The historic Driskill Hotel in Austin is a member of Hyatt’s new Unbound Collection. (Image: Hyatt/Driskill)
In hotel news this week, Hyatt creates a new brand for independent hotels; Marriott clears a hurdle in its planned merger with Starwood; what Hilton learned from its $50 cancellation fee experiment; and several Las Vegas properties boost their “resort fees.”
Marriott has its Autograph Collection, Hilton has its Curio Collection, Starwood has its Tribute Portfolio, and now Hyatt has created its own similar brand of affiliated but independent hotels that will participate in the Hyatt reservations system and loyalty program. It’s called The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The company said the new group will feature “upper-upscale and luxury properties,” both existing and new, and will include “historic urban gems, contemporary trend-setters, boutique hotels, resorts, and more.” The first properties to join The Unbound Collection are The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Hotel du Louvre in Paris, the Carmelo Resort in Carmelo, Uruguay; and the Coco Palms Resort in Kauai.
The planned acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts by Marriott International got a boost this week when the deal’s antitrust waiting period expired with no action from the federal government. “The expiration of the waiting period means the parties have cleared the premerger antitrust review in the United States, satisfying one of the closing conditions of the pending combination transactions,” Marriott said in a statement. The company noted that the waiting period in Canada also passed without any action from that government, but it noted that it is still working with competition authorities in other countries to secure their approvals. Marriott and Starwood stockholders are expected to vote on the merger March 28.
Last fall, Hilton Hotels started a test at 20 hotels, charging customers $50 if they canceled their reservation at any time after making it, unless it was within 24 hours of arrival, in which case a one night’s room charge applied (HHonors members were exempt from the fee test). That test is over, and Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta said in a call with analysts that guests who had to pay the fee “hated it.” But he said that was just the first step in Hilton’s ongoing plans to move ahead with new pricing or fee models in which customers will incur an added cost if they want the flexibility to cancel at any time – just as airline customers pay more for a fully refundable ticket. Part of the reason hotel operators want to tighten up cancellation policies is the growth of websites that allow customers to search for better prices than the one booked, then cancel and rebook at the lower rate.
Guest fees are rising at Caesars Palace and some other Las Vegas hotels. (Image: Jim Glab)
Las Vegas, one of the nation’s top convention venues and the home of the largest and most widespread mandatory “resort fees” in the hotel business, is taking things up a notch. According to the Los Angeles Times, five big Caesars Entertainment hotels on the Strip are raising their resort fees by 10 percent, from $29 to $32 a day. They are Caesars Palace, Nobu, the Cromwell, Paris, and Planet Hollywood. Although the fees are separate from room rates, guests must pay them even if they don’t use the services they are intended to cover, like Wi-Fi, local phone calls and use of the fitness center. The newspaper noted that the higher resort fees come just a few weeks after MGM Resorts in Las Vegas said it plans to start charging guests a fee for parking, whether they self-park or use valets.
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As a business traveller, my company’s policies prohibit prepaid rates. I suspect that’s not unique, and very roughly half of hotel stays are business travellers, so this is a big, big problem for hotels.
You’re completely right. As a business traveller, the reasons for cancelling a hotel at the last minute are all outside of my control: meeting gets cancelled, something preempts my attendance, or weather screws up my travel. I’ve already picked the hotel I want to stay at, and it’s at my company’s corporate rate, so I’m not looking for a better price. But I really don’t want the hassle of having to get an expense approved for a cancellation fee.
Why would a frequent traveller worry about a new Hilton cancellation scheme? Just join HHonors, we’re all exempt. Hilton doesn’t want to annoy good customers. It’s still a stupid move on their part, but no reason for the rest of us to be inconvenienced.
People hate the charge that happens if they cancel. So they’re just going to build the hated charge into the room rate.Then they can hate the charge even if they KEEP the reservation! EVERYBODY pays (either you pay the lower rate and get penalized if you cxl or you pay the higher rate and get (fake) “free” cancellations.) Why, that’s BRILLIANT!
SWA has it’s own issues – I fly them frequently for point to point short haul when the fare makes sense. Example issues: the SWA terminal in SAN is so over utilized, cramped, basically awful I simply don’t fly SWA in and out of SAN… If you need the time to get work done, the seating really doesn’t work, though I’ve learned to appreciate the aisle experience in the last five rows of every SWA flight.
fly SWA. No change fee. Agree with your one-way ticket usage. Hilton will loose a TON of corporate travelers if they implement this fee.
Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta is shocked people hate the charge?
The hotel cancellation fee isn’t like the airline industry at all, in that the airline industry also had a substantial drop in fares which preceded the cancellation fees. I don’t see that anywhere here… it’s not the same business at all. And if the hotel industry hasn’t been looking – change fees are some of the most despised fees of all.
If you average it all out – after I pay the change fees, which is 50% for every leg of every trip – I pay the same for air travel as I was 15 years ago. Except for the extreme hassle of the massive increase in paperwork and phone calls, not to mention time. In great measure, I put the onus for this stupidity on corporate travel rules.
The guy in the middle of all this – is the traveller, who is getting squeezed from both ends.
Boycott MGM properties until they bring their avarice into line.
The hotel cancellation fee is so interesting to me in terms of psychology. Many people would happily agree to a non-refundable, prepaid rate of $250/night if it’s shown as an upfront discount against the normal $300/night rate. But ask them to pay only $50 for the privilege of canceling and they’re livid. I’m not saying consumers are wrong not to like the cancellation fee, but it’s a great lesson for anyone setting prices and fees.