Which hotel schemes let you earn points and night credit when you book multiple rooms?

Is it possible to book multiple rooms at the same property on the same night, earn points from them all and have them all count as qualifying nights for elite status or for a promotion?

This is a topic that is close to my heart.  My children are now too big for rollaway beds or sharing a sofa bed, so our default hotel option is now two separate (connecting if possible) rooms.  You can be sure that I am looking to maximise my rewards from these two rooms.

I thought it was worth running through the policies of the major chains when you book multiple rooms.

Note that, in all cases:

• all rooms must be booked in your name

• you must occupy one of the rooms

• you must pay for all of the rooms

Check the small print if the stays will not all have the same check-in and check-out date. Marriott, for example, now insists that all rooms must have the same arrival and departure dates.

Multiple room rules with Accor Live Limitless

Accor has the most restrictive policy of the major chains on the face of it, in terms of number of rooms you can earn on (no more than two), but actually it is the best choice if you want to earn status.

The rules:

• Can you earn Accor Live Limitless ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn Accor Live Limitless status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to two rooms per night

• Can you earn Accor Live Limitless redeemable points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to two rooms per night

The Accor Live Limitless terms and conditions are here (PDF).  See paragraph 7.2 under ‘Eligible Expenses’.

Accor lets you earn status based on either nights or spend (€10 gets you 25 status qualifying points at most brands) and that the ‘spend’ route is the easiest unless you only stay in low cost Ibis hotels.

Whilst you don’t earn ‘nights’ credit for booking two rooms on the same night, the points you earn from both rooms are counted towards qualifying for status via spend.

I currently have top-tier Diamond status in Accor Live Limitless following a stay at Fairmont Windsor Park last December.  We booked two rooms and spend from both counted towards status.

Multiple room rules with Hilton Honors

Hilton Honors has a decent policy but you need to be aware of the small print.

The rules:

• Can you earn Hilton Honors ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn Hilton Honors status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to four rooms per night.

• Can you earn Hilton Honors redeemable points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to four rooms per night, but ONLY if the bills for the rooms are merged into one bill at check-out

I came a cropper here a few years ago at an Embassy Suites, because the hotel had already prepared the bills the night before and I forgot to merge them.  Whilst my name was on both rooms I only received points for one of them.  Luckily the Hilton contact centre took pity on me and credited the additional points, but you shouldn’t rely on this.

Hilton has an extra benefit in your favour – if you have Hilton elite status, you receive your status bonus on ALL of the rooms and not just the points earned from the room you occupy. However, if there is a promotional bonus running (eg ‘double points’) then it will only apply to one room.

As with Accor, spending on all rooms counts towards earning status based on spending. The snag is that most people earn Hilton status via nights and not spend because the spend requirement is high. Diamond, for example, requires 60 nights, 30 stays or $12,000 of pre-tax spending. Most people could earn Diamond with 30 one night stays for a fraction of $12,000.

Accor is different. Platinum status, which is good enough for lounge access, only requires €5,600 of spend or 60 nights. This is why I find Accor’s policy of counting spend on multiple rooms to be more useful.

Earning Hilton Honors status by spending instead of nights also means that you miss out on the ‘Milestone Rewards’ that you achieve as you move towards status, as these are only triggered by nights.

The Hilton Honors terms and conditions are here.  It is under ‘Accrual of Points’.

Multiple room rules with IHG One Rewards

Historically IHG only allowed multiple rooms to count in the US and Canada.  It has now extended this globally – the last few exceptions (mainly Latin American countries) were removed when IHG One Rewards launched in 2022.

The only places where you can’t earn points on multiple rooms are InterContinental Alliance resorts, which primarily means the Las Vegas hotels linked to IHG.

The rules:

• Can you earn IHG One Rewards ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn IHG One Rewards status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to NINE rooms per night

• Can you earn IHG One Rewards redeemable points for multiple rooms per night? Yes, up to NINE rooms per night

Spending on all rooms counts towards earning status based on spending. The snag is that most people earn IHG status via nights and not spend because the spend requirement is high. Diamond Elite, for example, requires 70 nights or $12,000 of pre-tax spending.

Earning IHG One Rewards status by spending instead of nights also means that you miss out on the ‘Milestone Rewards’ that you achieve as you move towards status, as these are only triggered by nights.

The terms and conditions of IHG One Rewards are here if you want to check the wording.  See clause 35.

Multiple room rules with Marriott Bonvoy

Following the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest, this is what the combined Bonvoy programme offers:

The rules:

• Can you earn Marriott Bonvoy ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn Marriott Bonvoy status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?  Not applicable – you can only earn Marriott Bonvoy status via nights, not base points

• Can you earn Marriott Bonvoy redeemable points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to three rooms per night

This is a change from the old Starwood Preferred Guest rules, which DID let you earn qualifying nights for up to three rooms per night.  People who were close to status would often book three rooms at one of the Heathrow hotels over a cheap weekend night.

The Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions are here.  Click on ‘Earn Points’ to bring up the relevant section – it is in Clause 2.1.d

Multiple room rules with Radisson Rewards

Radisson Rewards has an identical policy to Marriott Bonvoy:

The rules:

• Can you earn Radisson Rewards ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn Radisson Rewards status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?   Not applicable – you can only earn Radisson Rewards status via nights, not base points

• Can you earn Radisson Rewards redeemable points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to three rooms per night.  Note that the rules say “credit for multiple rooms must be requested at or before the time of check-in”.

You can clarify this in the Radisson Rewards terms and conditions here under Clause 5 / a / i.

Multiple room rules with World of Hyatt

World of Hyatt also has the same rules:

The rules:

• Can you earn World of Hyatt ‘qualifying nights’ credit for multiple rooms per night?  No

• Can you earn World of Hyatt status qualifying base points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to three rooms per night

• Can you earn World of Hyatt redeemable points for multiple rooms per night?  Yes, up to three rooms per night

Spending on all rooms counts towards earning status based on spending. The snag is that most people earn World of Hyatt status via nights and not spend because the spend requirement is high. Diamond Elite, for example, requires 60 nights or $20,000 of pre-tax spending.

Earning World of Hyatt status by spending instead of nights also means that you miss out on the ‘Milestone Rewards’ that you achieve as you move towards status, as these are only triggered by nights.

The World of Hyatt terms and conditions are here.  See clause 1.8 in Appendix A.

Conclusion

There is no major hotel loyalty scheme which allows multiple rooms to count towards additional elite qualifying nights.

Accor Live Limitless, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards and World of Hyatt will allow your spending from multiple rooms to count towards elite status earned by spend. However, with the exception of Accor, the spend thresholds are disproportionately high compared to earning status by nights.

You can earn redeemable points in all six of the major schemes by crediting multiple rooms to your account.

---

Hotel offers update – April 2024:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points?

• Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 14th May 2024. Click here.