Via a conversation Greg had today with Hilton’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Weinstein, we learned further details about how Hilton will be integrating its partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) into the Hilton Honors program. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive as to how they’d go about that, but for the most part it’s very good news.
The not-quite-amazing news is that Hilton only expects around 100 properties to go online this year. That’s less than 20% of the SLH portfolio which means that opportunities to book SLH stays via Hilton will be limited initially. However, they’re apparently working hard to get that up and running and so hopefully more SLH locations will be added rapidly after that. From what I can remember of Hyatt’s integration of SLH a few years back, that was a similar situation where a chunk of hotels were initially bookable via Hyatt and then they continued adding more at a fast clip.
The good news relates to how the properties will actually be integrated into the Hilton Honors program. For starters, Hilton has confirmed that SLH properties will be bookable with points and that it will follow a similar pricing structure to Hilton’s own brands (i.e. standard room award nights will top out at ~150,000 points per night). Not only that, but when booking with points you’ll be able to take advantage of the 5th night free benefit if you have Silver status or above. If you have Hilton free night certificates, you’ll be able to redeem those for SLH stays too.
In terms of elite benefits, this will work differently to SLH’s setup with Hyatt. When they were partnering with Hyatt, having Globalist status didn’t get you any benefits on SLH stays, but simply booking via Hyatt did get you complimentary breakfast for two people and eligibility for a room upgrade (among a handful of other minor benefits). With Hilton, there’ll be no standard Hilton/SLH benefits that everyone will be entitled to. Instead, benefits are due to be similar to those you’d receive at hotels within Hilton’s portfolio. For example, those with Hilton Gold or Diamond status will most likely be offered free breakfast or food credits.
We’re still awaiting word as to some of the other intricacies of the integration (e.g. what other MyWay benefits you’ll get at SLH properties, points earning on paid stays, etc.), but overall it’s great news that the integration should be streamlined so that booking a stay at SLH via Hilton will be like booking a stay at any of Hilton’s other brands.
Expect the first SLH properties to become bookable through Hilton by mid-summer at the earliest.
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