, the general consensus is the resort is underwhelming for a designated Luxury Collection brand property.

I did not stay at the Wigwam Resort. I made it my first stop in 150 miles since lunch and leaving Blythe, California on I-10. The freeway exit for Litchfield Park came just in time as the traffic slowed to a crawl at 2:00pm, a good 20 miles west of downtown Phoenix.

The distraction of being in a residential neighborhood caused me to miss the street sign leading to the resort. I stopped and rechecked the map and then continued to drive and found the Wigwam Resort in the middle of an older, developed neighborhood, directly across the street from a public elementary school. The location was not at all what I expected.

The conference room wing was the first door I entered from the parking lot. There were dozens of people in the halls and some booths with representatives.

The Wigwam is a golf mecca of greens in the desert. The resort was a golf country club as early as the 1930s when V.O. “Red” Allen came from Minnesota as the Club’s first golf pro and the first of three generations of Allen’s to head the golf program at the Wigwam. Red’s Steakhouse in the Resort is a tribute to this 40 year golf veteran of The Wigwam.

The property is composed of many adobe style casita units.

There is one central-area pool in the resort. The tennis court area, fitness room, and the Elizabeth Arden Red Door spa are at one end of the resort. There is a lap pool in the spa area.

Lap pool near Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa

Red Door Spa entry corridor

The Wigwam Fitness and Aerobics room

Tennis court and Golf course in background

Red’s Steakhouse

My opinion is The Wigwam Resort looks like a pleasant place for a good active time playing tennis, golf, workouts, and swims. The Wigwam is a different type of understated elegant resort than the other Starwood Resorts of the Phoenix area. This is the kind of resort conducive for interacting more with other guests or relaxing alone at your casita rather than the Las Vegas style grandness of the other three Starwood resorts.

Starwood’s other Phoenix area Luxury Collection property, The Phoenician, has received consistently high praise over the years and still ranks high on overall top hotels in the USA. The Phoenician along with the Westin Kierland hotel, when compared to The Wigwam Resort, these resorts have more elaborate facilities for pools, dining choices, and a setting in the Scottsdale vicinity for being dazzled.

Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Chandler (east Phoenix area) looks like the most recommended 3rd choice hotel discussed on FlyerTalk for a cheaper Phoenix- area Starwood option than the Phoenician and Westin Kierland resorts. The Sheraton hotel page for Wild Horse Pass states: “Voted Best Resort & Best In-Town Getaway by AZ Republic Reader’s Poll” .

5-12-08 I noticed The Wigwam Resort on www.Skyauction.com this weekend. The auction ends 5-13-08 and currently is $30/night + $49/night service charge. The Wigwam for $79 a night is an incredible deal for this resort in my opinion.

SPG Annual Category Shift: Yearn to Burn

The Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

Dec 2003, SPG Category 2, free weekend night =3,000 Starpoints

March 2008, SPG Category 4, free weekend night =10,000 Starpoints



[Note from Ric Garrido Mar 3, 2008:
I apparently misread the "SPG Hotel Category Changes for 2008" chart at the time I wrote this post. I do not see The Pulitzer, Amsterdam showing a Hotel Category Change in March 2008. The Pulitzer remaining at Category 5 made much of my blog text moot concerning that hotel going from Category 4 to Category 6 in just over a year. I have edited the blog post to delete the portion on The Pulitzer. I also corrected some elementary math errors: Increasing from 100 to 250 is a 150% increase, not 250%.]

Gary Leff's post, February 25, 2008 on View from the Wing about the SPG annual category shift got me to thinking about my reaction to the coming changes. I understand the rationale for SPG increasing the categories for high demand hotels. Yet, I feel the pain of devalued points.

I have decided to look at it initially from my personal travel perspective.

Maybe later, I'll tackle a real analysis of the shifts if I can locate charts showing the SPG categories from 2004 and 2006 to help me track the changes. Blondebomber of FlyerTalk has active links to his SPG Hotel Category spreadsheet on the internet. The spreadsheet tracks the SPG hotel category changes from 2005 to the current March 4, 2008 changes.

