Hilton hotel category changes effective 13 July 2016


Earlier this week, we wrote about Hyatt's hotel category changes. However, here's something we didn't write about. Nearly two weeks, Hilton made revisions to some of their hotel categories. And the reason we didn't write about it (at the time, at least), was that there was no impact for India. However, it is nonetheless a change in the area of our hobby of points and miles, and so we thought it best to provide readers an update on these revisions, which are effective 13 July 2016.


First, the changes

There are a total of 20 hotels going up in category, 19 of which are based in the US and 1 in Turkey.


I'm surprised to see many Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Double Tree going up in categories – those are the ones that are primarily Hilton’s no-frills properties. Making them more expensive could make users move to other hotel chains that are more competitive.

And there are 13 hotels going down in category, spread across Malaysia, the UK and the USA.


As is clear from the above, no India hotels are affected. However, there are also new hotels that have entered the Hilton portfolio recently, which includes the Conrad Pune in India as a Category 4 hotel. These hotels have now been formally categorised, and can be viewed here.

Conrad Centennial Singapore

Hilton HHonors has changed the way they make these changes

Back in 2014, Hilton moved to a more dynamic way of making updates to its redemption rates, making adjustments to their hotel categories on a quarterly basis. These aren't mailed to users, but are instead posted on their website, available for viewing at all times. 

The other thing they did, was to set a range for hotels in category 4 and upwards. Here's a look at the Hilton redemption rates.


What this means, is that the points required for award nights at category 4 and above can change dynamically, without requiring a category change announcement. This explains why there are so few Hilton hotels changing categories these days. Put differently, these are relatively minor adjustments to better reflect their demand and supply situation. 

Keep in mind, this is not the same as devaluation – that would be Hilton changing the points requirement for one or more categories...something they did in 2013 which massively devalued the HHonors program. 

Conclusion

One should be too worried about these changes – the 33 properties undergoing changes is less than 1% of Hilton's overall portfolio of more than 4,500 hotels. However, it is important to note the points range for category 4 and upwards, which can be quite significant.

- Sam

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Le Meridien Etoile, Paris

Image
I checked out of the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile yesterday morning, and checked into the Le Meridien Etoile, just around the corner from the Hyatt, in the evening after a day's sightseeing. Hyatt was kind enough to hold my bags for the duration of the day (which is a surprise in today's world of terror threats), and I'm grateful to them for that. The Le Meridien has standard and chic rooms as two of their base category rooms. As I mentioned in the introduction post, I booked a chic room on an award. Here's a review of the hotel and room, but not breakfast (that didn't come with the room, and we planned to head to the airport a little early in any case). Index of posts Bonjour Paris: Introduction and summary of posts Review: Chennai to Colombo on Sri Lankan A320 regional business class Review: Serendib Lounge, CMB airport Review: Colombo to Paris on Sri Lankan A330-200 international business class Review: Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Review: Le Meridien Etoile, Paris Re...
Read more

Hotel review: Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium

Image
As part of my recent business visit to Singapore, I spent an extra night there just so I could catch up with friends, some of whom I haven't met in over a decade. And because I needed one more stay to qualify for the bonus under IHG's Accelerate 2016 promotion , and also simultaneously earn a few more IHG Rewards Club bonus points under the Book Direct promotion, I decided I was going to spend the extra night at an IHG hotel. Luckily for me, just hours before my flight to Singapore, I was able to get a rate of SG$150++ a night, which is a fantastic rate for Singapore, especially for a booking as late as mine was. However, I had received mixed reviews when I sought inputs from my Singapore-based friends, and so I decided that I would have a dekko at this myself. I had already been in touch with the hotel (even before my booking was done), to check if they were able to offer me early check in (official check in time is 3 pm, and my flight was to land at 9 am). They said they...
Read more

The week that was - 23 October 2016

Image
Hello from Paris, where my business-and-vacation trip is coming to a close. Vinay is in KUL on work, an Sam has been largely incommunicado. And I've had a fabulous week in Paris, the weather being fantastic (coming here from a rather long Indian summer)!!! Meanwhile, here's a round up of the week that was - a summary of posts on this blog as also other things travel, aviation, points and miles that we found interesting.Hope you had a great week, and here's wishing you the very best in the next one! Paris trip reports Here are the reports I've published so far, from my Paris visit. Bonjour Paris: Introduction and summary of posts Review: Chennai to Colombo on Sri Lankan A320 regional business class Review: Serendib Lounge, Colombo airport Review: Colombo to Paris on Sri Lankan A330-200 international business class Review: Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Review: Le Meridien Etoile, Paris Airline news and offers Here's how your travel to, from or via Mumbai could be affect...
Read more