The top five programs that qualified for this award are separated by less than 4/10ths of a point. That reflects the fact that there are many great programs just waiting for their time to come to be recognized. Among the five, three of them are far less known for their loyalty programs than MeliáRewards (which finished a close second—1/10th of a point behind the eventual winner) and World of Hyatt (which finished fourth). Finishing in fifth is the Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club program which is a fabulous collection of properties brought together with a common customer share. So, who might be the winner? GHA Discovery. GHA is the Global Hotel Alliance which operates similarly to an airline alliance. GHA’s founding members were Kempinski, Pan Pacific, Rydges Hotels, and Wyndham International (different than the Wyndham hotel franchising system). With nearly 12 million members, Discovery is a multi-brand program based out of Dubai and counts more than 500 hotels in its portfolio of loyalty. Learn something new every day don’t you? Of course, this program might also be the only one ever with an ancestry that includes a horse racing track—Bay Meadows Racetrack, but that story will have to wait for another day. And now you’ll learn why I included a bit of the GHA history, the Wyndham Rewards program (from the Wyndham hotel franchising system) finished in the third spot. Congrats to GHA Discovery. We feel they have a fine future ahead for themselves in delivering a great loyalty proposition. Interestingly that of the top five for this award, two of them were alliance multi-brand programs (GHA and Leading Hotels).

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Full Voting Results

Rank	210 Award – Hotels (Americas)	Rating
1	GHA Discovery	6.67
2	MeliáRewards	6.57
3	Wyndham Rewards	6.51
4	World of Hyatt	6.43
5	Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club	6.30
6	NH Rewards	6.18
7	Choice Privileges	6.17