When I have not been to a city for a while, I tend to check what new options there might be by looking at TripAdvisor or an OTA.
I was surprised to see that there was suddenly a Le Meridien hotel in Santiago de Chile that looked a lot like the old Crowne Plaza hotel in the city where I had stayed perhaps half a dozen times.
You can access Le Meridien Santiago here.
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The Le Meridien branding is visible on OTA.
And it also was on Marriott’s rate search, but they have now removed the Le Meridien logo from the search results.
The email confirmation comes from Le Meridien.
The hotel entrance is like a bunker.
Accessing the hotel WiFi prompts you for the IHG Rewards Club number.
Fantasy Photos:
Reality:
Suite Video:
Conclusion
Conversions and reflags from a higher brand to a lower one can work well, but rarely the other way around.
How can you convert a dumpy Crowne Plaza, I am generous here, into a Le Meridien that should be the epitome of French chicness and style?
Starwood converted a Days Inn into a W, but I don’t entirely trust that Marriott can achieve the same.
The Crowne Plaza owner has three other hotels in Santiago under various Marriott brands (Sheraton, Ritz-Carlton & W), although they may have offloaded the Sheraton. I guess they have been able to strike a good deal with Marriott.
You could have perhaps transformed this Crowne Plaza into a solid Four Points or Courtyard, but trying to transform it into a Le Meridien will be an utter failure, considering the existing hardware that you can demolish only to an extent.
The hotel employees told me they have 12 to 24 months to have the hardware ready when I questioned that many would be utterly disappointed when they check into this “Le Meridien” only to find out the old Crowne Plaza.