Coming March 2nd: 2009 Starwood Category Adjustments!
Update: Today is the last day to lock in rates at hotels that are climbing in category!
The Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza has lots of Cash and points availability, which is one of the best uses of Starpoints when a Cash and points award is available. The Cash and points award will go up tomorrow from 2,800 Starpoints+$45 to 4,000 Starpoints+$60 with its rise from category 3 to category 4 hotel.
Cash and points availability is often better when calling an agent than when searching on spg.com.
Originally posted on 02/24:
Related:
Starwood AMEX Linky (Free for first year, Earn 10,000 Starpoints With First Purchase, 1 Starpoint for evey dollar spent, and 15,000 bonus Starpoints with your first $15,000 in purchases for a total of 40,000 Starpoints after $15,000 in charging!) The US Mint should be able to help you there…
Starwood Eliminates All Peak Season Award Upcharges!
There are 7 Starwood hotel categories. Hotels are categorized by the average rates that they charged over the past year.
82 hotels will go up and will now cost more Starpoints, 156 will go down and will now cost fewer Starpoints.
Important: You can lock in the old rates for hotels going up in category by booking before March 2nd even if you don’t currently have enough Starpoints! Starpoint reservations are generally fully refundable until a day or so before check-in. Again, the old rate is valid for stays anytime until the end of scheduling at all Starwood hotels as long as they are booked before March 2nd!
If you have Starpoint reservations at a hotel that is going down in category just wait until March 2nd and then get it readjusted downward. Also don’t forget to get Starpoint reservations for peak dates booked at category 5-7 hotels readjusted as well!
Hotels that went up in category: 82
From 1->2: 9 hotels.
From 2->3: 27 hotels.
From 2->4: 1 hotels.
From 3->4: 22 hotels.
From 4->6: 1 hotels.
From 4->5: 14 hotels.
From 5->6: 6 hotels.
From 6->7: 2 hotels.
Hotels that went down in category: 156
From 2->1: 11 hotels.
From 3->2: 37 hotels.
From 4->3: 46 hotels.
From 4->2: 4 hotels.
From 5->4: 41 hotels.
From 6->5: 11 hotels.
From 6->4: 1 hotels.
From 7->6: 5 hotels.
Overall there are now:
Category 1: +2 hotels.
Category 2: +11 hotels.
Category 3: +14 hotels.
Category 4: Unchanged
Category 5: -22 hotels.
Category 6: -2 hotels.
Category 7: -3 hotels.
-A number of NYC hotels have gone down, there is now even a category 4 option in Manhattan and some great category 5 options in the W NYC, the Westin Times Square, and the Le Parker Méridien (which can cost over $800/night at times!)
Here are some sample hotels that stood out among the changes:
Sample hotels that went down:
-Sheraton Kansas City Sports Complex Hotel went from 2->1
-Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel went from 3->2
-Westin LAX went from 3->2
-Four Points by Sheraton Los Angeles Westside went from 3->2
-Sheraton London Heathrow Hotel went from 4->2
-Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel & Conference Center went from 4->3
-Westin Harbour Castle Toronto went from 4->3
-W Silicon Valley went from 4->3
-Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan SoHo Village went from 5->4
-W Montreal went from 5->4
-Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa, St. Maarten went from 5->4
-THE US GRANT, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Diego went from 5->4
-W San Diego went from 5->4
-Sheraton Kauai Resort went from 5->4
-The Park Lane Hotel London went from 5->4
-The Westin Kierland Arizona Resort & Spa went from 5->4
-Le Parker Méridien New York went from 6->5
-Westin New York Times Square went from 6->5
-W New York went from 6->5
-Hotel President Wilson, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Geneva went from 7->6
-Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice went from 7->6
Sample hotels that went up:
-Sheraton Tiberias went from 2->3
-Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza went from 3->4
-Sheraton Moriah Tel Aviv went from 3->4
-Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Honolulu went from 3->4
-Sheraton Iguazu Falls, Argentina went from 4->5
Standout countries:
-Argentina: 0 went down, 3 went up.
-Australia: 5 went down, 0 went up.
-Fiji: 2 went down, 0 went up.
-India: 15 went down, 0 went up.
-Israel: 0 went down, 3 went up.
-Italy: 10 went down, 1 went up.
-Japan: 0 went down, 5 went up.
-South Korea: 4 went down, 0 went up.
-Spain: 5 went down, 1 went up.
-UK: 6 went down, 0 went up.
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