The hotel special offer saves approximately $33 per night after taxes. A guest booking a five-nigh

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On Monday, October 20, I contacted Fairmont Hotels marketing department asking for clarification of the 7-Day Winter Sale promotion and Free Night offer.  I questioned the telephone customer service reply I had received regarding the free night being credited back to the guest s account at checkout since this detail was not mentioned anywhere in the promotion terms and conditions.
This morning I received an email from David Doucette, Executive Director of Internet Marketing for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International.  The website promotion pages have been updated to include the sentences:
The offer was a good deal and now I consider it a great deal.  So keep in mind as you read through this post that my analysis of the promotion was not based on being refunded one night s stay.  And that free night on top of the 10% to 20% nightly rate discount makes this sale up to a 40% discount on Fairmont Hotel rooms.  This is exactly the kind of hotel deal travelers need in this economy.
I've wanted to write about nonrefundable reservations for the past week since before reading  Joe Sharkey's New York Times article  and the Fairmont special offer opens the way.   The topic of nonrefundable hotel rooms has many facets from nonrefundable, nonchangeable prepaid hotel rates to using hotel loyalty points for a free room, but with a credit card room deposit than can turn into a very expensive no-show or last minute cancellation.
Running the numbers through sample bookings reveals a very different result than I expected when booking the 7-Day Winter Sale rate.   The savings are not even close to being a free night in cost savings. The nonrefundable nature of this deal makes me wary.
You will save money with the special rate, however, for properties I checked the overall savings with Winter Sale rates was at most 20% less than a non-promotional, regular booking search with consumer-friendly no-penalty cancellation policies of arrival day to 7 nights before hotel arrival, depending on the specific hotel.
So much for the free night claim!   A free night leads this frequent guest to expect at least a 25% discount on the normal hotel rate for a 4-night stay (most hotels in the Winter Sale offer a 4 th night free).  Imagine a $100 per night regular hotel rate:
On a four night stay for a hotel normally $100 per night, a 20% savings on the normal rate and a free night makes me think I will get 4 nights for the price of 3 nights at $80 each.   Paying $240 for 4 nights on a regularly $100/night florence italy hotel reservation room   would be an overall 40% savings.
florence italy hotel reservation Unfortunately, for the potential Fairmont guest, my three sample searches showed only a 20% overall florence italy hotel reservation savings at best on a 4-night stay using the Winter Sale rate compared to the regular Best Available rate.   I guess Fairmont has a different concept of 4 th night free than Loyalty Traveler.
Hotel rate search results show the Winter Sale overall hotel rate advertised as up to 20% off AND a free night is not based on the simple comparison of what any hotel guest booking the same dates through the default Best Available Rate on the Fairmont Hotels homepage would find.
The hotel special offer saves approximately $33 per night after taxes.   A guest booking a five-night stay at the Fairmont San Jose using the Winter Sale rate will pay the same as four nights booked through regular reservations.   I call this a 5 th night free offer.
Fairmont s Winter Sale saves $306 on a $3,060 florence italy hotel reservation regular rate for the four night hotel stay at the Fairmont Scottsdale.   The real value of the Winter Sale in this hotel sample is just a 10% savings on a four night luxury hotel stay and comes up far short of the value expected florence italy hotel reservation in the advertisement for a discount AND a free night offer in the Fairmont Winter Sale.
The risk of losing a couple of thousand dollars if you need to cancel your trip to save 10 to 20% on hotel rates combined with the fact that Loyalty Traveler finds the actual savings is of significantly lower value than I would have expected with the advertised offer of a free night AND up to 20% savings makes me wary to suggest this offer to travelers.
You should think twice before making the Winter Sale hotel commitment for any trip with much possibility of being cancelled.   Remember winter's wicked weather.   Hotel flexible plans are often worth the extra cost.
I would want the refund florence italy hotel reservation term in writing before committing to this deal.   Fairmont Hotels needs to update the 7-Day Winter Sale Terms and Conditions if this is truly how the promotion is scheduled to operate.
If the prepaid free night is refunded on check-out, florence italy hotel reservation then the Fairmont Winter Sale is a great deal.  Too bad the Winter Sale promotion details are not clear on this aspect of how the Free Night offer works.
[...] the Fairmont florence italy hotel reservation Hotels 7-day winter sale offering up to a 20% discount and a free night in this post.  The problem was the promotion terms and conditions florence italy hotel reservation did not mention the free night specifics.  [...]