Pictures of the Ultra Chic Le Meridien Bangkok

Had the pleasure of visiting the Le Meridien Bangkok just months after it's Fall 2008 grand opening. Situated in in the Silom district, not far from Patpong, lies 282 wonderfully planned out rooms offering floor to ceiling windows overlooking the bustling streets of Bangkok.

Of all the Starwood properties I've visited throughout the world, service at the Le Meridien Bangkok was friendly and impeccable. Staff went out of their way to accommodate us, chat with us, and genuinely showed their appreciation for our visit. After staying five nights at this wonderful hotel, it felt like we were leaving a bunch of friends behind. I highly recommend you consider the Le Meridien Bangkok during your next visit to the land of smiles.

Earn Bonus Points in the Q1 Starwood Promotion

From the *wood blog, be sure to register for the SPG Night After Night Q1 promotion where you can score 500 bonus Starpoints per night, and a bonus 5,000 points for every 10th night you stay.

"If you play your cards right," says *wood, "you can get up to 1,000 Starpoints per night. However, make sure you hit milestones in increments of 10 nights to maximize the benefits of this promotion." 

The promo is open to all Starwood Preferred Guest members for stays between today and April 30, 2009. 

New Starwood Promotion - Choose from 12 rewards

The much anticipated Q4 Starwood promotion was just announced and the *wood blog cheers it, "the best SPG promotion in history." Any SPG member can register, and the reward payout begins after just 2 registered stays or 4 nights between October 1 and December 31, 2008. For example, after 2 stays you could choose 2,000 bonus Starpoints.

But what makes this promotion so unique though is the variety of rewards you can choose from; bonus Starpoints, free night stays, double stay credits, gift certificates and more, depending on the number of visits to Starwood hotels you anticipate staying at during the promotion period.

Click here to read more and register for this exciting promotion.

250 Starwood Points For SPG Flights Feedback

This past Tuesday Starwood Hotels & Resorts launched SPG Flights, an exciting and valuable option for using points to book airline tickets. Now the company is offering 250 Starpoints for providing feedback to this new enhancement. Click here to complete the easy online survey.

Starwood Preferred Guest Introduces SPG Flights

Starwood Hotels and Resorts and its award winning hotel loyalty program Starwood Preferred Guest launched yet another enhancement to an already generous program.

Since 1999, SPG members have been able to redeem Starpoints with a no blackout date policy, and not subjected to a policy that limits the number of rooms set aside for redemption. Now, you can use Starpoints for flights, with any carrier, and still no blackout dates. Therefore, you can utilize Starpoints for both your airline reservation and hotel stay. And best of all, in most cases you can still collect frequent flier miles with the airline.

Examples of Starpoints to airline ticket conversion:
10,000 Starpoints allows up to a $150 airline ticket
15,000 Starpoints allows up to a $215 airline ticket
20,000 Starpoints allows up to a $280 airline ticket
25,000 Starpoints allows up to a $345 airline ticket
(there are several higher tiers available as well)

Starwood continues to offer a points-to-miles deal which allows members to convert 20,000 Starpoints to 25,000 frequent flier miles with many airlines (Starwood chips in the extra 5,000). But with capacity controls in place, the airlines have tightened up the number of seats released for award redemption, and simply having enough miles to redeem doesn't guarantee a "free" seat will be offered by the airline. Plus, unlike this new Star Flights program, you don't earn miles when you redeem airline miles.

Therefore, using this new SPG Flights program with Starwood Hotels and Resorts receives 2 thumbs up from inFLIGHTout. This is truly one of the best loyalty programs in the travel industry.



How do you earn some quick Starpoints? The Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express earns you 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase, with an option to earn an additional 15,000 points for spending $15,000 during the first six months. Plus you earn 1 point for each dollar purchased on the card.

Starwood Offers 500 Bonus Points Per Night in September

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is offering 500 bonus points for each eligible night you stay during the month of September. Unlike other promotions, this bonus is per night, not per stay, allowing up to 15,000 bonus points to be earned with this promotion. Registration is required before your hotel stay. Click here to register and read all the terms and conditions.

Final Day To Book Starwood 50% Rack Rates

Direct from our friends at *wood

This is the final day to score 50% off rack rates at Starwood properties in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. Keep in mind availability will vary by hotel, and remaining inventory may be limited. Nevertheless, if you are planning a hotel stay during August or September, the period in which this promotional pricing runs, it makes sense to do a quick search for availability at your hotel of choice. You must book by Midnight (EDT) tonight to qualify for this deal.

Double Starpoints At Select Starwood Properties

Another great post from *wood highlighting a double points promotion at 28 Starwood properties celebrating their 1st year anniversary in the Starwood Hotels & Resorts portfolio. The promotion runs through October 31, 2008, and requires registration prior to booking.

1000 Bonus Starwood Points For Summer Hotel Stays

The Starwood Preferred Guest program is offering 1000 bonus SPG points for summer hotel stays at participating Starwood properties around the world. Four Points by Sheraton will earn 500 points.

First, register here. Then stay Sunday-Thursday at participating properties through September 30, 2008 to earn the 1000 bonus points. Click here for a comprehensive list of eligible properties.

Westin Hotels Pilots Wii Gaming System

Westin Hotels and Nintendo announced they would launch a pilot program to install the popular Wii game system to some of its hotel fitness centers. The specially designed for hotels game console will be pre-loaded with several games, including Wii Sports and Wii Fit, and work as part of Westin's existing WestinWORKOUT program.

On Thursday the systems were installed at Westin hotels in Bellevue, Washington and in New York City's Time Square. The system will be added to select Westin properties during May in Houston-Galleria, Kansas City, Mo., Hilton Head Island, S.C., St. Louis, San Francisco, Toronto, Hollywood, Calif. and Savannah, Ga.

Hilton HHonors drops blackout dates for award redemption

In an unprecedented and exciting move, Hilton has dropped blackout dates from all award redemptions using the HHonors program. The previous policy, and typical of most hotel programs meant redeeming hotel points for free stays was not available or heavily limited on certain blackout dates such as holidays. Now, all members of HHonors may redeem points for any room, anytime a room is available. Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Doubletree, Homewood, Conrad and the Waldorf Astoria collection properties which all fall under the HHonors umbrella, are impacted by this exciting change. Starwood Hotels, is the only other large brand of hotels that has no blackout dates on award redemption.