Now and then I take a look at hotel rate data. I needed six nights in Orlando and when I checked rates, I think I found some good deals.
I also need six nights in Boston and I am blown away by hotel rates. Boston is a high-priced city in the higher air rate cities of the USA like San Francisco, Miami Beach and New York. Boston is a tough city for a bargain.
Thursday July 16 rates
- $499 Boston Marriott Long Wharf
- $429 Residence Inn by Marriott Boston Downtown
- $399 Courtyard by Marriott Boston Copley Square
- $380 The Liberty, Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection
- $380 W Boston – Starwood Hotels
- $369 Westin Boston Waterfront – Starwood Hotels
- $350 Taj Boston – Taj Hotels
- $331 Westin Copley Place – Starwood Hotels
- $329 Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown
- $314 InterContinental Boston
At the low end are few chain brand hotels
- $140 Ramada Boston – Wyndham
- $149 Comfort Inn – Choice Hotels
- $161 Best Western University Hotel Boston-Brighton – Best Western
- $169 Wyndham Boston Chelsea – Wyndham
- $172 DoubleTree Club by Hilton Boston Bayside – Hilton
- $192 Hyatt Place Boston Medford – Hyatt
- $199 Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center – Hilton 50,000 points
- $212 Hampton Inn Boston Cambridge
- $216 Best Western Plus Hotel Tria
I look at these hotel rates and think this is a Priceline-Hotwire-Airbnb moment.
It has been a couple of years since I looked at a city’s hotels and did an extensive loyalty points value analysis. Boston seems like a good case study.
The values shown are relative values since earning rate ability is variable for guests depending on hotel spend, elite status, credit card spend and manufactured spend. I look at points value based on the ability to earn points through hotel stays and promotions. If you main points accumulation strategy is manufactured spend, then my valuations won’t necessarily apply.
Best Western Rewards
Three hotels with a range of rates from $161 to $239. Since all are same reward rate at 32,000 points, there are no real deals here. Though actually, all these hotels are deals compared to the $176 price to buy 32,000 points in the Daily Getaways auction. A good deal. Still, $176 is a high priced room. I want a better deal.
Choice Privileges
Choice Hotels has a Boston Logan Airport hotel and an Ascend Collection Hotel in Boston. Comfort Inn Boston Logan is outrageously priced that night and every night I checked, giving a great points value. Ascend Collection enVision requires more points, yet has lower room rates for most dates I checked than Comfort Inn Boston Logan Airport.
$10 per 1,000 points is a small points reward value compared to what I get in Scandinavia where hotel rooms that are $300 to $400 per night are 16,000 or 20,000 points per reward night.
Hilton HHonors
Hilton HHonors is in the $4 to $5 redemption range which is typical value for HHonors points. No real deals there.
Two room King Suite at Double Tree Back Bay is a decent upgrade for 94,920 points. No Points & Money Rewards shown.
Hyatt Gold Passport
Hyatt Regency Boston has a good redemption value at 15,000 points for a $390 room after tax. This exceeds the cost to buy Hyatt Gold Passport points in the current discount sale for $17 per 1,000 points making this a $264 room when you buy 15,400 points.
You can also pay 7,500 points + $100.
Still, more than I want to pay for a night in Boston. I purchased 24,000 for $260 in the April Daily Getaways. That means a 15,000 points reward night is equivalent to $162.50 for me. That looks like a decent deal.
IHG Rewards Club
IHG Rewards Club is still selling IHG Rewards Club 100,000 points for $565. That means any of the IHG hotels are cheaper with points than the cash rate.
35,000 points is $198 to buy the points for a room reward at one of the Holiday Inn Express hotels. InterContinental Boston comes out to $282.50.
Still, more than I want to pay. Kelley has her IHG Into the Nights Fall 2014 promotion two free nights for Boston.
Marriott Rewards
Getting $10.00 per 1,000 points value out of Marriott rewards is a decent return.
Marriott has some high prices for its Boston Hotels.
I purchased a one night stay for Marriott Boston Copley Place through an auction win in December for something like $85 all-in. I left the hotel off my chart at $459 or 40,000 points. The hotel is $319 after tax for the night of my stay. I beat Priceline with my auction deal.
Starwood Preferred Guest
Westin Copley Place is the only hotel with a good redemption value over $20 per 1,000 points. There are no cash & points rewards available for this date. Boston is like San Francisco where all the Starwood Hotels hit the high categories.
The Liberty, Starwood Luxury Collection is a hotel where I almost stayed during the year I was In SPG Amex Stars and could pick any hotel in the country. I switched to St. Regis Princeville Kauai instead.
Wyndham Rewards
Wyndham Rewards promises big changes on Monday May 11. One of their changes is supposed to be every hotel reward goes to 15,000 points. That dumps on low level properties, but improves the rewards scene if a hotel like Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill drops from 30,000 to 15,000 points. Redemption value in the $10 per 1,00 points range is good value. If this hotel drops to 15,000 points per night, then I might be staying at Wyndham. That is great redemption value for points I purchased for $4 to $6 per 1,000 points during Daily Getaways offers over the years.
Loyalty Traveler – Big changes for Wyndham Rewards May 11 and I redeemed all my points yesterday (March 29) I made an alternate hotel reservation in Orlando this week and I will get my 50,000 points back if there are better redemption opportunities revealed on Monday, May 11.
Boston is a city where points come in handy, even if they are high points rates. The hotel rates high climb started with geographic centers like New York, Boston, Miami and San Francisco.
A phrase today in an article I read on HotelNewsNow resonated with me,
And how do you earn loyalty in an environment where most often the customer does not want to be owned but still wants to be courted and looks at loyalty from an ease-of-use viewpoint?
The grass may be greener if I looked at hotels beyond those in hotel loyalty programs. But then I’d have to be cutting the grass every time I planned a trip to search many more lodging options for the gems. Hotel loyalty programs allow me to book hotels quickly for good value on my hotel spend.
Expect to hear about some best rate guarantee claims as I delve further into the Boston hotel scene for my July trip.
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