Hotel Shifts I notice from past stay award rates for a single free night:

Sheraton Noosa, Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia,
July 2003
Category 3
7,000 points

March 2008
Category 5
12,000-16,000 points

Four Points Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia
July 2003
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 4
10,000 points

Westin Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
December 2003
Category 1
2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

The Laguna Resort, Luxury Collection, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

December 2003

Category 2

3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008

Category 4

10,000 points

Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok, Thailand
March 2004
Category 1
2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

Westin Atlanta Airport
June 2007
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

Sheraton Newark Airport
June 2007
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points


I have made a very rough estimate of the category changes at hotels I've visited.

I've probably redeemed 150,000 to 200,000 Starpoints for free nights at some of the hotels listed here and other places and locations I've stayed over the past five years.

I estimate it would now take about 260,000 points for the same number of nights at hotels where I redeemed points for stays for about 100,000 points.

Next month, 100,000 Starpoints might buy 10 nights at a selection of hotels where I redeemed 100,000 points for 25+ nights.

Hotel room rates in most places have not risen anywhere near 150% in the past five years. Starwood point inflation has been devastatingly high on the free night redemption side for many travelers.

In Starwood's favor, the widespread expansion of available Cash & Points rates in 2007 for hotels in all SPG categories from 1-6 has proved to be a high value use of Starpoints at many hotel properties.

$60 and 4,000 Starpoints for a Category 4 hotel award night can be a great alternative to 10,000 Starpoints or a $250+/night paid room rate. Paying $60 cash is a much higher value than spending 6,000 Starpoints.

$150 and 8,000 Starpoints for a Category 6 hotel night is often a better choice than 20,000 Starpoints or a paid room rate of $500/night.

I am glad I traveled when I did.

How much has your Starpoints earning power increased over the past five years?

My earning power hasn't increased significantly and nowhere near 150%.

Two options for this traveler: Stay fewer hotel nights or pay more money to increase the ratio of paid/award nights.

My economy will be the decider.

Major hotel loyalty program brands on Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Hotel Gold List

The Conde Nast Traveler Gold List describes itself as the "Best Places to Stay in the World, selected by readers of Conde Nast Traveler."

Loyalty Traveler has examined a subgroup from this list to determine the hotels which also are part of major hotel loyalty programs. These hotels have the attribute of being available using hotel points.

Europe

Hilton Gold List Hotels with links to CN Traveler ratings and description.
Reserve Hotels listed in the print magazine do not appear to be online.

Mount Juliet Conrad, County Kilkenny, Ireland
HHonors Category 6
Free night = 40,000 points/night or 175,000 points/6-nights

Rome Cavalieri Hilton, Rome, ItalyHHonors Category 6
Free night = 40,000 points/night or 175,000 points/6-nights

Conrad Brussels, Belgium (Reserve List)
HHonors Category 5
Free night = 35,000 points/night or 150,000 points/6-nights

Conrad Istanbul, Turkey (Reserve List)
HHonors Category 4
Free night = 30,000 points/night or 150,000 points/6-nights
PointStretcher Awards for 18,000 points/night may be available
PointStretcher Dates Jan 1-12; Feb 10-17; Mar 9-16

Hilton Budapest, Hungary (Reserve List)
HHonors Category 5
Free night = 35,000 points/night or 150,000 points/6-nights
My wife commented recently that our stay at the Budapest Hilton was the best hotel room we ever had. That is a big claim. We stayed in the King Duna Suite on a PointStretcher award.

Hyatt Hotels available with Gold Passport Points

Park Hyatt, Milan, Italy
Gold Passport Category 5
Free night =18,000 points

Park Hyatt, Zurich, Switzerland
Gold Passport Category 5
Free night =18,000 points

Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, Paris, France (Reserve List)
Gold Passport Category 5
Free night =18,000 points

InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Carlton, Cannes, France
Priority Club Rewards Free Night = 40,000 points

Ceylan InterContinental, Istanbul, Turkey
Priority Club Rewards Free Night = 40,000 points

InterContinental Amstel, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Reserve List)
Priority Club Rewards Free Night = 40,000 points

