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I’ve recently started a new job that will mean approximately one night a week stay to visit the office.
I think this will mean I will be putting at least 40 nights a year, but hard to get to 50 nights.This will be in cheap-ish properties… £80-110/nt
The city I’ll be visiting (Manchester) has plenty from all the chains.
For leisure travel, I plan to do about 10 nights a year, and the most important perk I’m looking to achieve is the free breakfast from status. The second most important is using points for free stays (so points value per £ spent).
Am I right in thinking that Hilton will be the best programme for me?
As I will get Gold status after 40 nights, so get free breakfast.
Whereas Marriott, IHG require much higher points thresholds?(I know there are status challenges available, which I plan to take advantage of, but thinking of a bit longer term here to maintain status)
@dahokolomoki – others can advise you much better re the HH programme, but if you take out the Currensea Hilton Honors Plus debit card for £150/pa you can get HH Gold status and breakfasts immediately rather than having 40 breakfast free stays before you earn a ‘free’ croissant. That card offers some points opportunities etc but its real USP is probably the offer of a cheapish breakfast season ticket.
I’m mid-tier in all the Big 3 and I generally find HH to be the best for me in terms of benefits, earn-rates etc.
And as @JDB advises, it’s relatively easy to quickly get to a stage where you’re getting decent benefits like free breakfast with HH.
That said, if you’re doing 40 nights plus leisure ones on top you’re within striking distance of Marriott Platinum which is supposedly the sweet spot there (never had it so can’t comment). If you take out the Bonvoy card that’ll give you 15 nights so you could easily make it.
Sounds like it’ll take the best part of a year to achieve that though, so it would need to be seen as something of an investment.I’d go with Marriott if there was a suitable hotel in budget, all else being equal.
Also, Marriott points are more flexible. Can be transferred to airlines quickly.
Though the value of points is getting closer to being fixed. Need to find that article where Rob listed the schemes by % of value fixed and cap.Hello – I do 2 nights a month at least with work in Manchester and not much else.
If you want the breakfast benefit for your family then Hilton is going to be the one.
It’s going to depend a bit on your office location. The challenge in Manchester is there are not that many Hiltons. On your budget I’d say the Hilton Deansgate is always going to be over budegt. You might get into the Doubletree sometimes, but not often. So you are left with Hampton by Hilton Northern Quarter which is solid, but location can be out the way. I also use the Hilton Garden Inn at Old Trafford ocasionally which I really like (great if you like cricket) and is generally good value but probably a tram journey away. And that’s it for Hiltons.
Personally I use IHG most of the time – they have a really great range in Manchester – Holiday Inn Centre is an excellent option and they really look after IHG members – the Indigo, Voco are all interesting options, and you can even get the Kimpton on low rates sometimes, plus a couple of Holiday Inn Expresses. Personally I’d put the Holiday Inn, Voco and Indigo above the Hilton Doubletree.
All this said I get Hilton Gold through Amex Platinum so I have the free breakfast and I get a discount at IHG although not much so perhaps my personal circumstances slightly different, but I think you will get bored with the Hiltons and may be hard to keep in budget.
Let me know any questions – been doing this trip for 5 years. Also to note rates in Manchester are all over the place especially around football matches and big concerts/events
Marriots you will struggle at that budget
Hilton it is as the benefits can also transfer to personal/leisure travel easily with a reasonable budget.
Breakfast benefit for gold is big and decent. Points accumulate faster and it is, I think better to reach a redemption.
Pay with Virgin or Amex MR to also accumulate more Hilton points to make it even easier.
And yes, choose a way to get HH gold immediately for breakfast and extra %80 HH points.
If you are doing one night per week to make 40 separate stays at Hilton branded hotels, you will be at Diamond status after 30 stays in the calendar year.
As mentioned above, if you can take out the American Express Platinum or Currensea Hilton Honors Plus debit card you will have Hilton Honors Gold status immediately. Ensure you select the free breakfast as your My Way choice per each hotel brand, unless you can select breakfast with your work rate.
Hilton Garden Inn at Old Trafford is a decent hotel, good with upgrades to pitch view, and the breakfast is good too, otherwise if the DoubleTree at Piccadilly is in budget stay there.
