Starwood perferred question
 

I have always been able to get 30-35% off the room rate by being a starwood member. I tried to get this same discount today and was told that you can only get the discount by using your points. Does anyone know more about this change or did the reservationist not know what he was talking about?

Gee I've been Starwood Preferred for years. I don't use it a lot, but other than here and there special offers, I've never ever known it to guarantee any kind of discount at all!

When I was booking my Aug. Hawaii trip I saw (on spg.com as I recall) a 30 - 35% discount for members so I joined. I even talked on the phone to them about that same discount when I was inquiring about hotel rates. I didn't end up staying there, but I do remember the offer. I don't see it now when I look under "member benefits".

I topped another thread with info. on the discount (Ideas for good deals on 5 star hotels in Hawaii).

Ashley, I believe we received a month or two ago, a Starwood mailing that listed discounted rooms throughout Hawaii but only at specific hotel locations (e.g. Sheraton Moana Surfrider, on Oahu). It seems the offer was limited because we ((t)) early on and rooms were available, but when we((t)) at a later ((o)) the rooms/rate were N/A. :S-Carpe Diem!

If anyone knows of any free hotel group membership that guarantees a discount always, I'd love to hear about it. To my knowledge they don't really exist, and I belong to about a dozen such "clubs". They offer perks like free newspaper or upgrades if available or even (and this is my favorite) Wyndham By Request's free high speed internet and free phone calls always including long distance! And of course they will often advise you of specific special discounts at select locations or for specific time periods. But I've never heard of one that always gives you a guaranteed discount at any of their hotels. I could be wrong.

Patrick you are absolutely right. They don't offer blanket discounts to "preferred members". They do at times run specials for the members and offer discounted rates.

I believe that the OP is refering to Hawaii properties. While Starwood doesn't offer a blanket discount on all properties for members of their frequent guest program, the Hawaii discount has been pretty standard for as long as I can remember.

Ashley, here is a link to the offer:

http://www.starwood.com/promotions/p...egory=hawaii35

Thanks for the info. I was refering to hawaii and have never had any problems getting this discount before.

I booked reservations for the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in June for our trip over Christmas. I gave the gal on the phone my Starwood Preferred number and received the 35% SPG discount. I also requested a written confirmation since alot of places are already sold out during Christmas...anyway....says right on the confirmation....Promotion: SPG 35% discount. If I were you, I'd call back and see if you get a different answer from someone else.

I haven't really had much luck with getting 30-35% off just for being a member of any hotel membership, and I belong to them all as well as STARWOOD. I noticed it's alot harder to get discounts these days when you travel, even if you shop around on the travel websites such as TRAVELOCITY, EXPEDIA, etc. I find I'm doing better booking directly with the hotel's websites or calling them by phone direct. I also belong to AAA, although not a free membership, which sometimes gets me good, but not great discounts on some hotels. I find I do the best when I book EARLY and hold the room, and then keep checking back for promotions later on. Sometimes you get lucky. I think HILTON Hotels offer better discounts for hotels in HAWAII.

My advice is to try booking using the website. If you go to specials/promotions and then click "more" it will list a bunch of them AND one of them is 35% off ALL starwood properties for this year only (maybe even through January). But that is subject to availability of course (depending on how many rooms they blocked for the discount). I did see the Hawaii discount link also but do not recall how long that discount is available. Good luck!