Starwood "Luxury Privileges" program
 

There seems to be a trend in the luxury hotel industry as more hotel families are implementing their own in-house Preferred Partner programs. Ritz-Carlton started the trend with its STARS program, followed by Four Seasons Preferred Partner ... and subsequently by Rocco Forte (Sir Rocco's Knights), Mandarin Oriental (FAN Club), Park Hyatt (Park Hyatt Privé), Dorchester Collection (Diamond Club), and most recently Peninsula Hotels (PenClub).

Now Starwood has implemented a similar program that encompasses every St. Regis, Luxury Collection, and W Hotel. There are currently 20 agencies that are part of this program, including Brownell — and I assume that the big Virtuoso agencies such as ProTravel and Valerie Wilson are part of it too.

I looked through the amenity list for 82 Luxury Collection, 1 Le Méridien (Hotel Eden, Rome), 30 St. Regis, 44 W Hotels, and 5 Westin (Florence, Rome, Venice, Madrid, and Paris). All St. Regis hotels are already part of Virtuoso, as is the one Meridien (Hotel Eden) and 4 of the 5 Westins.

Amenities are what one would expect:

• Upgrade on arrival if available
• Early check-in if available
• Daily breakfast for two guests
• Late check-out if available
• extra amenity that differs by property

Rates should be equal to the "best available flexible rate" ... only

This is good news for Starwood fans. There are a few good additions of properties not covered by Virtuoso...

Here is the link to a spreadsheet listing the Luxury Privilege amenities for each participating Starwood hotel.

As usual with the other programmes - are normal Starwood elite privileges given including points etc given?

Interesting. Many thanks, David. This will certainly come in handy on occasion. What are the amenities at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, by the way?

Exactly the same as the Virtuoso amenities

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• American Breakfast for up to two in-room guests daily served in Atlantico restaurant
• $100 USD Spa Services credit, to be utilized during stay

To avoid using this thread as a question-and-answer, here is a link to a spreadsheet with the amenities for all participating Starwood properties.

I'll also add the link to the first post in this thread.

So to Starwood, a W hotel is luxury then?

There are some properties with $100 F&B credits where BAR is between $100 and $200 at the right times/seasons. Could be some really smoking 1 night deals.

Starwood and luxury is an oxymoron for a number of their properties.

why not?

I think, it depends on property

I read somewhere that recently the marketing/branding ownership of W switched from the Westin people to the Luxury Collection people. I believe they are trying to make it more of a luxury brand by doing this.

My opinion as someone who stays 120+ nights a year with SPG, I HATE Ws and would most likely choose a Westin when both are in a city. While Westins are no means luxury, they get the job done in a comfortable manner for a moderate price.

Are these one category upgrades, based on availability, like FHR or is one entitled to a more significant upgrade if available, including suites?

How are upgrades prioritized by this program versus SPG's own Plat elites?

One thing to keep in mind is that you CANNOT combine promos. So if you want to book using this program, you cannot book a rate that has another promotion applied, even if its shown without adding ANY codes or by entering via any special links. It makes this program much less useful. An example is if you try to book a room in Asia until mid-fall. Right now SPG is running 50% off as a standard sale, but you cannot use the LP program to book it, so you end up booking at a much higher price to get benefits, basically negating the benefits. It runs against what other 5* chains do, like Four Seasons, which WILL allow you to combine FSPP rates with promos the properties are having.

It´s sometimes the same with virtuoso or RC Stars and AAA-rates - part of the game. You always must compare the offers.

how do you book through this program

With a professional TA who is part of this