Sometimes, in hotel booking land, deals are hidden around corners. I don’t know why they are – but they are.
Case in point: The W Hollywood. I just had an excellent three night stay there.
If we look at a three night stay from July 31, the cheapest rate is $290 plus tax. That’s prepaid and non-refundable.
However, if you go to their “Offers” page there is a 3rd night free offer. While they use an inflated (or I’ll just say not the Best Available) rate of $362 for the two paid nights, it actually knocks the average daily rate down to $242. (Also prepaid and non-refundable – but that’s no worse than the $290 rate.
I’d like to be clear that no matter what rate choice you pick on the “main” reservations site, this will not come up. Not even under “Promotions.” You either need to navigate to the offers page OR know the rate plan code which is Z3H.
On this hypothetical stay (which closely mirrors my stay in June) You save $48 per night + tax or over $150 for your stay. Remember that because you save tax on the rate as well, you actually save even more.
Can this be made even sweeter with the 4th night stay benefit of the Citi Prestige card? Truth is I don’t know since I haven’t tried. In theory, if Citi’s booking people could find this rate and add a fourth paid night on, it may well be free. The way the Citi breaks down the rate you are paying $362 for night one and night 2 and 0 for night three. If you paid the same $362 again for night four, would Citi comp it?
If you have experience with stacking the Prestige free nights with another offer, please comment below.
The moral of the story? No matter what hotel’s website you are on (I’m only referring to the chains, not a third party booking site), always look for an Offers or Promotions tab inside the hotel’s booking page to see if you can find a better deal.
I read that if the hotel averages the three nights together, effectively lowering the price of the first two, but it looks like you paid for three, the Citi will honor the fourth night.
So then the question is: if it looks like: paid night, paid night, free night, paid night – will Citi credit that last night? Or only if the three first nights show a lower blended rate each night?