In this post I wanted to take a look at the loyalty program of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), especially as this was recently rebranded. While it was known as SLH INVITED in the past, it’s now named SLH Club. What are the benefits of the program, how do you earn free nights, and what’s the catch (because unfortunately there is a catch)?
In this post:
What is Small Luxury Hotels of the World?
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is a group of roughly 570 independent boutique luxury properties in 90 countries. The key thing to understand here is that SLH is more of a marketing organization than an actual formal hotel group.
With Hilton or Marriott, most individual properties are managed by the hotel groups, and have very strict policies to follow, with design, service, etc., to the point that hotels can be cookie cutter. In the case of SLH, luxury independent boutique hotels can benefit from the distribution power and reputation of SLH. Based on my understand, SLH only really gets a cut when you book through SLH’s channels, rather than directly through the hotel.
You’ll actually find that many smaller hotel groups belong to SLH, which further shows how this is more of a marketing organization than anything else.
Many in the points world may be familiar with SLH, as the group has a partnership with Hilton Honors, allowing Hilton Honors members to earn and redeem points for stays at SLH properties. On top of that, Hilton Honors members receive select benefits for these stays.
How the SLH Club guest recognition program works
SLH Club is the name of Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s loyalty program. The program is free to join, and it offers basic perks just for being a member, and also has elite tiers plus the opportunity to earn vouchers that can be used toward free night stays.
The first important thing to understand is that only reservations made directly with SLH (either via slh.com or the call center) qualify for the SLH Club program. So if you book via any other channels, your stays wouldn’t be eligible. This is a major limitation, as I’ll talk about a bit later.
Earning elite status with SLH CLUB
The SLH Club program has three tiers of membership:
- Club 01 status, which you get for 0-3 nights
- Club 02 status, which you get for 4-12 nights
- Club 03 status, which you get for 13+ nights
What are the benefits of membership?
SLH Club 01 status, which you get just for enrolling, offers the following perks:
- 10% off members only rate
- Access to a dedicated call center
- Early check-in (12PM, subject to availability at check-in)
- Late check-out (2PM. subject to availability at check-in)
- Free Wi-Fi
- Exclusive promotions
SLH Club 02 status, which you get after earning four elite nights in a calendar year, offers the following incremental perks:
- Daily complimentary continental breakfast for two
- Room upgrade (based on availability at check-in)
- Access to bespoke experiences and exclusive partner offers
SLH Club 03 status, which you get after earning 13 elite nights in a calendar year, offers the following incremental perks:
- Access to insider events, held periodically throughout the year
- A $300 reward night voucher
- Access to SLH’s Swoon magazine
Earning free nights with SLH Club
SLH Club doesn’t have an award chart, but rather the limit of being able to earn “free nights” comes in the form of the $300 hotel voucher that you receive for earning SLH Club 03 status. That’s hardly very lucrative, though SLH claims that’s equal to the average cost of one night at an SLH property.
The voucher comes with quite some restrictions:
- The voucher will be issued within 14 days of being earned, and is valid for 12 months
- The voucher can be used to offset the cost of a one night stay in a standard room; if the room costs more than $300 you have to pay the difference, while if it costs less than $300 you don’t get any residual value
- The voucher must be redeemed at least 14 days in advance, and must be redeemed by emailing [email protected]
- The voucher is non-flexible, and once a booking is confirmed, no alterations or cancelations can be made
As you can tell, these are some pretty rigid requirements.
The catch with the SLH Club program
The SLH Club loyalty program is better than nothing, but that’s about all I can say. I’d say the execution is pretty weak, especially with all the restrictions around redeeming the $300 voucher you can earn, which is the extent of rewards in the program. There are a couple of things to consider before participating in SLH Club, which I wanted to cover below.
Booking through Hilton is often a better deal
As I mentioned above, SLH and Hilton have a partnership, and most (but not all) SLH properties participate in this. This offers the ability to earn and redeem points, as well as take advantage of select perks, when booking through Hilton.
The two programs are mutually exclusive — if you book through Hilton you can earn & redeem Hilton Honors points and receive select benefits, while if you book through SLH you can take advantage of the SLH Club program.
