Skift Take
Getting independent hotels that compete against one another and have various agendas to cooperate in a loyalty program such as Stash Hotel Rewards has its built-in challenges. However, despite the myriad obstacles, there is a market need for such a program.
This has not been an banner year for hotel and airline loyalty programs with chains such as Marriott and Starwood devaluing points, and carriers such as Delta and Southwest awarding points based on dollars spent rather than miles flown.
Then at the property level, many hoteliers put on their best fake smiles when loyalty program members show up with a redemption stay where compensation for the property falls well below the rate it might have obtained during a relatively strong demand period.
Enter the four year old Stash Hotel Rewards, a loyalty program and booking site for independent hotels and small chains, which sees opportunities to take advantage of the pain points, but has to compete against giant chains with massive marketing budgets, and boutique brands such as Kimpton, with its own rewards program.
"We are a smaller company up against giant competitors with millions and billions of dollars in their marketing budgets," says Jeff Low, founder and CEO of Stash Hotel Reward
