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There are nights I find myself staring at my computer screen with 27 tabs open, comparing hotel prices to get the best deal possible. Ever find yourself doing the same thing? Sometimes I find that leads me in the total opposite direction of what I am really trying to find, and that is VALUE. Even the best rate at a hotel isn’t worth it to me when I get absolutely zero perks, no free internet, and a room service menu with prices that make me cry. Travelling for 6 months out of the year I have learned that VALUE trumps actual price paid.
Let’s talk about getting maximum value for least amount spent and how $25 gets you luxury at the Holiday Inn!
MOST hotels have ‘executive’ rooms that are commonly overlooked by online bargain hunters. Superior rooms might not even SHOW UP in the results from hotel comparison sites, which is why it’s worth checking the hotels direct site for info on the types of rooms they have.
Enter: The Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport Hotel
When I used to think about the Holiday Inn brand, the word ‘LUXURY’ did not really follow. Boy was I wrong, it just took some research. On comparison sites we never saw any ‘special’ kind of rooms (nor did we really think much about it, as many airport hotels can be quite standard) but when we checked directly through IHG, we saw more about their ‘Executive Rooms’ that came with ‘Sky Club’ perks!
Standard Room -vs- Executive Suite
Difference in price = $25
Difference in perks = TONS
Once we shelled out the extra $25 per night for the Executive Suite, we took a closer look into what our money got us, and if it was worth it.
The Luxury Perks – Holiday Inn Guayaquil:
- A suite triple the size of a normal room, with living/dining area and separate bedroom. (Much like a 1 bedroom condo)
- Living room has: couch, dining table, kitchenette, microwave, mini fridge, cutlery/dinnerware, sink, TV, and even HDMI plugs to hook up a laptop (streaming movies! yay!)
- Bedroom has: floor to ceiling windows, corner suite, large closet, desk, another TV
- SKY CLUB private lounge access with free breakfast, snacks, nightly h’orderves & drinks, couches, magazines, TV, tables to work at, and modern tasteful decor.
- Free Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, pancakes, yogurt, cereal, breads, coffee, juice, and at times (because this is latin america things like chicken, rice, fish, plantains, etc)
- Free Snacks: Fridge of full size sodas, water, beers. Snacks like fruit, nuts, cookies
- Free H’orderves & drinks: nightly bite sized sandwiches, brownies, tarts, wine, vodka, beer
The upgrade in room ALONE is worth the $25, as it was spacious for us to both work on our laptops and not feel crowded (Perhaps around 800 sq ft?) On top of that, if we had both paid for breakfast buffet in the lobby ($32) and then grabbed a few pops and a snack during the day ($15) and then let’s just say 2 glasses of red for me, a pop for Trevor and some appies and desserts ($45)
= $92! Way more than our $25 premium!
Instead we paid $25 for the luxury of having everything at our fingers tips, basically unlimited, without having to think about the ‘cost’ of anything. I honestly wonder why every single person does not book the executive suite and save themselves a crazy amount of money per day!
Next time you are staying at any hotel, find out if they have a private lounge with perks. Most people don’t think of ‘unlimited luxury’ when they think of airport hotels, but we found the Holiday Inn Guayaquil to be AT PAR with many higher end boutique and luxury chains. The service was spot on, amenities were great and our stay here really established some trust with the IHG brand. If you want to get the BEST rates on any IHG rooms, including Holiday Inn’s worldwide, CLICK HERE
Would YOU have paid $25 to get those perks?
We booked directly with IHG to get the best price and POINTS for our stay!