Ultimate Hotel Upgrade Guide: 17 Tips [2023]

I rarely meet travelers who don’t desire upgrades during their hotel stays. But a lot of people are not aware of all of the different ways to score an upgrade. In this article, I will break down a bunch of different ways to get an upgrade and give you some specific tips that you can try out for your next stay.

Book a room/hotel where upgrades are possible

You’d be surprised how many people book rooms at hotels where no upgrade is possible and yet they still request an upgrade (and even get upset when it doesn’t happen).

Some hotels may only offer two or three room types or have suites for every guest. In some cases you might book something that looks like a pretty standard room but it might actually be the highest room category offered at that property.

So if you really want an upgrade, make sure that it is actually a possibility at that property. An easy way to do this is to click on the room types from the hotel website. Usually, they will offer you a full breakdown of all of the room types available.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Some properties have very limited upgrade possibilities.

Ask and be friendly

The most important thing to do when pursuing an upgrade is to ask in a friendly manner. Saying something like, “I know these things are based on availability but do you have any available upgrades?” can be a non-entitled way to make your request.

Ideally, you can combine your ask with a pleasant interaction with the front desk agent.

You have to remember that front desk personnel deal with dozens of guests every day who engage in the same boring small talk or treat the staff like robots whose only function is to get them into their room.

By being personable, telling jokes, and just treating them like a regular human, you can stand out from a lot of those guests and be the little spark that puts the agent in a much better mood. A better mood equals higher chances of an upgrade.

You can make your initial ask days or even weeks prior to your check in date by sending in a request via email. Just let the hotel know that you are really looking forward to your stay and that you wanted to put a notation on your reservation for an upgrade request.

The agent checking you in should see this and if you are already impressing him or her with your politeness and presentability, you probably are in a great position to nonchalantly make your ask for an upgrade.

Tip: If you will be using mobile check-in, I highly recommend sending in a request a few days prior to increase your odds of receiving an upgrade.

Leverage complaints

When you have something go wrong during your stay — especially right when you arrive in your room — you can leverage that to potentially get an upgrade.

For example, if you stepped into your room and found some type of disgusting mess, you could contact the front desk and while voicing your complaint offer an upgrade as a potential remedy.

Remember: politeness is the key here.

Book low traffic dates

Your odds of getting an upgrade go down significantly when there is limited inventory.

This happens at hotels that stay busy year-round but it gets especially bad around popular holidays like New Year’s.

If you want to maximize your odds of getting an upgrade try to avoid booking during holidays or popular local events like Mardi Gras.

Ask during down times

If you have ever checked into a hotel during peak check-in hours you know how much of a madhouse the hotel lobby and the check-in area can turn into.

This is definitely the worst time to request an upgrade because the staff is already overwhelmed just processing check-ins.

This is why it is a good idea to check in during the early afternoon — a couple of hours before the standard check-in time. In my personal experience the best time to check in is usually between 11am and 2pm.

However, sometimes you never know when a bus full of tourists can arrive with dozens of guests pouring into the lobby so you also have to be flexible with this and use your best judgment.

I would try to avoid checking in during evenings if possible because a lot of the upgrades may already be taken. At the same time, if you are checking in very late at night (after 10pm) sometimes a hotel will be more willing to give up the premium room because it is obvious that nobody is going to book it for that night.

Ask during your stay

So many people assume that the only time they can request an upgrade is at the time of check-in.

But if you are on a longer stay and really desire and upgrade you can make the request for an upgrade during the middle of your stay. We did this in New Zealand at a Hilton property and got a nice upgraded to a really cool suite, which we were able to relax in during our last two nights.

Sure it involved moving all of our belongings to a new room but we were already doing that on an around the world trip so it was not a big deal.

To do this, just let the hotel know during your initial check-in that you would like to occasionally check in with them on upgrade availability. If the hotel offers decent customer service this should not be an issue.

Cash money

Some guests offer cash money to check-in agents in order to win them over and score an upgrade. Offering cash for an upgrade can sometimes backfire and it’s not always the best way to go.

Why? Because it can come off like a bribe/coercion and make hotel agents feel uneasy about honoring your request. Also, some people take offense to tips for various reasons — “Oh, I look like I’m poor or somethin’?”

In certain locations such as Las Vegas this might be more acceptable but in your every day city sliding a $20 bill under your ID could just make an agent flat out uncomfortable.

If you do want to involve cash then try to present a few bucks as a tip for the good service you are receiving. The trick is that you have to do this before the agent chooses your room which can happen pretty quickly.

Some people also bring gifts such as a box of chocolates or sweets to the hotel staff as a way to win them over. The problem with this is that a lot of people don’t like eating food offered by strangers. If the treats are completely sealed up or from a known brand it might work better, but offering food is a little risky.

Avoid OTAs

If you are serious about getting an upgrade then you should avoid booking your room through an online travel agency (OTA). These are services like Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc.

When you book through an OTA, some hotels will give you the lowest quality rooms or simply will refuse to change your room because it could interfere with agreements they have with the OTA. Other times they just want to give priority to those who booked directly with the hotel since those bookings earned the hotel more revenue.

Note: Some OTA’s may have reward systems where you can book select hotels that will offer you upgrades.

Sign up for a loyalty program

Some hotels ask the staff to get more people to sign up for their loyalty program and may even have quotas for new sign-ups. This means that you might be able to leverage joining the loyalty program for an upgrade.

Saying something like, “If I join the loyalty program could that put me in the running for an upgrade?” could be an easy way to sway the agent.

Be a regular

The benefit of staying at the same hotel repeatedly is that you can earn preferential treatment.

If the staff ends up learning your name and greets you by it when you arrive there is a high chance you will be rewarded with an upgrade. Just don’t get too entitled. No matter how many times you visit, politeness is still going to be key for getting special treatment.

Elite status

Having hotel elite status is one of the easiest ways to get upgrades.

The higher your elite status level, the better the upgrades you will get. For example, if you have a mid-level elite status you are probably only going to get bumped to a category higher than the room you booked.

So if you booked a standard room you might get booked bumped to a deluxe room which could be a room with more square feet or perhaps a better view.

If you have top level elite status then you will stand a much higher chance of getting upgraded to a hotel suite.

Usually, this means getting bumped to a standard suite or even something like a Junior Suite. But in some cases it is possible to get upgraded to a premium suite which sometimes can triple the value you are getting from your stay.

Of course, at some properties your elite status will not get you any upgrade so these things are not always guaranteed.

It really helps to know what type of upgrade your elite status offers you. That’s because you can always check the inventory available at the hotel just before you arrive and apply a little bit of pressure to the hotel agent if needed.

You need to be careful that you don’t come across as entitled and that you don’t make the hotel agent get defensive, but in some cases you could point out that the hotel website shows a room available that you are eligible for based on your elite status.

Try to communicate that as non-confrontational and as easy-going as possible and you may have some success. If you approach the request in a way that is calling out the agent for incompetence, you might be facing more of an uphill battle.

Tip: We have hotel elite status with basically all of the major hotel chains and we achieved this easily with credit cards. Your standard travel hotel credit card can land you basic elite status but some of the premium cards with higher annual fees may start you off with a top level status.

Upgrade certificates

When you start to hit the upper levels of hotel elite status you might be able to earn upgrade certificates like Marriott Suite Night Awards.

These will all work a little bit differently but generally after you make a booking you can put in a request to use your upgrade certificate. Sometimes you can choose the specific type of room you would like to be upgraded to but other times it might be more generic.

Typically, you will not hear anything until a few days before your booking but some programs may offer you instant confirmation.

In order to earn the certificates you will need to spend a lot of nights in a specific hotel chain so it does require some persistent dedication.

Luxury hotel programs

If you don’t have elite status, one of the best ways to ensure that you will receive a nice upgrade is to book through a luxury hotel program.

Often, you need a credit card to get access to these programs but there are several of them including Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR), Chase Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection, Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection, etc.

In addition to receiving an upgrade you can also get other perks like free breakfast, early check-in, late check out, and a property credit. Sometimes they even have special promotions like the third night free so they can be extremely lucrative to use.

Special occasion

If you have a true special occasion coming up such as a honeymoon, anniversary, birthday, or very meaningful celebration, you should absolutely bring that up to the hotel.

I would advise you bringing it up via email a couple of weeks before your stay but sometimes you can just notify the hotel when you show up.

Hotels love to make you feel special on these events and that is especially true at destinations that cater to romantic getaways. And even if you don’t get an upgrade, you still might get some free bubbly or a cheese platter.

Note: Just be aware that some special occasions like a bachelor party may give off signals that your party might be a liability and may not be the best “special occasion” to announce.

Points + payment

Some hotels will allow you to upgrade by making a cash payment on top of your award booking. So you might be able to book a room for 50,000 points and then pay $200 for an upgrade to an awesome suite. This is how we were able to score an amazing overwater villa in the Maldives!

Avoid early check-in

I mentioned above how the ideal time to request an upgrade is usually before the peak rush. I have found that to be true but you also don’t want to check in too early. If you request early check-in and you’re trying to access your room way before the standard check in time there may only be a few rooms available which would decrease your upgrade odds.

If you really want to upgrade then you could always arrive at the hotel early and let them know that you are okay with waiting until a better room opens up.

Don’t travel with a pet

Traveling with a pet can be a lot of fun and I have a lot of tips for anyone bringing their dog to a hotel. But a lot of times your room may be restricted to a certain floor or wing of the hotel which can significantly drop your upgrade odds.

Final word

Getting an upgrade at a hotel often comes down to treating the hotel staff with respect, being a little personable, and perhaps a little bit of luck. But you can increase your odds of getting an upgrade by trying out these different tips.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time credit card rewards/travel expert and has earned and redeemed millions of miles to travel the globe. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

What Time Is Check-In for Hotels? (Early Check-In Tips) [2023]

Have you ever wanted to get into your hotel room early so that you can enjoy your hotel experience longer or simply get some much-needed rest? Well, it’s very possible to check-in early to your hotel in a lot of cases.

But how exactly is it done?

I personally have taken advantage of some form of early check-in on almost every hotel stay I’ve had over the past few years, so I’m very familiar with the process.

In this article, I will talk about how to check-in early at your hotel and provide you with some specific tips on how to increase your odds of getting early check-in and what to do if you can’t get it.

What time is check-in at hotels?

The standard time for check-in at a hotel is 3pm or 4pm. However, if a hotel has your room ready for you before that time, they often will allow you early check-in and access to your room.

Below, I will talk about how you can check-in even earlier than these times so keep reading!

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

How to check-in at a hotel

Before jumping into all of the different ways to get early check-in, it’s a good idea to review the check-in process since it is the time when you would typically request early check-in.

When you arrive at a hotel, you typically pull into the front and head straight to the front desks in the lobby. If you have elite status with the hotel’s loyalty program, you can head to the dedicated desk for elite members.

Usually, a hotel staff member will greet you and ask what they can do for you and you simply tell them that you would like to check-in. (It’s at this point that you would typically request early check-in but more on how to do that later.)

The hotel agent will then ask for your name and then they will pull up your reservation. Usually, at this point they will confirm the type of reservation you have and the dates (e.g., a one bedroom suite for three nights). You might also get a special thank you for having elite status if that applies.

Then they will ask you to present a government-issued ID along with a credit card and the staff member should take care of everything else, such as issuing you your room key, parking pass, and any other materials or pamphlets.

hotel check-in sign for Hyatt elite members — Dedicated check-in line for Hyatt elite members.

How to check-in early at a hotel

Now that you have the check-in basics down let’s get into some specific tactics you can take advantage of in order to check-in early.

The big thing to keep in mind is that early check-in is virtually always going to be based on the occupancy rate. If the hotel was at 100% occupancy the night before and is dealing with guests who want to stay late, getting early check-in is going to be more difficult regardless of things like your hotel status.

That is because the only alternative would be for the hotel to essentially wake up guests and kick them out of their rooms. That type of service would probably not be ideal for most guests so it is not likely to happen.

Also, early check-in is dependent upon the housekeeping procedures. Some hotels don’t begin housekeeping until a certain time in the morning and rooms just don’t get cleaned 24 hours a day.

So while the strategies below can certainly help your early check-in odds just remember that in some cases there is only so much that can be done to get you in your room early.

Just show up and ask

One way to access your hotel room early is to simply show up at the hotel and ask if they have your room available. For best results you probably don’t want to try this crazy early (especially if you do not have elite status).

So let’s say that check-in is at 3pm, showing up around 1pm and asking if your room is ready is not unreasonable.

In some cases when trying this, I’ve been able to check-in absurdly early like the time we checked in at the Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel around 6am!

That is probably an outlier case because some hotels have policies that don’t allow early check-in before a certain time such as 6am or 7am. If you attempt to check-in a little bit before that cut-off (e.g., 5am), you’ll likely be charged a full or partial day rate. If you attempt to check-in wayyy before that, such as a minute after midnight or 1am, expect to be charged for a full extra night.

In most cases I would not expect early check-in to work until at least 10am to 11am but even that can be pushing it for some properties — it all comes down to available inventory (and housekeeping procedures).

The key with making a request like this is to be extremely presentable and friendly when making your ask. A simple smile and a “Hello, I have a reservation for today and I wanted to see if early check-in was available” can take you far.

Call ahead of time

Sometimes I call the hotel ahead of time and ask about checking in early. You could call ahead anytime before your stay but the most effective time to call would be the night before and/or the morning of your stay.

Most of the time when I call about early check in, they tell me that they cannot guarantee anything until I physically show up at the check-in desk. However, sometimes they are able to guarantee that my room will be ready early whenever I arrive. It’s pretty hit or miss.

If you are calling the night before and can’t get a straight answer on early check-in you could ask them what the occupancy rate is for the night. Assuming they have accurate information, and they tell you that the hotel is not full, you could expect some rooms to be available before check-in.

(You could also check the hotel’s website the night before to see if a lot of rooms are available.)

If you are calling the day of your stay, convey to the person on the phone how close you are to the hotel. It is much more effective to let them know that you are on your way to the property because that will put some pressure on them to actually find out if your room is ready rather than giving you a vague or generic response.

Email ahead of time

You may also choose to email the hotel and request early check-in. Typically, I would go this route if I had a very specific reason for needing early check-in.

If that applies to you then you could send an email in several days prior to your check-in. Most likely the hotel staff will tell you that they cannot guarantee early check-in but at least it will already be noted on your reservation and potentially prioritize the cleaning of your room.

Apps/websites

Certain hotel chains like Hyatt are now offering you the option of requesting early check-in online or via their mobile app (but sometimes you have to pay). Also, you can now mark your preference for early check-in in your profile for certain hotel chains.

I personally would not rely on ticking a box on my hotel profile to get me early check-in and would much rather make the request face-to-face at check-in.

Elite status

Having hotel elite status is one of the best ways to increase your odds of getting early check-in. Unlike late check out which is often guaranteed, early check-in is usually not guaranteed.

One of the cool things about early check-in is that it is often a benefit given to lower elite levels.

For example, the bottom level of elite status with Hyatt, known as Discoverist status provides you with early check-in. I have now utilized that early check-in at numerous Hyatt properties and it has become very valuable.

As an IHG Spire Elite (now diamond), you can check-in as early as 10am, subject to availability. Marriott has been pretty good about offering me early check-in and if you have Platinum status or above, you can get instant lounge access if your room is not ready.

Hilton has been pretty hit or miss with early check-in for me (even as a Diamond member) but it never hurts to ask since they base things on availability.

Overall, hotel elite status doesn’t usually guarantee early check-in but it does make it more likely that you’ll receive it in a lot of cases.

It might even be worth mentioning your status when you make your early check-in request (although typically the staff member working the desk will point out your elite status when they look up your reservation).

Hotel programs

There are a number of special hotel programs that provide you with early check-in but a lot of times this benefit is subject to availability.

Here are some programs to look into:

In addition to early check-in, these programs also offer great benefits like upgrades, free breakfast, property credits, etc., so be sure to look into those.

Ask about a downgrade

If you really want to get a room as soon as possible and you don’t really care what type of room it is you could ask for a downgrade to see if you could get into a room earlier. This will obviously only work if you did not book a basic room, but it is one of the most effective ways to get early check-in.

I’m not sure if a hotel would refund you the difference in the room rate since you are receiving a benefit (early check-in) but it would not be unreasonable to inquire about a potential refund in an instance like this, especially if you booked multiple nights.

Ask about a paid upgrade

On the flip side, you could also ask about paying for an upgrade. Perhaps your basic room is not available but there is already a suite that has been cleaned. If you stand no shot of getting a free upgrade, then asking about the paid upgrade route could be a smart option if you really want a room ASAP.

Repeat customer

Generally, the more you visit a specific hotel the more special treatment you will receive. If you repeatedly visit the same hotel your odds of getting early check-in probably go up. This is especially true if you can develop some type of relationship with management or staff at that hotel.

When you arrive at check-in you could say something like “Hello, it’s good to be back again! I was wondering if early check-in was available for my room?” That will immediately signal to the hotel agent that you are a returning guest and might prompt them to act more expediently to get you in your room.

24 hour stay

Sometimes you might run into a hotel that allows you to check in at any time but requires you to be out 24 hours after that. So if you checked in at 10am you would be expected to check out by 10am the next day. As long as you have your exit plan for your check-out day this should not be an issue.

