St. Regis London (Lanesborough) for 35GBP a night!

I have been following the thread on the St. Regis Landesborough for the past few days on Flyertalk. On the Today show, the so called ‘Travel Guru’ Peter Greenburg talked about people booking this rate. Of course, it seems all Mr. Peter did was read Flyertalk and the Wall Street Journal to glean information for his report.

Starting with the Wall Street Journal Article:

"In the case of the Lanesborough Hotel, within 10 hours of posting the price, 34 people made 86 reservations -- in at least one case, for a block of 30 nights, the hotel says. At first, the hotel offered to rebook the customers at £350. About 24 hours later, Starwood backed down and offered the three-night compromise. (Customers who reserved through Cendant Corp.'s Orbitz got all the extras, including daily breakfast with champagne upon arrival.)"

As you will note, Orbitz is honoring the rate completely. Starwood has stated they will not. The only thing Starwood will do is honor the rate at 35 Pounds/Night. I find this interesting that Starwood would take this position as they have on their website the following:

CUSTOMER SERVICE. Rest assured that your reservation will be error free. That means no surprises at check-in

Now, Error Free? Why would Starwood publish on their website that your reservation will be ‘Error Free” yet not honor a rate at their hotel? In the past, I have been held accountable for room reservations I made. I have been charged an early check-out fee and a no-show rate/fee. One time, my wife’s grandfather passed away and I had to quickly fly back to Seattle. The Hotel charged me and early departure fee, even though they hadn’t even cleaned the room. Another time, I booked a room with the W Suites in California and forgot to double-check and cancel the room. I was charged one nights stay. Both these were Starwood Owned Hotels.

Now on the Today Show, Mr. Peter reported that some “greedy” person booked 30 Days at this hotel for low rate of 35 Pounds Per night. Did Someone Really Book 30 days at the Lanesborough? Well, yes they did. And that person was me.

What is wrong with booking a hotel at a great rate? And 35 Pounds does not seem unreasonable to me. You see, I hold confirmed reservations at the St. Regis Aspen, the sister property to the Lanesborough, for $85/Night. Which includes more then what was offered. Hotel Transfers, Free Access to Fitness Center, and Club Lounge Access where they have more food then a simple breakfast. And I earn SPG Points at the St. Regis Aspen, hence the extra few dollars a night I guess.

And Mr. Peter, the question I have for you is this, do you pay for your stays? Are you defending the Hotel hoping to get a free night with them where they can wine and dine you? I wouldn’t call booking 30 days greedy, just being a company man and saving the company money when traveling. Since the company I work for has an office within a 15 – 20 min walk from this Hotel, I thought it would be good to stay here.

Check in: Aug 5, 2005
Check out: Sep 4, 2005

1 Room, 2 Adults Per Room, 1 King

Total For Room Rate Only: GBP 1,050.00

Stay requirements 3 Day(s) Minimum
31 Day(s) Maximum