jetsetter

I wonder if anyone frequents Kimpton Hotels, and if you could comment on the InTouch Loyalty Program.

I am also interested in the experiences people have had with the Inner Circle Elite Level which is attained by staying 15 times or 45 nights in a calendar year. Types or upgrades? Other recognition? Awards? How do you compare to traditional loyalty program?

I ran a search and came up empty.

Thanks..

jetsetter

Bumping this thread to see if anyone missed it who is familiar with this program? Also here is a USA Today article describing the Kimpton hotels chain and how it is moving in to the eastern region of the country. The article puts Kimpton in a similar niche to Starwoods W Hotels.

lalala

Funny thing this, i just booked one night at the hotel burnham in Chicago and
am going to move one or two of my dc stays to the hotel topaz (next door to the tabard inn) on my october dc trip.

I love the hotel vintage park in seattle and one of my colleagues stays in the kimpton properties in DC all the time.

I did sign up for their loyalty program. As its late in the year, I'll only have four stays by the end of the calendar year.

The only drawback is that its a US only (save Vancouver BC) properties. However, the amenities are nice and their pet-friendly policy means we can take our quite elderly pooch with us if we want to stay downtown.

I wonder if they comp from the other programs?

lala

DENPremEx

The only Kimpton property I've stayed at is the Hotel Monaco in DEN. Very nice property, definitely on par with a W. Same funky atmosphere, very nice rooms, solid service, etc. One big plus is the bell desk will deliver a gold fish to keep you company when they bring your luggage (housekeeping feeds and takes care of it). Still haven't determined whether or not they are liable for mental anguish if the fish dies during your stay, my attorney is looking into it, I'll report back with his findings.

lalala

I tried to get in here for a conference in April 2005. No gov't rates available. however, their reservation system sort of sucks.

lala

snowbird

i stay at Kimpton hotels whenever possible, and have been a member of their inner circle elite for the past few months. the properties i've stayed at are Hotel Marlowe (many stays - great place), Alexis Hotel (once - also great), and Hotel Allegro (once - good). i'm currently at the fourth level of "in touch", 75-90 nights.

the program started Jan 2004, and i feel like it's taken them a while to get organized, and still the program is not as automated as many others. for instance, i've booked frequently with the concierge at Hotel Marlowe, and while that hotel knows my elite status, sometimes the stays are not credited to my In Touch account with Kimpton and require calling or submitting a credit request through the in touch site. if stays are booked through the phone reservation system, they get credited without any issue. not sure about web reservations.

also, earlier in the year, i had some difficulty obtaining the free night gift certifiates. i think the process has improved, but still there is a lag-time to receive the free night gift certs til the next quarter (at least that is what I was told when i called to ask when i'd be getting them).

as for Inner Circle perks, I've received upgrades to studio or two room suites whenever available at the Marlowe. often, but not always, a snack upon arrival (such as a cookie and soda, or chocolates of some kind). and on my most recent stay, which was an award stay, i received a bottle of wine as well as fancy chocolates.

recently i inquired as to whether i would be receiving a free night at the new Boston & NYC properties that have opened up since i've been inner circle elite. i was told "yes", but that they are still getting that organized, and wouldn't have any information on it til Jan 2005.

all in all, i think the quality of the hotels makes up for any difficulty i've had with stay crediting and award disbursement. and like i said above, i think the In Touch customer service has improved of late.

suitcasejockey

The Pacific Palisades in Vancouver is my second favorite hotel in the world.

I usually just drop and extra $20 or $30 a night and book the suite because I travel big and need the space.

I usually run like 15 - 20 nights a year in this place, which isn't enough to qualify for their elite. They give me free fruit and cookies when you get there (unless they just like me a lot)... I still don't understand what the difference between the non elite and inner circle is, but it's ok. Starwood, Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham take enough care of me

carolina

I am Kimpton "Inner Circle" status, and am very satisfied with the benefits of the program and the personal attention I have received from Kimpton.

Kimpton has gone the extra mile to ensure that I am taken care of. They make me feel like a valued customer, unlike my experiences with Starwood. Memo to Starwood: "You're fired."