Half-day rate

Sometimes when you try to check-in really early, such as early in the morning you may be offered a “day rate” or “half-day rate.” As the name suggests, this could be 50% of the nightly rate but in other cases it might actually be a different dollar amount.

If you are offered this you could counter and ask them at what time you could attempt early check-in to avoid the half-day rate. Also, feel free to negotiate. You might be able to get them down to half of the day rate depending on when you are arriving.

I once received 6am early check-in at the Marina Bay Sands!

Hotels that play hard to get early check-in

For the most part, I have had some great success with early check-ins but there are certain types of properties where early check-in usually becomes problematic. The hotels that have given me the most trouble with early check-in are resorts.

Specifically, all-inclusive resorts have almost never provided me with early check-in.

It could be just a matter of bad luck but it also could be caused by the fact that there is just more going on at resorts in terms of occupancy rates and stocking up rooms.

Another type of property where early check-in has been hard to get is specialty lodging such as cabins, lodges, etc. and it’s likely a product of having a smaller housekeeping staff.

What to do if not given early check-in

When it comes to early check-in, it is a very good idea to have a back up plan because you never know what to expect. If you were not given early check-in you have a few options.

Ask for priority cleaning

If you were not given early check-in you can request for your room to be put at the top of the list for cleaning. If you have elite status or some type of VIP status with that hotel this should be very doable. Sometimes the hotel will even offer to shoot you a text when your room is ready.

The key with this request is to be extremely nice when asking. You need to give the front desk a reason to go out of their way to help you and to put (mostly unnecessary) pressure on housekeeping.

Check in your luggage

If you are denied early check-in and get stuck with a lot of luggage the hotel should be able to store your bags for you while you wait for check-in. In fact, many hotels will do this for free. When doing this, I usually make sure I keep valuable items on me like my electronics or passport.

Hang out in the bar area, lounge, etc.

Sometimes you might just be forced to hang out at the hotel for a little while. Ask about any restaurants, bars, pools, or lounge areas you can visit. If your elite status provides you with lounge access you will probably be given early access to the hotel’s lounge.

All-inclusive

Some all-inclusive hotels will still issue you a wristband even when you are arriving early. This will allow you to start partaking in the food and beverage experience before you even are assigned a room.

Upgrades

One of the major downsides of checking in early is that you could hurt your upgrade chances.

The reason is simply that there will be a more limited availability of rooms and because you’re checking in early the hotel may not know what type of inventory they will have that night.

So always be sure to balance that trade-off and perhaps even inquire with the front desk to see if you’re killing your chances of an upgrade by requesting early check-in.

Checking in late

In some cases, you might be wondering about the opposite end of the spectrum: if it is possible to check-in late.

For example, you might have booked a hotel stay for a Wednesday night and you might not be showing up until 1am Thursday morning. (Sometimes people do this so that they are guaranteed early check-in.)

At a major hotel chain, you should be able to check-in 24 hours a day but you should still verify this.

If you think you will be checking in after hours (after 9pm) your best bet is to call the hotel ahead of time and let them know about your situation. They should be able to put a note on your reservation so that your booking is not cancelled and they should also inform you about any special procedures for checking in that late.

For example, sometimes you have to call a special phone number or input some type of passcode to get into the building.

Smaller hotels such as boutique hotels or hotels in random locations sometimes have hard limits on when you can check in. (I once encountered this in Iceland.) These should be explicitly stated in the terms of your booking but again I would always follow up to verify these policies if you think you’ll be checking in late at night.

Final word

As you can tell, there are several different ways to get early check-in. Sometimes it is as simple as showing up early and politely requesting it while other times you can rely on hotel status or special hotel programs. Just remember to always have a back up plan just in case early check-in is not granted so that you are not forced to linger around the lobby for hours on end.

Daniel Gillaspia

What Can a Hotel Butler Do for You?

You may have seen a hotel butler service advertised before and wondered what exactly these butlers can do for you?

Would it be worth it to book a room with butler service or are you better taking care of yourself?

In this article, we will take a detailed look at how to make the most of a hotel butler. We will cover the things that you will want to ask them and explain what the process may look like.

What is a hotel butler?

A hotel butler is a staff member dedicated to providing you with personalized attention and service throughout your stay. A hotel butler can be of any gender and sometimes they are essentially your personal concierge (more on that below).

What kind of training do hotel bulters have?

Training levels will vary across the globe but typically your butler is going to have at least a few years of experience in the hospitality industry, similar to how golden key concierges are required to have requisite years of experience.

Sometimes the butlers have specific training like at the Outrigger Beach Resort Fiji, where butlers have gained valuable training at the Australian Butler School.

Or for properties like the Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, they could go through one of the notable butler programs like the Guild of Professional English Butlers.

In other instances, a brand could have its own butler training program like the St Regis.

What type of hotels offer butlers?

You’re not going to find butler service at your every day hotel like a Holiday Inn or Marriott Courtyard (shocker). Instead, these are going to be found at luxury properties and resorts, such as the St. Regis, Sandals, Four Seasons, and others.

Often times, the butler is attached to a specific room type.

It’s not uncommon for a presidential suite to come with butler service but there are also lower level suites that come with butlers. Sometimes they are actually called “Butler suites” and these could be some of the best rooms offered by the hotel.

If the hotel offers a butler service you might be able to pay to take advantage of the service even if your room does not come with it but there could be a hefty charge and staff limitations so that won’t always be a guarantee.

How does hotel butler service work?

At high end hotels, your butler service may be available 24 hours a day. (For this reason, you may have a duo or small team of butlers that you interact with rather than a single, dedicated individual all the time.)

Sometimes the butler is solely focused on your stay which could be the case when paying for one of the most premium rates like a penthouse residence. Other times, the butler may have multiple rooms or simply serve a single floor.

In terms of how you contact them sometimes you just have a phone number that you can call or text. Other times a hotel may give you a special phone or tablet that you can use.

This is one of the major perks of having a butler service because it allows you to receive service in real time. You don’t have to waste time trying to get hold of someone or waiting for someone to get back with you on your requests.

If you have ever struggled to get in contact with room service or had to wait extra long for housekeeping to bring you an extra towel, you know how frustrating those circumstances can be.

But with a hotel butler, those issues become a thing of the past.

The best way that a hotel butler can deliver

The best type of hotel butler service is the type that puts a personalized touch on your experience and anticipates your needs.

This could mean catering to a special occasion with surprise champagne, having special chocolates delivered to you after a romantic dinner, etc. Other times it could be helping to round up a specific collection of alcoholic beverages tailored to your taste.

One way that they accomplish this is by reaching out to you prior to your stay, often by email. They could send you over a form to fill out that can provide them with helpful details like your arrival time, size of party, etc.

This will also give you the opportunity to voice any special requests or preferences that you might have. For example, if you were trying to plan something special for an anniversary or honeymoon, you could voice that to the butler.

Or perhaps a member of your party has specific dietary needs? A talented butler could help create a meal plan that makes life easier for that person during your stay.

If nobody from the property reaches out to you then feel free to be proactive and make your requests prior to your stay. (I would typically try to make any requests at least two weeks prior to your scheduled arrival.)

And if you need anything during your stay, the butler can act as a type of personal assistant so that you can focus on enjoying your trip and not running errands or putting out small fires.

For example, if you realized you left your tie at home a butler could run to the nearest department store to find you a last minute tie (that actually works with your outfit).

Or maybe you are out by the pool and you realize you are out of sunscreen, just buzz your butler and get that fixed pronto.

Basically, the idea is that the hotel butler is going to help make your stay as memorable as possible by making your life easy in a warm and professional manner.

Sure, your room may blow you away with ocean views and brilliant floor to ceiling windows, and you might be dazzled by fine dining and wonderful spa treatment. But having that personal connection to a butler can put the experience over the top and set it apart from other hotel stays.

Other ways that a hotel butler can help you

Not every hotel will be able to deliver as described above but if they can’t, you should be able to expect some of the following perks and services.

Airport transfers

If you need to arrange a transfer to and from the airport your hotel butler can help you do that. Whether you are trying to drop in via helicopter or just your basic sedan, a butler can take care of you.

A warm hotel welcome

Even if you did not make pre-visit arrangements with your butler, it’s not uncommon for them to give you a warm greeting upon arriving at the hotel.

There could be some welcome champagne involved but other times it’s just a heartfelt intro to your stay (that often allows you to bypass the front desk).

If the property has a lot going on or your room is tricked out with different features, that butler should be able to get you up to speed on everything you need to know.

I’ve always appreciated getting greeted by someone who is so passionate about the hotel and I usually always leave the interaction finding out a few things about the property that I didn’t know.

So don’t underestimate the value of a good welcome!

Luggage assistance and other small needs

Typical butler service would involve transporting and possibly even unpacking and packing your luggage.

You may not find it appealing to have someone else unpack your luggage but ask yourself if you’ve ever had someone unpack your luggage who is professionally trained for that specific task? If anything, maybe you can learn some nifty packing techniques, like how to keep your clothes wrinkle free.

A highly skilled butler is also going to take care of your requests for things like clothes pressing, shoeshining, special room service deliveries, turn down service, drawing relaxing baths, etc. Sometimes they will accomplish these tasks with astonishing speed and efficiency.

Need a little bit of extra motivation to get out of bed?

Hotels like the St. Regis Bangkok allow you to schedule for a butler to bring coffee or tea up to your room and even your preferred newspaper.

Experienced hotel butlers often take the service a step further than just booking services. For example, if you booked an excursion through your hotel butler they could also provide you with a cooler filled with refreshments and beverages for you to take with you. It’s all about going the extra mile.

Assistance for your pet

We’ve written about the difference between a hotel that merely accepts pets and a hotel that is pet friendly.

Some of these hotels that cater to pets have a special service for dogs where they will take your dogs for walks or help them get comfortable. For example at the Fairmont they have something called Canine Ambassadors.

Your butler may be able to assist with pretty much any need for your pet so it’s always worth running those requests by them to see if they can help out.

Insider knowledge

It’s possible that your butler could provide you with insider knowledge and access like at the New York Hilton Midtown where butlers specialize in providing guests with all the need to know info about Broadway shows and unique experiences.

At beach resorts like the Mandarin Oriental, Canouan, a lot of times the requests revolve around setting up cabanas, lounge chairs, and other beach amenities so that guests can get started early in the morning without the hassle of finding open space.

Hotels like the Conrad Maldives even have what they call an Instagram Butler, which is someone who can help you take the most Instagram worthy photos around the beautiful resort.

Butler meets concierge?

Lots of times the butler can act as a concierge which means that they can help you with things like making restaurant reservations, booking tours, shows, spa treatments, etc.

The big difference is that the hotel butler can take care of many more duties (like all of the ones mentioned above) and the hotel butler is honed in on your specific needs unlike a concierge who would likely be serving the entire hotel.

This does introduce the question of whether or not you should contact the concierge when you need strictly concierge-like services.

That’s because unless the butler is actively working with the concierge, there’s a good chance that the concierge could be more skilled at working magic like finding hard to get reservations, show tickets, etc.

Limits to what the hotel butler can do for you

Just like a concierge, there will always be limits to what a hotel butler can do.

You always want to consider the nature of the location.

Resorts located on remote islands obviously don’t have access to lots of amenities but a property in a major city could essentially have access to everything.

Try to refrain from asking for anything illegal or anything that would potentially get the butler into hot water with hotel management. Stray from the drugs and prostitutes. (Remember, certain things can get you kicked out of a hotel room!).

Trying to involve your butler in your personal travels should also generally be avoided. While some butlers may be willing to partake, for the most part butlers want to maintain a professional relationship with you — not a personal one.

So inviting them out on the catamaran or to join for dinner would not be a good choice.

Another thing to avoid is overly burdensome requests.

While some butlers will do all they can to appease a guest, you might be stepping over the line if you are making requests for things that take up a lot of their time but provide little value. For example, asking them to watch over your precious shoe collection for a few hours….

And finally, make sure that you formulate your requests in a respectful way. Avoid coming off as entitled or demanding and always do your best to show sincere appreciation for the work they are doing for you. A personalized thank you letter can go very far.

Tipping your hotel butler

The tipping situation for a hotel butler may depend on the type of resort and your location. In lots of places outside the US, tipping is just not customary or only reserved for extreme cases.

If you are staying at a property where tipping is welcomed, such as pretty much any property in the US, then you could go about tipping in a few different ways.

Sometimes it can help to kick off your stay with a healthy tip so that your butler feels extra motivated to deliver at a high-level. That of course comes at the risk of not getting your money’s worth for your tip just in case they don’t step up their game.

You could also tip by the day. This often works out to about $20 to $40 per day and sometimes you can even tie it to the price of your room and tip about 5% to 10% of the room rate.

And finally, you can decide to leave your tip at the very end of your stay.

Of course, the amount that you tip likely will depend on the level of engagement you had with the butler. If they dazzle you then your tip should be equally as dazzling.

If a butler really blows you away consider writing positive reviews about them and mentioning their name online. You can also refer the hotel management to these reviews so that they are aware of the outstanding service provided to you.

Some butlers work for hotels for extended periods of time so you can always make a special request for that same butler if you return for another stay!

Is a hotel butler NOT for you?

While many people would be excited at the prospect of having a hotel butler cater to their every need, for some people a lot of what I have written above sounds like a huge turn off.

Many people don’t want to be bothered on a vacation and don’t want to constantly be checked on or feel like they have to engage with someone, remember to tip, answer an email, etc. They also might feel awkward asking other people to do certain tasks like shine their shoes or make a bed.

For these people, it might be better to decline the butler service even if it is a part of your room.

Or, you could simply tell the hotel that you are not a “butler person” and don’t want to be bothered but will reach out if there is anything that you need.

Final word

Admittedly, a hotel butler is not for everyone. Not every hotel guest needs or wants assistance with luggage, making reservations, filling out an itinerary, etc.

But for those who like a bit of special attention and personal service, a hotel butler can help alleviate a lot of the stress of traveling and make everything feel a lot smoother.

Sources:

Travel associates

Daniel Gillaspia

Presidential Suites: Everything You Need to Know

For lots of travelers, staying in a presidential suite is a bucket list item. It’s a way to experience how the rich and famous live and it can be one of the most memorable and exciting ways to travel.

But what exactly can you expect when booking a presidential suite? Just how cheap or expensive can they be and what kind of special amenities or room features might you have?

We researched over 100 presidential suites in the US and abroad and have broken down a lot of the key things you need to know about presidential suites, including how to find presidential suites for under $1,000!

Where did the term presidential suite come from?

Where and when exactly the term “presidential suite” originated is up for debate.

Some sources claim it originated from Woodrow Wilson’s presidency from 1913–1921, while others attribute it back to the time of Ulysses Grant in 1890 or even to the European tradition of royal suites.

Regardless of where the term came from, it’s now undoubtedly a term associated with the most luxurious type of lodging.

What exactly is a presidential suite?

It will help to define a presidential suite before we dive in too deep.

The presidential suite is usually the premier hotel suite offered at a property. It’s the “biggest and the baddest” room. The type of room that makes you feel like royalty.

This top level residence is not always labeled with the name presidential suite and can go by other names like Pinnacle Suite, Ambassador Suite, or even take on a namesake. You might even run into an actual presidential-themed room like the JFK Suite at the Hilton Fort Worth.

One thing that makes these suites special is that lots of these rooms have hosted presidents, world leaders, and other high profile individuals. Case in point: the Waldorf Astoria in New York has hosted every U.S. president since Herbert Hoover.

That would explain the bullet proof windows in some of these suites….

Sometimes there are suites better (and larger) than the presidential suite, especially when you venture overseas.

Look to the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London which has a presidential suite with 1,023 square feet but a number of other suites much bigger like the three bedroom penthouse with a little under 5,000 square feet!

It’s also worth noting that some presidential suites fail to deliver because hotels use the term “presidential suite” wayyy too loosely.

I break down these shortcoming suites into two different categories.

Vice presidential suites: These are presidential suites that are nice and quite spacious but lack the unique character and features of a true presidential suite.
Faux presidential suites: These are suites worthy of being impeached and that have absolutely no business using the term presidential in their name!

Booking

Some hotels don’t allow you to book presidential suites online and sometimes they don’t even publish a lot of (or any) details about them.

Instead, you’ll have to call to make a booking and get pricing information from the sales department although a concierge is sometimes involved.

I’m guessing they prohibit online bookings so that they only get people seriously interested in staying.

For the really pricey presidential suites, don’t be surprised if you are required to pay upfront (even if they have a flexible cancellation policy).

Finding availability is sometimes difficult because some people — usually celebrities or high profile net worth individuals — occupy the presidential suite for extended periods of time. For example, an actor could be in town shooting a movie and could be staying in that presidential suite for a couple of months.

That’s probably yet another reason why hotels like to have personal interaction to book the suite — they don’t want people tying up inventory.

If you’re hoping to get upgraded to a presidential suite, the odds are definitely stacked against you. However, I have seen some people with elite status get bumped to the presidential suite on occasion.

Usually it’s for something like a one night stay and often that person has stayed with that chain many times, perhaps even earning a high tier of lifetime status. But if you see that the suite is available, it never hurts to ask.

