fozziedoggie

That's just crazy talk.

sdsearch

More realistic perhaps is Swissotel and its brethren, who are all supposedly for sale.

submonte

Acquiring FRHI would add more than 140 Fairmont, Swissotel and Raffles branded luxury and upscale hotels (incl. those in construction and under developement) all over the world to the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. They could be reflagged as Waldorf-Astoria, Conrad, Curio, Hilton vs. Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Westin, Sheraton (which might disappear eventually I have read here in SPG threads), some in Europe also, where Hilton´s presence is poor in the luxury and upscale segment (except partly UK):

- Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg/Germany - A Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
- Fairmont Monte Carlo - to be reflagged as Waldorf-Astoria or Conrad
- Fairmont Montreux/Switzerland - Waldorf-Astoria Montreux
- The Sayoy, London - A Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
- Fairmont Barcelona - Conrad Barcelona
- Fairmont St. Andrews - Curio or a 2nd W-A in Scotland
- Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris - A Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
- not to forget Raffles Istanbul - Waldorf Astoria Istanbul
- and two in former USSR

Swissotels in Europe could be rebranded as Conrad or Hilton or Doubletree, or eventually Curio brands. 38 Fairmont hotels and resorts in North America! - could be reflagged as W-A or Conrad, many hotels in Middle-East and Africa, some in Asia also.

At least for Europe IMHO this would be an answer to the Marriott+Starwood dominance in these segments, although still not enough (Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and don´t forget SPG´s new contract with Design Hotels as a boutique brand), and strengthen the presence in North America. In the midscale segment I believe Hilton is strong enough and capable enough for an organic growth, which might be anyway the better way to gain profit (said Mr. Nassetta), and it was announced earlier to do, and already partly scheduled (20 Hamptons in the coming years in Germany, some Austria). And that announced brand below Hampton would bring Hilton in a pole position as I do not see Marriott has got it so consequently, Starwood for sure has nothing like this.

Or an acquisition of IHG could be an option. That would strengthen IMHO all segments from lower midscale to luxury. And would exactly fit into my stay strategy (with HH as the better loyality program than IHG Club Rewards) - Hilton and IHG together offer me most time sufficient coverage for business and holiday stays in Europe. I only miss some luxury opportunities with Hilton at my typical destinations (Central Paris - at least Versailles is near and superb -, Cote d´Ázur, and stay there at IHG properties, whereas Hilton Venice is perfect e.g., in Rome a stay combination of Cavalieri - peripheric - and IC de la Ville - central -).

A merger with Accor was a wish of their CEO Mr. Bazin I read some time ago, but I am not sure if the French and American strategies fit together. It would solve any coverage deficits in Europe, especially France, and bring economy scale hotels to the portfolio. But I don´t like many of the IBIS hotels, their quality and their brand reputation in general.

Hyatt has a poor coverage in Europe. The German Hyatt hotels are excellent. Park Hyatt Paris Vendome is outstanding and a class of its own.

My proposal for a strategic answer to the Marriott+Starwood merger would be:

1) Hilton to acquire FRHI and continue organic growth in the midscale and organic or anorganic in he economy scale segment

OR

2) Hilton to acquire IHG

Hilton should not underestimate the Marriott+Starwood merger effect at least to Continental European travellers. The massive joint presence and excellent coverage with many hotels and resorts (with no doubt of reasonable to high quality), for business and holidays, from midscale to luxury, could attract new customers. Without availability of IHG as second option in addition to my favorite choice Hilton I would (have to) chose Marriott/Starwood.

Hilton Honors Ambassador

We're winding down for the Thanksgiving holiday and, as a heads up, I will be out of the office until Monday, but I wanted to let you know about our status match program...

We've been receiving a number of requests and yes, we do match status from other programs and we'd love to be your travel home.

1. We are matching status for 2016. To make sure you're all set for the year, please submit your request by January 11, 2016. You'll enjoy that status through March 2017.
2. All you need is something that shows your elite tier in another program and an HHonors number.
3. Email us at [email protected] and we'll help get you started.

Please note it may take a couple of days to process given the Thanksgiving holiday. We promise to process requests as quickly as possible and any request submitted prior to January 11, 2016, will be processed in time to enjoy your new status for the entire year.

Safe travels,
Ashleigh

Juanefny

Can you tell us what tiers you're matching to what?

deant

At least HHonors is not promising Diamond to everyone that has status. But they will still be inundated with requests.

zap7

I was so busy trying to keep my Marriott and SPG platinum that I never stayed at Hilton hotels for the last three years - also I liked them and there are plenty of them in the locations I often visit.

But with lounge access at Starwood & Marriott and a lot of very nice upgrades, I just stopped staying at other hotels when there was a SPG or Marriott property anywhere near (writing this from a Sheraton Suite again while Westin is my favorite). I like SPG much more than MRW and just started to move more and more stays over from Marriott, working on SPG lifetime platinum as soon as possible, when the bad news hit last week...

I hold Hilton gold via the credit card which gives free breakfast, but to move my stays to Hilton, it would need executive floor lounge access and real upgrades as a Diamond. If they match me, I will give them a try and might move all Marriott or SPG stays to them (platinum with both SPG & Marriott, again 110 nights this year and still a few to come, all nights at Sheraton/Westin/St. Regis/Le Meridien/Marriott, almost all of the nights >200 USD, sometimes significantly higher rates...).

I'm just curious what next year will have in store for the SPG/MRW program, but I assume I'll only have to stick with one of them and move the other 50-70 nights over to Hilton or Hyatt with Hilton having Hotels in much more locations near my clients.

fuyao

^ for the status match @Hilton!
Stayed at many IC properties already, including many expensive suites but was shocked for the low quality you receive for the buck. But usually once you have a very high tier with a chain, you don't really switch til a status match comes around, so def. switching to Hilton now and leaving IC

lcpteck

Requested for a status match, let's see how it goes.

PointsNmiles

Will consider moving a lot more business from Hyatt (Diamond) to Hilton if it's an equal match. Looking through the HHonors program, Hyatt Diamond clearly offers more. However, I'm willing to give them a try if the match is straight across. Their footprint is larger and the times I have stayed as a gold, I was treated well.

bitachu

my automated response to the email

We’re on it! But we may need some more information from you…

We’re excited to honor your status and offer our elite benefits to even more members like you. If you have not already done so, please reply to this email with the following information:
Your Hilton HHonors account number. If you’re not yet a member, you’ll need to sign up first.
Proof of status with another hotel loyalty program. This can be a screenshot of your current account status or your membership card. We accept jpg files, word documents & PDFs.
Please do NOT send us any personal information (including your phone number, address, social security number, date of birth, user name, passwords, or credit card information).

Once your Hilton HHonors elite status has been honored, you’ll have it through March 31, 2017. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., please allow up to 5 business days for your information to be processed.

We’ll be in touch soon!

The Hilton HHonors Team

cruisr

How long did it take to get the auto reply. I sent an email about 20 minutes ago and haven't read an auto reply.

bitachu

took about an 1hr

lcpteck

Yeah their Mid level Gold status already offers Breakfast and Internet which does covers all the basics.

Hyatt properties in Asia sure is sparse...

hailstorm

More Hyatt properties than Hilton in Tokyo!