What is the best hotel program for luxury stay?
#2
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 97
AFAIK none of the luxury hotel chains are tied up with any credit card companies. Only the likes of “general” 5-star hotels likes the ones of the Marriott and Starwood have credit card tie-ups. Luxury chains like Four Seasons, Peninsula, Mandarin etc. don’t have that sort of setup.
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 37
AFAIK none of the luxury hotel chains are tied up with any credit card companies. Only the likes of “general” 5-star hotels likes the ones of the Marriott and Starwood have credit card tie-ups. Luxury chains like Four Seasons, Peninsula, Mandarin etc. don’t have that sort of setup.
#4
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
Programs: Many
Posts: 6,798
No card (correct me if I'm wrong) will give you access to top tier clubs levels (RC, StR) without making the elite night requirements. You can't get it for free with a card, which is good. It would be worthless as a benefit if you could.
#5
First the real Luxury Brands only offer Club Level at very few properties. There is one excemption of a CC which offers a lot of value for Luxury Hotels, the Amex Centurion (guaranteed Upgrades). But it´s not taht easy to get it and the price is that high that I for excample decided it´s with my few nichts cheaper to pay the ameneties at the hotel if not provided by Virtuoso.
#6
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
If you get the World of Hyatt card and spend $140K, you earn Hyatt Globalist status. That gives you lounge access and breakfast benefits, as well as suite upgrade possibilities at almost all properties.
#7
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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If you get the Marriott Luxury card and spend $75K, you earn Platinum elite status. That gives you lounge access (at all but RC and other rare exceptions) and breakfast benefits (depends on brand). That also gets you suite upgrade possibilities at most brands (but not RC or Edition).
If you get the World of Hyatt card and spend $140K, you earn Hyatt Globalist status. That gives you lounge access and breakfast benefits, as well as suite upgrade possibilities at almost all properties.
If you get the World of Hyatt card and spend $140K, you earn Hyatt Globalist status. That gives you lounge access and breakfast benefits, as well as suite upgrade possibilities at almost all properties.
#8
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,028
The discontinued Ritz Carlton Credit Card gives 3 club upgrade certificates a year.
#9
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BKK
Posts: 6,741
When senior management of Ritz-Carlton at the corporate level have been asked about the possibility of complimentary club access for Marriott “elites” at Ritz-Carlton, the response is “not for as long as I live.”
Having used the more exclusive club levels of top Ritz-Carlton properties, as well as the free access through status club levels at Hyatt, InterContinental, etc., I can say that it is absolutely better to have club level as a paid only option. It’s the only way to have the club level really have integrity as a premium product with a higher level of service. Otherwise, club levels invariably become havens for “elite status” guests who want to use them for the free F&B offerings and to use it as a workspace, often talking loudly on the telephone etc...
When it’s a paid only option, that costs >$100~ more per night over standard accommodation, the clubs are less crowded, and it weeds out the the type of guest who sits there for the free food. The entire experience is nicer, and it still is good value for the people who choose to pay for club level.
#10
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: En Route
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Posts: 6,798
Ritz-Carlton does not give away club level to anyone routinely through upgrades/status/or otherwise. The only exceptions would be management deciding to extend club access on an exceptional basis, or for holder of the Cobalt Card, which is Ritz-Carlton’s most exclusive recognition program that is only extended by invitation to a few hundred people in the world, if that. Members include former US presidents, heads of state, and Fortune 500 CEOs, among others.
When senior management of Ritz-Carlton at the corporate level have been asked about the possibility of complimentary club access for Marriott “elites” at Ritz-Carlton, the response is “not for as long as I live.”
Having used the more exclusive club levels of top Ritz-Carlton properties, as well as the free access through status club levels at Hyatt, InterContinental, etc., I can say that it is absolutely better to have club level as a paid only option. It’s the only way to have the club level really have integrity as a premium product with a higher level of service. Otherwise, club levels invariably become havens for “elite status” guests who want to use them for the free F&B offerings and to use it as a workspace, often talking loudly on the telephone etc...
When it’s a paid only option, that costs >$100~ more per night over standard accommodation, the clubs are less crowded, and it weeds out the the type of guest who sits there for the free food. The entire experience is nicer, and it still is good value for the people who choose to pay for club level.
#11
#12
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BKK
Posts: 6,741