There are all kinds of ways to be eligible for special rates at hotels. Some hotels have AAA rates, others have AARP rates, others give special rates for being a certain age, etc.
However, I came across something for the first time while researching room rates today. I’m in the process of planning a trip to Georgia and Armenia, and was looking at rates at Rooms Hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia. The hotel looks awesome, and like a much cooler experience than staying at one of the big chain hotels.
Best of all, this is a Design Hotels property, so I can earn Starpoints and get SPG stay credits for my stay. The catch is that Design Hotels isn’t fully integrated into SPG, but rather it’s a marketing partnership. As a result, you have to book through an SPG channel to be eligible for those benefits.
When I looked up rates at the property, I noticed they had an “Under 29” rate.
I assumed this was intended for people under 29, though clicked on the rate terms to be sure. Sure enough, this offers 15% off the best available rate, and includes breakfast.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel offer a discount for being young before. I assume the intention is that this is sort of similar to a student discount. I’ve heard of membership clubs that give a discount for being young, though this is the first time I’ve noticed a hotel giving a discount for being below a certain age.
I’ll certainly take the discount and free breakfast!
Have you ever seen a hotel offer a discount on the room rate for being below a certain age, rather than over a certain age?
Regarding the requirement of booking @ SPG for benefits @ Design Hotels.. I have not tested it, but I recently stayed at Ovolo Southside hotel in Hong Kong booked via SPG. The front desk personnel insisted that if I booked directly on the hotel's website, that I would still get SPG credit for the stay, and associated benefits. Not sure if the policy is isolated to Ovolo, or this particular property, but it wouldn't hurt...
Regarding the requirement of booking @ SPG for benefits @ Design Hotels.. I have not tested it, but I recently stayed at Ovolo Southside hotel in Hong Kong booked via SPG. The front desk personnel insisted that if I booked directly on the hotel's website, that I would still get SPG credit for the stay, and associated benefits. Not sure if the policy is isolated to Ovolo, or this particular property, but it wouldn't hurt to ask... if the property's website offers a better package by booking direct.
Lucky- would love to see you go back to Sao Paulo, Brazil, review their brand new International Terminal 3 in GRU & the 5 different VIP lounges as well as stay in the Jardins area and maybe review airlines like Azul?
Yes! I'm under 29 and just stayed at the Rooms Hotel on a discounted rate. It's a really unique property, and they are definitely trying to cultivate a young, hip vibe. The breakfast is amazing–everything is locally-sourced and fresh.
The hotel is also attached to an under-construction Intercontinental. It's actually a joint project: Rooms Hotel expansion and opening of the Intercontinental, which I believe is partially owned by the same Georgian guys who own Rooms.
Rooms Hotel is definitely a pretty young thing for pretty young things; that's the demographic the hotel is after, so it's not at all surprising that Rooms gives discounts to the >29ers. No big deal.
As an aside, the Rooms' robust bar scene has stellar people watching. And I'm delighted to report that the staff treated this old fart no differently: they were as obnoxiously rude to me as they were to all the beautiful people.
Doesn't spg offer something "pay the rate of your b'day year" (last 2 digits only)? Where's is the discrimination??
As an aside on age discrimination. A restaurant chain where I live won't sell me a kids meal, as I am over 12. I have to order it to go and pretend my child is in the car.
Aha, see? Chains are not always the end-all-be-all of hotel stays! It can be quite quaint and interesting to stay at locally owned hotels. Good to see you are open to this experience.
To be sure I've stayed at some doozies, hotels so bad they make Motel 6 look like the Burj Al Arab lol.
It is strange the US allows lopsided age discrimination: you can set minimum ages for a service or discount, but rarely maximums. I first ran into this looking for an apartment in college in a nicer part of town where many buildings (totally legally) set a minimum age of 25.
In Europe, you see many discounts for people under 30: museums, Eurail passes (under 28), etc. It's a reasonable segmentation, a good way to engage...
It is strange the US allows lopsided age discrimination: you can set minimum ages for a service or discount, but rarely maximums. I first ran into this looking for an apartment in college in a nicer part of town where many buildings (totally legally) set a minimum age of 25.
In Europe, you see many discounts for people under 30: museums, Eurail passes (under 28), etc. It's a reasonable segmentation, a good way to engage customers and build loyalty from people early in their earning potential.
Never seen this for a hotel, but SAS has (or at least had a few years ago) an under 25 discount for certain flights. It wasn't available on the US version of their site though.
Yeah, I went to Georgia two weeks ago and encountered the same thing, but I'm past the discount now. You should check out the Rooms Kazbegi location--heard its stellar.
You could always do:
Etihad A380 from New York to Abu Dhabi
Sudan A310 from Abu Dhabi to Dubai
Flydubai 737 from Dubai to Yerevan
Qatar A320 from Tbilisi to Baku
Azerbaijan A340 from Baku to Dubai
Rwandair A330 day trip to Kigali and back
Kenya 787 from Dubai to Nairobi
British Airways 747 from Nairobi to London
Air India 787 from London to Newark
(or...
You could always do:
Etihad A380 from New York to Abu Dhabi
Sudan A310 from Abu Dhabi to Dubai
Flydubai 737 from Dubai to Yerevan
Qatar A320 from Tbilisi to Baku
Azerbaijan A340 from Baku to Dubai
Rwandair A330 day trip to Kigali and back
Kenya 787 from Dubai to Nairobi
British Airways 747 from Nairobi to London
Air India 787 from London to Newark
(or Virgin Atlantic 787 to LAX but I doubt there's good award space)
I know you have an itinerary planned but thought it would be fun to throw in some ideas
@ Alvin -- Love some of those ideas! Sudan flies from Abu Dhabi to Dubai?!?
@Bob poor you. You're too old for the discount rate. Go back to your knitting
@ Bob
So a Senior discount is okay but a discount for being young isn't?
This is a distasteful subject but of course such discounts would be illegal in the United States.
It makes the writer look rather an ass that he did not allow for that discrimination and wonder if it was okay
@ Bob -- Come again? Sorry, what makes me an ass? And are you suggesting no discounts based on age are acceptable? Does that include senior discounts?
Accor are currently running a promotion for their Ibis hotels offering big discounts for 18-26 year olds.