Jeff Low knows all about the allure of rewards programs -- free room nights for the traveler and a robust distribution system for the hotels.
As an executive with Expedia, he identified with road warriors who often sought points even when they had to sacrifice price or location.
“I always had this conflict -- stay at a distinctive hotel and have a unique experience, or get the points,” he said. “If you stayed at a hotel that didn’t have points, you felt you had left something behind.”
The way to resolve the conflict, Low decided, was to form Stash Hotel Rewards, a loyalty program for independent hotels. The company launched in May following a year of conversations with hotel leaders, travelers and travel experts.
“The one-of-a-kind nature of independent hotels is preserved in the face of spreading generica of chains,” he said. “This levels the playing field for independents so they can compete with the chain programs.”
As Stash Hotel Rewards CEO, Low oversees a program that encompasses about 100 U.S. independent hotels of three stars and higher. Like traditional programs, guests earn points when they stay there and can redeem them for stays at other properties in the system.
Hotels can manage their involvement by pricing their rooms. The number of points required for a free night varies according to hotel, room type and demand.
“The essence of Stash is, you can now stay at great independent hotels and get a shared currency,” Low said. “That’s an idea that resonated with a key set of travelers. They have stayed at a number of Crowne Plazas in their life. The promise of brands has been that wherever you go, that Crowne Plaza will be just like the other Crowne Plaza. That made a lot of sense in 1955 when there was a lot more risk. Brands represent consistency. With this new focus on travel that is meaningful and is about new things, that is no longer as critical, or is at the detriment to the brands.”
Brands like IHG -- parent to Crowne Plaza -- have their own strategies in place to keep members in their loyalty programs and still offer experiences at independent hotels.
In October, IHG announced an affiliation between its InterContinental brand and the Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas. The deal opened Las Vegas’ luxury market to IHG’s Priority Club Rewards loyalty program and its 52 million members worldwide. It also allowed the Vegas resorts to have access to IHG’s distribution system.
The deal followed a similar agreement between Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan resort and Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
Don Berg, IHG's vice president of loyalty programs, said another point of differentiation for Priority Club is its Hotels Anywhere program, which allows members to redeem their points at any hotel, even if it is not affiliated with IHG. The program developed because IHG did not have penetration into certain key markets such as Hawaii and, at the time, Las Vegas.
The program also allows members to combine points with cash if they do not have enough points alone to redeem for free room nights. The program matches IHG’s goal of designing a program for flexibility and value of currency as well as removing hurdles that could prevent people from redeeming their points.
Since its launch at the start of this summer, Berg said IHG has seen a nearly 30 percent growth in bookings.
“It’s new but already one of our most popular features,” he said. “Why would you want to send someone to another hotel? Everything we do is give the member the most flexibility and value. The answer is that they will stay with you for their paid stay. People use this and they become more loyal to us.”
Keeping Priority Club members happy is important because these loyal guests often pay higher rates. Berg said that 91 percent of the members do not pay for their own rooms -- they are business travelers whose employers are picking up the tab. He said they pay more because they stay during the week when hotels have higher occupancies and they are more rate-insensitive.
Low said partnerships between independent properties and chains do not always work out, either because the chain imposes its brand standards or because the fees can be overwhelming. It’s all of the advantages of being independent, he said, but the cost of being a chain.
“They let you do what ever you want, but there is a 132-page manual from how long a slice of bacon can be to how ice can be distributed,” he said. From our view, that is counter to the notion of having a hotelier create its own experience. These are great independent hoteliers who know how to treat guests. We let the hoteliers do what they know how to do best: treat their guests with a level of hospitality. Our goal is to provide the scale and value of a chain rewards program without the chain. Our models reflect the same need in the marketplace but the application is different.”
A Season of Giving and Getting Rewards
As an executive with Expedia, he identified with road warriors who often sought points even when they had to sacrifice price or location.
“I always had this conflict -- stay at a distinctive hotel and have a unique experience, or get the points,” he said. “If you stayed at a hotel that didn’t have points, you felt you had left something behind.”
The way to resolve the conflict, Low decided, was to form Stash Hotel Rewards, a loyalty program for independent hotels. The company launched in May following a year of conversations with hotel leaders, travelers and travel experts.
“The one-of-a-kind nature of independent hotels is preserved in the face of spreading generica of chains,” he said. “This levels the playing field for independents so they can compete with the chain programs.”
As Stash Hotel Rewards CEO, Low oversees a program that encompasses about 100 U.S. independent hotels of three stars and higher. Like traditional programs, guests earn points when they stay there and can redeem them for stays at other properties in the system.
Hotels can manage their involvement by pricing their rooms. The number of points required for a free night varies according to hotel, room type and demand.
“The essence of Stash is, you can now stay at great independent hotels and get a shared currency,” Low said. “That’s an idea that resonated with a key set of travelers. They have stayed at a number of Crowne Plazas in their life. The promise of brands has been that wherever you go, that Crowne Plaza will be just like the other Crowne Plaza. That made a lot of sense in 1955 when there was a lot more risk. Brands represent consistency. With this new focus on travel that is meaningful and is about new things, that is no longer as critical, or is at the detriment to the brands.”
Brands like IHG -- parent to Crowne Plaza -- have their own strategies in place to keep members in their loyalty programs and still offer experiences at independent hotels.
In October, IHG announced an affiliation between its InterContinental brand and the Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian and Palazzo resorts in Las Vegas. The deal opened Las Vegas’ luxury market to IHG’s Priority Club Rewards loyalty program and its 52 million members worldwide. It also allowed the Vegas resorts to have access to IHG’s distribution system.
The deal followed a similar agreement between Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan resort and Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
Don Berg, IHG's vice president of loyalty programs, said another point of differentiation for Priority Club is its Hotels Anywhere program, which allows members to redeem their points at any hotel, even if it is not affiliated with IHG. The program developed because IHG did not have penetration into certain key markets such as Hawaii and, at the time, Las Vegas.
The program also allows members to combine points with cash if they do not have enough points alone to redeem for free room nights. The program matches IHG’s goal of designing a program for flexibility and value of currency as well as removing hurdles that could prevent people from redeeming their points.
Since its launch at the start of this summer, Berg said IHG has seen a nearly 30 percent growth in bookings.
“It’s new but already one of our most popular features,” he said. “Why would you want to send someone to another hotel? Everything we do is give the member the most flexibility and value. The answer is that they will stay with you for their paid stay. People use this and they become more loyal to us.”
Keeping Priority Club members happy is important because these loyal guests often pay higher rates. Berg said that 91 percent of the members do not pay for their own rooms -- they are business travelers whose employers are picking up the tab. He said they pay more because they stay during the week when hotels have higher occupancies and they are more rate-insensitive.
Low said partnerships between independent properties and chains do not always work out, either because the chain imposes its brand standards or because the fees can be overwhelming. It’s all of the advantages of being independent, he said, but the cost of being a chain.
“They let you do what ever you want, but there is a 132-page manual from how long a slice of bacon can be to how ice can be distributed,” he said. From our view, that is counter to the notion of having a hotelier create its own experience. These are great independent hoteliers who know how to treat guests. We let the hoteliers do what they know how to do best: treat their guests with a level of hospitality. Our goal is to provide the scale and value of a chain rewards program without the chain. Our models reflect the same need in the marketplace but the application is different.”
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