Category Comparison between SPG, Hilton, Marriott & Hyatt

[nate89]

Hi all,

I am trying to work out how to compare these four hotel schemes, but it is hard to draw lines between their different categories.

If you were comparing these level's, how would you qualify them against each other to help you make a decision in which you choose?

To give you more of a context surrounding this question:
It seems like quite a few people voted in the thread of what is the most important feature you want in a hotel scheme here.

The comparison of point gain/redemption levels is the first part of some data analysis I am trying to do to compare them. It will be made into a website for people to use, with up to date data of all the chains. As well as point comparison, I will then be doing analysis on other parts of loyalty programs following the order of importance as ranked by the poll.

I assume that for most people it would be determined by what category hotel is available to them at their destinations, which makes my job hard since everyone has different destinations. My aim is to make the website useful for newbies to loyalty-schemes, but also have useful info for those a bit more involved in these schemes such as yourselves on AFF.

I guess an option is to present the data for each city so users can select the site(s) they go to most frequently and select the site they want to redeem nights at.

However, at this stage, it is hard for me to compare the hotel brands against each other since the classes range from 8 tiers to 6 and I am sure other hotels have different tiers too. What would be the best idea to compare them do you think?
Star classification is one possible solution I see, but Hilton in australia, for example, rank themselves all as 4-5 stars and contract, but they range from tier 4 to 7 in HHonors redemption scale.
:-|
Hyatt 2-6
Marriott 2-6
Starwood 2-4


This might be too hard to answer, but I thought I would put it out there in case anyone has a brainwave...

-nate

 

[Keith009]

It'd be easier to break down each hotel group into their subbrands.

Generally, the way I see it:
Luxury (5+ stars): St Regis (SPG), Waldorf Astoria (Hilton), Ritz Carlton (Marriott), Park Hyatt, JW Marriott
Niche luxury (5-5+ stars): W Hotels/Luxury Collection (SPG), Andaz (Hyatt), Edition/Autograph (Marriott), Denizen (Hilton - though i'm not sure if this got off the ground eventually)
Upper Upscale (4*): Westin/Le Meridien (SPG), Grand Hyatt, Conrad (Hilton), Renaissance (Marriott)
Upscale (3.5-4*): Sheraton (SPG), Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt Regency
Mid range (3*): Four Points by Sheraton/aLoft (SPG), Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton (Hilton), Hyatt Place, Courtyard/Residence Inn (Marriott)

Must have missed out a few, but I've just come back from a big Sat night so I'll leave the others to fill in the blanks.

Also do note that the above is just a generalisation of how a brand is positioned, consistency in quality can vary!

 

[nate89]

Thanks for your reply

It's not particularly easy to classify them for the purpose of a website to compare hotel chains. I suppose that could be one way to do it, although hilton seems to range quite a lot within itself and, as you said, the quality ranges within the sub-brands too.

I suppose it could be done by price of a basic room, but even then that gets complicated since prices change all the time lol.

Grr - it will be interesting to see what I come up with to display the data.

 

[markis10]

Interesting that you have picked the chains that have a very poor presence in Australia and New Zealand compared to other chains with each of them having dropped at least one hotel in the last 12 months (and only Hilton adding properties):

SPG - Sheraton Perth, Hilton - Conrads in Brisbane and Gold Coast as well as Melbourne Airport Hilton, Marriott - Courtyards in Surfers/Sydney & Hyatt - Adelaide.

The loss of local properties for earn/burn is one of the reasons why I no longer consider any of them for stays despite being an elite frequent stayer in the past in all of them at some stage, with non of them having more than 10 properties in Australia now.

 

[nate89]

what would you consider the large ones?

In all honesty, the website is meant to eventually encompass most of the western world (or at least english speaking), but that is only an aim and whether that is realistic or not I shall see. Also, the four brands I chose are only a starting point. My main concern is how I am going to present the information so that it is easy to understand I just needed a little bit to start off with.