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First Small Luxury hotels available on Hilton Honors Points
Recently, Hilton announced that it would partner with SLH to allow Hilton Honors members to earn and redeem points through Hilton with SLH Hotels. Previously, Hyatt had partnered with SLH until they decided to switch to Mr. and Mrs. Smith earlier this year.
The first hotels have launched on the Hilton platform but the selection is limited to say the least. However, for those living in the UK or mainland Europe, they are pretty handy.
I have stayed at Flemings which has a great location in Mayfair near Park Lane and cute hotel rooms, some with a pretty little patio. They are a little on the small side but the hotel is stylish and elegant.
Here are the three hotels available now:
- Teranka in Formentera, Spain
- Nobu Hotel Marbella in Marbella, Spain
- Flemings Mayfair, UK
Hilton has said it is releasing limited inventory from SLH for immediate booking, with more to be added throughout the testing phase as Hilton and SLH prepare for the full rollout. Given the lack of luxury hotels within the Hilton brand in many locations, it is a welcome partnership.
You will get the following benefits as a Hilton Honors member at SLH:
- Member: Guaranteed member discount, complimentary standard Wi-Fi, late checkout, bottled water, no resort fees on award stays
- Silver: 20% elite tier bonus, 5th night free awards, all benefits listed above
- Gold: 80% elite tier bonus, complimentary breakfast for 2, upgrade (if available), all benefits listed above
- Diamond: 100% elite tier bonus, all benefits listed above
100% Bonus on buying Hilton Points
Hilton’s latest offer to buy points is the highest we usually see, so it’s worth a look. Usually, it’s only the most expensive hotels that make it worthwhile considering buying points to cover a whole hotel stay. However, with the extremely high prices of hotels in many places, this could be a way to potentially save money. But you must make sure you check the prices of your dates and availability before purchasing, or you could get stuck with a load of points and not be able to book.
The 100% Points bonus campaign is available for purchases of 5,000 or more Points made by 23 July 2024. All purchases are non-refundable. Points will be posted to the recipient’s Hilton Honors account within 48 hours of the completed transaction
You can purchase a maximum of 240,000 points, which would give you 480,000 points for £1980.48. I can see quite a few instances where this would save you money as, generally, the top-end properties base level redemptions are 90-120,000 a night on the standard rate. So anything priced at £500 a night for 120,000 points would give a saving by using points. However, the price of properties changes so you would need to book immediately after buying the points or risk the points cost rising to the point where you have lost money.
You can find the buy points page here.
Swiss new gourmet business class meals
While Swiss business class does have rather dated seats, that issue should be solved in the next couple of years when they update to the new Allegris seats being installed by Lufthansa. I have always found everything else on Swiss business class to be very food, especially the food. They regularly have top chefs design the menus and change the4m
SWISS will be serving its First and Business Class guest menus from Canton Vaud for the next 3 months in the latest iteration of its ‘SWISS Taste of Switzerland’ inflight food and beverage programme. The meals have been concocted by top chef Franck Giovannini in the gourmet kitchens of the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in the town of Crissier. SWISS’s new Premium Economy Class menu also draws inspiration from the Western Swiss canton, and includes local cheese specialities.
The gourmet restaurant is the holder of three Michelin stars and 19 Gault-Millau points. The restaurant is just a few minutes from Lausanne, the cantonal capital.
“I have been working at the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier for some 29 years now,” adds Franck Giovannini. “I’ve had the great good fortune to cook alongside such outstanding chefs as Frédy Girardet, Philippe Rochat and Benoît Violier. I’m carrying on this exceptional tradition, by preserving my predecessors’ culinary philosophy while further developing it daily. And I am delighted to share the spirit and the heritage of this wonderful establishment with SWISS and its guests.”
SWISS First customers can enjoy a starter of langoustine with tomato mousse, while for their main course Franck Giovannini has created a veal filet mignon served with conchiglioni pasta filled with aubergine caviar.
For their main course, SWISS Business travellers can choose between a beef tenderloin served with pesto polenta or a grilled chicken breast accompanied by gnocchetti di Zita pasta. The SWISS Business offering is rounded off with a gourmet-style classic Vaudois dessert: an éclair with raspberries and caramelized pistachios.
The new three-course SWISS Premium Economy Class menu also draws its inspiration from Canton Vaud. Premium Economy travellers can enjoy local speciality cheeses such as Gruyère and Bleu du Village, with a classic apricot tart to round off the experience.
Here is the full business class menu:
3 comments
Having recently read about Swiss hiding behind Swiss law to avoid paying out for delays, etc when it’s the result of an aircraft fault, I’d pick another European airline. Great food in first class isn’t worth the hassle.
I have flown both J and F on LX and enjoyed both experiences. They have bargain fares if you’re prepared to traipse across to OSL or similar although you have to watch the crediting of air miles as their cheap fares may not credit to some A* programmes.
I have liked the food and seats in both classes. The F lounge in ZUR is fabulous! The LX experience is much superior to LH and most other airlines.
I am surprised about the compensation problem. I have always just assumed that they follow EU law on this. Do they simply abandon you or is it the Payment they try to avoid?
They don’t accept EU law and as a result they won’t pay compensation for flights impacted by aircraft faults.
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