Marriott Corporation Brands

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel, Bucharest, Romania
Marriott Rewards Category 4
Free night = 20,000 points/night to 105,000 points/7-night stay

JW Marriott Tiberio Palace, Capri, Italy
Marriott Rewards Category 7
Free night = 35,000 points/night to 150,000 points/7-night stay

Marriott Berlin, Germany
Marriott Rewards Category 5
Free night = 25,000 points/night to 115,000 points/7-night stay

Renaissance Chancery Court, London, UK
Marriott Rewards Category 7
Free night = 35,000 points/night to 150,000 points/7-night stay

Ritz-Carlton Berlin, Germany
Marriott Rewards Tier 1 Partner Hotel Award
Free Nights = 45,000 points/night to 175,000 points/7-night stay (25,000 points/night)

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Arts, Barcelona, Spain
Marriott Rewards Tier 2 Partner Hotel Award
Free Nights = 70,000 points/night to 250,000 points/7-night stay (35,714 points/night)

Starwood Hotels Brands

Le Meridien Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Le Meridien, Vienna, Austria
SPG Category 4
Free Nights = 10,000 points/night or 40,000 points/5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $60 + 4,000 points

Le Royal Meridien Bristol, Warsaw, Poland
SPG Category 3
Free Nights = 7,000 points/night or 28,000 points/5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $45 + 2,800 points

Hotel Imperial, The Luxury Collection, Vienna, Austria
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Hotel Kamp, The Luxury Collection, Helsinki, Finland
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Hotel Villa Cipriana, The Luxury Collection, Asolo, Italy
SPG Category 4
Free Nights = 10,000 points/night or 40,000 points/5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $60 + 4,000 points

Hotel Bristol, The Luxury Collection, Vienna, Austria
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Hotel Alfonso XIII, The Luxury Collection, Seville, Spain
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Hotel Maria Cristina, The Luxury Collection, San Sebastian, Spain
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Hotel Grande Bretagne, The Luxury Collection, Athens, Greece
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Hotel Gritti Palace, The Luxury Collection, Venice, Italy
SPG Category 7
Free Nights = 30,000-35,000 points/night or 120,000 - 140,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = Not Available

Hotel Goldener Hirsch, Salzburg, Austria
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Westin Palace, Madrid, Spain
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Westin Excelsior, Florence, Italy
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Westin Europe & Regina, Venice, Italy
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

Westin Turnberry Resort, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK
SPG Category 5
Free Nights = 12,000-16,000 points/night or 48,000 - 64,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $90 + 4,800 points/night

The Lanesborough, St. Regis Hotel, London, England, UK
(This Starwood Hotel does not participate in SPG loyalty program).

Blue Palace Resort & Spa, The Luxury Collection, Crete, Greece (Reserve List)
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Hotel Cala di Volpe, The Luxury Collection, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy (Reserve List)
SPG Category 7
Free Nights = 30,000-35,000 points/night or 120,000 - 140,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = Not Available

St. Regis Grand, Rome, Italy (Reserve List)
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Westin Excelsior, Rome, Italy (Reserve List)
SPG Category 6
Free Nights = 20,000-25,000 points/night or 80,000 - 100,000/ 5-night stay
Cash & Points Night = $150 + 8,000 points/night

Starwood Le Meridien Brand Free Nights Promotion

Le Meridien San Francisco, center and to left of pyramid TransAmerica building.

This hotel was formerly a Park Hyatt.

I was looking back at the Le Meridien Journey for free nights promotion running from December 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008. I drafted a piece December 13th and from this draft developed a piece for the December Hotels-and-Points report. The Le Meridien promotion is a 5-star promotional opportunity for free nights.

There have been some changes in the terms and conditions of the promotion since I wrote the December pieces. One major change is good -- Le Meridien Cambridge in Boston, Massachusetts is listed as a participating property. I have tried to update the articles to reflect changes.

The main point for rehashing these pieces is I believe this is one of the best SPG promotions we will likely have this year. There are still 7 weeks to get your Le Meridien 7 stays to maximize the offer. There is a high value benefit relative to the cost of maximizing this offer.

Offer: (Free nights may be redeemed at most Le Meridien hotels through Mar 31, 2009.)