Fairmont Grand Del Mar Grand Suite balcony with fireplace. Image via fairmont.com.

How much do presidential suites cost?

We analyzed about 100 presidential suites in the US and in different countries. On average, we found the price for a presidential suite came out to $4,453 and the median price came out to $2,127.

However, the price range for a presidential suite can vary dramatically.

For example, the cheapest presidential suite we found was at the Riverwalk Plaza Hotel and it was going for only $230 per night. It was a nice suite but it did not have true presidential suite qualities.

As for the most expensive, it was at The Carlyle, a luxury property in New York. The sales team told us that it went for $42,500 per night (and that’s not even including all the taxes).

So obviously your experience in a presidential suite can be extremely different depending on what property you are staying at.

But you’ll be happy to know that we also found plenty of presidential suites for under $1,000 per night.

If you have a credit card like an American Express card, you can often find deals where you can get around $100 to $200+ off on stays when spending several hundred dollars. This can turn one of these cheaper presidential suites into a pretty reasonable rate for a “splurge.”

Also, if you are set in stone on your dates you can purchase an advanced purchase rate (that you can’t cancel) and that could save you a good amount on a presidential suite.

Here are some examples of presidential suites (or rooms that are effectively presidential suites) that cost under $1,000/night:

Riverwalk Plaza Hotel	Presidential Suite	$229
Residence Inn Phoenix Glendale Sports & Entertainment District	Presidential Suite	$318
Kimpton: Hotel Monaco Seattle	Ambassador Suite	$364
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tucson – Reid Park	Presidential Suite	$388
The Ashton (Fort Worth)	Presidential Suite	$468
Menger Hotel (San Antonio)	Luxury Suite	$678
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego La Jolla	Presidential Suite	$694
Andaz West Hollywood	Presidential Suite	$729
Kimpton: George Hotel	The George Presidential Suite	$736
Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk	Presidential Suite	$789
Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk	Presidential Suite	$845
Kimpton : Hotel Monaco Philadelphia	Presidential Suite	$856
The Statler Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton	Presidential Suite	$863
Kimpton : Pittman Hotel (Dallas)	Presidential Suite	$906
Kimpton: Hotel Palomar Phoenix	Presidential Suite	$940
The Guild Hotel, San Diego, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel	Penthouse Suite	$940
Pacific Terrace Hotel (San Diego)	Master Suite	$949
Hotel Elysée (New York)	Presidential Suite	$959
New York Hilton Midtown	Presidential Suite	$967
San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter	Presidential Suite	$969
The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel	Governor’s Suite	$999

Keep in mind that presidential suites can often go for discounted rates, especially for high-level executives who are capable of bringing in a lot of business for the hotel. Other times a discount might be given for those on an extended-stay.

How big are presidential suites?

After analyzing 100 presidential suites in the US and in different countries, we found the average size for a presidential suite to come out to 1,812 square feet. An average hotel room is probably about 300 to 500 square feet so a presidential suite is easily 4 to 6 times larger than a standard room.

The smallest presidential suite at the Kimpton: George Hotel had only 535 square feet while the largest one was the Park Hyatt Bangkok at 4,100 square feet.

(The Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa had the Overwater Reef Residence with a whopping 9,634 square feet but that type of room is designed for multiple guests so it’s sort of in a different league.)

So based on all the above you can probably guess that one of the main qualities of a presidential suite is that they are going to be huge in terms of the square feet.

So what can you expect to find with all this space?

Let’s take a look.

InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Presidential Suite living room — InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile Presidential Suite. Image via icchicagohotel.com.

What to expect inside a presidential suite

Whether it’s the high ceilings, grand entryways, or stunning decor, each room can blow you away with its elegance, features, and sophistication.

Sometimes you’ll find a presidential suite that provides more of a cozy “home” feeling like the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile shown above.

Other times it will be all about the ultra-modern swank or traditional opulence (especially with historical hotels).

But regardless of which way the hotel goes with its interior design style, one thing that I’ve noticed is that the suites often have a much different feel than the other rooms found in the hotel.

Usually, standard rooms, junior suites, and even deluxe sweets, all kind of have a similar look or feel. They get progressively more interesting as you go up in price but the color schemes, decor, and art, all usually fall within the same design theme.

But when it comes to the presidential suite, hotels sometimes put a lot of effort into giving them a very distinguished feel and it’s almost as if you’re entering a different property.

For your bedroom, you can expect it to be extra spacious. Sometimes the bedspread is extravagant with ornate pillows and soft, high-thread-count Egyptian cotton linens.

InterContinental New York Barclay Presidential Suite Bedroom — InterContinental New York Barclay Presidential Suite. Image via ihg.com

Your room may be tricked out with automated drapes, shades, and lights — you might even have a tablet for enhanced control of things like temperature, lighting, and entertainment. Quality sound systems may offer surround sound that you can easily take advantage of with Bluetooth.

A huge TV often hangs from the wall or you might even have your own projector screen system that lowers from the ceiling. If you’re in a high-rise hotel, you may have the best view in the whole building just outside your windows.

A good presidential suite will also have an impressive office for those people who need to get things done. For example, the office at the InterContinental New York Barclay features a library office with an ultra stately feel. Much different from your ordinary hotel room desk sitting under a TV.

Others offices may even offer a quality work computer like a Mac to go along with personalized stationary.

InterContinental New York Barclay Presidential Suite library office — InterContinental New York Barclay Presidential Suite. Image via ihg.com.

You’ll usually find plenty of comfortable seating in the living area that’s ideal for having multiple guests or even small business events and private parties. They will surely be dazzled by sparkling chandeliers, Spanish rugs, and original artwork.

If you’re visiting during the holidays, small touches to the living areas like a fully decorated Christmas tree can add some festive spirit to your stay.

A large dining table that can also function as a meeting table for eight to 12 people is a staple of a presidential suite because of all of the executives that often occupy these rooms.

And if it’s cooking that you’re interested in, some of these suites offer a full-sized kitchen with a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator, not to mention top of the line appliances.

W Scottsdale Extreme Wow Suite Kitchen — W Scottsdale Extreme Wow Suite. Image via marriott.com.

Some hotels like the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills offer a special media room for you to enjoy movies in your own little private movie theater.

Huge, impressive balconies and terraces are another common fixture for presidential suites.

Often you’ll find wraparound balconies with exceptional views of the city, the coast, or the surrounding hills or mountains. A fireplace can warm you up while you enjoy magnificent sunsets and lounge seating can help you keep guests entertained.

Hotel Emma, The Emma Koehler Suite terrace with fireplace — Hotel Emma, The Emma Koehler Suite. Image via thehotelemma.com

The bathrooms in the presidential suite can be exceptional.

Expect to find oversized tubs and showers along with beautiful marble floors, counters, and spotless glass. Lots of presidential suites come with a soak tub — sometimes big enough for a couple of people.

The bathroom might even have your own steam room or an interesting shower layout like the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale which features an indoor and outdoor shower. And of course, premium towels and robes will be waiting on you when you get out.

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North Pinnacle Suite bathroom — Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Pinnacle Suite. Image via fourseasons.com

Some presidential suites could have multiple bedrooms allowing extra guests to stay with you. Other times there could be a pull out bed.

But don’t invite all your friends and family for a stay just yet. Despite the huge amount of square feet you may have in your suite, the occupancy limits for the suite may be still relatively low at only a few guests.

And beware: Hotels know that presidential suites are prime targets for partiers. Some hotels like the Kimpton: La Peer Hotel will even make you sign a “no party policy” if you plan on staying in the presidential suite.

Grand Hyatt Tokyo Presidential Suite bedroom — Grand Hyatt Tokyo Presidential Suite. Image via hyatt.com

Room amenities

Now let’s get into some of the different amenities you can expect to find in a presidential suite.

The special amenities can really make a presidential suite stand out because in some cases you’ll find some pretty over the top amenities like your own personal gym or pool.

Pools

Some of the more impressive presidential suites may include a hot tub or even a personal pool. For example, the Cozumel Palace has not one but two hot tubs in a two bedroom presidential suite.

Lots of presidential suites will impress you with their pools like the Hotel Principe di Savoia, which comes with a Pompeii styled swimming pool. One of the coolest features I’ve seen is the private pool offered at the Park Hyatt Bangkok, which also comes with a spa room.

Park Hyatt Bangkok Presidential Suite private indoor pools. Image via hyatt.com.

But if you really wanted the ultimate private pool experience, you’d have to go with the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. The only drawback is that you may have to play your own life guard. That is, unless your butler is up for it.

Gyms

One of the coolest features of a presidential suite is an in-room gym which you can find at hotels like the Conrad Hong Kong, Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa, Park Hyatt Shenzhen, and many others.

You might have your own elliptical, treadmill, peloton, and even a small free weights section and bench to work on.

The drawback is that you are probably missing out on some really nice gym equipment in the fitness center so you may not always want to limit your workouts to your presidential suite. However, if you were a high profile individual wanting some privacy this would be a perfect set up for you.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa Overwater Reef Residence private gym — Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa Overwater Reef Residence. Image via hyatt.com

Pianos

Piano players can rejoice because one of the most common features of a presidential suite to find is a piano. These could be grand pianos, baby grand pianos, or some other type.

Other interesting amenities and perks

Some other random amenities include:

Japanese Zen garden
Private staircase to panoramic tower (Molino Stucky)
Pool table
Wine refrigerators
Complimentary limousine service
Fireplaces
Expansive balconies
Stunning artwork or decor
Shoeshine
Extra attentive housekeeping
Instant hot water
Daily gifts
Free valet
Washer and dryer
Telescope
Multiple large TVs
Complimentary use of conference rooms
Steam room/sauna
Private elevator
Open bar
Aquariums
Showers with scented water
Powder room
Welcome champagne and chocolates/fruit
Projector screens
Complimentary spa treatments

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Presidential Suite living room with piano — InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Presidential Suite. Image via dtla.intercontinental.com.

Special services

Another way that presidential suites stand out is that they offer you special services.

Butler service

Butler service often comes with a presidential suite reservation.

Sometimes you may have a special phone number you can call or they could have the service linked to a tablet or phone. You can ring them if you need anything, sometimes even on a 24-hour basis.

They can help you out with different things like room service, getting your clothes pressed, dealing with luggage, etc.

Sometimes they have overlapping duties with the concierge so they can help with booking things like shows and restaurant reservations. Or they could hook you up with local services like a barber.

Chef

Sometimes you can get special dining privileges as a guest in the presidential suite.

For example, you might be able to get a special breakfast or even have a chef come up into your kitchen and cook something up for you like at the Banyan Tree Bangkok or Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. We are talking high-quality dining tailored to your preferences and dietary needs.

For true foodies, this might be one of them most enticing reasons for booking a presidential suite!

The overall service level

In addition to all of the above, a good hotel will offer top-of-the-line service throughout the stay for someone staying in a presidential suite.

If it’s not your personal butler staying on top of things, the concierge may be more proactive checking up on you and making sure that you are having an amazing stay.

List of Presidential Suites

Hotel Name	Suite Name	Price	Square ft.
Riverwalk Plaza Hotel	Presidential Suite	$229	631
Residence Inn Phoenix Glendale Sports & Entertainment District	Presidential Suite	$318	701
Kimpton: Hotel Monaco Seattle	Ambassador Suite	$364	960
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tucson – Reid Park	Presidential Suite	$388	990
The Ashton (Fort Worth)	Presidential Suite	$468	810
Menger Hotel (San Antonio)	Luxury Suite	$678	922
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego La Jolla	Presidential Suite	$694	1,175
Andaz West Hollywood	Presidential Suite	$729	800
Kimpton: George Hotel	The George Presidential Suite	$736	535
Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk	Presidential Suite	$789	1,751
Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk	Presidential Suite	$845	1,100
Kimpton : Hotel Monaco Philadelphia	Presidential Suite	$856	1,366
The Statler Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton	Presidential Suite	$863	1,350
Kimpton : Pittman Hotel (Dallas)	Presidential Suite	$906	970
Kimpton: Hotel Palomar Phoenix	Presidential Suite	$940	1,325
The Guild Hotel, San Diego, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel	Penthouse Suite	$940	1,809
Pacific Terrace Hotel (San Diego)	Master Suite	$949	850
Hotel Elysée (New York)	Presidential Suite	$959	950
New York Hilton Midtown	Presidential Suite	$967	1,259
San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter	Presidential Suite	$969	650
The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel	Governor’s Suite	$999	1,600
Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London	Presidential Suite	$1,013	1,420
Hyatt Centric The Woodlands	Centric Suite	$1,057	1,635
Hyatt Regency Austin	Presidential Suite	$1,095	1,404
Mountain Shadows Resort Scottsdale	Camelback Presidential Suite	$1,099	1,123
Banyan Tree Bangkok	Presidential Suite	$1,145	2,195
Legacy Resort Hotel & Spa (San Diego)	Presidential Suite	$1,200	2,600
Hilton Americas – Houston	Presidential Suite	$1,210	1,904
Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa	Presidential Suite	$1,219	1,250
Courtyard San Diego Downtown	Presidential Suite	$1,279	985
Kimpton: Hotel Born (Denver)	Presidential Suite	$1,282	1,140
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego	Presidential Suite	$1,348	1,050
Omni Dallas Hotel	Hospitality Suite	$1,349	1,770
The Westin Dallas Stonebriar Golf Resort & Spa	Presidential Suite	$1,504	1,288
Andaz Singapore	Presidential Suite	$1,667	2,023
Royal Palms Resort and Spa	Presidential Villa	$1,729	1,700
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa	Presidential Suite	$1,757	1,708
Kimpton: Alma – San Diego	Skyline Penthouse Suite	$1,804	1,510
Loews Philadelphia Hotel	Presidential Suite	$1,817	1,650
Loews Ventana Canyon Resort	Presidential Suite	$1,849	2,000
Omni La Mansion del Rio	Presidential Suite	$1,899	1,900
Kimpton: La Peer Hotel	La Peer Penthouse Suite	$1,910	1,200
Hotel Van Zandt (Austin)	Presidential Suite	$1,969	900
Thompson San Antonio – Riverwalk	Penthouse Suite	$1,978	2,100
W Scottsdale	Extreme WOW Suite	$1,979	2,100
Virgin Hotels Dallas	Richard’s Flat King Suite	$1,994	1,400
Graduate Roosevelt Island	Presidential Suite	$2,000	1,145
The Westin San Diego Bayview	Presidential Suite	$2,000	2,000
W Chicago – City Center	Extreme WOW Suite	$2,057	1,600
Hotel Emma	The Emma Koehler Suite	$2,095	1,643
Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows	Albers House	$2,099	1,800
Hotel Valley Ho	Presidential Loft Suite	$2,154	1,500
Kimpton: Tryon Park Hotel	Presidential Suite	$2,222	1,290
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa	Presidential Suite	$2,279	2,840
JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa	Presidential Suite	$2,331	2,240
JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa	Manor House	$2,410	1,866
The Shay (Los Angeles)	Presidential Scene Suite	$2,459	1,100
JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE	JW Suite	$2,489	1,189
SLS Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Beverly Hills	Presidential Suite	$2,555	1,900
Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort	Villa Two Bedroom Suite	$2,603	1,600
Conrad New York Downtown	Conrad Suite	$2,733	1,500
The Driskill (Austin)	Cattle Baron Suite	$2,734	1,230
InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile	Presidential Suite	$2,791	1,700
W Dallas – Victory	Extreme WOW Suite	$2,940	1,323
W Austin	Extreme WOW Suite	$3,429	1,798
The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago	Presidential Suite	$3,440	1,937
The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey	The Ritz-Carlton Suite	$3,500	1,500
The Logan Philadelphia, Curio Collection by Hilton	Presidential Suite	$3,668	2,500
JW Marriott Houston Downtown	Presidential Suite	$3,693	1,320
Austin Proper Hotel	Proper Penthouse Suite	$3,770	1,110
Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia	Camelback Presidential Suite	$3,794	2,800
Fairmont Grand Del Mar	Grand Suite	$3,809	2,840
Hilton Molino Stucky Venice	Presidential Suite	$4,060	3229
Hotel Casa Del Mar	Pacific View Suite	$4,080	1,800
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa	Presidential Suite	$4,100	2,140
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa	Presidential Beach House Suite	$4,175	2,500
The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale	Presidential Suite	$4,337	1,800
Park Hyatt Bangkok	Presidential Suite	$4,550	4,100
Conrad Hong Kong	Presidential Suite	$4,610	2,519
Park Hyatt Chicago	Presidential Suite	$4,625	1,600
The Westin Houston, Memorial City	Presidential Suite	$4,909	1600
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North	Pinnacle Suite	$4,940	3,000
Marriott Marquis Houston	Presidential Suite	$5,000	2,130
The Rittenhouse Hotel (Philadelphia)	Presidential Suite	$5,099	1,400
The St. Anthony, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio	Presidential Suite	$5,360	3,012
Beach Village at The Del, Curio Collection by Hilton	Presidential Suite	$5,575	2,035
Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo	Presidential Suite	$5,995	2,077
The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami	Presidential Suite	$6,045	2,800
InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown	Presidential Suite	$6,570	2500
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London	Presidential Suite	$7,022	1,023
Grand Hyatt Tokyo	Presidential Suite	$8,142	2,799
Four Seasons Hotel Houston	Presidential Suite	$8,370	1,570
Hôtel Plaza Athénée	Presidential Suite	$8,729	1,180
Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia	Presidential Suite	$9,920	2,137
Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa	Overwater Reef Residence	$14,100	9,634
Park Hyatt Shenzhen	Presidential Suite	$14,974	3,229
InterContinental New York Barclay	Presidential Suite	$25,000	3,400
The Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park	Presidential Suite	$25,000	2,175
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills	Presidential Suite	$25,000	3,215
The St. Regis New York	Presidential Suite	$28,000	3,000
Park Hyatt New York	Presidential Suite	$30,000	2,300
The Carlyle	Presidential Suite	$42,500	2,722

Final word

Staying in the presidential suite can be extremely memorable. You can instantly feel like royalty and enjoy special amenities and perks that could blow your mind. But do your research because the price and quality of a presidential suite can vary drastically!

