Westport St Louis Hotels - Which to choose?
 

Hi,

Long time lurker, finally made an account. Thanks for all the info to date!
I am going to be staying around Westport Plaza on the edge of St Louis for the next year or so. There are a few hotels -- and I am not sure what the best way to go is. I am looking to maximize the value of points I earn while staying.

For the past few years I have been loyal to SPG and am Platinum/Ambassador status, however the two SPG properties there do not participate in promotions so I am open to switching it up for a while. I do not have status anywhere else but am pretty certain I can match/challenge up to the highest level anywhere else. I would also be open to getting a Marriott or Hilton credit card (have the SPG one) if it made sense to make the switch for this location.

SPG (I researched these, the do not participate in most double/triple points type promotions):
Sheraton Westport Chalet:
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefe...propertyID=795
Sheraton Westport Plaza:
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefe...propertyID=804

Hilton (I do not know much about the Hilton program, but never a bad thing to build up points with non-spg to open up travel options):
Doubletree Hilton Westport:
http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hot...PDT/index.html

Marriott (Same comment as Hilton):
Courtyard by Marriott Westport Plaza
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...estport-plaza/

Please let me know what you think the right choice is! Again, goal is to maximize the value I get back in points (taking promotions, credit card bonuses, airline double-mile offers, etc. into account).

Thanks!

Welcome to FlyerTalk tj4212!

I have stayed at both Sheraton properties and at the Marriott Courtyard. As far as accommodations go, I personally prefer the Sheraton Westport Plaza. I understand you are looking a maximizing earnings but I just wanted to share an opinion on the hotels themselves.

If the Marriott program ends up working out for you, you might want to look at the Marriott Courtyard in Creve Coeur. It is right off Olive Blvd and there are lots of decent restaurants and shops very close by. And it is only about 10 minutes south of Westport, if that is where you need to be for business.

If you decide to go w/ Marriott, a few things.

Marriott offers a MegaBonus promo 3x/year, with bonuses up 25-50K (depends on the offer you get) each period. They also periodically have other bonus promos that are targeted.

If you are totally new to Marriott, they also have a new member promo where you can get a couple of free Cat 1-4 or Cat 1-5 certs after a few stays so make sure you sign up for that.

If you are totally new to Marriott, make sure you get a Marriott Rewards member to refer you, as you'll get 2,000 bonus points w/ each stay for your first 5 stays (so 10K bonus points to you) & the person referring you also gets 2K bonus points for each of your stays up to 5 stays. (shameless plug here - I can do a referral, but basically any current Marriott Rewards member can do a referral).

With the Marriott credit card you'll get 5pts/$1 spend at Marriott brands & I think 1-2pts/$$ spend on non-Marriott things. I believe there is a current 70,000 sign-up bonus offer w/ the Marriott card. The Marriott credit card also gives you a Cat 1-5 free night cert each year you're a member.

Marriott's status levels are based on nights, not stays. You'll get Silver w/ the credit card (which isn't worth squat). Gold requires 50 nights/year & Platinum 75 nights/year. The Marriott credit card comes w/ 15 nights as a bonus, so you actually need 35 nights for Gold & 60 for Platinum. You also get an elite night credit towards status for every $3K in spend, which can reduce the amount of nights you actually need to stay for status.

The good news about Marriott is there are a lot of brands worldwide, so good for earning & redeeming.

The bad is Courtyard is the one that elites dislike the most because you don't get free brekkie, so a possible upgrade & free internet is about it in terms of elite bennies.

I haven't been to St. Louis in years so a bit fuzzy on the area you're going to be in, but besides the two CYs there's a full service property that might not be too far (St. Louis Marriott West). Once you get to Gold status, if you do stay there, you have access to the exec lounge, for free brekkie in the morning & appetizers etc in the evening.

PS - Welcome to Flyertalk!!


Cheers.

Both Courtyards have free internet. The two nearest full service Marriott's are Marriott West and the Marriott at STL. Both are about 20+ minutes drive from the Westport area.

Unfortunately (from the OP's perspective) the best full service hotels in the Westport area are the SPG properties.

Thanks all for your input!
Through my company, matches, and challenges I am pretty sure I can immediately get top-tier status at Marriott and Hilton. I do already have accounts at both so cannot get the "new account" bonuses. Given all this, I came up with the below table -- do you see any faults/oversights? Given that I am already SPG and switching would maybe earn me ~$200 more in points value (and then I would have more credit cards), I think it is not worth the hassle to switch to another program given that the SPG hotels are the most full-service anyway.

For all options, Nov '15 through Mar '16.
#Stays: 18
#Nights: 54 (18x3)
Avg price: $150/night
Total price: $8,100

SPG:
Arrival Points: 9,000 (500 per stay)
Points on spend: 32,400 (3 base + 1 for 4th point earned benefit)
CC Points on spend: 16,200 (8100*2 per dollar)
Promos: Irrelevant for non-participating hotels
Total: 57,600 points ($1440 at a valuation of 2.5cents per point)

Marriott:
Arrival Points: 4,500 (250 per stay)
Points on spend: 121,500 (10 base + 5 platinum)
CC Sign-up bonus: 50,000 (highest I can find)
CC Points on spend: 40,500 (8100*5 per dollar)
Q4 '15 Promo: 20,000 (my megabonus = 2x pts up to 20k)
Q1 '16 promo: unknown
Total: 236,500 points ($1655.50 at .7cents per point)

Hilton:
Arrival Points: 18,000 (1000 per stay)
Points on spend: 121,500 (10 base + 5 diamond)
CC Sign-up bonus: 60,000 (Hhonors Surpass card)
CC Points on spend: 97,200 (Surpass card gets 12 pts/dollar)
Q4 '15 Promo: 27,000 (double base points for 6 stays)
Q1 '16 Promo: unknown
Total: 323,700 points ($1618.50 at .5cents per point)

I don't travel there for business. My son lives in Creve Coeur and we settled on staying at the Sheraton Westport Plaza as we can get club rooms (via senior rates) around $100 per night on the weekend if you book well in advance and can be flexible on the exact dates.

We've stayed there 3 times and have been really well treated. The breakfast in the lounge is good (although it gets crowded in prime time). I think you will like it.

Math makes my head hurt. Anyway, I think your #s might be slightly off for Marriott. (or maybe not). Are you set on the CY vs. the FS? If you go FS your arrival points are more & you have access to the exec lounge. Also, if your stays increase in Q4 odds are your promo will be higher for Q1. With that many points w/ Marriott you'd probably be able to redeem for the "travel package", which is probably the best value going in terms of redemption of the various chains. 7-night stay somewhere AND airline miles. I've never done the points per cent thing, but I thought the better redemption for points is if it was less than 1cent, or was that earning.

Having said that, if you're happy w/ SPG even though the properties don't participate in the promos (I find that weird, but I guess SPG & Hiltons do that), then stick w/ SPG. It sounds like the properties are nice/will meet your needs.

Cheers.

Has anyone ever stayed at the sonesta? It's looks like a little apartment with kitchen living room and bedroom.

Got a good rate and online reviews look good.