New Starwood "Take Two" Promotion Announced for Sept 1- Dec 15 Stays

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

I think the best word to describe most hotel promotions these days is: lackluster. Seemingly gone are the days of earning free nights are a couple stays or being able to choose between multiple different lucrative options for your own tailored promotion.

In keeping with this trend, Starwood just announced their Take Two promotion, which offers double Starpoints on eligible stays and 2,500 bonus Starpoints for every five eligible nights— up to 10,000 bonus Starpoints (20 nights).

Key Details:
- Double Starpoints are on base Starpoints (2x) and not any elite or credit card bonuses.
- Registration isn't open yet, but it will be before September 1 and you need to register online at spg.com/taketwo by October 31, 2013 (registration is retroactive)
- Award stays and Cash & Point stays are not eligible earning stays for this promotion.
- Eligible Nights for the 2,500 bonus do not have to be consecutive and can be accumulated across multiple stays to be eligible for the 10,000-Starpoint bonus threshold.
- An Eligible Rate is any rate that is eligible to earn Starpoints in the Starwood Preferred Guest program.
- There are a number of hotels not participating in this promotion (see below)

My Thoughts:
I value Starpoints at about 2.5 cents a piece, so for me this is a nice little bonus, but nothing game changing since it will still take about 20 nights to get enough points for a category 6 award night (20,000 points). 20 nights at $250 a night =$5,000, so an extra 10,000 SPG bonus points for the extra 2x points on base spend and then the 10,000 point bonus for hitting 20 nights = 20,000 bonus points from this promotion. That isn't really exciting to me, but if you have a lot of trips planned you might as well sign-up.

I'm hoping for some creativity from the other hotel chains for year-end bonuses, but I'm not holding my breath!

Hotels NOT Participating:

AUSTRIA

• Four Points by Sheraton Panoramahaus Dornbirn

BANGLADESH

• The Westin Dhaka

BRAZIL

• Four Points by Sheraton Curitiba
• Sheraton São Paulo WTC Hotel
• Sheraton Vitoria Hotel

BULGARIA

• Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Sofia

CANADA

• Four Points by Sheraton Mississauga Meadowvale, Ontario
• The Westin Prince, Toronto, Ontario

CHINA

• Aloft Beijing, Haidian, Beijing
• Aloft Nanhai, Foshan, Guangdong, Beijing
• Four Points By Sheraton Beijing, Haidian Hotel and Serviced Apartments, Beijing
• Four Points by Sheraton Taizhou, Yuhuan, Zhejiang
• Sheraton Changzhou Wujin Hotel, Jiangsu
• Sheraton Dongguan Hotel, Guangdong
• Sheraton Shunde Hotel, Foshan, Guangdong
• Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel, Guangdong
• The Westin Nanjing, Jiangsu
• The Westin Pazhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong

COLOMBIA

• Four Points by Sheraton Cali
• Four Points by Sheraton Medellin
• Sheraton Bogota Hotel

EGYPT

• Le Méridien Dahab Resort
• Sheraton Soma Bay Resort, Red Sea

EL SALVADOR

• Sheraton Presidente San Salvador Hotel

ETHIOPIA

• Sheraton Addis, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Addis Ababa

GERMANY

• Le Méridien Munich
• Le Méridien Stuttgart
• Sheraton Essen Hotel
• Sheraton Hanover Pelikan Hotel
• The Westin Bellevue, Dresden
• The Westin Leipzig

INDIA

• Aloft Bengaluru Whitefield, Karnataka
• Le Méridien Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
• Le Méridien New Delhi, New Delhi
• The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, Maharashtra
• The Westin Mumbai, Garden City, Maharashtra

INDONESIA

• Le Méridien Jakarta

IRELAND

• Westin Dublin Hotel

ITALY

• Hotel Eden, Rome
• Hotel Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Naples
• Le Méridien Rimini