· Earn one free night after first 3 stays at Le Meridien hotels

· Earn one more night after 5 stays at Le Meridien hotels (2 free nights total)

· Earn two more nights after 7 stays at Le Meridien hotels (4 free nights total)

Dates: Le Meridien hotel stays through March 31, 2008, participating hotels only

Brands: Starwood Le Meridien Hotels—View list for participating properties as most hotels in the brand are eligible, but some properties are not participating.
Le Meriden participating hotels

Registration link: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/promotions/registration/landing_page.html?promoID=LEM

Starwood Category 6 Hotels cost 20,000 to 25,000 per free night using points. Opportunities to earn free nights at a Starwood Category 6 hotel do not come around often which makes the Le Meridien-brand promotion for up to 4 free nights after 7 Le Meridien stays an intriguing offer.

The frequent guest needs to get to San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Cancun, Toronto, or Montreal if you want to do the promotion in North America. These are the participating Le Meridien hotels for stays qualifying for the free nights.

Sample rates for North American hotels for this Saturday, February 16, 2008

Le Meridien Cambridge, Boston, Massachusetts $189

Le Meridien Cancun, Mexico $238

Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, Florida $319
(Rate for Feb 21; No Availability for Feb 16.)

Le Meridien Versailles, Montreal, Quebec, Canada $159 CAD

Le Meridien San Francisco $289

Le Meridien King Edward, Toronto, Ontario, Canada $179 CAD

View of North Beach and cruise ship arrival at dawn, May 2007

Le Meridien San Francisco 22nd floor

The following piece is an idea seed for people who have the time and inclination to plan an international Le Meridien getaway for March. When I wrote this in December, I took the time to actually plan a schedule and go through the reservations process to find out the total hotel cost for 7 stays in Germany over a two-week period. This methodology allowed me to see how to plan the routing around Germany to plan for lowest cumulative cost of the hotel nights. Laying out the daily rates for all the hotels in the country allowed me to visualize an itinerary where the trip would take the traveler to Nuremberg when the price for a room at the Le Meridien was under 100 Euros and avoid Cologne when the price was over 300 Euros.

Airfare is still relatively low for travel to Europe in March and the hotel prices are not prohibitive, even when paying in Euros.

A Le Meridien Romance 7-stay (days) planner

Some people look at the Le Meridien promotion and think “No good for me!” San Francisco, Boston, and Miami are the only participating hotels in the USA and I don’t live near these places. A weekend in Canada doesn’t help me get 7 stays.

Loyalty Travelers think outside the box.

Do you want to visit Germany and drink beer in Munich and Nuremberg? Try a late winter/early spring volksmarch in the forest hills and river valley villages of Bavaria.

Do Egyptology and the Pyramids rock you? Sunning in the Seychelles or Bora Bora your fantasy? A week in a 5-star London hotel your cup of tea?

Le Meridien hotel chain was originally established by Air France in 1972. A couple of years ago Starwood purchased the hotel chain and has worked to integrate and showcase the unique flair these hotels offer to the Starwood frequent guest. I personally have stayed in 4 Le Meridien properties in San Francisco, Singapore, and the Netherlands, and I noticed a different style in each hotel that was interesting and memorable for each of my experiences.

Europe, particularly Germany and Italy, are the best represented region for Le Meridien hotels. Egypt is another location with multiple properties. The choice of several Le Meridien properties makes Egypt, Germany, or Italy a great vacation destination for fulfilling the Le Meridien 7-stay promotion requirements.

To reduce the frequency of changing hotels, a couple can book consecutive reservations under each individual’s name. In the past, I have booked one night under my name and the next night under my wife’s name. It might require changing rooms, but keep your loyalty program focus on the objective of earning free nights. Even with a room change possibility, the advantage of two nights in one hotel is a budget minded solution and both SPG members will earn credit as long as the reservations are maintained separately.

[Note: This hotel rate data is from Dec. 12, 2007] I checked a sample week of hotel rates from February 16-23 for Le Meridien hotels in Germany and found prices ranging from 80 Euros/night at Le Meridien Nuremberg and up to 199 Euros for Le Meridien Munich. My sample itinerary would cost about $225US/stay = $1,575 for 7 stays.

