Holiday lovers based in Hong Kong, Seoul and Los Angeles topped the list, with New Yorkers coming in fourth and Texans from Houston completing the top five savviest cities list.
With a free hotel night up for grabs, more than one in eight travellers globally booked up their hotel stay the very same day and usually opted for a 4-star property. A third booked up their beds on their smartphone - a growing trend for today's on-the-go travellers.
Top destinations and hotel hotspots
The top five destinations where all global travellers visited were the tourist hubs of New York, Las Vegas, London, Paris and San Francisco.
When it came to the hotels themselves, the draw of spending a free night in a five star abode on the Las Vegas strip was impossible to resist. All of the top five hotels where free nights have been taken were in Sin City:
- The Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino
- ARIA Resort & Casino
- MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
- Bellagio Las Vegas
- Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Top 25 savviest travellers who have booked a free night come from:
- HONG KONG
- SEOUL
- LOS ANGELES
- NEW YORK
- HOUSTON
- SINGAPORE
- LONDON
- CHICAGO
- STOCKHOLM
- OSLO
- DALLAS
- ATLANTA
- SAN FRANCISCO
- PARIS
- MIAMI
- LAS VEGAS
- TOKYO
- DENVER
- SAN JOSE
- PHOENIX
- SAN DIEGO
- COPENHAGEN
- SAO PAULO
- ORLANDO
Treehouses, ranches and palaces
It wasn't just hotels where free nights were spent, as hundreds of travellers opted for something a little quirkier and chose to stay in a castle, in a palace, on a house boat or on a ranch - with one lucky adventurer even staying in a treehouse in Swedish Lapland!
Katie Junod, Loyalty Director of Hotels.com Brand said: 'To hit 25 million Rewards members in our 25th year is a great achievement and since the program launched over 9 million free nights have been redeemed. With thousands of properties to choose from, we've also seen members venturing far and wide, to enjoy their free night away, none more so than the savvy travellers from Hong Kong. If you're looking for inspiration on where to spend your free night, follow our customers' lead and try 24 hours in a riad in Morocco or a night in a picturesque castle in Prague!'
Hotels.com One Night Wonders Study
Hotels.com also conducted a One Night Wonders global study to find out if travellers could jump on a plane tomorrow for just one day, where they'd go and what they'd do.
Paris came out as the top dream destination, according to 29 per cent of travellers, with New York (26 per cent) and Tokyo (26 per cent) following closely behind.
Travellers would splash the cash and pay on average $984 to spend 24 hours in their desired destination. They'd also be prepared to travel 12 hours on average to get there and the ultimate stay would be in a beach house (47 per cent), a castle (46 per cent), a house boat (40 per cent) or an underwater hotel (37 per cent).
50 per cent would choose a super luxurious 5-star hotel and 51 per cent would take their partner to enjoy their one night experience. Travellers would cram as much into their 24-hour stay as possible, with 58 per cent wanting to spend the whole time awake and sightseeing, 41 per cent would eat all the local food in sight, 20 per cent would party like there was no tomorrow and one in ten would live stream their entire trip.
The real dream though would be to arrive in style in a private jet (30 per cent), automatically be able to speak the local lingo (31 per cent), eat at the chef's table of a Michelin star restaurant (33 per cent), party with a celebrity (32 per cent) and have a super power for the day (25 per cent).
End
Notes to Editors
Data used is correct as of 23 October 2016 and analysis looks back at the last five years of the Hotels.com Rewards program, across all countries the program is run in globally.
Survey data used was conducted by One Poll in October 2016 on behalf of Hotels.com and is based on 2,596 respondents globally.
* Free night does not include taxes and fees. See here for full terms and conditions http://www.hotels.com/customer_care/terms_conditions.html
** Price is based on average redemption value of free night from the past five years of the Hotels.com Rewards program
About Hotels.com
Hotels.com L.P. operates Hotels.com, a leading online accommodation booking website with hundreds of thousands of properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay.
© 2016 Hotels.com, LP. Hotels.com and the Hotels.com logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotels.com, LP in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Press Contacts:
Somya Anand
energi PR for Hotels.com in Canada
Phone: (416) 425-9143 x 19
Email: [email protected]
Emily Zazado
Hotels.com brand in Canada
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Email: [email protected]
SOURCE Hotels.com
Image with caption: "Introducing Hotelsville … Celebrated international artist Jeremyville captures the top 25 cities that are home to the world’s savviest travellers, who have booked the most free Hotels.com™ Rewards nights. (CNW Group/Hotels.com)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161107_C7731_PHOTO_EN_812288.jpg
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