Daniel Gillaspia

Is the Hotel Valet Responsible When They Damage Your Vehicle? [Tips]

Valet parking can be one of the most convenient ways to get in and out of a hotel.

But it does come with the risk of something happening to your vehicle since you are handing over the keys to someone that you probably have never even seen before.

So what happens if your car gets damaged while parked with the hotel valet? Is the hotel or valet driver responsible or will you be liable for the damage?

Let’s take a look at this question and provide some much-needed clarity.

Note: While I am a licensed attorney, nothing in this article constitutes legal advice.

How to find out who is responsible for the damage to your vehicle

Are you dealing with the hotel or the valet service?

Typically, it’s not the driver individually who will be liable for damage but his or her employer.

So, one of the first things you want to clear up is whether or not the valet driver’s employer is the hotel or a third-party valet service company.

This will help you focus your communications and hone in on a potential insurance policy that would apply.

There are different types of insurance policies that could apply in these cases. But if it is your vehicle that has been damaged, chances are you will be dealing with something like a garage-keepers legal liability coverage.

Reputable valet companies should all have insurance policies that could cover most damage to your vehicle.

For example, the National Parking Association requires its members to carry at least $5 million in general and $1 million in legal liability coverage and there could even be individual state requirements as well.

Therefore, if they assume responsibility for the damage you should be able to just work through their insurance company to get reimbursed for any repairs.

After everything gets sorted out, the insurance company for the valet provider will probably end up sending a check to you or to the shop who will be repairing your vehicle and that will be the end of things.

The only problem is that this process is not always so easy.

Proving liability

Once you have narrowed down who is responsible, the next question is are they actually liable and can you prove it?

It’s not uncommon for damage claims against valet services to be difficult.

And that’s for a few reasons.

First, you could be dealing with limited evidence.

Unless you have photos or videos of your vehicle that show that the alleged damage was NOT there just before you handed it over, a valet company could simply claim that the damage was already there.

At the same time, if you don’t discover the damage until later on the valet company could claim that the damage occurred after they handed the vehicle back to you.

This is especially true when it comes to very minor scratches and scuffs that many people are willing to just blow off.

Sometimes there are cameras in the valet parking area (or a nearby business) that can be used to prove or disprove a claim but that is not always the case. This is why it is so important to always document the condition of your vehicle before and after you use valet.

Another issue is the release of liability.

Take a look at your valet ticket or the form you signed at the hotel and chances are you will see a release of liability for damage and theft for your vehicle.

Lots of people think that this means the valet company cannot be liable under any circumstances. That’s not necessarily the case.

If you could show that they were breaching the standard of care to you like failing to drive like a reasonable person then you could still have a claim against them. For example, if they hit another vehicle or a post in a parking garage, you should be able to pursue a claim against them for negligent driving.

These things can depend on state laws, insurance policies, etc. but the point is to not be scared off because of some release of liability.

Another reason why it is tough to make a claim is that the damage could have been caused by a third-party. For example, someone (not associated with the valet company or hotel) could have hit your car while it was parked with the valet.

If that’s the case then you likely don’t have a claim against the valet company and you would need to rely on collision damage waiver or speak with your insurance company.

If you had a rental car, did you have a collision damage waiver?

Collision damage waiver is a form of insurance that protects you against damage or theft for your vehicle. It’s a popular policy to get when renting a vehicle.

You can get this policy from the rental car company or if you have a good travel rewards credit card, you could have this protection built-in to your credit card (assuming that you used it to purchase the rental car).

The big question with these policies is whether or not they cover damage from a valet driver.

If you look at the policy like the one from Chase, you’ll see that the collision damage waiver applies to the “primary renter of the vehicle, and any additional drivers permitted by the Rental Car Agreement.”

Other times, you’ll see the language that the benefit only applies whenever the vehicle is “under your control.”

Because the valet driver is likely not mentioned on your rental car agreement and because the vehicle is not under your control after they take possession of it, it could easily be argued that the collision damage waiver does not apply when a valet driver is driving your rental vehicle.

This may not be the case with every collision damage waiver but it’s definitely something to be on the lookout for.

If you can get coverage with this waiver, then that can be a good route to go before relying on your insurance company because it can help reduce your premium going up.

What if the hotel or valet service denies liability?

If the valet driver is clearly at fault then the insurance company for the hotel or the valet service should acknowledge that and be willing to work with you to reimburse you for the damage they caused.

This will probably be the likely outcome when fault is clearly established because the insurance company knows that they could be sued or pursued by your own insurance company if they refuse to pay up.

But there may be situations where fault is not clearly established or evidence is lacking. In these cases, you may not be able to get the insurance company for the valet driver to cover the damage without a fight.

You could try to get collision damage waiver to kick in for a rental car but as we already pointed out it may not apply for valet incidents.

In the end, you may be left to contact your own auto insurance company about coverage. The drawback here is that it could result in an increased premium and you may have to pay your deductible. So if the damage is minor then it may not be worth it.

If you were just dealing with minor damage, then you could contact the hotel or their corporate offices to request some type of compensation in the form of a refund or potentially even a special credit or points.

Perhaps you are able to touch up the scratches with some touchup paint and getting a few thousand points could be all you need to feel satisfied.

What to do if your vehicle gets damaged by a hotel valet

If you want to increase your odds of having a successful claim when your vehicle is damaged by valet, here are some important steps.

First, as we already talked about you want to document the status of your vehicle before you hand it over and after you receive it. An easy way to do this is to just record a video as you walk around the vehicle.

Lots of times scuffs, dents, and scratches occur on the rims and the bumper areas of the vehicle so pay special close attention to those. You could also do a quick run through on the inside of your vehicle.

As soon as you detect damage, you want to confront the hotel or valet service company and let them know that you believe they are responsible for the damage. Get all of their contact information, insurance information, and fill out any paperwork needed to file a claim.

At that point, it’s just a matter of seeing how they respond.

They could take ownership of the situation and have you fill out some paperwork to begin the reimbursement process or they could deny fault which means that you will need to take some additional steps.

If a valet denies responsibility then ask if they have security cameras and take a look around for nearby businesses to see if they have them as well.

You could file a police report but a lot of times police officers may not file a report for you if it is a minor damage situation (that is purely a civil matter). For example, if the damage is simply a flat tire that’s not probably worth a police report. But if there are broken windows and mirrors, body damage, etc., that’s a different story.

Take extra effort to take all the photos and video that you can and again make sure that you get all of the contact information from the valet and hotel. Also, try to put a timeline together immediately while your memory is fresh so that you can reconstruct the story later on.

If the valet service is separate from the hotel consider talking to the hotel about the situation. Sometimes the hotel may be willing to take initiative to help sort things out and they could be a big help.

However, you need to be very careful about any statements you make because they could be considered admissions which could work against you later on.

Basically, if you don’t feel like a hotel is going to be on your side or you tend to say things without thinking them through, it may be best to just end the conversation with them.

The next step would be to contact your insurance company and see what they could do for you. They will likely want a statement from you which should be easy to supply if you already made up your timeline of events.

You could always decide to handle it yourself and hire a lawyer to sue them but that’s typically not the best option if you have an insurance company who can work on your behalf.

Final word

If a valet service at a hotel damages your vehicle, it’s not always the easiest thing to prove. However, if you took steps to document the status of your vehicle before turning it in and after receiving it, you will have more evidence to stand on.

Daniel Gillaspia

Do Hotels Wash Bedding Between Stays? (Yikes!) [2023]

Hotel beds can be extremely comfortable especially when they have nice fluffy comforters for you to curl up in. But are those comforters or duvets actually washed between stays or are you curling up with a comforter that has been used by dozens of guests over the past few months?

In this article we take a look at whether or not hotels actually wash their bedding between guests. I’ve found lots of data points from hotel employees that may send shivers down your spine so be prepared. But I’ve also found some helpful tips that will help you sleep easier if this is a major concern.

Do Hotels wash the bedding between stays?

As shocking as it might be, many hotels do not wash the comforter, bedspreads or duvets between every guest’s stay. However, the sheets and pillowcases should be cleaned between stays.

Below, I’ll give you some direct quotes from people involved in hotels that will give you a sense of what goes down in terms of hotels washing your bedding. I’ll have to warn you that it’s not very pretty so if you would like to remain blissfully ignorant about the state of your bedding, you may not want to read much further.

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Comforters, duvets, and blankets

Hotels use different set ups for bedding and so it will help to get a sense of the terms used for different articles of bedding.

Some hotel beds have decorative pillows and throw blankets that most guests instinctually discard upon getting settled in the bed. These are usually colorful, odd shaped pillows and blankets with patterns and designs on them.

Most people accept and are probably aware that these items are not washed between every hotel use which is why most people seem to not use these.

The bigger and more relevant question revolves the bedding tops….

In a hotel room you may have a comforter, duvet, or bedspread.

In this article, these are the bedding types that we are most concerned with because they are bedding items actually used and seem to be the biggest issue in terms of cleanliness.

For clarity, I’ve provided a definition of each article of bedding via The Spruce.

Comforter: “Thick bedding topper filled with down or a synthetic substitute. Many comforters are sewn-through or quilted to keep the filling in place, but unlike a quilt, a comforter’s stitching is not ornately patterned.”
Duvet: “a duvet is a comforter, usually plain white and filled with down, while the duvet cover is the fabric envelope that fits over the duvet and closes down one side with large buttons, ties, or a zipper.”
Bedspread: “Bedspreads are single-layer bedding toppers that cover the entire bed right down to the floor and often cover the pillows as well. Many bedspreads have elaborate pompom, corduroy, or chenille finishes, and some have fringe along the bottom edges.”

You’ll see all three of these terms referenced below. But generally, this article is focused on the large outer-most “blanket” covering your hotel bed when you show up to the room, so these are all sort of lumped into one category.

How do we know comforters are not cleaned?

Hotels are obviously not dying to advertise that they do not clean the comforters after every stay. It’s also not always easy to get clear-cut responses from hotels on this issue. So what we’re left with is our own personal experiences and public posts from hotel employees.

Personal experiences

One thing to think about is your own personal experiences when staying at hotels. When you see housekeeping pushing the carts through the hallways, what do you usually see being transported?

Usually you see the cleaning supplies, towels, and maybe sheets and pillowcases. Rarely, if ever do you see huge comforters or duvets getting transported around which is a sign that the comforters are not being replaced between each cleaning.

But what do hotel employees have to say about this issue?

Personal accounts of hotel employees

Below is a rundown of some personal accounts from hotel employees that will give you a sense of what happens with the cleaning of hotel bedding.

I have to warn you that it’s not very pretty but keep in mind that every property is different and will have policies that are shaped by the individual owners.

Just because you see someone make a statement about a particular chain or brand, that does not mean that it will be the case at every location for the chain or brand.

Also, these are statements given by anonymous internet users.

It’s possible that some of these could be fabricated but I found the statements below to be generally consistent with hundreds of forum posts I’ve reviewed which tells me that, barring some mass conspiracy, this is a pretty good consensus of what hotels are doing.

So with that said, here are some of the personal accounts found online:

I worked as a head-housekeeper in various top hotels in Barcelona, Spain and normally, the hotel policy was to change sheet and pillow cases. So to change the duvet cover or bedspread/blankets which were there for decoration purpose only were changed and washed only when dirty or dull (or 1–2 x month if time permits it)
Quora

The only time we did the blankets or the bed spreads was if something was spilled on them even if it was a smoking or pet approved room.
Quora

No. Sheets are done often enough to maintain the par stock and in many/most cases are changed daily. There’s a growing trend, though, for hoteliers to ask guests if they want to have their sheets changed daily or not. Bedspreads/comforters are rotated according to a longer schedule, but I don’t know of any hotel that changes them daily.
Quora

All bedding is changed after each guest. We don’t have duvet inserts in my hotel though. But all the linen, including pillow cases and pillow case covers are changed
Reddit

Blankets, duvets, comforters are not cleaned after every guest in any hotel that doesn’t have full size in house laundry room. By that I mean 6-8 washers, same with dryers, folding machines, etc. So that rules out damned near every hotel in the Marriott system. Where have I worked that this all applies to or personally know? Sheraton, Marriott, Renaissance, Fairfield, Springhill and below, most Hiltons, most Hyatts, everything limited service. They all change these items when they are found to be dirty. Are there exceptions? I’m certain there are, but this is what I know from thirteen years in the industry, primarily back of the house.
Reddit

I run a 19 room hotel 2 employees. Like me and my wife are going to put 6 comforters and linens in our 2 house sized washer and dryers every day. Do I get them if they smell funky or someone was dirty sure. But we’re talking maybe once a month that comforter is getting washed.
Reddit

Depends on the hotel, I worked at a bed and breakfast for a year and we were told to only wash the sheets and pillowcases after each customer and not the comforters till our scheduled deep cleaning of the rooms which was around once a month.
Reddit

I worked at a holiday inn for a year and never saw them wash the comforters. As soon as a get in a hotel room I take the comforter off the bed and put it in the closet
Reddit

Worked at a Westin. Comforters were only washed if stains were on them from previous guests. Then on deep cleaning schedule depending on business levels.
Reddit

Worked housekeeping for a Westin. We were only supposed to change duvet covers if they were visibly stained
Reddit

I used to work in a hotel, we only ever washed the pillowcases and sheets. It was a Ramada.
Reddit

I actually work as a housekeeper in a hotel, and I can tell you we do in fact clean comforters. However, we don’t clean them as regularly as we do with the sheets and pillowcases…. Unfortunately, replacing them involves calling our supervisor and waiting for a replacement if we don’t have one in our supply closet, so I know many of my colleagues ignore the dirty comforters and simply leave them for the next person to replace.
Reddit

Used to be a General Manager at Days Inn. We only washed the comforters once a year, and that was simply bc I instructed staff to do so. We had about 300 rooms and were very busy, washing/drying all of those big, thick blankets was not possible most of the time. Our hotel was severely understaffed and labor hours had to stay as low as possible per upper management.
Reddit

Used to work housekeeping for super 8. The comforters are not washed. If something horrid happens to them, we change it out and wash it or throw it away. But this is like obvious visual blood in a large area, burned, maybe cut into pieces, visible holes. If it gets peed on (for example) and it’s dry by time we clean room, we prob won’t even notice.
Reddit

Some reported hotels that do clean the duvets/comforters but they were clearly in the minority.

I worked at a Hampton Inn. We put clean duvet covers on before each new guest.
Reddit

I worked at a Hampton as well and they were always extremely clean and washed everything after every guest.
Reddit

I used to work at a Radisson, we washed our comforters after every guest left.
Reddit

So the take-a-way here is that many (if not most) properties do not clean comforters between guests unless there is some obvious stain or pungent odor coming from the comforter.

However, your sheets and pillowcases should be cleaned between each stay (although there are some reports of that not even happening).

Hotel chains and expectations

Certain hotel chains may have universal guidelines that apply to hotels owned by that particular hotel chain. For example, a Hilton hotel may require all properties owned by Hilton to clean duvet covers between guests. But this may not apply to franchise properties.

Also, as you would probably expect, the more expensive the property the higher the cleanliness standard.

So if you are staying at a property like a Ritz-Carlton you have a much more justified expectation that comforters will be cleaned between each stay.

The arguments for and against

Many travelers believe that they should be entitled to bedding that is cleaned before each stay.

The idea of coming into contact with a comforter or duvet cover that has had bodily fluids on it, possibly for weeks or even months, is extremely disgusting.

Opponents of daily cleaning point out how difficult it would be to wash comforters after every single guest. The laundry facilities needed to do this are simply not feasible for smaller hotels.

Some housekeeping employees point out that replacing a duvet cover is time consuming and they simply are not given the time to complete that task.

Others claim that coming into contact with a used comforter is not much different than coming into contact with seats in a rental car or some other type of public transportation.

They note that people have been coming into contact with these used comforters for years and years without any type of widespread issues.

What you can do if you don’t feel comfortable

If you don’t feel 100% comfortable sleeping on a hotel bed with a potentially used comforter, there are a few different routes you can take.

Ask for a fresh comforter

When you check in you can request a fresh comforter or duvet.

This could affect the cleaning logistics of the hotel so it’s possible that they won’t be able to deliver you one right away. But even if you have to wait several hours or until the evening time it could still be worth it.

You’ll just have to trust the hotel that they are actually sending you a freshly cleaned duvet which you might be able to verify by giving it a good sniff.

