Mandarin Oriental is a luxury hotel chain that has a fairly small footprint. So small that it has only 28 hotels – located in Asia, Europe and the Americas. What they lack in size, they make up for in brand recognition, and are a well regarded brand in their segment.
That said, they have not really had any formal guest recognition program – although individual hotels have typically recognised their best guests.
This has recently changed with the introduction of the Fans of MO program. This is a clever name, playing on their playing on the brands logo, and advertising tagline of ‘I’m a fan’.
Fans of MO
Fans of MO isn’t a hotel loyalty program as you might normally think of one. There are no points to collect. There are no status levels. While it doesn’t offer free nights, or status benefits, it does provide some interesting and worthwhile benefits to members.
What you do get, is to choose your own benefits. Members booking through the Mandarin Oriental website get to choose their own benefits. Basically, they get to choose any two of the following benefits
- Early Check-in (12 pm)
- Late Check-out (4 pm)
- Daily breakfast
- Dining or spa credit
- Room upgrade
- Streaming Wi-Fi
- Celebratory treat
- Pressing services
It is somewhat amazing that you can access these benefits just by being a member. Of course, you only get to choose two, but I guess you can customise your choice to the requirements of your stay. I might, for example, choose late check-out and breakfast for one stay, and a different combination for another.
On top of that, all guests can get complimentary wi-fi.Maybe not a big deal these days, but worthwhile getting thrown in to the room cost. Members are also eligible fo a welcome amenity, whatever that means.
It is an interesting program, and probably one that suits the Mandarin Oriental chain. If you have plans to stay at Mandarin Oriental, there seems little reason not to join the program.
Further information may be found on the Mandarin Oriental website.