BigLar

This was posted in another thread, but because it was 88 posts in, it could have been overlooked.

At least London and Paris (and I didn't check further) are doing a spring sale - at our favorite redemption level, 8000 points/night! Rates in effect April 16 - June 30. That time of year is ideal for visiting Europe - lovely weather, crowds still down, prices reasonable, etc.

If you have plans to visit Europe around this time and you have some Choice points you didn't think you were going to be able use, check it out!

Kudos to KathinJax for spotting this and posting! I was looking just a couple of days ago and they were still at the "normal" high season rates.

Edit - I prrofread all my posts - how the heck I overlooked "Lonon" is beyond me.

BigLar

Most of Rome and the Riviera are along for the ride (gawd, do I miss the Carlton Beaulieu!)

KathinJax

Thanks BigLar!

I also wanted to point out a couple of other hotels in Italy. I have not stayed at these hotels, but they look to be a good value:

Comfort Hotel Diana - Venice, Italy - http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-venice-italy-IT034 - It is a couple of blocks from St. Mark's Square and is normally 10,000 points/night. It drops to 8,000 points for this sale.

Comfort Hotel Gardenia - Sorrento, Italy - http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-sorrento-italy-IT057 -It is located on the Main Street in Sorrento. The location is perfect for exploring the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, and Capri (and also having shoes made for you). It is normally 10,000, but is on sale for 8,000 points.

kdoughboy

Wow! Most Paris hotels were at 20-25k before, so this is huge. I might actually be able to unload my Choice points and recoup the points I was going to use for the HIX Notre Dame.

Anyone have any recommendations for Paris hotels? I'll be there for 7 night in June, although unfortunately it looks like many of the hotels are not available for my dates... Still, any recommendations are welcome!

sdsearch

I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights in fall 2011, when it was also 8k points per night. It was a very convenient location. The breakfast was kinda minimal (including weird "orange juice" that seemed more like a cross between that and lemonade!), but otherwise the hotel was fine, especially for the point value (as opposed to the $200++/night money rate it was going for!).

BigLar

We stayed at the Clarion Collection Opera Pavillon about a year ago, also at 8K/night. Read my review here.

kdoughboy

Unfortunately that hotel is not available for my dates, which is a shame because it appears to be the nicest one. As of now, the only available ones in central Paris are:

Comfort Hotel Royal Aboukir Paris 2
Comfort Hotel Gare de L'Est Paris 10
Quality Hotel Opera Saint Lazare Paris 8
Comfort Hotel Montmartre Place du Tertre
Comfort Hotel Saint Pierre
Comfort Hotel Nation-Paris 11

clublounger

TOtal DUMP !

BigLar

I've heard that, too.

From the above list, the Quality Hotel Opera Saint Lazare seems like it would be the best bet. It's in the 8th arr, it's probably convenient to a lot of the tourist attractions.

OTOH, the Comfort Hotel Saint Pierre has long been on my short list for interesting hotels to try. It gets decent reviews and you can apparently look out your window to see the Sacre Coeur, so the location (Montmarte) is pretty lively.

bigbuy

Lisbon Portugal - Clarion Suites 8000 points. Stayed there last year on this deal and it is a nice property in a very good location. Perfect timing this year as well as I will be getting on a cruise ship in Lisbon in April

BigLar

Don't know what they're making available for rooms these days, but a couple of years ago you could get a 3-bedroom suite there for 6000 points/night.

Talk about sweet deals ...

iahphx

Not sure I like this topic being so visible, but I guess we're lucky that most of the bloggers are too hoity-toity to stay at Choice hotels.

FWIW, there are 250 euro/night hotels you can stay at for less than $25 on this deal (assuming you got your points in the Discover America promo).

BTW, does anyone know the economics behind this? I mean, how/why would an innkeeper take what seems to be 10 cents on the dollar for their hotel rooms (in peak season, no less)?

GUWonder

The hotels are not reimbursed based on point price but rather on ADR at high occupancy levels. The hotels are paid well for award stays during peak periods at rates indicated in their franchise agreements.

The program operators economics are based on the value arising from marketing expense and marketing returns. The Discover America program is a very, very small fraction of the program's exposure.

iahphx

Ah, OK. This explains some tripadvisor reviews from sheepish Choice Privileges members who paid almost nothing in points for their European reservations but report being "warmly welcomed."

BigLar

In one of the Choice promo ads, they specifically note that the 'free night' is available at over 250 European hotels.

Not only do the bloggers tend to be a little 'hoity-toity' (my apologies to Inspector Grimm from The Thin Blue Line), but I think it's fair to say that most of the Choice customer demographic are not frequest European travellers. Thus, their exposure is marginal while the marketing benefit may be substantial.
According to items posted elsewhere in the forum, the point rate is actually set by the Choice regional manager, not the hotels themselves. Their reimbursement rate remain fixed.

For people like us, this all leads to a 'perfect storm' for earning and burning, unless you are also among the hoity (and possibly toity) segment of FT who get physically disturbed if the macadamia nuts aren't warmed properly, or the hotel staff aren't dressed in proper livery.
Including us at our lovely stay in Paris.