It’s no secret that Kimpton is my favorite hotel chain. They have unique properties with character and their rewards program offers tremendous benefits when used correctly. I’m excited because I just earned 2 more free nights after my 10th unique property stay this year! And this is on top of the 1 free night earned every 7th stay.
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How do I earn free nights at Kimpton?
From the Kimpton website:
Great question! There are two ways to earn complimentary night rewards. You will either receive a free night after 7 eligible stays or 20 eligible nights at Kimpton hotels, whichever comes first.
When staying using a reservation with “double stay credit” promotions, each night counts as 2 towards the 7 stays. So, when you see these promotions come around, jump on them for supercharged benefits!!!
What is the Kimpton Journey?
From the Kimpton website:
It’s just another way to earn free nights with us. Stay at 10 different Kimpton hotels during the calendar year (January 1 – December 31) and you’ll receive two complimentary nights. Once you stay at 15 different hotels you’ll get another free night and when you reach 20 boom! There’s another. Oh, and just so you know, the annual stay count is based on check-out date. The Kimpton Journey is the perfect reason to visit as many Kimpton hotels as possible. Luckily, we’re in a lot of great places! Check out our locations.
With my latest stay at The Hote Wilshire in Los Angeles, I completed the Kimpton Journey by staying at my 10th unique property this year.
If you complete the Kimpton Journey with 10 unique property stays at one night each, you will not only earn the 2 free nights from Kimpton Journey, but you will also earn 1 free night for having 7 stays and will have 3 nights count towards earning another free night with your 14th stay. That is 3 free nights after 10 one-night stays! Pretty awesome.
Keep in mind that while the 1 free night every 7 stays is not based on the calendar year (aka nights roll over from one year to the next), the Kimpton Journey MUST be completed from January 1 through December 31.
If you want to book a night at Kimpton, or any other hotel chain, please use my affiliate link.
My Kimpton stays so far in 2015
I like staying at different properties to explore the benefits and unique styles, so I don’t have a problem hopping from one property to the next. Luckily, my wife Anna shares the same mindset. She loves the perks as much as me!
So far this year, I’ve stayed at 12 different Kimpton properties. 10 of them I paid for, and two were free nights thanks to my Inner Circle status. Whenever Kimpton opens a new property, you get to stay one night at that property for free AND you get a $50 dining credit to try their on-site restaurant!
The free night properties were at the Goodland (near Santa Barabara) and the Palladian (in Seattle).
Qualifying for Kimpton Karma Inner Circle Status
With my stay at The Wilshire Hotel, not only did I earn more free nights for awesome future vacations, I also earned Kimpton Karma Inner Circle status for 2016! Normally you need to have 14 stays to qualify, but since I took advantage of Kimpton’s “double stay credit” promotion on 4 of my stays, I only needed 10 stays to qualify.
How to redeem your free nights at Kimpton
With 10 stays this year, I have 3 free nights available to stay at any Kimpton property across their portfolio! It doesn’t matter whether it is the nicest or the most basic property… the free nights can be used! The only exception is when a property first opens (such as the Carlyle in Washington DC). Kimpton wants to ensure all of the kinks are worked out before you stay there on a free night certificate.
Now that I have two more free nights available from completing my Kimpton Journey, where will I stay? I have a few properties in mind… especially the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara, which normally goes for $300-$700 a night!
Unfortunately, you cannot book the free nights online at this time. You need to call Kimpton’s customer service at 888-695-4678 and request the night in which you want to stay.
As I was writing this post, I booked our first stay at the Canary Hotel. The call took less than 5 minutes. Keep in mind that, even though there may be availability on the website, the hotel may not have award rooms available. I tried to book a room for November 21, 2015, but was told that the hotel only had a couple rooms remaining, so I could not book for my preferred date. I tried another date and my second choice was available.
Conclusion
As you can see, the Kimpton Karma rewards program offers some serious benefits. This is why they are my favorite hotel rewards program. The properties are rather limited right now compared to some of the larger hotel chains, but Kimpton is adding new properties all the time! I’m definitely looking forward to using my Inner Circle benefits for a free night and $50 dining credit as the new properties come available.
Are you considering joining Kimpton Karma rewards? Have you stayed at Kimpton before? Do you have a favorite property?
What Kimpton Hotel have you liked best so far? A few years ago I stayed at the Sky Hotel in Snowmass CO. That was pretty nice.