Sheraton and Westin, both within the Starwood stable of brands, are redesigning their guest rooms. But not every hotel will see the new rooms: The designs will roll out to their new constructions and rehabs starting in 2011.

Each chain will offer two options, each rich in interior design verbiage:

Newly-updated Sheratons will be either “Revival” (“inspired by the Regency Revival of the early 20th century… furniture profiles have curved corners and textiles have curved interlocking patterns – all of which are complemented by the design’s rich color palette of camel and tan with accents of plum and black”) or “Heritage” (“inspired by the historic Regency period of the late 18th and early 19th century, when Thomas Sheraton created timeless furniture designs that are still used in interiors today… Notched arch details are featured in most furnishings and complemented by geometric patterns in the room’s textiles and carpets”). The photo above is an example of a Sheraton room. I can’t really discern whether it’s “Revival” or “Heritage.” Place your wagers.

The Westin design will similarly come in two flavors: “Classic” (“…takes inspiration from forms of Art Deco. The visual vocabulary is grounded in classicism but modernized through the selection of furniture pieces and color palette… Materials featured in the new room reference those found in natural settings including open grained walnut stained a dark chocolate brown with a satin finish and soft tones inspired by the outdoors…”) and “Modern” (“…contemporary, timeless sensibility without being trendy. Concise, linear qualities give the modern scheme an architectural feel. The guestroom is softened with organic textures that have subtle patterns and sustainable materials that are neutral in color.”)

That’s a lot of words. I still strain to make these descriptions tangible.

At the end of the day, it’s still nice to see the hotels refreshing their designs and incorporating some helpful efficiencies into the mix.

The neatest feature in the Westin room is a pull-out laptop table that doubles as a room service tray. Modularity!

The Sheraton rooms also have a modular theme: The ottomans slide underneath the armchairs to save space when you’re not stretching out your legs.

LED lighting (including night lights and reading lights) are part of the designs, too.

So where can you expect to see these designs? The first Westin hotels with new room designs will be the Westin Phoenix (opening February 2011) and the Westin Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego (undergoing renovation in early 2011). The first Sheraton hotels to be updated are the Sheraton Red Deer in Alberta (opening early 2011) and the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center (to be renovated in early 2011).

Upgraded (sorta) and Downgraded: Continental’s in-flight food
For a few years, Continental has been the last holdout on the domestic airline scene, offering free meals in coach. That ends now. The airline is offering a new-and-improved menu in coach — that is, if you consider food on a stick an improvement. None of the food sounds particularly exciting, and in-terminal options are likely still better choices. And, in a departure from their recent practice, the food will no longer be free (thus, downgraded). Here’s what to expect: “The menu will include freshly prepared hot and cold mealtime selections similar to those served in casual-dining restaurants, such as Asian-style noodle salad, grilled chicken spinach salad, Angus cheeseburger, and Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and cheese sandwich. Snack and dessert options — including a gourmet cheese & fresh fruit plate, several types of snack boxes, a la carte brand-name snacks and chocolate-covered Eli’s Cheesecake on a stick — will also be available for purchase. Prices will range from $1.50 for Pringles Original Potato Crisps to $8.25 for the grilled chicken spinach salad.” See a fuzzy pic of the menu here.

Downgraded: Starwood’s top hotels’ redemption options
Gary Leff makes a great point in criticizing Starwood’s outrageous redemption rates for its most expensive hotel rooms. I like the Starwood Preferred Guest program generally, but 100,000 per night for some of those all-suite hotels in locations like French Polynesia? Come on, people.

Upgraded: Star Alliance Africa options
Star Alliance has invited Ethiopian Airlines to join the alliance. This is the third African airline in Star (South African Airways and Egyptair are the others). In the other alliances, SkyTeam has Kenya Airways, and oneworld has… no one. Africa is expected to be a major growth area for air travel — and for economic activity generally — so expect to see further invitations like this within all three alliances.

Upgraded: Las Vegas as a lair for supervillains
In a cross between the laser satellite run by a Las Vegas kingpin in “Diamonds are Forever” and the Death Star’s destruction of the planet Alderaan in “Star Wars,” we now have a Las Vegas hotel that channels the sun’s rays to create a “death ray” of sorts in the middle of the Vegas Strip. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it’s unintentional… And if you’re a guest at the Vdara Hotel, it could be problematic: “[...] a visitor from Chicago tipped off [the Las Vegas Review-Journal] after having his hair singed, and his plastic shopping bag partially melted, while trying to lounge by the pool.” Here’s a diagram from the paper, via Minyanville:

American Express has been sending out letters to holders of its Starwood credit card, announcing a hefty 44% percent hike in their annual fee. My notification arrived in the mail today. (Notably, in the mail… not e-mail.) Starting October 14, 2010, the next time the card renews, the fee rises to $65 a year. (If your card renews before that date, you get it at the old rate for another year.) It’s the second hike in two years — the $30 fee went to $45 in 2008.