I like that one of the benefits of "Inner Circle" status is Kimpton provides me with direct line phone and email address info for Kimpton's CEO. A company that listens to its customers... and seeks to be accountable to its customers... imagine that!

As Snowbird posted here, the Kimpton "In Touch" loyalty program systems and processes appear to be not as automated or advanced as other programs. But I am sure that over time they will make enhancements.

Preferred reservations in hotel restaurants is nice, and the complimentary chef's course for the table is a nice touch. As an example, at the Hotel Monaco in Washington D.C., I needed last minute reservations for a party of 6 on a busy Friday night - and as an Inner Circle member, the hotel/restaurant came through, with a private dining room.

Speaking of the Hotel Monaco Washington D.C., my wife and I recently stayed there and we had a memorable stay. Here are details if they are helpful to other InTouch / Inner Circle members:

LOCATION: The hotel location in Penn Quarter is very convenient, with close access to restaurants, shops and Metro.

TRANSPORTATION: Upon arrival at National airport, I took a Metro train from the airport to the hotel. This was very convenient and cost effective. The hotel is just across the street from the Metro Station.

CHECK IN: My wife arrived earlier in the day and checked in. She tells me check in was friendly, professional and efficient.

HOTEL BUILDING: Hotel Monaco Washington D.C. is the former Tariff Building, a completely renovated Registered National Landmark built in the mid-1800s and the city's first all-marble building. The building is unique and has lots of charm. The lobby is relatively small but beautiful; the hall ways are wide and inviting. Overall, the Hotel Monaco Washington D.C. has the distinctive feeling of a boutique hotel that we wanted (vs. the cookie cutter approach of a larger branded corporate hotel chain).

OUR ROOM: We stayed in a "Robert Mills suite", which was a large two room suite, with 20 foot ceilings and ornate molding. The room was ultra-clean, comfortable, and decorated tastefully. The living room area was comfortable, with a TV, stereo with surround sound, a desk -- and free high speed internet access. The desk had easy access to a power strip, the design was well thought out for the business person who would need to use the desk. The bathroom was fabulous: large, clean, well-lit, lots of counter space, a separate shower surrounded by three walls of glass, and a very nice extra: a deep Jacuzzi tub. Like Starwood's W Hotels, there were a variety of Aveda bath products, which we liked and appreciated. I should note that the suite was much larger than the standard rooms we saw being made up by housekeeping; if you get a standard room it might be a little small, similar to a small room in NYC. Comparing with the W Hotels, our suite at Hotel Monaco Washington D.C., particularly the bathroom, far surpassed what I've seen at several different W Hotels.

SPECIAL AMENITIES: Hotel Monaco Washington D.C., like all the Kimpton properties, has an evening wine hour, during which guests fan socialize with each other. I really like this concept. The fitness center room is small but well appointed.

RESTAURANT: The hotel's restaurant, Poste, was very good. I won't spend a lot of time on the restaurant review except to say that our party of six enjoyed a dinner in a private dining room, service was excellent, and we enjoyed the food.

HOTEL STAFF AND MANAGEMENT: The staff and management were very attentive, friendly, courteous and professional. On several occasions, they went above and beyond to ensure we had a memorable stay. There were a few lapses in service and execution, but those were quickly fixed or professionally handled to my satisfaction. To the staff's credit, they seemed to genuinely want feedback and have a desire to continue to improve the guest experience, and I don't think you can emphasize the importance of those qualities.

ESPECIALLY HELPFUL: Angel, the guest services manager, who deserves special recognition for being customer focused and committed to customer satisfaction. It is because of employees like Angel that I will be shifting my business from a competitor to Kimpton properties.

CHECK OUT: fast and efficient.

WHEN BOOKING YOUR ROOM: Although not the hotel's fault, each night we could hear a significant amount of street noise from our third floor room, particularly cars driving by with their radios on loud, and what seemed like a constant thumping of the bass notes in the music in their cars. Recommendation: if you're sensitive to noise of cars with loud radios blaring, I would suggest a room overlooking the inner court yard of the hotel, instead of the exterior room we had.

stevens397

We had a wonderful stay at the Prescott in San Francisco last summer. One bedroom suite on the Club Level - but I think half the hotel is Club Level! There wre times it was difficult getting seats for either breakfast or late afternoon drinks.

