Best Hotel Tips

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I don’t think much of the big airlines and the way they run their businesses. But, generally speaking, I like hotels. A lot.

Compared with the do-it-our-way airlines, hotels offer a panoply of choices. There seems to be a style of hotel for every $5 on the nightly-rate scale. Everyone from the janitor to the general manager seems empowered to fix something when a problem arises. Unlike the airlines, hotels don’t move in infuriating lockstep on prices or policies. No bellman ever lost my bag. I’ve never arrived at a hotel, reservation in hand, and been told that the property won’t be operating that evening. Best of all, if I don’t like the service I’m getting, I can check out and move to another hotel. Airlines really discourage midflight decisions to leave the aircraft.

But as with every other facet of life on the road, you can make your hotel stays better, cheaper, more comfortable, and more productive if you know how to work the system. Here’s the best of what I’ve learned in three decades of doing just that.

Status Matters
It took hotel chains almost a decade to successfully adopt and adapt airlinelike loyalty programs. But once they caught up in the early 1990s, hotel plans blossomed. Now, I value my elite status in frequent-stay programs more than my frequent-flyer credentials. That’s because status still matters in the hotel game and pays off with frequent room upgrades, lavish freebies (including rooms), and other perks, like the Oreos that one chain leaves on my nightstand.

Another great thing about hotel programs is that you don’t have to be loyal to any one brand or lodging type. All the major chains now have “families” of brands that cover everything from side-of-the-road motels to deluxe pleasure palaces—and every stay at any property counts toward your elite status with the chain. Align your lodging preferences with one family—Starwood, Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental have the most hotels across the most lodging segments, closely followed by Hyatt—and you’ll quickly become a high-status player at hundreds of hotels around the world.

Introduce Yourself
Most of the hotels at the apex of the lodging hierarchy—think Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental—don’t have frequency programs with membership cards, points, and monthly account statements. But they do have sophisticated computerized systems that track your personal preferences. Ask for a special type of pillow at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland and you’ll likely find the same waiting on your bed at the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul. Request a particular wine at one Four Seasons hotel and it follows you around the Four Seasons universe.

But don’t rely on computers. At the best hotel groups, introduce yourself around, especially to the general manager. If you intend to be a regular, let him know. Give him your business card and write him a thank-you note after your stay. When you’re headed to the next property, call and ask him whom to contact. He’ll do the work for you and alert the next hotel’s G.M., who will likely want to meet you when you arrive. In no time, you’ll know the boss at great hotels around the world and they’ll ply you with room upgrades and a dazzling array of extra services. These guys—most G.M’.s at deluxe hotels are guys—know a good customer when they meet one.

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