If you’re a serious Starwood stayer you probably know what I’m talking about when I say there’s a Starwood Chocolate Factory. Sure, they don’t actually have a factory, but they sure send out chocolates frequently! Sometimes those chocolates come with special surprises.
At Christmastime I got a box of chocolates. There were 9 chocolates in the box, 1 for each brand, but they were all the same flavor. For my birthday, in February, I got another box (same as the holiday box.) Then I got another box – this time the box was a slightly different. Nine chocolates, one per each brand but they each had their own flavor. This box came with a card that said “You really get around.”
The card went on to explain that since I’d stayed at every Starwood brand in 2012, Starwood was giving me 3 free award nights! Yes! The nights are good at any category 1 – 6 hotel for a standard room and can not be used at a hotel that does not have standard rooms. There are some really fabulous category 6 hotels including The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Kauai, Hawaii; The St Regis Punta Mita Resort, Punta de Mina, Mexico; The St Regis Mauritius Resort, Le Morne, Mauritius; The St Regis Osaka, Japan and so on. There are also dozens of amazing category 5 & 6 hotels to chose from.
My first reaction when I got the box was, “I stayed at all 9 brands?” Wow, I can’t remember staying at a Four Points. So I had to take a look at my account. Here’s where I stayed:
- St Regis Bangkok
- Sheraton Krabi
- Sheraton Ho Chi Minh City
- W Bangkok
- Le Meridien Bangkok
- Le Meridien Khao Lak
- Sheraton Langkawi
- Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
- Le Meridien Angkor Wat
- Westin Siray Bay
- Westin LAX
- Sheraton CLT
- W Atlanta Midtown
- Sheraton Frankfurt
- The St Regis Singapore
- Sheraton Incheon
- Hotel Des Indes, The Hague (Luxury Collection)
- Hotel Pulitzer, Amsterdam (Luxury Collection)
- Sheraton Elk Grove Chicago
- Four Points Charlotte
- Westin SFO
- Westin Macau
- Westin St Francis
- St Regis NY
- Element Times Square
- Sheraton Royal Orchid
- Le Meridien Koh Samui
- Aloft Brussels
- Sheraton Brussels
- Le Meridien Brussels
- Le Meridien Piccadilly
- Sheraton Park Lane
- Four Points Sydney
- Westin Sydney
- Westin Bangkok
So, it seems I stayed at two Four Points hotels and 1 Aloft, which I didn’t even remember. It’s also pretty amazing, looking back that I stayed at so many hotels in 1 year and even though I only stayed at 35 hotels, I had 105 nights at those hotels. A vast majority of them coming from the Le Meridien Bangkok, Sheraton Park Lane and Sheraton Brussels.
This year (2013), I’m not off to a great start…I need to start thinking about how I’ll stay at all 9 brands again! So far, I’ve stayed at
- Le Meridien Bangkok
- Sheraton JFK
- Westin Times Square
- Sheraton Tysons Corner
- Westin LAX
- SLS Hotel Beverly Hills (Luxury Collection)
- Four Points by Sheraton Tempe
So, I need a St Regis stay, an Aloft Stay (got that booked in September), an Element stay and a W stay. Time to start earning some points and making some reservations!