Stash Hotel Rewards is an American company that produces a loyalty rewards program for a network of nearly 200 independent hotels in the United States,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The membership is free to join, and guests are given 5 points for every dollar spent at hotels in the network. It is the largest points-based loyalty reward program for independent hotels in North America. The company was founded in 2010 and is based in Palo Alto,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

History

The company was founded in May 2010 in Palo Alto, California by former

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacat ...

executive, Jeff Low (who also serves as the company's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

). Low had previously been responsible for the creation of Expedia's "Thank You" rewards program. At its outset, Stash had enlisted 65 hotels (including boutiques, spas, and resorts) in 50 cities mostly across the United States. By August, those numbers had increased to 79 hotels in 63 cities including

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and others. In 2011, the network included 150 properties, including one in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

. In early 2014, Stash became the largest loyalty reward program for independent hotels in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It also began fostering a larger presence in the Caribbean. In January 2014, a study conducted by researchers from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

, and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

showed that hoteliers who had enrolled in the Stash Hotel Rewards program saw an average increase of incremental revenue between $400,000 and $780,000 annually. In 2015, Stash introduced the Stash Hotel Rewards Visa Card which gives cardholders points for staying at any hotel whether it's in the Stash network or not. By 2016, the company's network included over 160 properties in the United States, Panama, and the Caribbean.

Operation

Stash Hotel Rewards' main product offering is a loyalty reward program for a network of nearly 200 independent hotels in the United States (including

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and Puerto Rico), Canada, Mexico, Panama, and the Caribbean. It is free to sign up for the program, and guests who enroll are awarded 5 points for every dollar spent at in-network hotels. Members earn 3 points per dollar at highly-rated independent hotels that have been designated “Stash Approved” when booked on the Stash website. Those points can then be redeemed for a free stay at any in-network hotel, and there are no blackout or expiration dates. Stash differs from most traditional loyalty programs in that it allows individual properties to set the number of points required to redeem a free night. For instance, a hotel in-season may increase the number of points required to redeem a free stay while an out-of-season hotel may decrease the number. In 2015, Stash launched the Stash Hotel Rewards Visa Card. The card was developed in association with

Synchrony Financial Synchrony Financial is a consumer financial services company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. The company offers consumer financing products, including credit, promotional financing and loyalty programs, installment lendi ...

. In May 2018, Stash filed a lawsuit against Synchrony in California for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. The card was discontinued in 2018.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official Website
Hospitality companies established in 2010 Companies based in Palo Alto, California Reward websites Online retailers of the United States