Too much too soon, Club Carlson. First you reel us in with one of the best hotel promotions, followed by the most generous credit card benefits, and just when we’re warming up to you, you take that credit card perk away, replace it with a really lame annual free night at hotels nobody wants to stay at, and introduce several devaluations. I feel like a gold digging bride who found out after the wedding that the groom spent all his money on the reception and is now broke.
At least this devaluation is well-timed so we won’t get our dates wrong: On June 1, the same day the Club Carlson Visa is doing away with the Bonus Award Night benefit, 328 Club Carlson hotels will change categories. 211 hotels will be moving up at least one category while 117 will be moving down. I’ve summarized the changes below:
Club Carlson Hotels Moving Up in Category
Category 6 to 7 (50,000 to 70,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa
- Radisson Hotel Barra, Rio de Janeiro
- The Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence & Spa, Manama
- Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago
- Radisson Martinique on Broadway
- Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes London
- Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek
- Park Plaza Victoria London
- Radisson Blu Style Hotel, Vienna
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Lucerne
- Park Plaza County Hall London
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Zurich Airport
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Basel
- Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Copenhagen
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Madrid Prado
- Al Mahary Radisson Blu Hotel, Tripoli
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Marseille Vieux Port
- Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Ajaccio Bay
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Paris-Boulogne
- Radisson Blu Resort, Arc 1950
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Nice
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Edinburgh
- Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Sussex Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel
- Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London
- Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Leicester Square Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel
- Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Dubrovnik Sun Gardens
- Radisson Hotel, Astana
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Maputo
- Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos VI
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam
- Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel Oslo
- Radisson Blu Resort, Trysil
- Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Oslo Gardermoen
- Radisson Blu Hotel Norge, Bergen
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Bergen
- Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo
- Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel, Stavanger
- Radisson Blu Polar Hotel, Spitsbergen
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Stavanger
- Radisson Royal Hotel, St. Petersburg
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Riyadh
- Radisson Blu Royal Suite Hotel, Jeddah
- Radisson Blu SkyCity Hotel, Stockholm-Arlanda
- Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel, Stockholm
- Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Stockholm
- Radisson Blu Strand Hotel, Stockholm
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Istanbul Pera
- Radisson Blu Bosphorus Hotel, Istanbul
- Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront
- Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney
Category 5 to 7 (44,000 to 70,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Blu Minneapolis
- Radisson Blu Mall of America
- The Radisson Blu Residence, Dubai Marina
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth Hotel
- Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel, Reykjavik
- Radisson Resort, Zavidovo
- Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, Freetown
Category 5 to 6 (44,000 to 50,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Acqua Hotel & Spa Concon
- Radisson Grenada Beach Resort
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Media City
- Radisson Blu Hotel Altstadt, Salzburg
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Brussels
- Radisson Blu EU Hotel, Brussels
- Radisson Blu Hotel, St. Gallen
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Berlin
- Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Dusseldorf
- Radisson Blu Media Harbour Hotel Dusseldorf
- Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Helsinki
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Nantes
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Biarritz
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel
- Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester Hotel
- Park Plaza Riverbank London
- Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi
- Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Rome
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Bamako
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Dhahran
- Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Goteborg
- Radisson Blu Royal Park Hotel, Stockholm
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Dakar
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Kiev
- Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel Dhaka
- Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island
Category 4 to 7 (38,000 to 70,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait
Category 4 to 6 (38,000 to 50,000 Points/Night)
- Park Inn By Radisson Aberdeen
Category 4 to 5 (38,000 to 44,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Calgary-Airport, AB
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Sunnyvale
- Radisson Hotel & Convention Center Edmonton
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, San Carlos
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Willmar
- Radisson Blu Resort, Fujairah
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Roseville
- Country Suites By Carlson, Bismarck
- Park Inn By Radisson Brussels Midi, Brussels
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Hasselt
- Radisson Blu Resort Schloss Fleesensee
- Park Inn By Radisson Antwerpen
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg Airport
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Leipzig
- Park Inn By Radisson Stuttgart
- Radisson Blu Papirfabrikken Hotel, Silkeborg
- Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel, Turku
- Park Inn By Radisson Zurich Airport
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Espoo
