Starwood Tempts Prospective SPG Members With Free Chocolate

As we explained last month, Starwood rolled out a bunch of new perks for its dedicated SPGers, and the changes took effect on March 1.

On the sidelines, if you've checked into a Starwood property over the past few weeks, you will have received a token of the brand's ~~appreciation~~ burning desire to make you, too, a member of the SPG ambassadors program. At Aloft, for example, all guests are receiving little purple foil-wrapped chocolate bars. Bearing the slogan, "Being an SPG member has never been sweeter," the yummy snack directs you to Starwood's website to learn more about the program.

Knowing how much of a weakness everyone (including us) has for chocolate, we're guessing they've been successful in, at the least, catching people's attention.

W New York Downtown certainly nudged its way into our good graces in January when, one afternoon we stepped inside and spotted free hot chocolate being offered in the fifth-floor Living Room bar. No advertising here. Just a cold day, made better with a free hot beverage.

One of the perks of the new program is that Gold and Platinum members receive little "gifts" upon check-in�this could range from bonus Starpoints to free Wifi to free breakfast (pick one, you greedy SPGers, just one!). And though the chocolate isn't mentioned, we think this should actually become standard practice in all Starwood Hotels. If DoubleTree has managed to keep up the whole free cookie perk since the 80s, what's a measly little bar of chocolate to W?

And if you were wondering: yeah, it tasted pretty good. A little Hershey's Kisses-ish (which isn't a bad thing), and melted in our mouth faster than we could say "loyalty program."

[Photo: HotelChatter]

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