Earning with Design hotels
 

Hello,

I recently booked a stay at a Design participating hotel through the Design Hotels website (directly) - and now marriott tells me that I cannot earn points .... i don't understand it - or am i missing something here ? thanks for clarifing

under SPG, you needed to book on SPG website instead of design hotel websites to get points. Booking under design hotel typically got you some benefits not available under SPG. I’m thinking the same with Marriott. Need to book on Marriott.com or app.

You also need to book through Starriott in order to be eligible for Bonvoy perks.

IME typically you can find lower rates, or the same rate with breakfast included, on the Design Hotels website. Some of these properties (probably just a few of them) also participate in FHR, Virtuoso, etc. so it can be worthwhile to check.

This question was asked a couple of months ago without a conclusion here. I referenced a recent article on Loyalty Lobby that suggested the Design hotels website does now count as an official channel, but not officially confirmed anywhere.

Perhaps ask the lurkers to confirm?

This is what I see in the T&C
As designhotels.com is listed I would think it's an official channel.

The thing you have to remember is not all hotels the contract with Design Hotels opt in to be affiliated with Marriott, around half of the Design Hotels do not. So even if a hotel property is booked through designhotels.com it has be also a Marriott Bonvoy reward affiliate.

Design Hotels Inc is really an independent hotel consulting service that offers a menu of service, affiliation with SPG and now Bonvoy is but one of options. They also produce a Hotel Design book yearly. Starwood bought a large percent of the company a few years ago but its still listed under own on the Munich stock exchange.

I mean based on my 1 stay at a design hotel, I would believe it if you booked it that way that you can't get marriott points. I don't even know why Design hotels are apart of the Marriott portfolio, Marriott should just dump them. The one I stayed at didn't acknowledge elite status, so I would totally believe that a different one could not give you points either.

Appears so but individual design hotels also have their own websites and reservation system. Take for example, Klaus K hotel in Helsinki has their own non-designhotel or non-marriott hotel website that have better rates and amenities than Marriott channel websites.

So finally after insisting and complaining again (since I meeet all the criterias ) - I simply got today an answer "we will credit your points" - and it was already credited in full.

Seems they took time to actually read my request this time.

Anyway, very poor customer service for a lifetime member - glad I moved my business to Hyatt.

And yes agree - design hotels is a chain that does not make sense at all. Luxurious to crappy , all in there.

The thing is it is not a chain of hotels or a brand, it's a group of independent hotels that contract services from an independent hotel consulting company. Some happen to elect to be affiliated with Bonvoy. This is very much like Hyatt's Partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, which as far as I know does not link all the SLH properties with Hyatt either and to get Hyatt benefits at SLH properties they much be booked through Hyatt.com.

It's very much like picking an independent hotel, and all that entails, just with the option of earn Marriott nights and points.
There are some very interesting hotels, and at least one French Chateau that are bookable on points through Design Hotel's. This opens up a very different set of experience than those that are normally part of Marriott's portfolio of properties. But if you're looking for what you normally receive booking a Marriott hotel these, like most independent hotels, are not likely what you're looking for.

In a sense Design Hotels are much more like the Marriott Homes & Villas than one of its other Brands.
I have the feeling that a fairly small percentage of Design Hotel's guest come through Marriott bookings.

Hyatt claims 15 brands — https://www.hyatt.com/development/ourbrands — but Small Luxury Hotels of the World is not one of them.

Marriott claims Design Hotels as one of its 30 brands, but the majority of Design Hotels properties do not participate in Marriott Bonvoy.

The website of Design Hotels — https://www.designhotels.com/hotels — claims "321 Hotels & Resorts."

The Design Hotels section of the Marriot.com website site — https://design-hotels.marriott.com — claims "Over 120 Hotels & Resorts.

In other words, around 200 Design Hotels properties do not participate in Marriott Bonvoy.

Even at properties that participate, Marriott Bonvoy benefits are limited: https://design-hotels.marriott.com/member-benefits/

This isn't new. Before Rewards and SPG combined in 2018, and even before Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016, the Design Hotels brand was an odd part of SPG.

Hyatt does not have an ownership position in SLH it refers to it as an alliance with SLH, thus it isn’t a Hyatt brands.

Marriott owns a controlling interest in Design Hotels AG, Starwood purchased one of the founders interest. At this point Marriott like Starwood before it does not actively participate in the management of the Design Hotels consulting firm but Marriott’s ownership position in the company means it is one of Marriott’s brands. The hotels that contract with Design Hotels AG are not franchised they are one off independent hotel like SLH.

The exact contractual relationship between a hotel and a hotel branding company should not matter to guests.

Design Hotels is listed as a Marriott brand, just like Marriott's other collection brands — Luxury Collection, Autograph Collection, and Tribute Portfolio. From a guest perspective, all four are collections of "one-off independent hotel" properties, with each having its own niche.

Marriott inherited an awkward situation when it bought Starwood and got Starwood's relationship with Design Hotels as part go the deal

But Marriott does not do a good job explaining to guests that the majority of Design Hotels properties are not "participating."

It’s only an awkward situation when seen through the Autograph prism and even then not so much. Marriott began the Autograph collection with hotels it had as franchises but that no longer could fit in the brand standards. Only later did independent hotels enter the mix as being added as autograph hotels.

Starwood after it acquired Sheraton developed the LC, which at first was where the St Regis, when it was just the NYC hotel and was the founding hotel it expanded when the San Francisco hotel was added it also include the Italian hotels that came through a different merger with Sheraton. those were later rebranded as Westin’s and StR was developed as it’s own brand. So LC was was originally grown from Hotels within either Sheraton ITT and Starwood.

starwood bought Design Hotels for very much the same reason Hyatt went into an alliance with SLH to expand its footprint easily and give independent hotel experiences as options.

i disagree about it being confusing, the Design Hotels list on the Marriott website are quite clearly participating. The alternative is just simple to have no design hotels as options because as you point out the majority of those hotel owners do not want to be directly involved with Marriott

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a better example was Tribute Hotel but Starwood created Tribute as a brand unlike LC or Marriott,s autograph which originally had hotels that were in the brands. tribute had hotels that had for the most part were part of other hotel chains, a number of them had left Radisson or other companies but weren’t properties built as chain hotels.

I have become quite a fan of design hotels. While I don't expect much in terms of benefits (so usually book whatever room I want) the points are a bonus and can be a very good way to use points. Enjoyed Hotel de Tourrel, Les Roches Rouges (5 nights on points in summer was a great deal and free breakfast anyway for all guests), Five Seas Cannes, Old Clare in Sydney (love this place).
A nice niche option.