Use the points for a high-value hotel redemption such as 4 free nights for a hotel with lowest available rates around $400/night. This Le Meridien promotion allows a frequent guest to stay 11 nights for about $1,600. The fair market rate of $3,200 would be double the actual paid rate for the loyalty traveler who plans the promotion well.

[The math: Traveler pays $1,575 for 7 paid nights at Le Meridien hotels and earns 4 free nights with a $400/night value. $1,575 + $1,600 = $3,175 value received in hotel rooms.]

Egypt has four Le Meridien hotels and prices range from $90 to $130 per night on most dates I checked.

7 nights in hotels will cost about $225/night average. A couple can pay for 14 nights and earn 8 free nights for about $3,000. The free nights can be redeemed for rooms that you would not be able to get for under $400 per night otherwise, even if you had 50% off rack rate. Basically, you can have a two-week vacation in Europe and consider all of your hotel expenses to be credited and applied to a future luxury resort hotel vacation worth at least $3,000 for the 8 free nights in Le Meridien hotel resorts. There are several beach resort Le Meridien properties.

Le Meridien Singapore

Hotels-and-Points article excerpt:

Offer: (Free nights may be redeemed at most Le Meridien hotels through Mar 31, 2009.)
· Earn one free night after first 3 stays at Le Meridien hotels
· Earn one more night after 5 stays at Le Meridien hotels (2 free nights total)
· Earn two more nights after 7 stays at Le Meridien hotels (4 free nights total)
Dates: Le Meridien hotel stays through March 31, 2008, participating hotels only
Brands: Starwood Le Meridien Hotels—View list for participating properties as most hotels in the brand are eligible, but 11 properties are not participating.
Registration link: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/promotions/registration/landing_page.html?promoID=LEM

Voyage of Discovery Promotion

2008 is upon us and Starwood has the jump on the other hotel loyalty programs with the first “free nights” of the new year with a Le Meridien-brand promotion.

7 Stays at Le Meridien hotels earns 4 free nights.

Four nights are worth 80,000 to 100,000 points at a Category 6 hotel. This offer is potentially a huge bonus for 7 hotel stays. SPG Category 6 properties in Bora Bora, Seychelles, and London and several expensive Category 5 resorts that normally run about $400 to $500/night in peak season are participating in free nights redemption.

“You can earn the free nights up until 31st March 2008, but you have up until March 31, 2009 to utilize the free nights you earn.”

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used April 22-26, 2008

Nightly Low Rates for Luxury at these Le Meridien Hotels
(12-15-07 SPG.com)
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 45,000 XPF = $543/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 395€ = $567/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 269 GBP = $544/night

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used July 22-26, 2008
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 48,500 XPF = $585/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 445€ = $641/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 279 GBP = $564/night

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used October 12-16, 2008
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 48,500 XPF = $585/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 240€ = $346/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 279 GBP = $564/night


The primary obstacle to fulfilling this promotion is the relatively small number of participating properties combined with the number of frequent stays to maximize the promotion for its potential value.

The challenge is to either travel to several places over the early months of 2008 or design a vacation to frequent Le Meridien hotels in one region over a week or two of vacation nights. There are only about 120 Le Meridien hotels worldwide. Only 6 hotels are located in North America. Miami, Cancun, and Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, are all high season rates in winter. Le Meridien hotels in San Francisco, Toronto, and Montreal have hotel rates from $130 to $230 for many dates.
Europe is feasible for hotel hopping this winter with Germany, France, Portugal, and Italy having sufficient hotels at reasonable rates to travel within a region and limit the geographical distance traveling between hotels.
A tour of Le Meridien hotels in Asia can find reasonable rates in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Egypt’s three Le Meridien hotels have lowest average rates in the world.