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Leeds
- Park Inn by Radisson Leuven
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Birmingham
- Park Plaza Belvedere Medulin
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin Airport
- Radisson Blu Saga Hotel, Reykjavik
- Park Inn Tete
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Bristol
- Radisson Blu Royal Astorija Hotel, Vilnius
- Park Plaza Eindhoven
- Park Inn by Radisson Pulkovo Airport St. Petersburg
- Radisson Hotel, Rosa Khutor
- Park Inn By Radisson Uppsala
- Park Inn By Radisson Stockholm Hammarby Sjostad
- Radisson Hotel Brunei Darussalam
Category 3 to 5 (28,000 to 44,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Bozeman
- Park Inn by Radisson Astana
Category 3 to 4 (28,000 to 38,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Tuscaloosa
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Hot Springs
- Radisson Hotel San Isidro
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, St. Augustine Downtown Historic District
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Tallahassee Northwest I-10
- Park Inn By Radisson Papenburg
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Buford at Mall of Georgia
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Atlanta Downtown South at Turner Field
- Park Inn By Radisson Peterborough
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Sycamore
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Portage
- Park Inn by Radisson Gottingen
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Elkhart North
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Pineville
- Radisson Blu Hotel Olumpia, Tallinn
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Bel Air East at I-95 Riverside (Aberdeen)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Salisbury
- Park Inn By Radisson Dusseldorf Sud
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Houghton
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Big Rapids
- Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Little Falls
- Country Inn By Carlson, Buffalo
- Park Inn By Radisson Northampton
- Country Inn By Carlson, Northfield
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Minneapolis West
- Radisson Hotel Madison
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Red Wing
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, St. Charles
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Asheville West (Biltmore Estate)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Roanoke
- Country Inn By Carlson, Platteville
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Milwaukee West (Brookfield)
- Park Inn By Radisson Lully
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Madison
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Bothell
Category 2 to 3 (15,000 to 28,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Homewood
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Deer Valley
- Radisson Hotel Fresno Conference Center
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Panama City
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Tallahassee I-10 East
- Radisson Hotel Denver Southeast
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Atlanta I-75 South
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Savannah Midtown
- Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, Riga
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Columbus
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Fairburn
- Park Inn By Radisson Krakow
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Hiram
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Grinnell
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Zion
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Topeka West
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Corbin
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Grand Rapids Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Raleigh-Durham Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Oklahoma City North (Quail Springs)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Wyomissing (Reading)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Columbia at Harbison
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Sumter
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Rock Hill
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Dakota Dunes
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Loudon
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Houston Intercontinental Airport East
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Harlingen
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Houston Intercontinental Airport South
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Stevens Point
Category 1 to 2 (9,000 to 15,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Saraland
- Park Inn by Radisson Fresno
- Park Inn By Radisson Sofia
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Alexandria
- Park Inn By Radisson Cardiff North
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Vaishno
- Phoenix Park Inn Resort
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Gurgaon Sector 12
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson-Amritsar, Queens Road
Club Carlson Hotels Moving Down in Category
Category 6 to 5 (50,000 to 44,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris
- Radisson Lazurnaya Hotel, Sochi
Category 5 to 4 (44,000 to 38,000 Points/Night)
- Radisson Hotel Porto Alegre
- Radisson Blu Gewandhaus Hotel, Dresden
- Park Inn by Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre Oslo Alna
- Park Inn By Radisson Stavanger
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Alesund
- Park Inn by Radisson Sochi City Centre
- Park Inn by Radisson Odintsovo
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Traverse City
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Tashkent
- Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel, Sandton Johannesburg
- Park Inn by Radisson Lund
- Radisson Blu Hotel Chennai
- Park Plaza, Noida
Category 5 to 3 (44,000 to 28,000 Points/Night)
- Park Inn by Radisson Hotel and Residence Duqm
- Radisson Blu Hotel Chongqing Sha Ping Ba
Category 4 to 3 (38,000 to 28,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Phoenix Airport South
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Bradenton at I-75
- Radisson Suites Hotel Buena Park
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Council Bluffs
- Radisson Resort Orlando-Celebration
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Springfield
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Kansas City at Village West
- Radisson Hotel Largo-Washington DC
