<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rmccamy:
One point about availability that many people overlook: Number and diversity of properties.
You guys are focusing on availability at prime locations at prime-time. In that case, Starwood clearly wins hands-down. If I walk into a big four-star hotel in Hawaii tomorrow and want an award stay on the spot, then it had better be a Starwood.
Where I believe HHonors has the advantage is at the mid-quality level. There are far more HHonors properties to choose from at all quality levels in all types of locations across the USA. I travel a lot to medium and smaller sized cities where Starwood isn't an option. Whether doing a paid or award stay, I like knowing that I can ALWAYS find an HHonors hotel wherever I'm going. I also like the fact that most Doubletrees and Hamptons are at least halfway clean (yes, there are exceptions), which is more than I can say for 4Points or Marriott's Scarefield Inns.</font>
You are soooooo right! Just recentlty I was looking for a property to use an award. Starwood has NO properties within shouting distance of Yellowstone Park in the Montana/Idaho area. Hilton has Hamptons in Idaho Falls, Bozeman, and Butte. Best yet, the one in Idaho Falls is an "opportunity" property, so it's only 17,500 points for 2 weekend nights!
Hilton delivers a free rooom where Starwood could not! BTW, the HHonors service center told me there were no available rooms there, but a quick call to the manager there, and I was given the room on an HHonors award! So you see, that strategy DOES work!
Mac
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¡Viaja con Dios!