First Omni Stay as a GHA Platinum
Earlier this year I picked up GHA Platinum status through a promotion, but never had a chance to use it. I like the Global Hotel Alliance brands quite a lot — Kempinski, Omni, ParkRoyal, etc — but because of my love of Starwood and Hyatt, I rarely stay at them. In fact, I’d forgotten I had status.
But when my parents booked a two night stay for us at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation through a TravelZoo deal, I remembered. I didn’t know what it would get us, or if it could even be applied to a TravelZoo rate, but it was worth a try.
There didn’t appear to be a place to add it online to an existing reservation, so I called Omni and found out the number couldn’t be added through their system either, only at check in. Well, so much for my faint hopes of an upgrade to a much nicer room if they knew in advance we were coming. 🙂
Adding it at check-in was quite easy and the Jeremiah, the awesome front desk agent who was helping me, very nicely walked through the benefits. The hotel already offered free wi-fi, but we’d get free bottled water and free morning beverages for up to 2 guests (2 each). We just needed to fill out the door hangers he provided and the next morning our selections would be delivered to our room for free.
As I was leaving, he mentioned that their Guest Relations person Tammy would probably come by to see us. No sooner had my Dad left to park the car and my mom and I started to find the room (it was a big hotel) then the effervescent Tammy showed up and kindly escorted us up. She was one of the best on-site loyalty people I’ve ever met.
She was genuinely friendly and caring, gave us big (real) hugs as she said goodbye, and stopped by 10 minutes later with 3 cups of hot chocolate (with plenty of whipped cream) to warm us up and welcome us. I think I’ve rarely felt more “special”.
Once I had a chance to look around the room it appeared they had upgraded us to the next room level — the Deluxe room which came with a little more space and a mini fridge. Again, not bad for a Travel Zoo rate.
When we returned to the room later that night, they’d dropped off bottles of water, vanilla maple almonds, and a very sweet note from Tammy.
Next morning, our desired beverages were delivered. Including several marshmallow’s for my mom’s hot chocolate. Since our rate already included breakfast, I found the early morning delivery a great perk! Especially since at 6:30 AM, the temperature was close to freezing. Not exactly what one expects in Florida.
I’ll be reviewing the hotel at length soon. It wound up being a wonderful place to spend Thanksgiving with the family and having status added that little extra. While Platinum status isn’t so great that I know only want to stay at GHA brands, the fact that you can earn these benefits after only 10 nights is pretty sweet. I’d love to see what the higher level gets you.
Free Platinum status is often offered by some credit cards or investment companies, so if it shows up on your list of benefits, definitely worth giving it a try.
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Sounds like a very nice stay. I’m a big fan of hot chocolate, wipped cream, and marshmallows. How much was the travel zoo deal?
I think it was $129 a night? Not bad for the holidays!