I cannot imagine comparing it to the W Hotels (and I'm Starwood Platinum). The rooms were very large and comfortable, not something usually said about the W rooms which often need a shoehorn!

One other feature is preferential reservations at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant attached to the hotel.

It was my first stay at this chain. Unfortunately, their rather limited availability will limit it to those people who frequently travel to a few cities where they are represented.

TWAforever

Have 2 stays this year.

1. Hotel Allegro - Chicago......not a good stay at all. Room was the size of a closet and the bathroom...I couldn't even close the door without contortioning myself out of its path.

2. Hotel Monaco - Chicago....excellent hotel. Much better than its sibling. Room was about 400 sq. feet and nice bathroom.

Both stays credited quickly. However, I still only got 500 AS miles for one of the stays and never resolved the issue because I gave up on it after 3 months.

Complained to GM via e-mail about Allegro. The weird thing is that not only did I receive a personal reply, but the GM actually kept hounding me via e-mail like he was waiting for me to finally change my mind and admit that he was right and I was wrong. I think Kimpton GMs tend to do this as they routinely post responses to complaints posted on tripadvisor.com.

In any case, his argument was that Allegro and Monaco are two different price points for two separate clientele and that is why the Monaco was nicer than the Allegro. He didn't respond when I told him that I paid the same rate at the two hotels, but instaed came back with other irrelevant points like about how they are remodelling this year etc...

Edited to be polite

lalala

I stayed at the Burnham during the choco do weekend. The rate was much higher than the hyatt regency, but I wanted a change. The hotel was nice, but not so splendid that I would stay again (that property), sort of boutiquey, but at the same time, not with the quiet solitude that one wants in a boutique. The hotel was full of american girl shoppers and bears fans.

They did offer me a gift card for 15 bucks off my next kimpton reservation for using the website, but no real welcome as a guest.

One thing, the restaurant -- Atwood Cafe, could use a new general manager. Sunday morning with people lined up to get in, the staff shouldn't be discussing their Saturday nights and instead bussing tables and getting customers their food.

Other than that, would I stay at another Kimpton property? Probably. I promised taller half a Elliott grand hyatt stay for her bd, but my budget is more like the monaco.

lala

carolina

I recently stayed at 70 Park Avenue Hotel while on a business trip to New York City. Here is my summary review, below.

(For people who want a lot of detail, including commentary about certain Kimpton Inner Circle benefits at this hotel, there's even more on my travel blog at this page Review: 70 Park Avenue Hotel, New York (Kimpton). )

CHECK IN: Check in at the front desk was professional. As a Kimpton "Inner Circle" elite level guest, I was entitled to an upgrade to the best room available at check in: I was presented with a choice of my booked Deluxe room on a higher floor or an upgrade to a King Premier room on a lower 4th floor.

Upon my request, a hotel staffer escorted me to see each room so I could compare before making a decision.

The booked Deluxe room wasn't that great: the view from the higher floor was uninspiring and the bathroom was quite possibly the smallest bathroom I've seen in any hotel (including a variety of New York City hotels). Simply put, the cramped bathroom in the Deluxe room would have been unacceptable - and if you are considering booking one of these rooms I advise against it.

The upgraded King Premier room was essentially the same as the Deluxe room except the bathroom was somewhat larger (although still small it was acceptable) and had a bath tub with jacuzi jets. I was concerned about the possibility of hearing street noise from this lower floor room - and with the hotel staffer's assurancethat it wouldn't be a problem, I decided on the upgraded room.

MY ROOM: Here's the good, the bad and the ugly about my upgraded King Premier Room:

The good:

* 42" Flat Screen TV (sweet!), plus DVD/CD player with surround-sound system

* Very clean

* Nicely furnished

* Comfortable bed and pillows

* Lots of mirrors

* Candella nightlights were unique and created a nice atmosphere in the room

* Plush terrycloth bathrobe

* Bathtub with standard size tub with jacuzi jets was a nice bonus (but compare with better deep soaking tub at Hotel Monaco in Washington D.C.)

