Starwood Introduces New Restaurants And Bars Program

Starwood Hotels & Resorts' preferred guest program is already one of the best-liked and most award-winning programs around. But instead of resting on their laurels, they've upped the ante by introducing their Restaurants & Bars program for members. Now, instead of simply accruing and redeeming points for hotel stays, free breakfasts, room upgrades, and free nights, preferred guest members can also use points toward meals and drinks at more than 500 hotel restaurants, bars, and cafés around the world.

And it doesn't stop there — the rewards can also go toward cooking classes with Starwood chefs (like this one with chef Dakota Weiss perhaps) and can be used for bidding on culinary vacations as well.

Here's how it works: preferred guest members can get up to 20 percent off their bill, though, some more sought-after hotel restaurants in major metropolitan cities offer only 10 percent off. But even then we think that is reason enough to try a meal in your hotel when you're traveling or have dinner at a hotel where you live.

So far, restaurants participating include Citrus in London's Park Lane Hotel, Tres at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, L'Orenoc and the Jazz Club Etoile at Le Méridien Etoile in Paris, and Restaurant Vivendo at the St. Regis in Rome. But the list extends to include restaurants and bars everywhere, from Algeria to Bahrain and from Malta to Vietnam.

Eating at these restaurants and partaking in these culinary experiences can also earn rewards for members, making points just that much easier to accrue. Now the trouble will be deciding where to go first!