The sales pitch argues that the card now comes with new benefits:

• Buy-two-nights-get-one-free option on Starwood-family hotel stays
  Okay, fine, but there are plenty of strings attached to that. Prepayment. Limited dates. Participating hotels only. And a lack of clarity on whether the rates are actually the lowest available. Big whoop.
• Five nights credit toward elite status
  That means 20 nights to gold instead of 25, 45 to platinum instead of 50. It’s nights, not stays. No bone being thrown to those who reach elite level with stays rather than nights? Pfft.

Color me unimpressed by the new benefits or the new price. These “benefits” don’t warrant a 44% price hike. This sure looks like a downgrade. It looks, swims, and quacks like a downgrade. It’s a downgrade.

I still like the Starwood program because of its flexibility. Not only do you earn points that can be redeemed for hotel stays, but you can convert your points 1:1 — at no cost — into a laundry list of airline programs. They even give you a 5000-point bonus if you transfer a threshold of 20,000 Starwood points — making those worth 25,000 airline miles.

So the next question is whether or not to hold onto the card, now that the price tag is higher.

For the time being (especially with nearly half a year left before I need to renew), I’m staying put. I’m still getting a good return by putting points into SPG and leveraging those for high-value awards worth more than 2 or 3% cash rebates.

But take away redemption opportunities or make it harder to cash in, and it may be time to look more closely at the Costco Amex’s 3% cashback on gasoline and restaurants, and 2% back on airlines, car rentals, travel agents, and hotels is tempting. Especially since the Costco card has no annual fee if you’re already a member there.

(For those who were considering becoming Starwood Amex cardholders before this news — and I get a number of e-mails asking me about the card — you still get the first year free; the second year is when they sock it to you.)

Current cardholders, does this change the value proposition for you? Are you sticking with the Starwood Amex or bailing out?

I was getting ready to write a scathing post about Starwood Preferred Guest’s point levels for the coming year, but Gary Leff has beaten me to it. I’ll just add to the chorus:

Hotel-point redemption rates vary, based on the “tiers” of the property. And those tiers are tied to the average room rate at the property. Roadside motel? Low tier. Ultra-luxe resort? Upper tier. Seems straightforward.

And when the rates go up, the tier typically goes up, and the points required for a reward room go up, too. But when the rates go down, the tier typically goes down too. (This is perhaps how hotel points differ most from airline miles.)

Except this year. Starwood left its tiers where they were for the coming year, despite hotel rates’ incredibly deflationary record this past year. And then they try to spin it as a great thing they’re doing for their customers. It’s like telling an American traveler to Europe that you’ll cut them a great deal by charging him the USD-EUR exchange rate from December 2009 on a visit in February 2010… when the euro has dropped from 1.50 to 1.35. Gee, thanks.

Pitching it over to Gary:

Rates were down close to 20%, Starwood members expected points prices to fall, too. But Starwood apparently had other plans, and tried to spin not raising prices as a huge win for members. ‘We expect hotel prices to go up, but we aren’t going to sock you for that now. Because we love you.’
[...]
Some of [last year's] increases should have been reversed — based on the value proposition as Starwood has articulated it — after the worst hotel revenue year ever. But they weren’t. Starwood Preferred Guest is swallowing the difference. And telling you to thank them for it.

Starwood still has a large number of lovely properties, place I actually want to redeem to be at. But their points are relatively hard to earn through stays, and those points are worth less as hotel points prices remain the same but rates have fallen. They seem to be taking the wrong competitive approach, when Hyatt seems to be doing nothing but adding value to its program.

Amen.

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Downgraded: Cocktails as tourist marketing
Thailand’s tourist managers have concocted a mixed drink to personify the spirit of the nation, or so they claim in their heavy-handed marketing blitz. A “Siam Sunrays” cocktail “consists of a shot of vodka, coconut liqueur, a dash of chili pepper and sugar, lime juice, a few slivers of lemongrass and ginger — shaken not stirred, then strained into a glass — with ice and soda water.” Do they really think that a drink — or many, many drinks — will make us forget the hassles of days-long airport closures and monarchist rioting? Apparently so: “Successful signature drinks are one way to fast-track holiday destinations onto the world tourism map,” according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Thai Hotels Association. And the “shaken, not stirred” instructions will make every tourist feel like a secret agent!

