Hilton partners with Small Luxury Hotels of the World

Hilton has just announced a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the world. As well as massively expanding the luxury hotels you can book with and earn points on this announcement appears to signify the end of the existing agreement between Hyatt and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

What does this partnership with Hilton & Small Luxury Hotels of the World mean for me?

If you have any existing bookings (or were looking to book) through Hyatt to earn World of Hyatt elite night credits or because you were getting free breakfast as a benefit I’d be cautious. If Hyatt’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World ends before your stay it’s unlikely you will get these benefits.

Being a Hilton member it’s all good news (what’s not to like about more earning/redemption options?!) BUT whilst there are around 560 Small Luxury Hotels of the World we don’t know yet know…

When the partnership will begin and how ‘integrated’ will it be

How many hotels will be ‘participating’ though the press release mentions ‘hundreds’.

What sort of status benefits will Hilton elite members receive at participating hotels or will there be some sort of status match between schemes? How well will the independent hotels respect elite benefits? (will there be an effective system in place to ensure this?)

What the pricing will be like both £££ (for example with the current Hyatt partnership the hotels are often more expensive booking with Hyatt) & when making reward bookings.

When making a reward booking will you have the option to select from all room types or just the basic often very small ’boutique’ rooms.

Conclusion

Whilst there is a lot unknown at the moment the press release states that more details of the partnership will be announced soon. So keep your eyes/ears out for how exactly the partnership will work! You can read the full press release here – https://stories.hilton.com/releases/hilton-partners-with-small-luxury-hotels-of-the-world-to-dramatically-expand-global-luxury-portfolio