@JDB makes a very good point about Marriott though, as 40 nights for work plus 15 nights off the Marriott Bonvoy card would see you to Platinum, plus any additional nights earned would be getting you towards Titanium status, though likely a little short of the 75 nights required. However, unless you have breakfast included in your rate through work, this may not be overly suitable for your first year.Agree with @dundj as you will be able to hit Hilton Diamond after 30 one night stays and hence the easiest way to achieve top tier of a hotel chain which will get you lounge access as well as free breakfast so I’d stick to Hilton if I were you.
Thanks everyone for the feedback! They’ve given me lots of food for thought.
alastairtravel, dundj for feedback on some of the hotels in Manchester. It does look like Hilton will be restrictive, and just checking the map, not the locations I’m needing the most (Printworks area, Piccadilly station area).
But the Hilton does look like the easiest to get at 30 nights, albeit I didn’t realise I could also get it with a credit card!
Marriott – thanks for the feedback on the rates, alastairtravel. You’re right, playing with dates next year, it looks like they are mostly all out of my budget, except for maybe the Residence Inn.
IHG looks like the chain that has a few options within my corporate budget rates. Also, I agree that the Holiday Inn Centre is excellent. Just stayed there. Rooms are sufficient, breakfast has a decent enough spread, the location is good, and I did get a free upgrade as well as personal thanks for the duty manager. Plus Nespresso + bottled water in the rooms too.
But IHG is the one hardest to get the status (Diamond – 70 nights) with the free breakfast…
Decisions, decisions!
The Doubletree Piccadilly is very good, you get drinks vouchers as gold/diamond and also a separate breakfast area in a nice “library” style annex.
Printworks and Piccadilly area you have as follows for your likely
Hilton – DoubleTree Piccadilly or Hampton Northern Quarter. Don’t discount the HGI Emirates Old Trafford as you are on the Metrolink line to both.
Marriott – As you say Residence Inn or the Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly (ex MacDonald hotel) or the AC Hotel Salford Quays if you fancy a short Metrolink ride.
Melia – One I forgot about is Innside by Melia, and again 30 stays gets you to Platinum level which gets guaranteed lounge access at hotels including them. Also, not too far a walk to both the Printworks and Piccadilly.
I’ll leave options for IHG to those who know them better.
No point staying in a rubbish hotel numerous times, just because it has a slightly more generous loyalty scheme than the nice one, so I’d factor that in.
When I had a regular need to stay in Manc for training (on my own dime), I sampled lots of central places and ended up bouncing between the Radisson Edwardian, the Innside and the Deansgate Locks Premier Inn depending on what was priced well. They were building what is now the Hyatt at the time which was annoying as it would have been perfect 🤣. Anyway, Innside was best of those 3, so maybe go for Meliá status, although that could change if you have top tier status already with Radisson (see today’s articles…… 😆).
Is there a chance that you can join Hilron for Business? Nights count double, so 20 nights gets you Gold. Also a slight rate discount and the potential for additional points.
+1 for HGI Emirates. Can be very reasonable rates (£70-£80) and free parking if needed. Decent breakfast. Rooms on the small side.
If you book through hotels.com or similar using TopCashback (or, if you want Avios, the BA eStore), you will consistently get at least 10% cashback that you can use to spend in hotels that you really want to use rather than ones that happen to offer free breakfast via a loyalty scheme. That strikes me as a much better deal.
Is there a chance that you can join Hilron for Business? Nights count double, so 20 nights gets you Gold. Also a slight rate discount and the potential for additional points.
+1 for HGI Emirates. Can be very reasonable rates (£70-£80) and free parking if needed. Decent breakfast. Rooms on the small side.
Hilton Biz deal for double night is until Dec 31, 2024.
Hilton Biz deal for double night is until Dec 31, 2024.
That’s a shame. Earning an extra 10,000 bonus points/5 nights has been v good.
@dahokolomoki if you have that number of stays that could go to IHG and if Hiltons are not working in your stay area and Marriott too often out of budget, then could you consider paying for IC Ambassador which would give you Plat status in IHG especially if your corporate rates include breakfast. The one “free” night on a 2night weekend stay in an IC being the bonus to increased accrual rate on IHG.
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