* Curved shower rod similar to Westin

* The Thymes Limited bath amenities

* Speaking of The Thymes, I liked that instead of a mint on the pillow with turn down service, they left a packet of The Thymes "Sleep Well" lotion on the pillow. Nice touch!

The bad:

* Street noise was a problem on the 4th floor. Despite earlier assurances by a hotel staffer, street noise was a problem in the morning, with the near constant honking of taxi horns waking me up. For context, I live in downtown Seattle and I am used to city noise. But this level of noise was unacceptable.

* No power strip near desk. Come on, you've got a 42" flat screen TV but no power strip near the desk for my laptop? This should be standard and was unacceptable.

* The sliding door for the bathroom was very hard to move. The door kept getting stuck and I couldn't get out of the bathroom without great effort.

* I didn't like the brown wood panel on the walls of my room in 70 Park Avenue Hotel. Compared with other botique hotels I've stayed at, the room wasn't as nice. Sorry, but the wood panel looked rather ugly and reminded me of the walls of the finished basement in my parents' 1970's-built house.

* Directly outside my room, there was a linen cart during the entire duration of my stay. I asked the front desk to move the cart and they said that it was a normal for 70 Park Avenue Hotel to store linen carts in the middle of hallways due to lack of space - but that they would move the linen cart elsewhere. The cart was never moved. A distinctive hotel should store linens in a closet and not outside my room in a linen cart. I don't want to walk by a linen cart every time I leave my room and return.

The Ugly:

* No high speed internet for you! 70 Park Avenue features WiFi high speed Internet access throughout the hotel. That's great in theory, but my laptop doesn't connect to WiFi. Upon my request, the hotel sent up a bridge router, but I was never able to connect to high speed Internet even with the bridge router. I called Kimpton's toll free tech support number and tech support said the problem wasn't with my laptop but with something local at the hotel -- and amazingly they said they were "too busy to work on it" (and that's a direct quote). For context, at the next botique hotel I stayed at, I had no problems connecting via their regular direct line for high speed Internet. In summary: high speed Internet is important to me - and I just want it to work; at 70 Park Avenue Hotel, it was not only a waste of my time and a headache, customer service was unacceptable.

SPECIAL AMENITIES: 70 Park Avenue Hotel, like all the Kimpton properties, has an evening wine hour, during which guests can socialize with each other. I really like this concept.

HOTEL STAFF AND MANAGEMENT: The hotel manager I chatted with in the lobby was very friendly and professional. The staff in front of the lobby elevator was friendly and helpful. The people I spoke with gave 70 Park Avenue Hotel a personal touch that is often lacking in New York City.

CHECK OUT: fast and efficient.

WHEN BOOKING YOUR ROOM: If you decide to stay at 70 Park Avenue, avoid the Deluxe rooms so you don't get the impossibly tiny bathroom. Also, be sure to get a higher level room to avoid street noise in the morning.

THE VERDICT: My stay didn't measure up to my expectations and after my visit I'm not a big fan of the rooms at 70 Park Avenue Hotel. I expect I will not stay at 70 Park Avenue on my next trip to New York City. I must confess I prefer the W Hotel Times Square, despite its own shortcomings; the Platinum level upgrades from Starwood are generally better rooms.

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For people who want a lot of detail, including commentary about certain Kimpton Inner Circle benefits at this hotel, there's even more on my travel blog at this page Review: 70 Park Avenue Hotel, New York (Kimpton).

SAnger3494

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Has anyone been comped status to the inner circle level in Kimpton Hotels? Also does anyone have feedback regarding their top level elite program? I have some summer to the west and might include some their properties.

Thanks for any help from this forum.

SCA

TokyoCanuk

I would be interested in this info as well. As for having stayed in several kimpton hotels and not even knowing they were under the kimpton brand, having status would have been nice

Im all about diversifying my hotel accomodation stays and trying others out.

SAnger3494

Tokyo,

I just last week emailed them about the Inner Circle and was given a year into that group. I have stayed at their hotels, but plan to in Portland and Denver will have status. I told them I was HH Gold and Starwood Gold and got a reply, that I would be Inner Circle.

Best of Luck

SA