hedoman

Kind of surprised no activity/comments on FT after their recent expansion. I'm a bit interested in signing up for their program which looks like a better than nothing type operation. Sonesta swallowed up a couple properties that were satisfactory enough for me to return given the price is right.

rbAA

Of course, it's mainly North America, with a few So Am and Caribean properties. Their Royal Sonesta brand has some interesting choices. They will status match, but the elite benefits are few, with early/late checkin and out, UPG's and at some properties a F&B credit or breakfast included. In the Hotel Deals forum there is a discussion of the St. Maarten property that sounds OK. Sign-up link:
https://www.sonesta.com/travel-pass/member-benefits

strummerjones

I signed up for their credit card with an eye toward their properties in Peru for a future trip to see Machu Picchu. Cash rates are quite cheap for fairly well-rated resorts, but free is even better. 🙂 It’s a BofA card - so no worries for me about having too many cards or outstanding credit with them in contrast to Amex and Chase - with the following signup bonus structure. Instant approval and met the full terms quickly with the help of my friend Simon. So far, so good.

60,000 bonus points after spending at least $1,000 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening

5,000 additional points after adding an authorized user within the first 90 days of account opening

30,000 bonus points on your Account Anniversary if you spend at least $7,500 on purchases every year

Robt760

Other Important Features:

Earning made easy

3x points on eligible Sonesta purchases

2x points on eligible airfare, car rental and dining purchases

1x points on all other

Annual Fee

$75 - Waived The First Year


Sonesta Pass Benefits

Cardholders can instantly achieve Elite Member Status ( Their highest level)

Robt760

Many of the recently acquired locations of Simply Suites, Sonesta Select, and Soesta ES, are previous Residence Inn, Candlewood, and Towneplace Suites properties. They have been given a surface facelift, but some deeper elements are still stuck in the “unwashed masses” category.

Most locations and staff are not familiar with the Travel Pass Program or any of its benefits.
*The elite credit toward Shop/Pantry items is unknown, unless you ask and prove them the chart
*Upgrades are going to be rare, as there are minimal room categories other than Studio, One BR, and Two BR.
*Stays often don’t get posted to Travel Pass accounts, and follow up is required
*Getting through to Travel Pass is often delayed by a few days (email).
*Booking reward nights requires that you fill out/order a points deduction for a stay, and wait for a reply.


It’s an interesting experience so far.

vincewy

The hotel in Cusco is among the best in town (Avenida El Sol location) and I highly recommend it. As far as credit card FNBO has something similar with Best Western, if BofA bumps the anniversary bonus or lowers spending threshold for the anniversary bonus I'll pull the trigger.

There's already a thread about the credit card here

New BofA Card for Sonesta Hotels - FlyerTalk Forums

agk

I’ll agree. I’ve frequently stayed at the Miami Airport Crowne Plaza and it’s changed to a Sonesta. The level of service and the overall cleanliness was troubling during my stay. It seemed like the loyal business travelers and persons with an early flight were replaced by spring breakers who couldn’t afford anything closer to the beach. I’ve given up on the property and it sounds like our company is no longer booking it due to safety concerns since becoming a Sonesta.

BelmontRef

I realize this is an 18 month old thread but seems most relevant. We are in the process of moving and booked a Sonesta ES (former Marriott Residence Inn) for what was to be about a three-month stay after having toured the property a couple months earlier. Right at the check-in desk, alarm bells were going off about the quality of the property (they had charged us in full for the three months rather than just the first week). Over the next week, lots of issues. While we did get the charge issue resolved and refunded (although it took a late night visit to the night auditor, the only truly competent person I found, to fully resolve - first attempt to resolve showed a shocking lack of understanding the difference between charges to the folio and charges to the credit card and rather than just refunding the large credit balance on the folio, lots of room charge credits were applied to the folio and then a refund which just made it more of a mess), breakfast quality was very poor, housekeeping was non-existent unless demanded, and found out that senior management had all been recently fired, interim GM was leaving (reassigned) our first full day, much of the staff were on temporary assignment from other properties, and a new GM coming in a week but in the meantime with a front desk supervisor acting as GM until then. We decided to give the new GM a chance but saw little improvement. Ended up moving elsewhere after a month (close enough to the month when we decided to move that we then waited so we got the transient tax refund).

But that did earn us a lot of TravelPass points so I used them last weekend for a two-night stay at a Sonesta Select. It was also another former Marriott property, this one a Courtyard, and its street address is still on Marriott Drive. The room itself was fine but the services were lacking. Despite their website claiming otherwise, no evening food or beverage service and the included breakfast was just cold individually wrapped pastries and granola bars along with coffee and juices.

So with not enough points left for another night anywhere, I am done with Sonesta.

hedoman

Thanks for update. Once was enough for me. Amazing how you can quickly kill what were mediocre properties.

sdsearch

I just joined Sonesta Travel Pass yesterday, and noticed a couple odd issues with the website.

First, delays:

1. It said I would earn 1000 points just for joining, but after joining it said I had 0 points The 1000 points only showed up an hour or two later.

2. I made a reservation, and I got the email confirmation immediately, but the reservation didn't show up on the website until an hour or two later.

Reservation info online very limited:

I see no way to expand the reservation info online. The email confirmation has pretty complete info, but I can't see that online, just a very brief summary (hotel info, check in/out dates and times, and total cost for stay (not counting optional charges like parking, of course).

So make sure you keep your email confirmation, because the info in it does not seem to be available online, as it typically is with other hotel programs.

sdsearch

Indeed, after joining Sonesta Travel Pass, the first Sonesta Simply Suites I stayed at tried to claim that the Sip 'n Snack credit is only available when you're using points, not on a paid stay.

I wrote to Sonesta Travel Pass about that, and within hours I received a email response explaining that the hotel was wrong, and they issued 1000 bonus points to me as compensation.

By that time I had already checked out of the hotel, because the person checking me in at night had told me to check the next morning about the credit, and it was the person on morning duty that claimed that the credit was available only when you stay on points, and I was only there for one night.

sdsearch

Another issue:

All Sonesta Simply Suites hotels I've looked at seem to claim a $7 parking fee on the hotel's website, but some charge this fee while others don't, so you can't tell which it will be from the website listing.

FlyingM

You know... all the threads and posts I've seen about Sonesta have been terrible. I was just curious if anyone had anything positive/good to say about their properties, or if they were all bad.

While waiting at LAX for a Hotel Shuttle, I noticed that their Shuttle came by twice in the amount of time, I was waiting for Westin. I was quite impressed by that. Maybe I should stick to where I know though. I did see that they Status Match, and they matched my Diamond Status at Hilton to Platinum.

fleet100

Gold members receive priority self parking. Does anybody know what that means.

swgsword

It's just a reserved spot with a sign that says Priority Parking for elite members.