Keep in mind that with the Hilton Honors partnership, members can take advantage of additional perks:
- Hilton Honors non-elite members receive a guaranteed member discount, complimentary Wi-Fi, late check-out subject to availability, bottled water, and no resort fees on award stays
- Hilton Honors Silver members receive a 20% points bonus and a fifth night free on award redemptions, in addition to the perks of non-elite members
- Hilton Honors Gold members receive an 80% points bonus, complimentary breakfast for two guests, and space available upgrades, in addition to the perks of non-elite members
- Hilton Honors Diamond members a 100% points bonus, complimentary breakfast for two guests, and space available upgrades, in addition to the perks of non-elite members
In a vast majority of situations, that’s much more compelling than booking through SLH.
Booking through Virtuoso could also make sense
Virtuoso is a program available through select travel advisors, where they can offer extra perks at luxury hotels. Many, though not all, SLH properties also participate in Virtuoso. Perks for booking through Virtuoso include the following:
- Daily breakfast for two
- Room upgrade, subject to availability at check-in
- Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
- A special Virtuoso amenity once per stay (usually a $100 property credit, free massage, car transfer, complimentary lunch or dinner, etc.)
For hotels that participate in Virtuoso and SLH, there’s almost always going to be more value booking through Virtuoso than booking via slh.com, and it’s one or the other — you can either get Virtuoso perks, or you can get SLH Club perks.
Bottom line
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) has its own loyalty program, offering both elite tiers and the ability to earn a $300 reward voucher that can be applied toward hotel stays. While the program has some value, there are also quite a few restrictions associated with it.
The big catch is that you’re generally going to be better off booking through Hilton for properties that participate in that partnership, as the benefits are stronger, and you can earn and redeem Hilton points. In other situations you may be better off booking through Virtuoso, so you can receive perks like breakfast, a hotel credit, a room upgrade, and more.
If you’re a member of SLH Club, what has your experience been like?
So I guess, if one (like me) gets a hold of Amex Aspire Card and have collected quite a large amount of hilton points (or purhcased those points via point sale), the best cost-effective way to use SLH with all that benefits is just redeem hilton points then.... I just booked a SLH proeprty in Eastern Europe (more than 300 euros per night in end-year season) but it only costs 40K points per night.
Don't underestimate SLH Club. For those living outside the US, where most people don’t have access to a Hilton credit card with free status, and where the Amex Platinum comes at a hefty price, SLH really offers something interesting here. Even as a base member, you get perks like early check-in, which Hilton doesn’t provide. Plus, after just 4 nights, SLH gives you complimentary breakfast and room upgrades, Hilton requires 10x that to offer the...
Don't underestimate SLH Club. For those living outside the US, where most people don’t have access to a Hilton credit card with free status, and where the Amex Platinum comes at a hefty price, SLH really offers something interesting here. Even as a base member, you get perks like early check-in, which Hilton doesn’t provide. Plus, after just 4 nights, SLH gives you complimentary breakfast and room upgrades, Hilton requires 10x that to offer the same benefits.
You are missing the bigger picture here; Why should only road warriors enjoy perks? Recently, a client of mine stayed 4 nights at an SLH property and paid $250 less than they would have through Virtuoso, making the $100 credit perk negligible in comparison.
And after reaching Club 02 status after just 1 stay, they receive benefits like free room upgrades and complimentary breakfast. These perks makes them consider SLH for future stays. Plus, SLH properties often offer a more unique and fun experience compared to standard chain hotels. So I think SLH Club is perfect for someone who doesn’t stay a zillion nights a year, but still likes to get a little extra during their stay.
Outside the US, most SLH properties include complimentary breakfast. Also you’re more likely to get an upgrade booking direct than through SLH. Mostl importantly, you’ll likely get a better price booking direct. This is based on my experience staying at 30+ different SLH properties in Europe, Asia and Africa. Fully Agree that SLH properties offer an experience the big hotel chains are unable to provide.
Terrible loyalty program before and now. Strongly recommend using SLH to search for properties, then booking direct. I almost always get a better rate booking direct. Also, SLH's best price match guarantee is nothing but a marketing gimmick since they always come up with some excuse to deny it.
Doesn’t Hilton have higher rates and does that more than that outweighs the extra benefits?