Is there a right way to choose a hotel? Do you ask friends and family for recommendations, turn to travel websites – like ours! – for expert insights, rely on influencers or scour the web?
I tend to get most of my tips from Instagram but have always been broadly loyal to Booking.com. The biggest appeal is that the site keeps all my trip admin in one place, along with the ease of free cancellation on many stays, and possible discounts.
However, my head could be turned. I was recently at dinner with a friend who was waxing lyrical about reward schemes. “I can stay at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands for seven nights for free with my points,” he told me. Now, this is an incredibly unhumble brag, but I have stayed at that hotel and let me tell you, any reward scheme that has the potential to get me back there, and for free, is certainly worth our attention.
I have always assumed that these reward schemes only really benefit people who travel for work, racking up points on the company tab. But he's a pretty normal traveller, not someone who lives out of a suitcase 300 days a year, and has started accruing points through travel and via a credit card affiliated to a loyalty scheme. Marriott Bonvoy got him to the Ritz-Carlton, but it could equally have taken him to an Edition, St Regis, Moxy or Sheraton hotel, among the many Marriott brands.
And that is by no means the only loyalty scheme out there – Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, Accor Live Limitless and Minor Hotels Loyalty are a few of the big names, all with different reward structures.
With the latter, you could find yourself at Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort, one of the many luxury destinations used as a location for the upcoming series of The White Lotus set in Thailand. If we have learnt anything from that show, it’s that it will influence travel trends.
“I believe there was more than a 20 per cent increase in visitors in Hawaii and Sicily, based on seasons one and two,” Chompu Marusachot, director of the Thailand Tourism Authority’s New York office, told Bloomberg this week. “I can only hope that the momentum will be the same from Thailand.”
Then there are schemes such as Ennismore’s ironically named Dis-loyalty membership. Rather than focusing on rewards, the paid-for membership offers scaled discounts to its properties, based on members visiting hotels for the first time or checking into one of the newly opened destinations. Here in the UAE, you can check into 25Hours, Rixos, Hyde, SLS and SO/ Hotels properties, as well as the newly opened Mama Shelter Dubai, which is offering members 50 per cent off room rates, having opened this year.
Hopefully this gives you some food for travelling thought. It’s certainly given me a lot to think about. Until next week, wherever you're heading, stay safe, travel well and keep up to date with all the latest holiday news and stories online.
Farah Andrews
The National Travel desk
Beauty voyages, happiness hacking and zodiac retreats among key travel trends
Tripadvisor has launched its first Trendcast report. Detailing the trends predicted to reshape travel, it is based on search and booking data as well as on insights from reviews on the website.
The report is “a glimpse into the future of travel and the consumer behaviours that we believe will shape our industry in the years ahead”, said Hilary Fischer-Groban, Tripadvisor’s head of research and insights.
The report states that beauty-inspired escapes are trending. Beauty treatment mentions on Tripadvisor have surged by 400 per cent this year, with red-light therapy jumping 433 per cent. Happiness hacking – where adults look to embrace a sense of play on their travels – is also on the rise. Bookings for trips incorporating “fun” and “games” keywords are up, and Escape Room bookings have more than doubled since 2022.
Wellness experiences continue to be popular, with a 73 per cent increase in cold plunge experiences mentioned in Tripadvisor reviews. Additionally, spiritual travel is trending, with bookings for trips involving astrology, tarot and full moon experiences surging by 530 per cent over the past two years.
Other trends include sports travel, with bookings linked to sporting events increasing by 219 per cent, and slow travel, with train-related bookings up 143 per cent since 2022.
London Blitz shelter tunnels to be turned into tourist attraction
Visitors to the British capital will soon be able to sample a new immersive experience taking them back to the Second World War, as tunnels used to shelter Londoners during the Blitz are transformed into a tourist attraction, The London Tunnels.
The tunnels, which cover 1.6 kilometres and are tall enough in parts to fit a double-decker bus, lie under Holborn in central London. They were dug by hand, starting in late 1940, when German planes were bombing the city almost every day and night in what became known as the Blitz.
During the bombing raids, Londoners headed into underground train stations for safety. By 1942, when the purpose-built tunnels were finished, the Blitz had ceased so they were never used for shelter.
“It's real. It's emotional,” said Angus Murray, chief executive of The London Tunnels, standing in an arched steel cavern as London Underground trains rumbled overhead.
The tunnels housed spy headquarters in 1944, when James Bond author Ian Fleming worked in them for naval intelligence. The location is believed to have inspired Q Branch, where Bond goes to get his specialist equipment.
Thirty metres down, the underground citadel is a maze of old generators, pipes and rusty bolts. Bundles of wires dangle from the walls, which are dotted with dials, switches and levers. There are also the remains of a staff bar and canteen for the 200 people who worked in the tunnels in the 1950s and 1960s, when they served as a telephone exchange.
The tunnels will be ready for the public by late 2027 or early 2028 and will be operated by an entertainment company used to running visitor attractions, Murray said.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Langkawi
There is more to Langkawi than classic beach retreats, writes John Brunton. The Malaysian archipelago destination is home to a host of new and enduring adventure attractions. From a nocturnal rainforest theme park to stays in coconut-shaped pods over the Andaman Sea, there is something to cater to the wildest of traveller tastes.
TRAVEL NEWS THIS WEEK
Top travel tip
A few weeks ago, we shared our top Google Maps tip – you can download maps of your destination to allow offline navigation – and the same extends to Google Translate. You can download languages to your phone, allowing you to translate with or without internet connection. A quick download could get you out of some confusing situations in restaurants, shops or out and about if you're not fluent in the native language. It works with Google Lens photo translations as well as the classic typed-out function.