Is it worth joining Point A Hotels ‘A List’ programme?

This is our review of Point A Hotels and the ‘A-List’ loyalty programme.

Head for Points tends to focus on the main global hotel brands  – Hilton, Marriott etc – and their respective loyalty schemes.  We like to look at smaller UK chains from time to time, and today I want to look at Point A Hotels.

The Point A Hotels website is here if you want to find out more.

Where are Point A Hotels?

Point A Hotels is a small chain of ten low-cost properties.  Seven are in London (Shoreditch, Kensington Olympia, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf, Westminster and Paddington) plus one each in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin.

The Shoreditch hotel – click here – gives you a good example of how the chain operates.  The two photos in this article are of Shoreditch.  The model is simple:

• Hotels are based in city centre locations, close to key attractions

• Rooms are small but very well equipped – Hypnos beds, power showers, 40 inch smart TV, hairdryers, mood lighting, safe, air conditioning

• Rooms are not fully cleaned during your stay – unless you stay 4+ days – but are ‘refreshed’ daily

• Continental breakfast is available for £9, except at Canary Wharf and Westminster where it isn’t offered at all

• ‘Grab and go’ snacks are available in the lobby 

• There is no full restaurant

This allows Point A to offer rooms from £40 per night off-peak in Scotland and £80-£90 per night off-peak in London, which is exceptional value.

What is the Point A Hotels ‘A-List’?

A-List is NOT a traditional hotel loyalty programme.  You don’t earn any points and you can’t earn a free room for doing lots of stays.

A-List looks a bit like YOTEL’s ‘Club@YOTEL’ scheme.  We wrote about Club@YOTEL here.

This is what you get from A-List:

• 10% off your bookings
• Faster bookings
• Access to flexible rates
• Exclusive offers and deals

To be honest, the real value here is in the 10% discount and – if you need it – the ability to book a room which can be cancelled without penalty.  I never put much value on ‘exclusive offers and deals’, although sometimes you can get lucky and find something that works for you.

Let’s be frank.  Points A Hotels ‘A-List’ doesn’t offer you much, but it is silly to turn down a 10% discount if you can get one.

You can sign up for A-List here.

How does the paid membership plan work?

There is also a paid plan at £99 per year. This is what you get:

• Your discount increases from 10% to 20% which is on top of any other sale offers available

• Breakfast is included for free

• Early check-in (11am) OR late check-out (2pm) is guaranteed

If you are staying more than 6-7 nights per year, you should easily make a profit on your £99.  Details are here.

Conclusion

Points A Hotels has a good reputation for offering low cost hotels with good quality amenities in core UK city centre locations.

You won’t get much by signing up for A-List – no free nights, no hotel points, no airline miles – but if you can get a few pounds off your room then it makes sense to join.

You can find out more on the Point A website here.

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Hotel offers update – March 2023:

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?

• IHG One Rewards is offering an 80%-100% bonus when you buy points by 21st March. Click here to buy.
• Marriott Bonvoy is offering a 40% bonus when you buy points by 3rd April. Click here.
• World of Hyatt is offering a 25% bonus when you buy points by 25th March. Click here to buy.