Wyndham is the flagship brand of Wyndham Worldwide hotels. With three sub-brands, Wyndham Grand for the high-end, upscale hotel and resort properties, the mainline Wyndham brand and the lower-end Wyndham Garden, they cover the mid-scale and upscale segments of the hotel market. Wyndham is expanding these brands quickly around the world, so you are more likely to encounter them going forward. And because, they make up the high-end of Wyndham’s portfolio of budget brands like Days Inn or Super 8, they are especially interesting for rewards travelers looking to redeem their hard-earned points – so find out what experience to expect after the break!
Who are they? The Wyndham was founded 1981 in Dallas, Texas. After a number of corporate changes, it is now a brand with 228 properties around the world, with 31 belonging to Wyndham Grand, 94 to Wyndham and 103 to Wyndham Garden.
Wyndham describes
Wyndham Grand hotels are “an ensemble of distinguished hotels that are approachable by design, representing one-of-a kind experiences in key destinations with refined accommodation, attentive service and relaxed surroundings.”
Wyndham as “The Casual atmosphere. The thoughtful touches. The attentive, courteous service… Located in key business and vacation destinations across the world, Wyndham is an upper-upscale full service brand featuring flexible meeting space restaurants, business and fitness centers. Our resorts offer golf, tennis, beautiful beaches, spas and more.”
Wyndham Garden is “offering a smart and nurturing experience designed to help guests travel at ease. Hotels offer free WiFi, convenient dining options, inviting lobbies and lounges, and flexible meeting spaces. With a strong and growing footprint around the world, including many hotels conveniently located near major airports, Wyndham Garden brings a carefee convenience and peace of mind to both business and leisure travelers.”
These descriptions give you a fair idea of how to differentiate the three sub-brands from each other. The Wyndham Grand hotels have been recently “promoted” from regular Wyndham hotels, so you can expect them to offer a better experience. The Wyndham Garden hotel is a simpler version that offers a little less for less.
What experience can I expect? The three sub-brands cover the midscale and upscale segments of the market, with the Wyndham Grand hotels being positioned as upscale full-service hotels. I would expect that these hotels deliver on the experience, given that they were broken out of the brand just recently, allowing Wyndham to filter and set tougher brand standards. They are either big-city hotels or resort destinations, so you can expect fitness, spa and leisure facilities in the resorts, in addition to restaurants, business centers and meeting facilities in the city hotels.
The experience at the Wyndham brand, while still targeting the upscale segment, can be more mixed. While some properties, like the Wyndham Santa Monica I reviewed, manage to deliver an upscale experience, and command rates of over $400 in high-season, other Wyndham’s can be old and less well managed, so your experience will feel more like a worn out mid-scale hotel. All of them should have a restaurant and most of them a fitness and business center. I’d compare the Wyndham properties to a Sheraton or Crowne Plaza hotel – a solid full-service hotel, if often not very exciting and occasionally underwhelming.
While the Wyndham Garden hotels share the corporate name, they are a much simpler affair, targeting the mid-scale segment. They are full-service properties and all have casual dining options in-house. You might also find a fitness center or meeting space, but check before booking if you need those or a pool! They best compare to a basic Holiday Inn in the IHG group!
All three Wyndham brands are available around the world and represent the best Wyndham Worldwide has to offer. They are one (or multiple) steps up from the budget brands – like Super 8 or Days Inn – Wyndham Worldwide is known for and participate in the same rewards program, Wyndham Rewards. That makes them also some of the most interesting redemption options – a GoFree award can get you into any of them for 15,000 points or a GoFast award for points & cash! While I haven’t found one that has wowed me yet, they can be great value, especially on rewards nights!