cln

too bad the new westin on phuket is not on the list :/

Keyser

welcome to ft med133....it may be just me but i believe any promo is 'better than doing nothing at all'....

Bonecrusher

I see the Starwood Apologist is up early

Keyser

its actually late afternoon here right now, so i have been up defending starwood for atleast 9 hours since this morning....

Bonecrusher

My apologies re the time Mr. Tendulkar

Keyser

apology accepted....

ma91pmh

Sadly then another sucky promo from SPG. WHy on earth give the option? I don't see Hyatt giving the option.

I am guessing if Hyatt bring BWB or similar that will seal my fate at Andaz instead of W in NY for the rest of this year. I guess those W's think they can do fine on their own

hhoope01

Or possibly an indication that the market for some hotels is starting to strengthen. They may have felt they didn't need to pay for a promo since they are doing very well without it.

BTW, I guess I'm in the lucky few as the hotels I frequent are participating. ^

asnesne

I will do my part of the work to make Starwood hotels understand that promotions are important by not participating in the program for the next months. I will whereever possible choose another hotel chain, as I won't make the needed 10 nights in participating hotels anyways.

I guess it doesn't pay to complain, hotels need to feel the need to participate in Starwood promotions. And all we can do until then is be consequent about it (if we do feel that way).

Although I feel sorry for the participating hotels, as the promotion itself in my eyes is very good, and the participating hotels can't do anything about the ones opting out. But that's life I guess...

Keyser

careful.....some people here will treat that remark as you apologizing on behalf of starwood....

ttusqrl

I think the promo itself is fine -- they are giving away more than the normal and we should recognize that it's a bonus. These promos aren't ever going to suit every member's needs.

That being said, I think it's a crock that hotels can opt out. Can you imagine MI offering hotels the ability to stay out of the megabonus? Or Hyatt's to stay out of running promos? I love *wood, don't get me wrong, but I hate the fact that I have to go look up which hotels are participating before I go on a trip, and that right there makes me want to work on my MR status.

Like usual, the Westin Edina in MN is out of the game -- I guess I'll just have to get used to that hotel NEVER participating in any promotion that costs them.

sbtinme

This comment rings a little hollow to me. Since its inception, the SPG affinity program has been very aggressive with stay promotions -- both in heady times and in tough times. It's hard to remember a time when the program wasn't offering a very rich offer for those consumers willing to spend a significant number of nights with their properties.

My point is that this may mark a turning point in the SPG program. My hunch is that, in an attempt to minimize promtional costs, the SPG program with this offer passed on a greater cost to the individual properties, which is why we're seeing so many more of them opting out. That's a shame, but it's the reality. While I'm certain that some hotels are seeing their business return to more profitable levels, I also suspect that some properties opted out of this promo due to a higher participation cost. It's worth noting that several properties that have *ALWAYS* participated in previous promotions opted out for this one. I suspect that may have more to do with the associated costs than it does with the property's overall health.

Just my $00.02.

If SPG feels that it's in a position to pull back on promotions, then good for them. But, it must be pointed out that this marks a notable change for the program -- one that has been known for besting the competitions' promotions now for a decade.

Singlepoint

It seems much of the "panel" is slightly underwhelmed. Although not great for me personally, I'm always glad to see promos around as it helps decision-making for all of us one way or the other.

Having said that, it still is early and perhaps we will see something in Q4 like last year where there were the options of double stays or stays counting toward next year's status etc.

I may be naive but I'm holding out a bit of hope at this point - only time will tell.

Cheers,

Singlepoint

Flyinace2000

Looks like my little birdie was right ;-)

sjuhawk_jd

Soliciting or not, it is not stopping anybody from commenting