JAPAN

• Sheraton Miyako Hotel, Tokyo
• The Westin Osaka
• The Westin Nagoya Castle

JORDAN

• Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel

SOUTH KOREA

• The Westin Chosun, Seoul

LITHUANIA

• Le Méridien Vilnius

MACAU

• The Westin Resort, Macau

MALAYSIA

• Four Points by Sheraton Kuching

MEXICO

• Sheraton Ambassador Hotel, Monterrey

MOROCCO

• Le Royal Mansour Méridien, Casablanca

PAKISTAN

• Sheraton Karachi Hotel

PANAMA

• The Westin Panama, Panama City

SAUDI ARABIA

• Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers
• Le Méridien Jeddah

SOUTH AFRICA

• The Westin Cape Town

SPAIN

• Castillo Hotel Son Vida, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Mallorca
• Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, Golf & Spa Resort Canary Isle
• Sheraton Mallorca Arabella Golf Hotel
• Sheraton Salobre Golf Resort and Spa, Maspalomas
• The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort

TAIWAN

• Le Méridien Taipei
• Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel, Taiwan, Zhubei City

THAILAND

• Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel

TURKEY

• Sheraton Ankara Hotel & Convention Center
• Sheraton Cesme Hotel, Resort & Spa, Izmir
• Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy Hotel
• Sheraton Istanbul Maslak Hotel

UKRAINE

• Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Warsaw

UNITED ARAB EMARITES

• Grosvenor House, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dubai
• Le Méridien Dubai
• Le Méridien Fairway, Dubai
• Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Dubai
• Le Royal Méridien Resorts & Spa, Dubai
• Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers
• The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina

UNITED KINGDOM

• The Park Lane Hotel, London, England
• Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh, Scotland
• The Lanesborough, a St. Regis Hotel, London, England

UNITED STATES

California

• Four Points by Sheraton San Jose Downton
• Le Méridien San Francisco
• Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs
• Palace Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Francisco
• Sheraton Anaheim Hotel
• Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel
• Sheraton San Jose Hotel, Milpitas
• Sheraton Sunnyvale Hotel
• The St. Regis San Francisco
• The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles
• The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth, Mammoth Lakes
• The Westin Sacramento
• The Westin San Francisco Market Street
• The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square
• W San Francisco

Colorado

• Element Denver Park Meadows, Lone Tree
• The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain, Avon

Florida

• Four Points by Sheraton Tallahassee Downtown
• Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port Hotel, Dania
• Walt Disney World Dolphin, Lake Buena Vista
• Walt Disney World Swan, Lake Buena Vista

Georgia

• The St. Regis Atlanta

Illinois

• Four Points by Sheraton Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile
• Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
• The Westin Chicago River North
• The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center
• Tremont Hotel Chicago
• W Chicago-City Center
• The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago

Louisiana

• Sheraton Metairie – New Orleans Hotel
• The Westin New Orleans Canal Place

Massachusetts

• Le Méridien Cambridge-MIT
• Sheraton Boston Hotel
• The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston
• W Boston
• The Westin Boston Waterfront
• The Westin Copley Place, Boston

Minnesota

• The Westin Minneapolis

New Jersey

• The Westin Jersey City Newport
• The Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village
• W Hoboken

New York

• Aloft New York Brooklyn
• Element New York Times Square West
• Four Points by Sheraton Midtown-Times Square, New York
• Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea, New York
• Four Points by Sheraton Plainview Long Island
• Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan SoHo Village, New York
• Le Parker Meridien New York
• Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel
• The St. Regis New York
• W New York
• W New York – Downtown
• W New York Union Square, New York

North Carolina

• Aloft Asheville Downtown
• Aloft Chapel Hill
• Four Points by Sheraton Asheville Downtown

Ohio

• The Westin Cincinnati

Oregon

• The Westin Portland

Pennsylvania

• Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel

Tennessee

• Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville
• Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel

Texas

• Aloft Dallas Downtown
• Aloft Frisco
• Aloft Las Colinas, Irving
• Aloft Plano
• Four Points by Sheraton Houston Southwest
• W Austin

Washington

• Four Points by Sheraton Downtown Seattle Center
• The Westin Bellevue

VIETNAM

• Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, Ho Chi Minh City