Winter time in the urban centers of Germany may not be the "Sound of Music" vision you had for a European vacation, but keep the objective in mind of luxury free nights. Stay 7 nights bouncing around western Germany, north and south. Your Le Meridien hotel hopping can take you to Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne, and Hamburg. (Sorry, no LMs in eastern Germany). Plan a two-week trip for a couple and earn 8 free nights and then stay at expensive Le Meridien resort hotels for your next vacation in 2008.
Flights are abundant and airfare is low this winter to Germany. Plan on an average nightly rate of about $225 for your 7 stays. About $1,600 for 7 one-night stays.

A couple spending $3,000 to $4,000 for hotel nights to maximize this promotion can earn another $3,000 to $4,000 in free hotel nights—a two-for-one. A couple can earn 8 free nights for a Le Meridien island resort like Bora Bora, Sardinia, or the Seychelles with a value of $500-$700 per night. Essentially, you can earn free trophy travel by taking a winter European vacation tour with Le Meridien hotels guiding your locations.

Le Meridien Des Indes, The Hague, Netherlands

July 2006

Three participating Le Meridien Hotels are in the United States. Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, Florida is in high season with rates regularly $300+. Le Meridien San Francisco is in the low season months and rooms are as low as $129 in December, and $209 rates available many dates in Jan to March. Le Meridien Cambridge, Boston has rates under $200 on some nights.

Loyalty Royalty is the Name of the Game

What do I think of Marriott?

- There are 250 Marriott brand hotels in California. They are everywhere and I really liked the hotels I have visited and stayed in. Comfortable rooms and generally lots of seating in the lobby for people to hang out is a common feature. Having said that I like the hotels, I do not like their high level of nights for top-tier elite status.

Courtyard by Marriott,

San Jose Airport

The 75 night threshold for Platinum elite status makes Marriott Rewards a non-starter for me. There is significant added value through complimentary upgrades, bonus points, special offers, and amenity gifts offered to the top-tier elite frequent guest.

The advantage of Hyatt, Starwood, and Hilton is the ability to easily reach top-tier elite status with 25 to 35 paid nights when you have a travel pattern of mostly 1-night or 2-night stays. Hyatt and Starwood require 25 stays or 50 nights. Hilton requires 28 stays or 60 nights for top-tier Diamond elite status.

The way the system works is a frequent guest with 25 1-night stays will earn top-elite status while a guest who has 36 paid nights, but all earned as 3-night stays will only have mid-tier elite status. The nights spent and money spent are not the dominant criteria for elite qualification for Hyatt, Starwood, or Hilton. Hilton does have a spending elite qualification factor that may benefit some high spenders with fewer nights or stays.

IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards count hotel nights, not stays, for elite qualification. Top-tier requires 50 nights with Priority Club and 75 nights for Marriott Rewards.

The high threshold of hotel nights for top-tier elite status keeps most frequent guests outside the inner circle of diamond and platinum amenities and upgrades. The perks are still widespread for Loyalty Royalty frequent travelers.

The ability to change a hotel loyalty program rules at short notice make the current offers for fast-track elite status with Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport all the more enticing. The ability for a frequent guest to lock in top-tier elite status for two years, through February 2010, is a financially savvy move.

This could be a dream travel year with a high return on your hotel loyalty investment.

Starwood required registration by January 15, 2008 for the opportunity to earn double hotel stay credit through February 29, 2008.

Hyatt's offer is still available and details were discussed in previous Hotels-and-Points posts.

Instant Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum Elite Offer for New Members:
http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/benefits/join.jsp?me02_mbr_src=INT16

Stays Count Double registration
www.goldpassport.com/SCD08

Money for Nothing (but my MTV)

There was an analyst in Salt Lake City on CNBC this morning, Jan 11, 7:10am (PST). He was predicting a 16,000-20,000 point DOW by year end 2008. He also says all the sales numbers look good for consumer spending. I bring this up because I was just reading the Jan 11, New York Times article by Michael Barbaro, “Poor December at Retailers; Most Report Drops in Sales”.

Target Stores sales dropped 5% in December 2007 compared to what was sold in December 2006. Nordstrom dropped 4%, Kohl’s dropped 11.4%. Only WalMart raised sales over 2006 levels by 2.7%. The size of WalMart helped raise sales nationwide almost 1%.
Yet, the good retail news was electronics sales increased 2.2% in December.

