True but conversations with GM and staff at the Design hotels where I have stayed have regularly mentioned an uplift of between 20% to 25% after joining SPG. I have no way of knowing if this is correct but I am sure that Starwood would be leveraging their internal data in order to convince owners. Of course, there might be a novelty effect and it is hard to ascertain if this uplift is sustainable over the long term but there should be a noticeable effect in being part of a distribution network that outweigh the cost for individual properties.

As JohnSIN is the (un)official herald for design properties joining SPG, can we ban him for general discussion in the thread? Everytime I see a new post from him I get a giddy anticipation as to which new hotels are joining only to get my hopes dashed when it is just a normal informative post . :(
:)

Maison Margiela is pretty much the casual gear I wear every weekend - so really interested to try out the new Paris addition La Maison Champs Elysees.

Also hoping some more of the German properties come onboard.

JohnSIN, that is net after subtracting award nights?
if fee is 10% or much more, that cuts into that +20%

basically, owners chose not to do luxury collection etc in first place
seems SPG design hotels fees are less than luxury collection
(seems accor partner (not franchise) hotel fees are least by far )

My bet is gross. I do not have the info obviously and I am sure they would not volunteer it. Just contributed the increase occupancy.

Azor Hotel, Ponta Delgada, A Member Of Design Hotels™ - Ponta Delgada - Portugal

Stayed there a few days ago. Excellent stay overall. Liked a lot the interior of the roof bar,restaurant and hospitality.FD service was great.Breakfast and afternoon tea were included in the rate.

What I learned with the stay:
You cannot book any Design hotel stays with the c+p.
Platinum desk: You can book,just hotel must send some information.
Hotel: According to their contact person it is not possible, either cash or points.
I did a cash booking through SPG and the stay and points were posted at the same late evening after the check-out.

Considering Germany is the home of Design Hotels, it's not super surprising to me to see that there hasn't been much take-up by the properties there. The local market is probably more familiar with the brand, so the hotels may not feel the need to pay the costs of using Starwood distribution systems.

Added on July 27
 

Furnas Boutique Hotel, Furnas, Portugal

Points redemption. Breakfast 18€,complimentary water and beverage in room.Late check-out at 2PM. A solid 4 star hotel.

89 out of 277
there might be a push sometime soon or right after china approves merger

just noticed designhotels.com has 'available with spg' as map search option

Latest addition:

Insólito Boutique Hotel, Buzios, a Member of Design Hotels™

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/desig...opertyID=51468

Another one added to the directory, but link to the SPG page doesn't work yet (might therefore disappear). Would be the 90th property.

Hotel Proverbs Taipei, a Member of Design Hotels™

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/design...opertyID=71720

Doesn't seem to be available to book yet and there's no mention of the join date.

According to Tripadvisor pictures, looks like a neat boutique hotel to stay at. Even have Automatic toilets! Nearest MRT station is Zhongxiao Fuxing.

Here's hoping it to be at Cat 3 but I suspect it will be a Cat 4 property.

We'll be lucky to have it as Cat 5, but I can see it being a Cat 6 given the average room rate is about USD$250, which is about the same as W/LM

Also, interestingly the Hotel Proverbs Taipei, isn't even listed on design hotel portfolio yet. I thought the only/first design hotel in Taiwan to join would have been the Humble House Taipei.

If the developer behind the Hotel Proverbs Taipei is keen on SPG, perhaps their other property (Hotel Quote, which was recently a SLH member but no longer) may join design hotel and SPG in the future as well.