As I mentioned yesterday, today Starwoods new category chart went into effect. Overall, 268 hotels changed hotel categories and about 50% of them decreased in category! This means, if a hotel you previously booked went down a category, you can re-book for less points! Starwood will not automatically re-price these hotels for you, instead you will need to do the leg work.
I’ve found with Starwood, you will need to actually cancel and re-book to get the lower rate. From my experience you cannot simply call and get the difference of points credited to your account. The main issue with this is that your current reservation must still be within the acceptable cancelation timeframe and have rooms available on points. For stays outside of those parameters I suggest calling Starwood and see if there is a way they’ll help you out. If the guest services person that answers the phone is not able to help you then I suggest asking for a supervisor.
You can view a list of all the hotels that went up and down a category, but the ones of interest to you right now are on page 4-7. Here are some popular hotels that have decreased in category and might be of interest to you:
- W Paris – Opéra
- Hotel Grande Bretagne, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Athens
- Vedema, a Luxury Collection Resort, Santorini
- Sheraton Rhodes Resort
- The St. Regis Rome
- Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Spa
- Le Westin Montreal
- Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas, Avon / Vail Valley
- The Westin Riverfront Mountain Villas, Beaver Creek Mountain
- Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas
- The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas
- The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali
- Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa
- The Westin Kierland Villas, Scottsdale
- Sheraton Desert Oasis Villas, Scottsdale
- Vistana’s Beach Club
- Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort
- Sheraton Towers Singapore
- Le Méridien Taipei
- Le Méridien Vienna
- Schloss Fuschl, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg
- Sheraton Brussels Hotel
- Aloft Brussels Schuman
- Sheraton Prague Charles Square Hotel
- Le Méridien Munich
- Le Méridien Grand Hotel Nuremberg
- The Westin Grand Frankfurt
- Le Méridien Budapest
- Hotel Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Naples
- Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal
- Sheraton Zurich Neues Schloss Hotel
I am personally excited to see many ski properties get more affordable when using points! I also like that Maui, Europe, and Asia have gotten a little cheaper as well.
If you are new to the Starwood Preferred Guest program, read these prior blog posts to learn more:
- Perks of the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card
- Understanding Starwoods Cash & Points Redemption
- Getting your 5th Night Free with Starwood Points
- Redeeming your Points for Hotels & Flights
- Redeeming your Points for Upgraded Rooms and Suites
- Transferring your SPG Points to Airline Miles
- Transferring SPG Points Between Accounts
- Getting Starwood Status and the Perks
- How the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card Annual Fee Pays for Itself
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