Use the extra blanket

A lot of hotels will store an extra blanket in the closet in your hotel room. The issue with taking this is that (for whatever reason) often these blankets are dark which would make it harder to find a stain in them.

Also, a lot of these blankets are probably not used very often which makes you wonder when they were last washed.

Bring a blanket

Some travelers prefer to bring their own blanket or sleeping bag so that they can avoid making contact with the comforter.

When these germ-conscious travelers arrive at a hotel they toss the comforter into the corner of the room or in the closet and then only use the hotel sheets plus the blanket that they brought.

If you don’t want to bring a blanket with you, you could always purchase a blanket or comforter when you arrive at your destination. Assuming you don’t put a lot of wear into it or stain it up, you can probably just return it before you leave.

This adds extra stops and time to your travel but if you are trying to get the best sleep without worrying about what your body is coming to contact with, this could be a worthwhile route.

Bring a sheet

Because comforters and blankets can be so heavy or occupy so much space you may not always be able to bring them with you when traveling.

However, bringing a sheet with you is a lot more doable. You can use the sheet as a barrier between you and the comforter so that you don’t have to worry about coming into contact with a comforter that has not been washed.

The problem for some people is that they twist and turn in their sleep and so simply going to bed with a sheet between you and the comforter does not mean that in the middle of the night you will not be wrapped up in that dirty comforter.

Pajamas

Getting a good pair of top and bottom pajamas could reduce the contact you have with the comforter.

Final word

Unfortunately, it seems like many if not most hotels do not wash the comforter or duvet cover on your bed. So if you would like peace of mind when sleeping, you may want to avoid using the comforter and try one of the alternative methods mentioned above.

Daniel Gillaspia

Are Hotels Cheaper During the Week or Weekend?

If you ever have flexible dates for your travels, you might be wondering if it would be cheaper for you to book during the week rather than on a weekend.

We were very curious about this question as well so we analyzed nearly 3,000 data points to see what type of results we would find!

Below, I will break down the findings and tell you what you need to know about booking hotels during the week vs on the weekend.

Are hotels cheaper during the week?

After reviewing 2,800 data points for major US hotel chains, we found that the cheapest day of the week to stay at a hotel was Sunday, while Saturday was the most expensive.

To give you a sense of how much you could save, we ranked just how much cheaper every day of the week was compared to Saturday below:

Saturday: most expensive
Friday (3% cheaper)
Tuesday (3% cheaper)
Wednesday (4% cheaper)
Thursday (7% cheaper)
Monday (8% cheaper)
Sunday (15% cheaper)

There are a few key takeaways for these findings.

Different chains

Saturday was the most expensive day for Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG. Interestingly, Tuesday was the most expensive day for Marriott.

Sunday was the cheapest day for all of the chains except for Hilton which had its cheapest day on Monday (Sunday was just barely more expensive than Monday for Hilton).

Single day stays

If you were just planning on staying a single day during the week, you may want to watch out for Tuesdays since it compares to the prices found on Friday which can be pretty high.

Multi-day stays

If you were chasing the lowest rates then an ideal five night itinerary could be beginning your stay on Sunday and checking out on Friday morning.

I’ll show you an example so you can see how much you could save.

Let’s say that a Saturday night rate at a luxury hotel was $600 and that the prices for the other days of the week followed the same pattern as the data above.

If you checked in on a Sunday and checked out on Friday you would spend $2,244.94.

But let’s say that you checked in on a Friday and then checked out on Wednesday, you would spend $2,779.08.

So by starting your trip on Sunday, you would save $534.14. Not bad.

Of course, not every hotel follows this pattern and we dive deeper into the price trends below.

Rates almost always change throughout the week

Most of the time, a hotel will have different rates for different days of any given week.

In fact, of the 2,800 data points we looked at, only about 7% of the hotels did not change price throughout the week. (Interestingly, most of the hotels that did not change price belonged to the IHG chain.)

On average, a given week had about five days with different prices. So for example Monday and Tuesday could be the same but every other day of the week would have a unique price.

This doesn’t come as a big surprise as many hotels use sophisticated software to set the prices and we have even seen prices fluctuate by the hour.

The average price fluctuation that we saw between the cheapest and most expensive days of the week was $83.

So for the most part, the fluctuations during the week and on the weekends were not that bad.

However, they are still worth paying attention to for a couple of reasons.

First, about a quarter of the fluctuations were over $110, which can definitely add up.

Also, some hotels had pretty huge fluctuations during the week like The Adolphus, Autograph Collection which jumped up over $600 for a Friday and Saturday.

Typically, you would think that the big fluctuations would happen on the weekends when the prices tend to go up in general.

But that was not always the case.

For example, the The Blackstone, Autograph Collection made a pretty big jump on Monday and Tuesday of almost $400 per night.

Usually, these fluctuations would be caused by some kind of local event taking place, although it was not always easy to verify that.

These wild fluctuations are why it’s always good to search with all of your actual travel dates and to compare your proposed travel dates to other dates.

When going for searching efficiency, it can be tempting to simply choose a single date that falls within your travel date range and base your hotel expenses on that.

But that can often backfire if you are not accounting for the fluctuating prices throughout the week. You never know if one or two days have huge spikes.

Also, don’t just search for your travel dates because then you won’t know if other dates don’t have the same fluctuations. I’ve saved myself hundreds of dollars on trips just by swapping out one day for another.

Try to use the calendar view on the hotel’s website if you can.

Leisure travel versus business travel

I’ve always been told that hotels that cater to business travelers will be more expensive during the week and those that cater towards leisure travelers will be more expensive during the weekend.

It certainly makes sense as that is the time when each of those respective groups tend to travel.

But it’s not always so simple.

For one, lots of properties cater to both crowds and it can be difficult to designate a property as primarily business or primarily leisure. Unless you’re very familiar with a specific brand or property, making this determination may not be practical.

So personally, I would just focus on searching for properties that you are interested in and not necessarily chasing business or leisure hotels based on their perceived categories.

Then there is the king bed vs two queen beds comparison.

Typically, a business traveler would probably prefer a king bed while a family traveling would prefer two queen beds.

Therefore, you would think that two queen beds could be more expensive than a king bed at leisure property on the weekend. Also, two queen beds could be cheaper during the week at a hotel for business travelers.

During our research, we did not classify rooms as queen or king so we did not test this out but it might be worth looking into. I know that many times I have seen the prices as the same for both king and queen bedrooms so at some hotels the pricing may not be affected.

Final recommendations

So after considering all of the data, here would be my recommendations.

Overall, you can usually expect Saturday to be the most expensive day of the week and for Sunday or Monday to be the cheapest.

If you’re staying during the week then you can expect Thursday to be your best bet at getting a cheaper rate and watch out for Tuesdays because those can be pretty expensive.

But just remember prices can dramatically jump up on any day of the week.

While these trends will probably hold out to be true in most cases, when it comes to an individual booking, you just need to check your actual travel dates and compare those to others to see if you are getting hit with a big fluctuation.

Data

Below you can find all of the data that we used in the study. The room rates are the cheapest available room rates we found which were almost always a basic king or queen room.

We selected hotels from the four major chains: Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. Also, we made sure to include a variety of different brands within those chains so that we included a large variety of room rate prices.

