Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club
 

I was hoping people would post there experiences of this leaders club. It is a funny one as there are no points to collect. So far we have been offered a complementary upgrade at the Royal in Luxembourg and a bottle of champagne at the Capri Palace... (was hoping for an upgrade but the hotel was full) Has anyone else had any benefits from this club and if so where and what were they?

I think the Leaders Club is going nowhere since their "relaunch".
Benefits now only apply if the hotel was booked through the leaders club hotline.

The "old" LC was much better, as the benefits were not linked to the channel used to make the reservation.
I received some nice room upgrades at the Peninsula in Hong Kong.
Now I book through Amex Centurion desk and get the same (if not better) benefits using either the Centurion rates or the FHR (Fine Hotels & Resorts) rates, which are available at most Leading hotels anyway.

I am going to move this thread to the Luxury Hotel forum. There has been discussion of the Leading Hotels of the World program there, and the OP is likely to get more help.

Here's a current thread on the Leaders Club program. And here is another.

SanDiego1K
Senior Moderator

I think that this was always the case, "officially" anyway - in other words, hotels were free to grant LHW perks even if the booking did not come through the LHW system (especially since many hotels of this caliber have their own repeat-guest tracking systems).

(Correction to the above asked, but since I made my first booking through LHW (mid-1990s) I always remember seeing the "must be booked through LHW" verbiage).

So many great hotels have been dropping out of the LHW list, that I am not even going to bother to continue my relationship with them.

Just had my first experience with Leader's Club and liked the result. I stayed at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich. This was booked via work - did not even know they were a LHW hotel until the desk clerk handed my my key and I saw the logo on the room info sleeve. Pulled out the card and asked what it does -- he explained what the hotel does for members and then took back my key -- then gave me a larger room. They also sent up some fruit and juices later in the day.

Could be this place is just first class - I was impressed with the overall service and attitude there - but the experience will definitely lead to me trying another property at some point (vs. my normal avoidance of our non-brand hotels in favor of Starwood/Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott where I have status).

Camino Real - Mexico City (LHW) Outrageous Overcharging at the Hotel's Business Cente
 

I was in MEX 1/25 to //27 for 2 days of business meetings and needed a 24 page report with photos color copied.

I was charged 2,300 Pesos which is appr. USD 230.

That amounts to USD $9.75 per page.

I also asked the business center if they could send the print job out and I would gladly pay a service charge. Not speaking Spanish, I feel that this hotel took advantage of the situation.

I asked to speak to the Camino Real Business Center Manager, Alma E. Mercado and she refused to reasonable price the copying. I then escalated my complaint to Mr. Jorge Lopez Perez - Front Desk Manager, he basicly said I got the 24 copies, so he wasn't willing to do anything.

can't say I'd ever recommend this property, I'll make sure anyone I know who is going to Mexico City knows to avoid it.

Any recent thoughts or experiences, especially with Access level?

I have been generally disappointed with the recognition at the hotels. Generally seem to be "upgraded" to the room I reserved.

Called the Leaders Concierge for some help (with admittedly a somewhat difficult request for access to an event), but never got access and not much follow-through.

Customer Service is helpful though.

Generally get much better benefits from Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or with Starwood Platinum.

I think there is much room for improvement here.

yeah, I know the trick of telling the guest "you have been upgraded already" and then it's exactly the category I originally reserved. Mostly I don't even bother aruing with them.

I got fooled into buying the access membership, and complained a few times after the benefits where not applied at several properties (like at Campton Place in San Francisco, where I stayed 4 times, always got a letter and a plate with some fruit, no upgrade, no nothing, although the hotel was clearly not full. Same at the Bel Air Hotel, fruit plate and tea, no upgrade). My complaints at least go my access membership extended for free until Nov 2007 (from originally May 2006) - but I don't have much hope for the prgram any more, it looks like the whole LHW organization is loosing its appeal, with some really nice properties leaving...

I'm just "basic" Leader Club (prior experience had made me skeptical of their ability to deliver, so I didn't want to invest until I had a basis for thinking it was sound), and have had fairly poor recognition. I had a lengthy correspondence with LC after about 3 failures to get anything, which culminated earlier this year in their complaining to one of the hotels, which claimed I'd indeed been upgraded because the park view room with balcony I'd reserved was actually 2 meters smaller than the room with park view out of a very small window if you stood on the chair to look out of and without any balcony I'd been given, and the amenity they shipped to me after my stay (never explained why they couldn't get it to me in 4 days there) was held up in customs (I did receive an amenity some four months after my stay). My most recent LHW stay, which included a special request from them because of snarls with the reservation and my honored status as an LC member, did not produce an upgrade even though the hotel was half empty.
I just don't think you can count on anything from this program.

Leaders Club seems to have one of the worst programs I have seen. Their website is absolutely terrible when trying to find properties, of which there are relatively few. That being said, when I used my LC membership to reserve a few nights at the Williamsburg Inn in VA, I was upgraded to a very nice suite.

The one gripe I had was that I had requested a bottle of champagne be sent to my room prior to checkin (anniversary), and I was going through their wine list over the phone with their conceierge, and she quoted me $200 for a bottle of Cristal (which I thought was cheap, but she wouldn't lie to me, right?). When I received my bill I saw that they had charged me $500 for the bottle, PLUS some outrageous state tax PLUS service charge for delivering it to my room (10 or 15% I think).

But that is hardly LC's fault, more a problem with poor communication with the Inn.

And they have new average hotels
 

I am not a member of the Leaders Club but stayed recently at one of the LHW property (Divani Caravel Hotel in Athens) on business.

I found this hotel to be at best average, customer service was inexistant. The air conditioning was not working properly in my room. I called them twice to fix it but I believe no one ever came to check the problem. In addition, it took me 20 mns on the phone to beg for a late check-out that I half received (1 PM instead of the 2 PM asked).

The room I staying in was clean but not very nice, not something you would expect from a property member of the LHW...

I stayed at the Hotel Sacher in Salzburg in February and was upgraded to a nice room with champagne, fruit basket and a souvenir Sacher torte. I did book through LHW website but I also sent the hotel a note letting them know that we were celebrating an anniversary. Not sure whether to attribute the nice amenities to Leader's club or my excellent note writing skills!

(edit for grammar)

I am seriously thinking of letting my Leader's Club membership lapse. I really can't see much benefit to the programme anymore and I can get, usually, better hotels and more consistent benefits through Virtuoso.

I stayed one night at the Schilla Hotel in Seoul, Korea last week. No recognition whatsoever. There was a nice box of chocolates in the room but that was included in the booked rate. I booked a "Grand Deluxe Room" and was not upgraded. I was however given breakfast coupons which i don't remember being included in the rate so perhaps that was a benefit?

Hotel service was unacceptable such as after arrival with suitcases there were three bellman at the entrance and none of them offered to help me with my bags. Only after I approached one of them and asked what to do with my bags did they offer to take them up. If I had been accompanied by a man I would probably have received better service.

I am now in BKK and planning to give LC another chance by trying the Oriental and perhaps Banyan Tree and/or Sukkothai. Thais are famous for hospitality so if there are no benefits at either of these hotels I am giving up...