Another chance to score a free hotel status has arrived, and this time the star of the show is Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), thanks to reader @Jo for the tip. We’ve covered similar opportunities from SLH quite a few times before, most recently its partnership with Mastercard, where World Elite cardholders could receive an instant upgrade to the top-tier Club 03 status.
That offer was already generous enough, but apparently things have now escalated into complete status flooding, and Club 03 is basically being handed out to everyone for free. Anyone can use either of the following partner links with no eligibility requirements whatsoever:
Simply register or log in through either page to activate the offer, then log out and back in again. Your upgraded status should appear automatically.
The official validity is supposedly one year, though in practice it seems tied to your account registration date. Mine for example, is currently showing expiry in early May next year.
Club 03 is the highest published tier in the SLH programme, normally requiring 13 eligible nights to earn. Main benefits include:
- Early check-in / late check-out
- Room upgrade
- Free breakfast
- Free Wi-Fi
- Complimentary bottled water
- Invitations to exclusive events
- Monthly free night voucher giveaways
Members who genuinely earn the tier through stays should also receive a US$300 free-night voucher upon upgrading, which is understandably unavailable to us who are upgraded for free.
Overall, the perks are decent enough, but the biggest issue is that benefits only apply when booking through SLH’s own channels. Even booking via Hilton likely won’t work. In reality, SLH direct rates are often more expensive than OTAs or sometimes even the hotel’s own website, so despite being a “top-tier” status, the main appeal here is probably just adding another badge to the collection.
Just did it ! However it says EXPIRES 2016?
Mine is 2017. Bizarre. I fear this won’t stick.