Last week BoardingArea blogger VeryGoodPoints posted “Starwood’s Beat the Timer how did I not know about this!?!
I am asking myself the same question?
You definitely need to know about Starwood’s Beat the Timer site if you are a Starwood Hotels fan and want discount rate options for hotels in Europe.
This post shows a rate analysis for three hotels selected today from Starwood’s Beat the Timer site for discount rates in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
After reading the Very Good Points blog post I did a little more research to find a very short three year old thread on FlyerTalk started October 30, 2009 and only 20 posts to date with just six posts in last 14 months. A post by Brian Cohen of The Gate from February 13 2011 described Starwood’s Beat the Timer.
The thing that blew my mind is I saw I commented on the Starwood Beat the Timer post on The Gate blog last year, yet I was traveling at the time in Washington D.C. for ten days and I got quite sick with the flu and I totally forgot about the Beat the Timer site until the recent BoardingArea blog jogged my memory this past week.
Starwood Hotels beatthetimer.com rates
- Hotels are listed for 72 hours.
- Over 250 participating hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
- 90-day calendar available with rates when a hotel is selected.
- BeattheTimer.com rates are prepaid, no cancellation or changes allowed.
- Limited number of rooms.
- VAT, taxes and service charges may be additional and listed on booking page.
Starwood Hotels Beat the Timer Rate Analysis
My analysis picked three hotels randomly for rate comparisons to other available Starwood website rate discounts.
- Sheraton Essen Hotel, Essen, Germany Thur. April 5 – Sat. April 7, 2012.
- Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville, Spain Wed. March 21- Sun. March 25, 2012
- Sheraton Prague, Charles Square Hotel Thur. April 12 – Mon. April 16, 2012.
Sheraton Essen Hotel, Essen, Germany Thur. April 5 – Sat. April 7, 2012.
Beat the Timer rate = 89 EUR/night (US$118). Prepaid, nonrefundable at time of booking.
Lowest Rate Best Available Starwood Site = 149 EUR/night (US$197). No deposit required and may be cancelled up to day of arrival.
Award night = 10,000 points or Cash & Points for $60 + 4,000 points per night.
Beat the Timer has the best rate by far for the Sheraton Essen Hotel on these dates for a two-night stay.
Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville, Spain Wed. March 21- Sun. March 25, 2012.
This Luxury Collection hotel is just about to reopen on March 15 after a ten month closure for refurbishment.
Beat the Timer rate = 245 EUR/night (US$324). Prepaid, nonrefundable at time of booking. $1,296 for 4 nights.
AAA or Senior rate at Starwood Site = 248 EUR/night (US$328). No deposit required and may be cancelled up to day before arrival. $1,312 for 4 nights. $16 more on a $1,300 reservation is a premium I would pay for the flexibility to cancel the hotel without penalty up to day before arrival.
Award nights = 20,000 points or 80,000 points for 4 or 5 night stay.
Cash & Points for $150 + 8,000 points per night or $600 + 32,000 points for 4-night stay.
Beat the Timer has the lowest rate, but the flexibility of the AAA rate seems a better deal to me than saving $16 on a nonrefundable hotel stay.
The Award nights option of 80,000 points to save $1,300 gives a very low redemption value for Starpoints of $16.25 per 1,000 points.
SPG Cash & Points is far higher value with $700 in hotel rate savings for 32,000 points and a redemption value of $21.88 per 1,000 points, but that is still a relatively low redemption value. I shoot for at least $30 per 1,000 points and often get over $50 per 1,000 points through SPG Cash & Points awards.
Pay 3, Get 1 Free Starwood Special Rates
Starwood Hotels has special extended-stay rate offers for select hotels and resorts worldwide with 3rd night free, 4th night free, 25% off 5 nights and 2 nights free on 6-night stays.
Hotel Alfonso XIII is available for the dates of March 21-25, 2012 using the 4th night free rate to bring the nightly cost down to 206.25 EUR or 825 EUR for US$1,091 for this four night stay.
This rate has the same prepaid, nonrefundable terms as BeattheTimer rate but saves 155 EUR (US$205) on a 4-night stay.
4th night free Starwood rate is the best deal for Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville for the dates selected.
Sheraton Prague, Charles Square Hotel Thur. April 12 – Mon. April 16, 2012.
BeattheTimer.com rates for this hotel are as low as 93 EUR per night or US$123.
The lowest prepaid rate for the same dates is US$186 per night.
4th night free rate is US$176 per night.
Beat the Timer has the best rate by far for the Sheraton Prague Charles Square Hotel on these dates for a four-night stay.
Conclusion: Starwood Hotel rates on BeattheTimer.com were the lowest rate by far for two of three hotels surveyed. Using the Starwood site for extended stay discounts returned a 4th night free rate lower than Beat the Timer for Hotel Alfonso XIII, a category 6 hotel.
Add BeattheTimer.com to your favorites. This is a Starwood Hotels special rate website to remember when traveling to Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. And the fact that hotels change regularly while the booking window is up to 90 days in the future makes this a site to check regularly for your future travels with Starwood Hotels.
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