Property Name	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday

Hampton Inn Manhattan/Times Square Central	$365	$361	$364	$333	$382	$361	$412
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New York Times Square West	$245	$258	$258	$247	$244	$299	$199
Martinique New York on Broadway, Curio Collection by Hilton	$272	$275	$265	$249	$249	$319	$254
DoubleTree by Hilton New York Midtown Fifth Ave	$319	$355	$355	$357	$355	$391	$261
Hampton Inn Manhattan/Times Square South	$273	$305	$305	$265	$281	$297	$190
Embassy Suites by Hilton New York Manhattan Times Square	$300	$300	$298	$286	$323	$334	$256
DoubleTree by Hilton New York Downtown	$243	$280	$280	$232	$307	$275	$181
Canopy by Hilton Jersey City Arts District	$224	$224	$224	$207	$240	$304	$233
Home2 Suites by Hilton New York Long Island City/ Manhattan View, NY	$283	$347	$341	$342	$359	$359	$358
Hilton New York Times Square	$274	$374	$374	$274	$357	$357	$265
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown	$188	$188	$188	$188	$206	$224	$188
Hilton Checkers Los Angeles	$293	$268	$267	$274	$227	$233	$293
Hampton Inn & Suites Los Angeles/Hollywood	$231	$238	$252	$269	$288	$288	$266
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles – Commerce	$140	$160	$155	$140	$163	$235	$140
Hampton Inn and Suites Los Angeles – Glendale	$199	$199	$199	$199	$210	$235	$199
Embassy Suites by Hilton Los Angeles Glendale	$214	$214	$214	$214	$234	$234	$214
Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale & Executive Meeting Ctr	$199	$199	$199	$199	$199	$199	$199
Embassy Suites by Hilton Los Angeles Downey	$165	$180	$181	$216	$252	$252	$235
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles – Rosemead	$103	$127	$126	$103	$162	$156	$103
Hilton Los Angeles Airport	$159	$164	$166	$167	$159	$175	$155
Palmer House a Hilton Hotel	$304	$317	$317	$313	$287	$284	$315
Hilton Chicago	$335	$310	$316	$371	$322	$308	$341
theWit Chicago – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel	$239	$245	$236	$216	$180	$238	$214
Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown/N Loop/Michigan Ave	$218	$213	$224	$230	$250	$250	$274
Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown River North	$202	$206	$214	$302	$314	$314	$296
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago – Magnificent Mile	$196	$205	$256	$278	$296	$296	$269
Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile	$223	$223	$252	$278	$324	$324	$278
Hilton Chicago/Magnificent Mile Suites	$178	$191	$198	$216	$255	$261	$215
The Drake	$156	$166	$170	$169	$228	$233	$176
DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago Midway Airport	$184	$184	$188	$188	$197	$197	$188
Hampton Inn & Suites Tempe/Phoenix Airport	$165	$176	$175	$148	$141	$141	$132
Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Downtown North	$240	$274	$265	$265	$274	$274	$224
Hampton Inn Phoenix-Midtown-Downtown Area	$253	$280	$275	$226	$218	$213	$218
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Phoenix	$179	$179	$179	$179	$179	$179	$179
Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Airport	$223	$228	$223	$222	$223	$228	$222
Hilton Phoenix Airport	$179	$179	$179	$179	$183	$169	$165
Embassy Suites by Hilton Phoenix Biltmore	$304	$306	$303	$242	$230	$225	$241
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe	$136	$140	$148	$155	$142	$142	$150
Hampton Inn & Suites Phoenix Tempe	$149	$162	$155	$173	$146	$159	$162
Senna House Scottsdale, Curio Collection by Hilton	$361	$429	$450	$424	$464	$505	$382
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Center City	$184	$200	$192	$181	$184	$204	$190
Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City-Convention Center	$232	$232	$232	$232	$271	$282	$190
The Logan Philadelphia, Curio Collection by Hilton	$264	$261	$259	$240	$257	$319	$240
Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue	$185	$187	$190	$184	$190	$212	$181
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Airport	$141	$141	$144	$156	$160	$163	$131
Embassy Suites by Hilton Philadelphia Airport	$152	$157	$190	$195	$251	$224	$144
DoubleTree by Hilton Cherry Hill Philadelphia	$117	$117	$107	$107	$150	$161	$119
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Mt. Laurel	$124	$124	$124	$124	$140	$143	$124
Hampton Inn & Suites Philadelphia/Media	$160	$170	$169	$167	$245	$226	$157
the Alloy King of Prussia – a DoubleTree by Hilton	$209	$215	$209	$196	$199	$192	$203
Hampton Inn & Suites San Antonio-Downtown/Market Square	$170	$170	$185	$235	$250	$250	$238
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Antonio Downtown	$169	$169	$169	$183	$233	$233	$183
Hampton Inn & Suites San Antonio-Airport	$113	$104	$119	$113	$103	$136	$97
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Airport	$137	$154	$137	$137	$208	$244	$137
Hampton Inn & Suites San Antonio/Northeast I-35	$136	$134	$137	$144	$182	$173	$123
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Brooks Hotel & Spa	$190	$205	$190	$206	$206	$206	$182
Hampton Inn & Suites San Antonio Lackland AFB SeaWorld	$122	$124	$153	$147	$163	$160	$138
DoubleTree by Hilton San Antonio Airport	$115	$115	$115	$115	$125	$115	$115
Hampton Inn San Antonio-Downtown (River Walk)	$138	$137	$146	$236	$278	$275	$124
Home2 Suites by Hilton San Antonio Downtown – Riverwalk, TX	$175	$204	$218	$228	$242	$268	$235
Carte Hotel San Diego Downtown, Curio Collection by Hilton	$340	$340	$340	$340	$365	$382	$252
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Diego Downtown	$224	$224	$231	$224	$257	$257	$199
Hilton San Diego Mission Valley	$157	$157	$165	$196	$212	$251	$157
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego Bay Downtown	$349	$399	$417	$389	$464	$406	$341
Hampton Inn San Diego-Downtown	$209	$226	$279	$220	$246	$317	$242
Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island	$227	$233	$233	$251	$322	$323	$217
Hampton Inn & Suites San Diego Airport Liberty Station	$193	$193	$194	$201	$251	$344	$213
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Diego – Mission Valley	$248	$267	$220	$220	$258	$277	$183
Hotel La Jolla, Curio Collection by Hilton	$284	$254	$340	$340	$292	$335	$233
Hampton Inn San Diego-Kearny Mesa	$174	$178	$184	$181	$169	$165	$169
Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown	$173	$216	$217	$230	$292	$324	$226
The Statler Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton	$284	$337	$314	$303	$478	$465	$307
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas – Market Center	$168	$185	$259	$224	$247	$260	$224
Hilton Anatole	$263	$272	$263	$268	$287	$287	$263
HALL Arts Hotel Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton	$363	$363	$363	$363	$363	$363	$363
Embassy Suites by Hilton Dallas Market Center	$169	$197	$197	$182	$182	$197	$182
Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Market Center	$126	$150	$175	$160	$141	$150	$149
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas – Love Field	$207	$207	$208	$207	$207	$207	$207
Hilton Dallas/Park Cities	$263	$283	$273	$234	$264	$264	$217
Embassy Suites by Hilton Dallas Park Central Area	$108	$111	$109	$107	$115	$113	$114
Hampton Inn & Suites Austin-Downtown/Convention Center	$239	$293	$319	$298	$328	$362	$215
Hilton Austin	$381	$405	$407	$382	$415	$415	$357
Embassy Suites by Hilton Austin Downtown South Congress	$268	$277	$283	$283	$312	$306	$277
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Austin	$248	$274	$315	$307	$372	$332	$208
Hampton Inn & Suites Austin @ The University/Capitol	$189	$243	$256	$257	$272	$326	$179
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Austin – University Area	$196	$224	$224	$228	$242	$260	$197
Embassy Suites by Hilton Austin Central	$144	$154	$213	$177	$134	$170	$164
Hampton Inn Austin/Oak Hill	$126	$152	$150	$141	$243	$254	$118
Embassy Suites by Hilton Austin Arboretum	$192	$200	$201	$178	$157	$166	$171
Hampton Inn & Suites Austin – Lakeway	$183	$311	$325	$323	$332	$333	$332
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Jacksonville Riverfront	$157	$157	$157	$157	$174	$191	$157
Hampton Inn Jacksonville-Downtown-I-95	$128	$135	$134	$128	$165	$165	$128
Embassy Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Baymeadows	$158	$158	$175	$158	$174	$175	$157
Hilton Garden Inn Jacksonville Downtown Southbank	$157	$157	$157	$157	$190	$190	$140
Homewood Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Downtown-Southbank	$181	$182	$182	$176	$205	$217	$151
Hampton Inn Jacksonville East Regency Square	$134	$132	$139	$138	$148	$145	$137
Homewood Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Deerwood Park	$156	$156	$205	$165	$186	$196	$155
Tru By Hilton Jacksonville St Johns Town Center	$152	$158	$153	$164	$183	$183	$147
Embassy Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Baymeadows	$158	$158	$175	$158	$174	$175	$157
Hampton Inn & Suites Jacksonville/Orange Park	$156	$157	$154	$151	$157	$157	$156
Hyatt Grand Central New York	$299	$339	$339	$299	$299	$299	$269
Hyatt Centric Midtown 5th Avenue New York	$359	$389	$389	$359	$399	$399	$299
Grayson Hotel	$345	$385	$385	$369	$375	$399	$319
Hyatt Place New York/Midtown-South	$444	$467	$460	$447	$450	$520	$434
Park South Hotel	$345	$375	$375	$345	$324	$355	$245
Hyatt House New York/Chelsea	$359	$359	$359	$359	$359	$453	$359
Thompson Central Park New York	$689	$689	$689	$689	$680	$695	$659
Hotel 50 Bowery	$339	$369	$369	$407	$392	$429	$350
Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson	$319	$399	$329	$299	$289	$269	$299
Hyatt House Jersey City	$289	$456	$319	$289	$289	$289	$289
Thompson Hollywood	$349	$349	$349	$359	$389	$389	$309
tommie Hollywood	$269	$269	$269	$279	$309	$319	$259
Hyatt Place Glendale / Los Angeles	$209	$229	$229	$219	$289	$289	$209
Andaz West Hollywood	$379	$379	$379	$379	$379	$379	$379
Hyatt House LAX / Century Blvd	$229	$229	$229	$229	$229	$229	$229
The Shay	$453	$453	$453	$453	$408	$408	$408
Hyatt Place Pasadena	$215	$222	$224	$202	$288	$329	$219
Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport	$229	$209	$216	$296	$273	$209	$209
Hyatt Regency Long Beach	$239	$249	$299	$299	$249	$249	$278
Hyatt House LA – University Medical Center	$239	$239	$239	$239	$239	$239	$239
Hyatt Place Chicago/Downtown-The Loop	$313	$399	$399	$321	$299	$299	$300
Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago	$269	$279	$279	$269	$289	$309	$199
Chicago Athletic Association	$289	$337	$349	$307	$309	$309	$326
Hyatt Place Chicago/River North	$244	$259	$259	$269	$279	$299	$267
Hyatt Regency Chicago	$339	$319	$349	$349	$349	$349	$349
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile	$239	$289	$289	$309	$329	$329	$299
Hotel Lincoln	$170	$169	$170	$169	$355	$427	$177
Thompson Chicago	$329	$339	$339	$339	$409	$429	$439
Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago	$249	$249	$239	$204	$179	$189	$189
Ambassador Chicago	$219	$219	$219	$219	$279	$319	$229
Hyatt Place Phoenix / Downtown	$254	$264	$290	$245	$280	$284	$235
Hyatt Regency Phoenix	$309	$369	$369	$309	$294	$304	$294
Hyatt Place Phoenix/Chandler-Fashion Center	$150	$164	$140	$138	$150	$185	$130
Royal Palms Resort and Spa	$709	$709	$709	$709	$709	$709	$709
Hyatt House Tempe / Phoenix / University	$160	$160	$162	$189	$160	$160	$160
Hyatt Place Tempe/Phoenix Airport	$217	$291	$205	$189	$199	$199	$189
Hyatt House Scottsdale/Old Town	$252	$252	$246	$245	$258	$284	$211
Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows	$729	$729	$729	$729	$799	$799	$699
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch	$662	$656	$642	$656	$637	$419	$425
Hyatt Place Scottsdale – North	$176	$204	$180	$179	$243	$308	$171
Hyatt Place Mt. Laurel	$149	$149	$149	$149	$199	$199	$149
The Bellevue Hotel	$290	$291	$299	$260	$310	$349	$245
Hyatt Centric Center City Philadelphia	$253	$259	$260	$289	$339	$409	$269
Hyatt Place Philadelphia/King of Prussia	$154	$159	$158	$144	$196	$232	$139
Hyatt Place Wilmington Riverfront	$199	$232	$216	$198	$239	$289	$179
Hyatt House Philadelphia/Plymouth Meeting	$139	$139	$139	$139	$159	$159	$139
Hyatt Place Princeton	$157	$159	$155	$199	$249	$219	$143
Hyatt House Philadelphia/King of Prussia	$189	$199	$199	$189	$199	$199	$179
Hyatt Regency Princeton	$219	$219	$205	$205	$199	$172	$205
Hyatt House Allentown / Lehigh Valley	$199	$199	$199	$199	$219	$219	$199
Hyatt House San Diego/Sorrento Mesa	$219	$219	$219	$219	$219	$219	$219
Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine	$449	$278	$347	$363	$230	$318	$257
Hyatt Place San Diego/Vista-Carlsbad	$179	$179	$202	$161	$292	$201	$160
Mission Pacific Hotel	$449	$449	$449	$449	$479	$499	$429
Thompson Dallas	$439	$439	$499	$499	$489	$489	$439
Hyatt House Dallas/Uptown	$149	$149	$149	$149	$248	$255	$149
Hyatt Place Dallas/Park Central	$121	$122	$122	$121	$130	$128	$123
Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport	$234	$263	$250	$229	$289	$233	$229
Hyatt House Dallas/Lincoln Park	$119	$119	$165	$178	$189	$193	$119
Hyatt Place Dallas-North/by the Galleria	$169	$179	$179	$149	$139	$139	$149
Grand Hyatt DFW	$355	$355	$355	$355	$325	$325	$340
Hyatt House Dallas/Las Colinas	$154	$159	$159	$125	$110	$110	$119
Hyatt Place Dallas/Arlington	$128	$133	$157	$180	$253	$231	$159
tommie Austin	$327	$417	$411	$436	$450	$411	$334
Hyatt House Austin/Downtown	$309	$309	$309	$309	$379	$379	$209
Hyatt Place Austin Airport	$256	$281	$276	$266	$452	$470	$205
Hyatt House Austin/Arboretum	$140	$145	$144	$130	$177	$178	$123
Hyatt Place Austin / Cedar Park	$129	$129	$129	$189	$272	$272	$129
Hyatt Place Jacksonville / St. Johns Town Center	$174	$198	$200	$233	$396	$374	$174
Hyatt Place Jacksonville Airport	$119	$167	$201	$164	$161	$135	$119
Hyatt House Columbus OSU / Short – North	$159	$159	$159	$159	$229	$229	$159
Hyatt Place Columbus/OSU	$140	$140	$148	$177	$246	$296	$140
Hyatt Place Columbus/Dublin	$118	$122	$123	$111	$147	$167	$109
Hyatt Place Columbus / Polaris	$123	$119	$131	$142	$212	$225	$117
Hyatt House Charlotte/Center City	$249	$254	$254	$249	$269	$269	$249
Hyatt Place Charlotte Downtown	$235	$251	$250	$219	$253	$291	$214
Hyatt House Charlotte Airport	$149	$149	$149	$139	$159	$159	$129
Hyatt Place Charlotte Airport / Billy Graham Parkway	$139	$139	$139	$139	$149	$140	$139
Hyatt Centric Charlotte SouthPark	$239	$229	$229	$229	$259	$259	$299
Hyatt Place Charlotte Airport/Lake Pointe	$159	$159	$159	$159	$159	$159	$159
Hyatt Place Charlotte/Arrowood	$109	$116	$115	$169	$179	$179	$115
Hyatt House Charlotte / Rea Farms	$174	$174	$185	$169	$189	$189	$179
Grand Hyatt at SFO	$702	$690	$773	$490	$319	$299	$349
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport	$426	$434	$413	$364	$281	$241	$272
Hyatt Centric Mountain View	$483	$442	$431	$299	$250	$240	$380
Hotel Avante	$299	$319	$299	$259	$115	$108	$171
Hyatt Centric Santa Clara Silicon Valley	$330	$350	$350	$268	$190	$198	$285
Wild Palms Hotel	$279	$279	$279	$170	$111	$109	$144
Hyatt House Emeryville/San Francisco Bay Area	$226	$231	$221	$207	$189	$189	$279
The Laurel Inn	$518	$527	$370	$391	$411	$430	$319
Hyatt Regency San Francisco	$754	$754	$754	$754	$456	$391	$413
Waterfront Hotel	$359	$359	$359	$359	$270	$244	$256
Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown	$252	$345	$388	$360	$300	$338	$243
Thompson Seattle	$395	$340	$392	$326	$333	$432	$314
Hyatt House Seattle/Redmond	$279	$279	$279	$249	$189	$189	$319
Hyatt House Seattle/Downtown	$238	$310	$319	$300	$283	$322	$352
Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center	$239	$315	$351	$291	$225	$240	$309
Grand Hyatt Denver	$251	$389	$329	$329	$249	$261	$259
Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver	$226	$349	$357	$338	$319	$341	$249
Thompson Denver	$340	$432	$437	$396	$402	$459	$321
Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan	$353	$361	$416	$307	$353	$479	$452
InterContinental New York Times Square	$436	$455	$455	$379	$387	$445	$379
Holiday Inn New York City – Times Square	$306	$315	$315	$306	$342	$342	$297
voco Times Square South New York	$270	$324	$324	$270	$297	$324	$252
Candlewood Suites New York City – Times Square	$427	$427	$427	$427	$427	$427	$427
Kimpton Hotel Eventi	$487	$563	$563	$495	$444	$469	$341
Holiday Inn Express New York City Times Square	$450	$450	$450	$450	$460	$460	$450
Crowne Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan	$598	$664	$664	$598	$598	$408	$370
EVEN Hotel New York – Times Square South	$340	$340	$340	$323	$385	$385	$266
voco The Franklin New York	$349	$349	$349	$366	$419	$419	$323
InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown	$387	$436	$436	$436	$379	$379	$290
Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown	$286	$324	$324	$324	$281	$312	$290
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Los Angeles Downtown West	$201	$201	$213	$221	$213	$230	$184
Kimpton Everly Hotel	$281	$290	$290	$307	$328	$354	$272
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Glendale Downtown	$180	$180	$180	$180	$198	$198	$180
Holiday Inn Los Angeles – LAX Airport	$152	$152	$152	$152	$171	$179	$152
Kimpton Hotel Wilshire	$282	$282	$298	$351	$351	$351	$241
Candlewood Suites LAX Hawthorne	$165	$156	$157	$161	$181	$181	$162
Staybridge Suites Long Beach Airport	$221	$217	$217	$204	$243	$217	$204
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Beverly Hills	$338	$338	$338	$436	$436	$408	$338
InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile	$297	$297	$297	$342	$377	$405	$342
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago	$378	$378	$378	$360	$360	$378	$360
voco Chicago Downtown	$428	$428	$428	$428	$428	$428	$428
Holiday Inn Chicago Dwtn – Wolf Point	$406	$406	$406	$406	$406	$406	$406
Holiday Inn Chicago – Midway Airport S	$144	$144	$144	$134	$134	$134	$134
Crowne Plaza Chicago West Loop	$275	$275	$275	$275	$275	$275	$275
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Chicago – Midway Airport	$127	$132	$137	$125	$168	$172	$129
Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Downtown	$324	$324	$324	$324	$324	$324	$324
Crowne Plaza Chicago Ohare Hotel & Conf Ctr	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180
Staybridge Suites Chicago O’Hare Airport	$163	$163	$163	$163	$163	$163	$163
Holiday Inn Houston Downtown	$170	$170	$170	$170	$134	$134	$170
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Downtown Convention Center	$145	$162	$175	$171	$162	$227	$158
Crowne Plaza Houston Med Ctr-Galleria Area	$149	$153	$153	$140	$122	$131	$131
InterContinental Houston – Medical Center	$368	$368	$368	$368	$360	$360	$368
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston – Memorial Park Area	$98	$111	$103	$94	$94	$103	$89
Candlewood Suites Houston Medical Center	$103	$103	$103	$103	$103	$103	$103
Holiday Inn Houston S – NRG Area – Med Ctr	$158	$171	$185	$158	$162	$149	$153
Staybridge Suites Houston Medical Center	$141	$136	$133	$136	$133	$145	$141
Crowne Plaza Houston Galleria Area	$96	$96	$96	$96	$92	$92	$96
Hotel Indigo Houston at the Galleria	$144	$147	$165	$156	$162	$180	$164
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix	$360	$360	$360	$360	$360	$360	$360
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Phoenix Downtown State Capitol	$166	$166	$166	$166	$180	$180	$166
Staybridge Suites Phoenix – Biltmore Area	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180	$180
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Phoenix Airport	$177	$186	$195	$196	$181	$194	$164
Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport – PHX	$175	$175	$180	$180	$193	$193	$184
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Phoenix – Airport North	$185	$180	$207	$221	$212	$207	$144
Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North	$170	$165	$188	$183	$198	$188	$178
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Tempe	$127	$127	$127	$127	$145	$145	$127
Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport	$162	$162	$162	$162	$162	$162	$162
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale – Old Town	$183	$166	$226	$171	$277	$308	$166
Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia-Midtown	$226	$226	$226	$226	$234	$234	$226
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia	$314	$322	$338	$298	$306	$346	$250
Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia – Penns Landing	$234	$221	$225	$216	$239	$244	$221
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia	$324	$324	$341	$298	$316	$384	$264
Staybridge Suites Philadelphia – Mt. Laurel	$132	$128	$128	$124	$196	$196	$128
Candlewood Suites Chester – Philadelphia	$116	$116	$116	$116	$116	$116	$116
Crowne Plaza Philadelphia – King of Prussia	$131	$186	$176	$151	$199	$158	$143
Holiday Inn Express Philadelphia NE – Bensalem	$132	$145	$136	$136	$161	$178	$140
Candlewood Suites Bensalem – Philadelphia Area	$139	$139	$139	$139	$147	$157	$139
Holiday Inn Philadelphia South-Swedesboro	$136	$140	$140	$136	$161	$161	$132
Holiday Inn Express San Antonio N-Riverwalk Area	$67	$90	$76	$94	$90	$112	$58
Holiday Inn San Antonio-Riverwalk	$213	$213	$213	$213	$213	$213	$213
Holiday Inn Express & Suites San Antonio-Dtwn Market Area	$121	$125	$125	$116	$151	$151	$116
Holiday Inn San Antonio-Dwtn (Market Sq)	$134	$134	$134	$134	$153	$153	$134
Hotel Indigo San Antonio River Walk	$153	$153	$166	$162	$202	$198	$125
Candlewood Suites San Antonio Downtown	$114	$111	$109	$112	$116	$124	$109
Staybridge Suites San Antonio-Airport	$99	$99	$99	$99	$121	$112	$99
Crowne Plaza San Antonio Airport	$109	$109	$102	$98	$107	$110	$106
Candlewood Suites San Antonio Lackland AFB Area	$112	$131	$145	$143	$131	$123	$114
Staybridge Suites San Antonio – Richland Hills	$181	$181	$181	$181	$196	$196	$157
Kimpton Alma – San Diego	$348	$348	$348	$348	$356	$356	$465
Holiday Inn Express San Diego Downtown	$243	$288	$225	$234	$225	$261	$234
InterContinental San Diego	$419	$388	$388	$361	$445	$485	$361
Holiday Inn Express San Diego Airport-Old Town	$238	$238	$214	$214	$214	$214	$204
Candlewood Suites San Diego	$273	$229	$273	$277	$273	$282	$251
Holiday Inn San Diego – Bayside	$205	$201	$197	$205	$222	$227	$188
Holiday Inn Express San Diego South – Chula Vista	$148	$138	$145	$143	$171	$176	$135
Holiday Inn San Diego – La Mesa	$225	$225	$225	$225	$225	$225	$225
Hotel Indigo San Diego Del Mar	$234	$234	$234	$234	$432	$432	$234
Holiday Inn Express San Diego SeaWorld-Beach Area	$129	$129	$129	$129	$212	$212	$129
Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown	$144	$144	$144	$144	$153	$162	$144
Hotel Indigo Dallas Downtown	$181	$199	$208	$314	$323	$363	$209
Holiday Inn Express Dallas Downtown	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282
Kimpton Pittman Hotel	$235	$235	$235	$235	$336	$336	$235
Holiday Inn Dallas Market Center	$123	$136	$122	$129	$146	$171	$131
Crowne Plaza Dallas-Market Center	$153	$153	$153	$153	$252	$252	$153
Candlewood Suites Dallas Market Cntr-Love Field	$107	$104	$104	$107	$117	$121	$117
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Dallas Market Ctr – Love Field	$115	$120	$138	$135	$129	$144	$115
Kimpton Harper Hotel	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282	$282
avid hotel Fort Worth – Fossil Creek	$80	$89	$80	$85	$111	$121	$89
Holiday Inn Express Columbus Downtown	$137	$137	$137	$123	$213	$213	$123
Staybridge Suites Columbus-Airport	$118	$118	$125	$121	$158	$154	$121
Candlewood Suites Columbus – Grove City	$115	$115	$115	$116	$141	$141	$115
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus OSU-Medical Center	$135	$135	$135	$135	$258	$258	$117
Holiday Inn Columbus – Hilliard	$127	$127	$127	$129	$160	$150	$127
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus Airport	$105	$103	$103	$110	$137	$137	$116
avid hotel Columbus Northwest – Hilliard	$91	$94	$95	$94	$107	$107	$97
Crowne Plaza Columbus North- Worthington	$125	$125	$125	$125	$125	$125	$125
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Columbus Airport East	$112	$107	$112	$116	$144	$144	$121
Staybridge Suites Columbus – Worthington	$109	$111	$106	$124	$140	$150	$104
Courtyard New York Manhattan/Fifth Avenue	$489.00	$489.00	$489.00	$489.00	$474.00	$474.00	$489.00
The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection	$685.00	$685.00	$685.00	$685.00	$664.00	$664.00	$685.00
SpringHill Suites New York Midtown Manhattan/Fifth Avenue	$391.00	$518.00	$518.00	$391.00	$379.00	$427.00	$264.00
Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Fifth Avenue	$391.00	$499.00	$499.00	$420.00	$360.00	$408.00	$283.00
Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Times Square	$420.00	$479.00	$479.00	$440.00	$446.00	$465.00	$322.00
Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square	$391.00	$450.00	$450.00	$411.00	$417.00	$436.00	$293.00
The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection	$479.00	$489.00	$489.00	$440.00	$398.00	$408.00	$371.00
W New York – Times Square	$469.00	$577.00	$577.00	$509.00	$522.00	$541.00	$342.00
Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Midtown East	$548.00	$548.00	$548.00	$548.00	$531.00	$531.00	$548.00
New York Marriott Marquis	$572.00	$572.00	$572.00	$572.00	$593.00	$688.00	$455.00
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles	$293.00	$528.00	$498.00	$410.00	$398.00	$360.00	$263.00
Courtyard Los Angeles L.A. LIVE	$371.00	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$313.00	$332.00	$283.00
The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles	$675.00	$881.00	$881.00	$881.00	$714.00	$852.00	$607.00
AC Hotel Downtown Los Angeles	$411.00	$616.00	$616.00	$616.00	$360.00	$351.00	$342.00
Moxy Downtown Los Angeles	$381.00	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$332.00	$341.00	$313.00
Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. LIVE	$381.00	$616.00	$616.00	$616.00	$379.00	$360.00	$322.00
Courtyard Los Angeles Monterey Park	$224.00	$224.00	$234.00	$229.00	$227.00	$241.00	$224.00
Residence Inn Los Angeles Glendale	$293.00	$313.00	$303.00	$313.00	$303.00	$303.00	$303.00
AC Hotel Beverly Hills	$342.00	$342.00	$342.00	$342.00	$313.00	$313.00	$313.00
SLS Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Beverly Hills	$607.00	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$522.00	$560.00	$450.00
The LaSalle Chicago, Autograph Collection	$558.00	$567.00	$567.00	$528.00	$512.00	$512.00	$528.00
Aloft Chicago Downtown River North	$450.00	$499.00	$499.00	$450.00	$389.00	$408.00	$430.00
W Chicago – City Center	$460.00	$460.00	$460.00	$411.00	$275.00	$275.00	$420.00
Residence Inn Chicago Downtown/Loop	$381.00	$381.00	$381.00	$381.00	$332.00	$332.00	$381.00
The Blackstone, Autograph Collection	$685.00	$685.00	$303.00	$303.00	$294.00	$294.00	$303.00
Le Méridien Essex Chicago	$244.00	$293.00	$293.00	$293.00	$284.00	$284.00	$195.00
Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel	$469.00	$469.00	$450.00	$450.00	$360.00	$360.00	$420.00
The Westin Chicago River North	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$360.00	$360.00	$391.00
SpringHill Suites Chicago Downtown/River North	$430.00	$430.00	$430.00	$430.00	$417.00	$417.00	$430.00
Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk	$450.00	$469.00	$420.00	$440.00	$313.00	$360.00	$420.00
Courtyard Houston Downtown/Convention Center	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$379.00	$379.00	$391.00
JW Marriott Houston Downtown	$293.00	$332.00	$342.00	$322.00	$313.00	$313.00	$293.00
Residence Inn Houston Downtown/Convention Center	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$379.00	$379.00	$391.00
AC Hotel Houston Downtown	$239.00	$273.00	$259.00	$229.00	$194.00	$203.00	$224.00
SpringHill Suites Houston Downtown/Convention Center	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$379.00	$379.00	$391.00
Aloft Houston Downtown	$180.00	$195.00	$195.00	$180.00	$180.00	$180.00	$174.00
The Laura Hotel, Houston Downtown, Autograph Collection	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$569.00	$569.00	$587.00
Moxy Houston Downtown	$264.00	$264.00	$264.00	$264.00	$275.00	$275.00	$264.00
Magnolia Hotel Houston, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel	$293.00	$293.00	$303.00	$283.00	$237.00	$237.00	$283.00
The Westin Houston Downtown	$352.00	$352.00	$371.00	$362.00	$332.00	$322.00	$342.00
The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia	$538.00	$511.00	$538.00	$538.00	$489.00	$538.00	$420.00
Element Philadelphia Downtown	$400.00	$400.00	$244.00	$244.00	$256.00	$256.00	$244.00
W Philadelphia	$500.00	$450.00	$440.00	$440.00	$379.00	$427.00	$322.00
Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City	$303.00	$293.00	$215.00	$205.00	$246.00	$265.00	$195.00
Le Méridien Philadelphia	$352.00	$352.00	$352.00	$352.00	$341.00	$341.00	$352.00
The Notary Hotel, Philadelphia, Autograph Collection	$460.00	$460.00	$273.00	$273.00	$303.00	$303.00	$273.00
The Westin Philadelphia	$504.00	$427.00	$474.00	$386.00	$308.00	$393.00	$278.00
Aloft Philadelphia Downtown	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	$665.00	$665.00	$279.00
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown	$381.00	$420.00	$313.00	$313.00	$313.00	$332.00	$264.00
Renaissance Philadelphia Downtown Hotel	$381.00	$371.00	$322.00	$303.00	$313.00	$332.00	$303.00
Element San Antonio Riverwalk	$234.00	$234.00	$234.00	$234.00	$284.00	$284.00	$234.00
AC Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk	$224.00	$224.00	$224.00	$224.00	$284.00	$284.00	$224.00
Courtyard San Antonio Riverwalk	$254.00	$283.00	$254.00	$215.00	$218.00	$218.00	$195.00
Sheraton Gunter Hotel San Antonio	$195.00	$195.00	$195.00	$195.00	$227.00	$218.00	$185.00
The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio	$332.00	$332.00	$332.00	$332.00	$322.00	$322.00	$332.00
The St. Anthony, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Antonio	$342.00	$381.00	$332.00	$332.00	$341.00	$360.00	$342.00
TownePlace Suites San Antonio Downtown	$185.00	$185.00	$185.00	$264.00	$227.00	$265.00	$166.00
Courtyard San Antonio Downtown/Market Square	$224.00	$224.00	$224.00	$224.00	$218.00	$218.00	$224.00
Fairfield Inn & Suites San Antonio Downtown/Market Square	$117.00	$117.00	$107.00	$136.00	$142.00	$180.00	$107.00
San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter	$362.00	$381.00	$352.00	$342.00	$284.00	$265.00	$342.00
The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter	$499.00	$460.00	$352.00	$342.00	$332.00	$455.00	$440.00
Moxy San Diego Downtown/Gaslamp Quarter	$332.00	$293.00	$264.00	$264.00	$303.00	$341.00	$273.00
AC Hotel San Diego Downtown Gaslamp Quarter	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$587.00	$569.00	$598.00	$587.00
TownePlace Suites San Diego Downtown	$283.00	$283.00	$264.00	$264.00	$256.00	$294.00	$303.00
The Guild Hotel, San Diego, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel	$371.00	$371.00	$332.00	$352.00	$360.00	$370.00	$313.00
Four Points by Sheraton San Diego Downtown Little Italy	$234.00	$234.00	$234.00	$224.00	$218.00	$237.00	$244.00
San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter	$494.00	$439.00	$329.00	$344.00	$417.00	$465.00	$344.00
SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront	$381.00	$362.00	$362.00	$362.00	$351.00	$351.00	$362.00
Fairfield Inn & Suites San Diego Old Town	$269.00	$269.00	$269.00	$269.00	$269.00	$269.00	$269.00
TownePlace Suites San Diego Airport/Liberty Station	$342.00	$342.00	$342.00	$342.00	$332.00	$332.00	$342.00
Fairfield Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown	$210.00	$244.00	$220.00	$259.00	$222.00	$246.00	$215.00
TownePlace Suites Dallas Downtown	$220.00	$224.00	$210.00	$200.00	$184.00	$194.00	$185.00
AC Hotel Dallas Downtown	$337.00	$337.00	$288.00	$278.00	$322.00	$351.00	$200.00
Residence Inn Dallas Downtown	$342.00	$342.00	$303.00	$283.00	$294.00	$322.00	$205.00
The Adolphus, Autograph Collection	$303.00	$303.00	$303.00	$303.00	$949.00	$949.00	$303.00
The Westin Dallas Downtown	$411.00	$401.00	$420.00	$332.00	$265.00	$313.00	$283.00
Sheraton Dallas Hotel	$518.00	$440.00	$391.00	$342.00	$246.00	$294.00	$322.00
Courtyard Dallas Downtown/Reunion District	$352.00	$416.00	$327.00	$337.00	$389.00	$360.00	$269.00
Dallas Marriott Downtown	$558.00	$548.00	$509.00	$548.00	$398.00	$379.00	$420.00
W Dallas – Victory	$381.00	$411.00	$469.00	$391.00	$398.00	$398.00	$420.00
Marriott Jacksonville Downtown	$205.00	$205.00	$205.00	$205.00	$227.00	$379.00	$205.00
Residence Inn Jacksonville Downtown	$205.00	$205.00	$205.00	$205.00	$284.00	$284.00	$205.00
Courtyard Jacksonville I-295/East Beltway	$156.00	$156.00	$156.00	$156.00	$218.00	$218.00	$156.00
TownePlace Suites Jacksonville Butler Boulevard	$195.00	$195.00	$195.00	$195.00	$189.00	$189.00	$195.00
Fairfield Inn & Suites Jacksonville Butler Boulevard	$156.00	$156.00	$156.00	$156.00	$170.00	$170.00	$156.00
Marriott Jacksonville	$215.00	$215.00	$215.00	$215.00	$161.00	$161.00	$215.00
SpringHill Suites Jacksonville	$175.00	$175.00	$175.00	$175.00	$170.00	$170.00	$175.00
Aloft Jacksonville Tapestry Park	$205.00	$205.00	$205.00	$185.00	$332.00	$332.00	$185.00
Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Baymeadows	$126.00	$136.00	$136.00	$131.00	$146.00	$146.00	$122.00
Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel	$293.00	$293.00	$293.00	$293.00	$284.00	$199.00	$293.00
Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square	$156.00	$166.00	$175.00	$166.00	$208.00	$227.00	$146.00
Residence Inn Columbus Downtown	$215.00	$224.00	$234.00	$205.00	$379.00	$379.00	$234.00
Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel	$283.00	$313.00	$332.00	$293.00	$360.00	$341.00	$273.00
The Westin Great Southern Columbus	$244.00	$264.00	$264.00	$244.00	$284.00	$284.00	$224.00
Courtyard Columbus Downtown	$171.00	$190.00	$171.00	$171.00	$298.00	$327.00	$151.00
Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel	$273.00	$264.00	$264.00	$244.00	$218.00	$218.00	$254.00
Hotel Indy, Indianapolis, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel	$322.00	$362.00	$332.00	$273.00	$275.00	$294.00	$205.00
Le Méridien Indianapolis	$391.00	$391.00	$391.00	$303.00	$379.00	$379.00	$273.00
Indianapolis Marriott Downtown	$264.00	$264.00	$264.00	$264.00	$218.00	$246.00	$283.00
TownePlace Suites Indianapolis Downtown	$224.00	$244.00	$234.00	$234.00	$427.00	$484.00	$224.00