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, New Orleans Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Covington
- Radisson Suite Hotel Toronto Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Newark Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Big Flats (Elmira)
- Park Inn By Radisson Liege Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Findlay
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Carlisle
- Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, York
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Fort Worth
- Park Plaza Amsterdam Airport
- Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Istanbul Tuzla
- Park Inn by Radisson, Sheremetyevo Airport Moscow
- Radisson Blu Conference & Airport Hotel, Istanbul
- Radisson Blu Hotel Ahmedabad
- Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Newlands
- Park Plaza Beijing West
- Radisson Blu Hotel Greater Noida
- Park Inn by Radisson Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
- Radisson Blu Hotel Ranchi
- Radisson Blu Hotel Nagpur
- Park Plaza Ludhiana
- Radisson Blu Hotel Ludhiana
- Radisson Blu Marina Hotel Connaught Place
Category 4 to 2 (38,000 to 15,000 Points/Night)
- Park Inn by Radisson Modesto
- Radisson Blu Resort Wetland Park Wuxi
- Park Inn By Radisson Yaroslavl
- Radisson Blu Hotel Chennai City Centre
- Radisson Blu Hotel Ghaziabad
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson – Gurgaon, Udyog Vihar
Category 3 to 2 (28,000 to 15,000 Points/Night)
- Park Inn by Radisson Toronto-Markham
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Panama City, Panama
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Phoenix Airport at Tempe
- Radisson Suites Tucson
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Orlando Airport
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Atlanta Airport North
- Radisson Hotel Baton Rouge
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Conyers
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Columbus (Fort Benning)
- Radisson Summit Hotel & Golf Panama
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, O’Fallon
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Chicago O’Hare South
- Radisson Hotel Cleveland Airport West
- Country Inn & Suites, Wichita Northeast
- Country Inn & Suites, Frederick
- Park Inn By Radisson Berlin City-West
- Country Inn & Suites, Saginaw
- Country Inn & Suites, Lincoln Airport
- Country Inn & Suites, Columbus Airport
- Art’otel berlin kudamm, by park plaza
- Country Inn & Suites, Oklahoma City at Northwest Expressway
- Country Inn & Suites, Oklahoma City Airport
- Park Inn By Radisson Sharm El Sheikh Resort
- Country Inn & Suites, Florence
- Country Inn & Suites, Knoxville I-75 North
- Radisson Blu Resort, Sharm El Sheikh
- Country Inn & Suites, Lewisville
- Country Inn & Suites, Fredericksburg South (I-95)
- Park Inn By Radisson Sarvar Resort & Spa
- Country Inn By Carlson, Stafford
- Park Plaza Kolkata Ballygunge
- Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar
- Park Inn by Radisson, Kazan
- Radisson Blu Jaipur
- Radisson Blu Hotel Haridwar
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson – Gurgaon, Sector 29
- Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Dwarka
- Country Inn By Carlson Delhi Saket
- Radisson Hotel Narita
Category 3 to 1 (28,000 to 9,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Mysore
- Park Inn by Radisson Gurgaon Bilaspur
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Meerut
- Park Plaza Zirakpur
- Radisson Blu Hotel Amritsar
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Goa Candolim
Category 2 to 1 (15,000 to 9,000 Points/Night)
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Tucson Airport
- Park Inn by Radisson, Houston North
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Albuquerque Airport
- Park Inn by Radisson Resort & Conference Center Orlando
- Park Inn by Radisson Dallas-Love Field
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Bhiwadi
- Park Plaza Delhi CBD Shahdara
- Park Plaza Ahmedabad, Ellis Bridge
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Delhi Satbari
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Sahibabad, Distt Ghaziabad (U.P.)
- Park Inn, Gurgaon
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Navi Mumbai
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson – Ahmedabad
- Radisson Hotel Kandla
- Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Mussoorie
Wow! Shocked to see how many hotels are moving to a category 7. So basically they just made all the Radisson Blu hotels increase by 40% or more? How can one hotel chain have so many “top tier” hotels?
Horrible news. At least I can completely wipe my hands of this hotel brand now.
Not all, but most of them. I’m over it too. It’s so hard finding a decent hotel in the U.S. and now all the decent ones abroad cost an arm and a leg.
Thanks for the alert, Ariana, and I share the angst. Yet I’m with those wanting to “milk” this with advance reservations, to get what we can before they take it away. About that June 1st timing, what’s the last day we can do rewards cc reservations on the old 2 for 1 promotion? (May 31st or June 1st?
Also, I noticed a few quirks: 1. How is it that the Albuqurque, NM Country Inns and & Suites is going from 2 to a 1? (On the CC web site, it’s listed as “currently off line and not accepting reservations.” If you google for it, it appears to have changed names to GuestHouse Inn — and the reviews are atrocious….. Maybe it’s being re-tooled?)
2. your list above has Park Inn Orlando going from a 1 to a 2 category — when it’s actually the other direction. (I might snag this one — esp. if I could get the old promo (2 for 1) come June 1st?
To answer my own question, found this line in the April 3rd announcement: . “Bonus Award Night stays may not be booked after June 1, 2015.” So if I interpret this correctly, if I have my eye on a property dropping a category — say, Sharm El Sheikh (I know, in Egypt….) — it would be shrewd to hold off until June 1st to try the reservation. (Alas, assuming availability for when I anticipate being there — and the new Egyptian visa rules add a level of uncertainty to that) The adventure continues.
I’d do the math and figure out whether the Bonus Award Night perk makes it cheaper to book that hotel at the old rates. It may make sense to book before June 1 and take advantage of the BAN even if the redemption rate goes up.
Thanks for catching that! The Albuquerque hotel is probably no longer part of the Club Carlson portfolio. Not sure why they included it.
if you are not happy with bonus awrad night benefit lost and award rate for 210 of their MOTELS going up, file BBB & CFPB complaint and get your $75 back and 50k points