I know from my experience that when money looked to be getting tight (bills are more than income for foreseeable future), I always made sure we updated the TV or computer electronics to make the increased time spent at home more pleasurable.

TVs and Computers and Video Games keep a poor population occupied. We are quite isolated in our society. Travel is one of the great activities of socializing in America.

One TV analyst this morning was saying the country is great.

When I am at Costco and I see all the $1,900 HDTVs driving out of the parking lot, I tend to agree that Americans are doing well. At the same time, people in clothing retail are watching their livelihoods suffer while the electronics store employees are in the high frequency sales. In 2008, technology improves too rapidly for anyone to desire used electronics, whereas, some of the best clothes values are well-made used clothes with minimal wear.

I read an article yesterday suggesting that as hotel rates increase 5%+ over 2008 while room occupancy declines, the rate increases will primarily target business and conference guests. In my opinion, the trend I see here in San Francisco is one of rapidly increasing hotel rates during high business activity days. Rates can easily be $300 to $400 per night at most of the 4-diamond hotels in San Francisco during a conference period. In October, I went to the dentist and the hygienist told me she had been at the Dental Conference in San Francisco the week before. That explained why all the rates were $300 minimum at all the major hotels when I was trying to book a room.

The good news for the leisure traveler is that for at least 12 nights from November 15 to December 30, 2007, hotel rates in San Francisco at the major 4-diamond and 5-diamond hotels were the lowest or close to the lowest rates in the past three years at several downtown city Starwood hotels. Le Meridien San Francisco and Westin Market had $129 rates. Westin St. Francis had $99 rates. St. Regis San Francisco was available for under $300 per night. Other hotel chains also had lower than average rates during the November-December season.
San Francisco is in the top 5 markets in the world for the number of occupied hotel rooms at major upscale and luxury hotels. I wonder if the room rate trend in 2008 will continue to be a rate hike focused on business travelers on expense budgets with periodic significant rate discounts available to leisure travelers during times of low business demand.

Room with a View

Westin St. Francis, San Francisco

$100/night 22nd Floor Corner Tower Room

November 28, 2007

I am all for discount rates. The American leisure traveler needs a break as price inflation squeezes the budget from every direction (except electronics which likely explains the growth in sales).

If the economy is doing fine and the DOW is going to be 16,000 points by end 2008 as the financial analyst on CNBC was saying this morning, then the companies should be sharing the wealth with the hotel corporations by paying the extraordinarily high room rates.

I just hope that trickle-down Reaganomics will carry through for the leisure hotel traveler. Hotel guests will suffer exorbitant rates if you must travel and be at a specific place on a certain day for business and you coincide with high business activity. The small business, independent traveler like me will suffer from these rates during unavoidable hotel stays. I just hope the large urban hotels will feel enough financial profitability from their business activity to cut a rate break for the leisure travelers. Starwood made a great show of this rate discount strategy in the holiday season for their San Francisco hotels. San Francisco is too beautiful a city for the hotels to price out leisure guests.

Many leisure travelers in 2008 will make choices if the economy is not looking so sky high bright.

Forego the clothes this season and get a new computer?
The computer has become essential for communication and conducting business and planning that life-saving vacation.

Forego the 4-diamond hotel in downtown city at $289 a night this trip?
A 3-diamond independent hotel for a bargain $109 a night, twelve blocks from downtown is acceptable to a large portion of travelers who will not place so high a value ($200 a night after hotel tax) on hotel loyalty to a major corporate chain asking $300 per night when the hotel is only 70% occupied.

The hotel budget is often the biggest variable cost in travel and the budget-downsizing leisure traveler is likely to realize the greatest travel savings comes from reducing the hotel budget. $300 per night is removing the vast majority of travelers from even considering staying at urban chain hotels.

And let’s just hope the sky is not falling. The leisure traveler in 2008 might just have a change in lifestyle and stay at home with the MTV, computer, and video games.

[side note: I originally wrote this article 6 days ago on Jan 11, 2008, and since that time Starwood stock has dropped over 10% and there is widespread concern that hotel stocks are going to continue to be hit hard as hotel travel declines in the recession of 2008.]