Upgraded: Your Starwood points
Every year, hotels rejigger their point redemption structure. For years, the changes have generally been bad for the customer, but not this year. Starwood has released their category changes, and many hotels are moving down a notch. It’s not because they’re now roach motels: It’s because they’ve got a lot of empty rooms. Take advantage.

Downgraded: Your job, or your seat
ESPN sports commentator Stacey Dales opted to quit her job, rather than fly in coach, as would have been required under new network rules. Hard-freakin’-core. Since Ms. Dales is a former WNBA player, I immediately assumed that her height had something to do with the matter. But Wikipedia has her at “only” 6 feet tall — about my height — and I’ve braved many an economy seat and lived to tell the tale. Good luck finding an employer who provides you with the extra legroom and hot nuts, Stacey! (That sounds dirty. Really, it’s not.) To be fair, the issue was equity: Apparently some of her colleagues were flying first, and she wasn’t. (Via, via.)

Downgraded: United flight attendant’s respect for the passengers
United flight attendants on a recent Chicago-to-Denver flight announced, in conversation with the cockpit, that it was time to serve “drinks to the idiots in coach.” Somehow, the conversation was broadcast on the inflight audio’s channel 9 (which I love), normally limited to conversations between pilots and air traffic control. When made aware of the public nature of their insult, the flight attendants didn’t apologize. Stay classy!

Upgraded: Recycling
If airlines are downsizing their fleets, then we might see more of these in the future: Airplane wing desks!

Reader Teo writes:

I keep getting e-mail from Starwood telling me about their new feature that lets you book flights with your SPG points. They’re selling it like it’s the best thing ever. You think about this stuff more than I do so what’s your take? Is this the way to avoid the airline mileage BS or just a scam?

Indeed, Teo, Starwood Preferred Guest recently added a feature to their hotel points program: the ability to book flights directly from the SPG site, instead of converting points to airline miles and booking from there. The PR e-mails that landed in my inbox called SPG Flights “groundbreaking.” It was worth mentioning when it was rolled out in early September, as others did, but is it is really a game-changer?

Let’s put one thing out there right up front: When it comes to programs that accrue points in a currency other than cold, hard cash, more redemption opportunities are always welcome. So hooray for that.

But…

The program works much like “no blackout date” credit card-specific point programs, most famously the Capital One No Hassle awards: You cash in your points for a plane ticket at the going rate for that ticket, and the market price of the ticket determines how many points you redeem. The program buys the ticket for you, as if you were paying cash, and you pay the program with your points. You’re not tied to one airline, and the only limit is price. The ticket earns miles, and is, for the most part, like any other ticket. (This is the “proprietary points” option in my breakdown of point-earning credit cards.)

What makes Starwood’s program different is that this arrangement isn’t limited to a credit card’s earnings. It’s the whole program’s earnings that can be spent this way.

But much like the Capital One style programs, the problem arises with the value proposition. The best you can get is 1.5 cents per point value. But it’s on a sliding scale based on the retail value of tickets, not the destination or distance flown.

The price-based scale will kill you if you want to use points for premium-cabin tickets, or even on flights to destinations that are priced higher — precisely the kinds of tickets you want to be using points or miles for.

Buy a first-class ticket to Australia from the U.S., for example, and it could run you 775,000 SPG points. Insane. That same ticket might be 145,000 using American AAdvantage points. Sure, the SPG program’s points pay for last-seat-availability, while the AA points are “capacity controlled,” meaning seats are limited. But is it worth more than 5 times the points?

I priced out a few flights to see how this would work in reality. In one case, I search for and found flights from the east coast to Hawaii. There were tickets available for 60,000 or 65,000 SPG points, depending on the airline. (I liked the fact that the search was similar to Expedia’s engine, and resulted in a list of various options on different airlines.) I then checked those airlines’ own frequent flyer programs: United and American had seats on the same flights, for 35,000 miles. Delta, Continental, and Northwest didn’t have availability on the dates I checked. US Airways told me my dates — April 7 to 14, 2009 — were more than 334 days in advance, so they couldn’t search for me. Umm, since US Airways can’t figure out that April is only 6 months away, not 11, I figured they’ve got bigger problems than competition from SPG.

Bottom line: SPG flight awards are a nice option to have, but they’re not the be-all end-all. The program offers flexibility, but it could cost you. You’ll find the redemptions for their hotel stays worth far more than this. Still: This is a nice reserve feature to have. I’m glad it’s in the hopper, but it’s nothing to go out of your way for.

Related:
- Reader mail: What kind of point-earning credit card is best?
- Reader mail: Can I use credit card miles to upgrade a ticket?