Originally Posted by vsevolod4

We can only hope.

Overall I think a positive. I hate the ICs which don't have Club Lounges (you know who you are, Willard, LA Century City, Chicago, NY Times Square, Toronto Yorkville, Amstel, Porto, Estoril, Paris-Marceau, Geneva, Tokyo Strings, Beirut Vendome, etc.). They had the "Club Experience" at a handful as a test, but those went away (they have been giving me free breakfast though at Porto and Estoril since then). The $100 credit + 2 breakfasts makes up for it ... you can have a decent bar bill and a light meal.

I generally travel solo so adding a real breakfast instead of the reduced breakfast many Clubs offer is also a plus.

Going from unlimited liquids to $50/night and $200/stay minibar credit will usually be a plus; nice to be able to get some snacks and not just liquids. On the other hand, there have been a few times where I certainly exceeded the $50/night with a bottle of champagne, etc. And for a one-week stay, the $200 limit can easily be hit.

The guarantees are a good step forward.

And waiving the ridiculous "resort fees" which give you benefits that you either don't need (free local phone calls, really? Like you can't call free from your cellphone?) or already get (free Wi-Fi) removes a big sore point.

All in all, not entirely disappointed, and if this extends to Kimptons and Regents, it will be a definite plus. Even more so would be if the RA requalification includes stays at Kimptons and Regents; I'll definitely step up my stays in those hotels, especially in cities without ICs.