It can be confusing to figure out which Hotel Reward Programs to use. By staying nights at these hotels you can earn elite status and gain useful perks such as late checkout, free breakfast and even free stays once you’ve earned enough points. However, as each hotel chain has it’s own program, it’s important to focus on just one so you stand the highest likelihood of earning free nights and status. Read this guide for my thoughts on which hotel group offers the best reward programs, and which to avoid.
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott is the largest hotel group in the world so their Marriott Bonvoy rewards program is my first pick. If you want the largest range of hotels from low-end to extreme luxury then you need to be a member. I especially like their luxury hotel range which includes the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott and the Luxury Collection. Check out my review of one of their Luxury Collection hotels, The Domes Miramare, here
Marriott are my personal favourite of the hotel groups in this list. I think they have the stongest luxury offerings. Their mid-range offerings are also great for short city stays, especially Moxy, Four Points and Marriott. You should be able to find a Marriott hotel pretty much anywhere in the world you travel. This means for sheer utility and opportunities to earn points the come out on top.
By owning the Amex Platinum Card you are also automatically upgraded to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status. So if you’re interested in upgrading, feel free to use my Amex referral link here for a bonus 65,000 Membership Rewards Points. For UK customers Amex also offer the Marriott Bonvoy Card at an annual fee of £75. This card is great if you stay a lot at Marriott hotels but is limited for other hotel chains or using with airlines. If you want to choose how you spend your points I would recommend the Platinum or Gold card instead.
IHG One Reward
The largest UK based hotel group, IHG are a great choice for more budget focused travellers. They are also beginning to expand their extreme luxury segment by building new Six Senses, Regent and Intercontinental hotels around the world. This complements their offering of well known names like Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaze nicely. I wouldn’t really recommend their low-end chains unless it’s just a short overnight stay.
However I am very excited about their luxury offerings. Their newly built Intercontinental Hotels (e.g in the Maldives) ooze luxury and their Six senses chain seems to be up there with the most luxurious offerings from Aman or Ritz-Carlton. I hope to stay at the Regent Phu Quoc, Vietnam and Intercontinental Saigon in the future. So will be sure to post a review once I’ve stayed, stay tuned!
The IHG One Rewards Program has all the standard offering of room upgrades, late check-out/check-in and special member rates. But what I like most about them are that they are quite generous with points, with frequent offers and bonus points. And their newly upgraded app is in my opinion the best of all in this list. My one gripe would be that you don’t earn any status via owning the Amex Platinum Card (unlike Marriott, Hilton, Radisson & Melia). This means you will have to stay the prequisite number of nights. Below is a breakdown of membership benefits:
IHG previously offered a UK credit card to earn IHG reward points. Unfortunately this card has been discontinued for new applicants in Dec 2021. But hopefully a similar product can return after IHG’s recent reward program revamp. This update includes a great offer of 2,000 points per night or 10,000 points for 4 nights for new bookings to 31 December 2022.
Hilton Honors
Hilton offer hotels at a wide range of price points and as the 2nd largest hotel chain by market value, you can find one at pretty much all popular travel destinations. Their Hilton Honors reward program is extensive and has the added bonus of being able to earn points with credit cards if you’re in the US. Whilst their budget and mid-end hotels are nothing to write home about, their Waldorf Astoria brand really looks interesting. Additionally their Conrad hotels, named after the company’s founder, are famous for being luxurious.
Having stayed at a couple of Hiltons my main takeaway is that they really try to pinch every penny they can. Unless you have status with them you’ll find yourself paying for things like water bottles in room which would be free at any other chain. Service is super standardised accross all countries and it feels very Americanized. Personally I am not a fan of this and prefer to stay in hotels which actually feel like the country I’m staying in. An example of this is when I stayed at the Hilton in Stockholm and the whole front desk was staffed by Americans. This isn’t a bad thing as you can expect a certain level of quality wherever you go. But for me I like to be imersed in the culture a little bit more.
A few of their perks are nice such as spa discounts, room upgrades and free breakfast. But for the number of nights you would have to stay in a Hilton hotel to earn them I don’t think it’s worth it.
Others – Melia, Radisson & World of Hyatt
There are 3 more hotel loyalty programs worth considering. Firstly, Radisson Rewards have a good range of both mid-end and high-end hotels. MeliaRewards run a relatively small selection of luxury hotels. Both of these programs allow you to link the Amex Platinum Card (Gold status for both) for instant status which is a great perk. However, I don’t recommend them due to their limited selection. If you limited yourself to these rewards program of choice you would be very limited in destinations you could stay at.
World of Hyatt have a much larger range of hotels, but personally I feel that their hotels don’t hold up as well. Hyatt hotels have a price premium over others from IHG or Marriott, but I don’t think they do enough to justify the higher price. Though if you’re a fan of Hyatt hotels or plan on going somewhere with a good one the you can’t go wrong with World of Hyatt.
Conclusion
For me, Marriott Bonvoy is the best hotel loyalty program followed by IHG. Other large contenders such as Hilton don’t appeal to me as I feel they are too standardised. Groups such as Melia and Hyatt offer very good hotels but lack the scale of Marriott, IHG and Hilton.
As a fan of Intercontinental, Regent and Six Senses, I’m very interested to see how IHG develop their luxury range over the coming years. However for now I would say that Marriott is king.