Daniel Gillaspia

Les Clefs d’Or: What You Need to Know About Golden Key Concierges

If you’ve ever stayed at a higher end property, you may have noticed a concierge wearing a shiny golden pin consisting of crossed keys.

These members belong to an elite group of professional concierge members called “Les Clefs d’Or” and as a traveler it pays to have an idea of the level of high service these members can provide you with.

In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about Les Clefs d’Or (aka the golden key concierges).

What is Les Clefs d’Or?

Les Clefs d’Or (pronounced like “le-clay-door”) means the “keys of gold” in French and is an international network of concierge professionals who are dedicated to providing the best service possible to hotel guests.

Founded in 1929 in Paris, Les Clefs d’Or became international in 1952 and now they have over 4,000 members located in 80 countries and are found in over 530 properties.

You can always tell if you are dealing with a Les Clefs d’Or concierge because they have the crossed golden key bling on their lapels, which is pretty hard to miss.

Les Clefs d’Or member golden key pins — Image via lesclefsdoraustralia.

What’s so special about Les Clefs d’Or?

This professional concierge society stands out for a few “key” reasons.

The extensive network

One of the reasons why this society is so valuable is that they can rely on each other for just about anything (see Grand Budapest Hotel ).

These connections help facilitate requests, services, and communicate special preferences so that the concierge at another hotel (even a competitor hotel) can better anticipate the needs of that guest.

This network, which fosters friendship among members, also is a fantastic way to share ideas and experiences which help other concierge members stand out to guests.

You get the feeling that with this society, just about anything is possible.

And that makes a lot of sense when you consider that the entire society is made up of people committed to going the extra mile for guests.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this is one of the most efficient and influential organizations out there when it comes to getting things done.

The standards

This society also has specific standards for how the concierge should carry him or herself.

Some of these relate to maintaining a professional appearance and staying poised under all circumstances. These are not the type of hotel staff that would “lose their cool” or snap at guests.

When it comes to interacting with guests, the society puts a lot of focus on small details like responding to emails in a timely manner, informing guests of dress codes, hidden fees, and listening attentively.

They also put emphasis on protecting the identity and confidentiality of all guests, which is obviously a super important factor for high-profile guests.

One of the things I like most about their standards is that they state to never promise guest results “unless you are positive you can deliver.”

Sometimes a hotel can get ahead of themselves and commit to doing something that they aren’t able to come close to doing and it leads to a lot of disappointment.

But perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of this society is that the recommendations are never “driven by incentives or commissions from outside sources” and are always based on “first hand knowledge.”

One of the usual drawbacks of dealing with a concierge is that you might suspect that they are being driven by commissions rather than what is best for you.

So having a society of concierge members committed to not doing this is a pretty big deal.

It’s also very reassuring that if one of these concierge members recommend a restaurant to you, chances are they have personally visited that restaurant (probably on many occasions).

They also have standards for the concierge when dealing with vendors which is really important.

These help to ensure a positive relationship between the concierge and the vendors and help avoid conflicts of interest.

The service attitude

From all of the interviews I’ve watched and articles I’ve read, there is a clear attitude that these members possess when it comes to guest requests.

It’s an attitude of always striving to figure out how something can work and doing everything within their power to make it work. Not everything is possible but if there is a way to make something happen, a member of Les Clefs d’Or will generally make sure that it does happen.

What hotels have Les Clefs d’Or?

As you would expect, these special concierge agents will be found at higher-end five star and four star hotels.

The good thing is that you can search for hotels that have these by using their website (US) (international).

Some of the most high end properties have multiple golden key members and you might even find a property entirely staffed with them if you’re real lucky.

You’ll notice that most of the golden key concierge members will be found in large cities like New York City, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, etc.

To give you a sense of the type of properties that you can find these members at, here’s a sample list of properties valid as of early 2023:

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale
Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel
Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills
Park Hyatt Aviara
Lodge at Torrey Pines
Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage
Omni Hotel San Diego
Fairmont Hotel (San Francisco)
Grand Hyatt on Union Square
St. Regis Resort Aspen
Conrad Washington DC
Mandarin Oriental Boca Raton
InterContinental Miami
W South Beach
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World
Trump International Hotel Waikiki
Four Seasons Resort Maui
Loews Chicago Hotel
Aria Resort & Casino/Vdara Resort & Spa
Cosmopolitan Resort
MGM Grand Hotel
Edition Times Square
Park Hyatt (New York)
Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia

You can find lots of these concierges in Las Vegas.

How do you become a member of Les Clefs d’Or

Becoming a Les Clefs d’Or member is not so easy and there are some specific requirements.

First you have to have a minimum of five years of experience as a full-time lobby-level concierge.

Then, you will need to have strong recommendations (I believe from two people who are current members) and you will have to pass an extensive written and oral exam.

Reportedly, it can take members up to 20 hours to complete the exam which has a mixture of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions.

These questions would cover all areas relevant to the service of a concierge including travel, food, wine, etc.

For example, they may be tested on their knowledge of top rated restaurants or chefs or perhaps have to recall the details of a decadent dish.

As difficult as the exam sounds, surprisingly only about 20% do not pass — perhaps because those who are interested take the preparation process very seriously.

Final word

A good hotel concierge can help make your stay dramatically better. But a concierge who is a member of this society of golden keys can reliably work some serious magic for guests. Look out for them on your next upscale hotel stay and see what they can do for you!

Cover image via lesclefsdor.org.

Daniel Gillaspia

Using The Hotel Concierge: Your Complete Guide to Tipping & Making Requests

If there is one role at a hotel that is somewhat mysterious, it’s probably the hotel concierge.

What exactly does a concierge do and what can you realistically expect him to help you with?

In this article, we will talk about the role of a hotel concierge and give you some insight into what it is that they do and how they can help you.

We will also provide you with some tips when making your own requests so that you can increase the odds of having a successful outcome and not be clueless about things like tipping.

Things you should know about the hotel concierge

Let’s start off with some basic things you should know about the hotel concierge.

Understand what a hotel concierge is

A hotel concierge is someone at the hotel responsible for helping to make sure your requests and needs are met in the best way possible.

A good hotel concierge will do what they can to make sure everything goes right on your stay.

So think of the concierge as someone there to support your various needs and desires — don’t be afraid to use them.

Not every hotel has them

Not every hotel is going to have a concierge.

You should pretty much always expect there to be a concierge at a luxury property. The higher you go, the more attention to detail they will have such as remembering your name, sending thank you notes, etc.

They also may be more well-connected or skilled (e.g., speak multiple languages), especially if you are dealing with a concierge who is a member of Les Clefs d’Or.

Some of the middle-tier properties will also have one or at least someone who can perform the functions of one. This is especially the case if the hotel is located in a tourist hotspot with plenty of opportunities to make recommendations for tours and activities.

But don’t expect to find a concierge at a budget property.

How does a concierge get paid?

Hotels have different pay structures for concierges including the following:

Hourly rate or salary
Commission based pay
Combination of an hourly rate plus commission.

As a guest, this matters because if a concierge is getting a kickback from certain establishments, they may be more willing to recommend those over others.

Just because a concierge is getting a kickback, that does not mean that the restaurant is not good but there are some concierges out there who don’t always have your best interest in mind.

More importantly, if a tour company is paying a commission to the hotel, the hotel tour prices could be more expensive, so watch out for that.

What kind of hours does a hotel concierge work?

Some hotels will have a concierge available pretty much around the clock, which is great for people who really like nightlife.

At other properties, they may available on a more limited schedule from morning until evening.

How much should you tip the hotel concierge?

We’ve written a lot about tipping at hotels whether that be valet, housekeeping, the bellhop, or elsewhere.

Out of all of the different tipping situations, the concierge is probably the most difficult for people to estimate.

So here is some guidance:

For quick one off questions you could tip a couple of bucks although lots of people don’t tip for these quick questions. Typically these would be questions that you can find yourself with a quick Google search.

For help with a reservation or booking that’s pretty easy to figure out, the minimum tip expected would be $5 to $10. For example, if you already know the restaurant you want to eat at but just need to make the reservation and perhaps get menu recommendations, you can leave a relatively low tip.

If the concierge helps you figure out where to eat or what you want to do then the minimum tip should be $10 to $20. This is the type of travel request that you get real “insider knowledge” from so it’s worth tipping to reflect that.

If the concierge works some magic then you may be looking at a tip of $20+. This would be a situation where a concierge gets you a seat at a sold out restaurant or event. If they dazzle you your tip should be equally dazzling.

When tipping the concierge, you may want to think about tipping them before they handle your request because you might be able to get better results that way. YMMV.

How to use a hotel concierge

You first need to verify that the hotel actually has a concierge.

Usually, you can find a desk or a sign near the front desk which will say concierge and that can be enough verification for you but you could also just ask the front desk or look for the “concierge” button on the telephone in your room.

One issue with using a hotel concierge is finding them when they are available.

Hotels often only have a single person on duty at a time which means that if they are on a break or working with other guests, you cannot use them at that time.

Sometimes you might be able to leave a note with someone at the front desk for the concierge to get back to you but other times it can be difficult to track them down.

This is why email could be a great way to communicate with the concierge, especially if you contact them a few days before your stay. Some people will even contact the concierge months before their travel dates but that comes at the risk of getting lost in the mix.

The drawback with email is that sometimes you may be communicating with multiple people and not a specific person which can make it harder to accomplish what you’re trying to do.

But once you do track them down, then it’s just a matter of figuring out what you want help with.

What can a hotel concierge help you with?

A hotel concierge can help you with just about anything but you don’t always want to go to them for all of your requests.

If you need something like extra pillows, more towels, or there is something wrong with your room then you want to ring the front desk.

The front desk will either look into it or contact housekeeping or engineering if needed.

Sometimes the concierge desk is involved with these requests but I rarely have interacted with the concierge when getting these type of things sorted out.

Instead, the concierge deals more with requests related to things like:

Finding a taxi or a ride
Dining
Finding local services
Getting local insight
Booking things in the hotel
Things to do
Tickets
Packages
Problem-solving
Medical issues
Special requests
VIP welcome

Finding a taxi or other ride

One of the most common uses for a hotel concierge is to get them to help you find a taxi or some other type of ride.

Sometimes they have special connections with drivers that can come in handy when ride shares are not available or taxis are otherwise a long wait.

If you are ever in doubt about the legitimacy of a taxi or struggling to find an Uber, just hit up the concierge.

Dining

One of the most common reasons to use a hotel concierge is to get help with your dining options.

A good concierge will have many recommendations they can offer you based on your food preferences, budget, and personal circumstances. For example, maybe you are taking a client out to dinner and need a sophisticated dining spot to impress.

One of the big benefits of going through the concierge is that they sometimes have deals worked out with restaurants so that they can guarantee you a seat and a reservation.

They may not be able to get you in everywhere but they may be able to do some magic, especially if you have VIP status.

The drawback is that they could be sending you to restaurants owned by relatives or family friends. If those restaurants are good then there’s nothing to worry about but it’s just something to be mindful of.

Finding local services

If you need to take advantage of some local services like dog watching, barbers, laundry, or anything else of the sort, the concierge can provide recommendations for you.

We once had a stopover in Los Angeles on a big round the world trip and the concierge at the W gave us a really solid recommendation for a local barber. If you’re in need of a service where trust is paramount, the concierge can be a great resource.

Getting local insight

If you’re wanting to venture to a specific area of town that you think could be shady, a concierge can be a good person to talk to you to get an idea of how safe or unsafe that area is.

Booking things in the hotel

If the hotel has special services such as a spa, exclusive lounge, pool services, etc. you can talk to the concierge about these. The concierge may be able to help you but they may just refer you to that department.

Things to do

If you are curious about what type of things there are to do in your location a concierge can help you out a lot.

They can give you information on different spots to check out and perhaps some tips and insight into how to save money or avoid crowds.

I remember getting advice on how to enter the Louvre Museum through the “hidden” side entrance which saved us waiting in a really long line (I don’t think that entrance is available anymore).

If you want to book a specific type of tour, the concierge can help you with those tours as well. Just remember, they may be earning commission off of that so it helps to do some of your own independent research.

Tickets

If you need to get tickets for a show or sporting event the concierge may be able to help you with those as well.

Stories abound about concierges getting last-minute courtside seats to basketball games and other amazing seats to different shows and events. Other times, it might be more about the concierge telling you what seats to avoid!

If you ever just find yourself with nothing to do on an evening but don’t think you can find something last minute, the concierge is a great person to talk to.

Tip: Make sure you are always clear on service fees or surcharges when getting a concierge to book something.

Packages

It’s possible for you to get mail and other packages sent to your hotel.

Often this happens because you forgot something or need some type of last-minute item of importance.

A good concierge will oversee the delivery process and make sure that you get your item as soon as it arrives at the hotel. In my experience, this is one area where the concierge really excels.

Problem-solving

While I mentioned above that you typically want to voice any problems you have with the front desk, sometimes it can be the concierge who ends up helping you out.

When a hotel in London broke my $1,000 lens for my Canon DSLR (by dropping my luggage), it was the concierge who hopped in a cab with me on a snowy afternoon and took me to various local camera shops to find a replacement. Luckily, we found one just in time to catch our train!

But a concierge doesn’t always have the superpowers you want them to have.

On another trip, in Milan, Italy, I botched a tour of the chapel with The Last Supper by mixing up my dates. I tried to get the concierge at the Park Hyatt Milan (a top luxury property) to help me make a last-minute booking but they just didn’t have the pull.

Medical issues

Related to the above, a concierge can even help you with medical situations.

Obviously, I’m not talking about getting medical treatment from the concierge (although you never know), but I’m talking about getting assistance with finding medical treatment.

We once had a nightmare situation in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands involving a broken tooth and a last minute emergency dental visit. It was incredibly stressful but the concierge helped connect us to a local dentist and we were able to get in last minute on a holiday weekend.

Generally, if there is a problem that requires a solution of going out and about, it’s a concierge who will help you.

Special requests

If you were trying to do something special for your partner, spouse, or any guest, the concierge is a great person to talk to you.

You can talk to them about setting up special decorations for the room, ordering fancy desserts, or anything else that you need to make a moment extra special or romantic.

Of course, some people also go to the concierge for more illicit requests. For example, they may make a request for drugs or escorts.

Lots of concierges have stated online that they do not offer these type of services to hotel guests but there are also some who reportedly do. It seems that lots of those requests come from people who are recurring guests or very high profile such as famous musicians.

I don’t have any experience in this department but I generally avoid asking favors of people when I suspect my request could get them into trouble with their job (or the law).

VIP welcome

If you are a VIP (or think you are), the concierge will sometimes play a role (along with other marketing peeps) in giving you a complete VIP welcome.

This could involve showing you around the hotel, giving you a special greeting, offering special assistance, or just checking up on you.

Also, as mentioned a concierge can do a lot more for VIP guests.

The typical roadblocks that may preclude something happening for a regular guest don’t always apply to a VIP guest. For example, a VIP guest could get a difficult restaurant booking that would otherwise be unavailable, all thanks to the concierge.

Final word

You won’t always find a concierge at every hotel but when you do it’s worth thinking about how they might be able to help you. With the plethora of apps we have on our phones these days, a lot of our requests can easily be taken care of ourselves.

But sometimes those apps fall short and you need to tap into local expertise or have someone help you with real-time problem solving and that is the perfect time to talk to a concierge!

Daniel Gillaspia

How Much Should You Tip the Hotel Bellhop? (Rule of Thumb) [2023]

So you are arriving at a hotel and as soon as you pull up two bellhops approach your vehicle and start transferring your luggage from your vehicle to a trolley cart.

You start searching for some cash and luckily find some but you’re not sure exactly how much you should tip these people (if anything at all).

What exactly are the “rules” for tipping the bellhop and what is a good rule of thumb for a reasonable tip? In this article, we’ll take a close look at when you should tip a bellhop and how much is a reasonable tip.

Before we jump into how much you should tip the bellhop let’s take a look at what exactly a bellhop is and their duties so that you have a good idea who they are and what they do.

What is a bellhop?

A bellhop (also called a hotel porter, bellman, bellboy, or bellwoman) is a hotel staff member who helps guests with various tasks when they arrive and depart hotels.

Typically, these tasks would be moving/storing luggage, utilizing the trolleys, getting in and out the front doors, and helping you to get acquainted with the hotel or perhaps even escorted to your room.

If your room comes with technical features they may even give you a brief overview on how to utilize everything in your room (e.g., electric curtains, tablets, etc.).

Some bellhops may also assist with or assume other duties like: giving directions, basic concierge assistance (recommendations), valet, calling cabs, helping you find your ride share, doorman duties, etc.

Bellhops are usually found at full-service hotels and resorts and are less commonly found at cheaper hotels or motels.

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Where did the name bellhop come from?

Back in the day, a bellhop was usually a younger male (boy) who would be summoned by the sound of a ringing bell from the front desk. He would then “hop” to duty in order to properly serve the hotel guests. Hence the name bell-hop.

How much should you tip the bellhop?

As a good rule of thumb, tip the bellhop $1 per bag at a standard hotel and $2 per bag at a luxury hotel or when dealing with heavy/large luggage. Try to tip at least $2 minimum in every situation as tipping $1 is sometimes not received well (it’s seen almost as an insult).

The above is just a rule of thumb, though. The exact amount you tip probably comes down to a few factors you want to consider. Let’s dive into those factors.

Level of courtesy

There is nothing worse than showing up with a lot of excitement to a hotel only to be greeted by a rude or completely indifferent staff member.

At many properties, your first contact will be with a bellhop so in many ways they are sort of the face of the property, capable of setting the tone for your stay.

Sometimes these people have to work in less than ideal conditions such as super hot afternoons or ridiculously cold nights. Other times they may be struggling to keep up with the mad rush of guests during arrival hours.

So I don’t always expect them to be the most cheerful in every circumstance. But if a bellhop is visibly rude or does not acknowledge you, that’s usually a sign that a tip should be reduced or even taken to zero.

On the other hand, sometimes you’ll have a bellhop who seems to be going over and beyond.

They greet you with a smile and make sure to do all they can to assist you with getting luggage out of your vehicle and loaded into a trolley or taken to your room. They might even be a great conversationalist with a sense of humor that makes your day or puts you at ease as you arrive in a new city.

For these type of bellhops, I’m usually prepared to give them a $5 tip once we arrive at the room or when they handover the bags. If they really went over the top and I’m feeling especially generous I might even throw them some more dough ($5 to $10+) and make it rain!

Check out: Ultimate Hotel Upgrade Guide: 17 Tips

How they handle your luggage

Perhaps the most important thing for a bellhop is that they properly handle your luggage.

This means that they get your luggage to your room in a timely manner such as when you arrive at your room or shortly after.

It also means that they do not end up delaying your luggage or have it flying off the trolley.

One snowy afternoon, we were checking into the Renaissance Hotel in London when a bellhop swiftly pushed the trolley through the lobby causing my small bag to fly off (after we had warned him about the fragile nature of the contents).

This bag had all of my electronics in it and when I checked on them afterwards I noticed that there was a broken $1,000 camera lens!

That is obviously the type of scenario that would not be ideal for a tip. (For what it’s worth the hotel helped me purchase a replacement lens at a nearby camera shop after they reviewed the footage.)

Level of work needed

If all you have is a small roller bag and a bellhop simply helps remove the small bag from a vehicle and places it in front of you, that’s not exactly a tall order.

In that case, you may not tip or simply leave a $2 tip basically to just acknowledge that they are doing their job and avoid the awkwardness of not tipping.

But if you are traveling as a family with many heavy bags and the bellhop is breaking a sweat trying to gather all of the luggage then consider that his work is a little taxing. That’s when you might fall into the $10 range for a tip.

Also, if a bellhop helps you all the way to your room with multiple bags typically you would want to tip a little bit extra (closer to the $10 range).

Refusing assistance from the bellhop

You don’t have to allow the bellhops to help you with your luggage.

Usually, upon arriving, the bellhop will ask if help is needed but sometimes they are very proactive (some might even say aggressive) when approaching the vehicle and removing your luggage.

Some people might like this and others probably don’t because it could be a little bit invasive.

Feel free to let the bellhops know that you can take care of your luggage yourself.

They should not have a problem with you helping yourself but sometimes they can be very persistent to the point of practically prying the bags out of your hands so be prepared to deal with that.

If you choose to go to self-help route, there really is no need to leave a tip at all for the bellhop.

Personally, when I am departing a hotel I like to load up our Jeep ourselves because we have a specific way that everything fits well on road trips.

Nine times out of 10 when the bellhop starts loading things up we have to change it so we usually refuse the service when departing.

Requesting or utilizing the bell cart/trolley

There is a little bit of debate on whether or not you should utilize the bell cart or trolley yourself when staying at nicer hotels.

The argument against using it is that it is a standard procedure at these properties for the bellhops to manage and utilize these for guests. You are essentially “assuming” their duty and in a way denying their tips.

Personally, I don’t care too much for this argument.

As mentioned above, I’ve had valuables broken by a bellman at a very nice hotel in London and so I trust myself more than anyone to transport my bags safely. If you would like to use the trolley yourself, I say feel free to request it.

Just remember to return it as soon as you’re finished.

What can you request from the bellhop?

As mentioned above, the duties of a bellhop may extend beyond helping you unload your luggage from a vehicle and taking it to your room.

Sometimes they may also be able to help you with valet, directions, getting a taxi, finding your Uber or Lyft, etc. You can even ask them for restaurant recommendations and things like that (similar to a concierge).

For these random requests, a tip of $2 to $ 3 dollars is usually sufficient. Maybe a little bit more if they go above and beyond.

Just don’t ask them to help you out with illegal activities or things that could get them fired such as “where can I find some good drugs?”

When should you tip the bellhop?

It’s recommended to tip after you have received services from the bellhop unless you know that you have an impressive tip to offer.

If you pull out a $1 bill as a tip that’s going to kill the motivation for a bellhop and probably cause them to deliver the minimum level of service to you. In that case, it would be better to just wait until they have finished delivering your luggage to tip.

At the same time, if you’re dropping a five dollar bill or more that’s a good signal to them that you’re a solid tipper and you may want to do that at the beginning.

Other people may prefer to tip at the end regardless of the size of their tip so that they can accurately provide a tip based on (organic) performance.

Splitting up your tips

Sometimes you’ll have multiple bellhops helping you out and you may not know which one to tip.

If you were particularly observant then you might have an idea of how much work each bellhop did for you.

If it is equal work then maybe you can tip both of them equal amounts. Or if one seemed to do most of the effort then perhaps just drop your tip to that person.

A lot of times tips go into a pool and then get divided up based on the amount of hours worked so it often does not matter if you tip one person or the other.

Even if they do pool tips, I like to tip people individually because I think it just makes everyone feel better but that’s just me and it’s not always practical to do with something like a five dollar bill.

What if you forget to have cash for a tip?

Nowadays, I always go to the bank before a major trip and receive a band of 100 $1 bills. This makes tipping very easy but sometimes you may forget to pull out some cash and you don’t have anything to tip.

If you’re feeling especially motivated you can always let them know that you’ll come back down to give them their tip as soon as you get some cash. Just make sure that you actually do that because I’m sure a lot of people say they will but never do.

If you have no intention on doing that immediately or within a short amount of time then just say thanks and move on. Giving them your life story on why you don’t have cash on you just gets really old for them. Once you have proven yourself to not be a tipper you are essentially dead to them and it’s best to just move on.

Final word

There’s always debate when it comes to tipping at hotels.

Often you can refer to the prevailing rule of thumb for tips and in this case it would be one dollar per bag at a normal hotel and two dollars per bag at a high-end hotel or when you’re dealing with large and heavy bags. But it’s also worth considering the attitude of the bellhop and other factors.

It’s also worth remembering that you can always refuse help from the bellhop if you don’t need it or want it.

Daniel Gillaspia

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