Are hotel membership schemes worth it? We crunch the numbers

Have you heard about hotel membership schemes? Not loyalty schemes that reward you with points after your stay — we’re talking about travel members’ clubs that you pay to join. For an annual fee, you can enjoy discounts on bookings, plus extra frills like free breakfast and late check-out that make your getaway that little bit more luxurious.

They’re not exactly new — some have been around for decades — but in recent years their popularity has grown significantly. CitizenM, for example, says membership of its version has doubled every year since its launch in 2023.

What makes these membership schemes particularly attractive to those who don’t travel frequently is that they offer immediate value. “From the moment you join, you unlock perks like discounted rates, upgrades, or exclusive access to amenities,” says Jan Luescher, CEO of travel club ASMALLWORLD. “Free loyalty schemes, on the other hand, often require months, or even years, of travel to accumulate enough points for meaningful rewards.”

But how often do you need to travel to make your membership worthwhile? We’ve crunched the numbers on some of the most well-known membership schemes to find out.

Asmallworld

Founded in Switzerland in 2004, Asmallworld sees itself as a social network for the jet set, so discounts at its 2,000-odd partner hotels such as Four Seasons and Aman are just a small part of the membership. A larger part of the business is networking events, and paid membership gives you priority access to these (from £69 a year; asmallworld.com).

If you’re only interested in hotel savings, Asmallworld has a free membership tier offering access to regularly changing promotions; paid membership unlocks a wider selection of offers. On top of the savings, you can expect benefits such as free breakfast, early check-in, late check-out and up to £79 hotel credit depending on which property you book.

Free discounts are a no-brainer, but to double-check that it’s actually cheaper, we compared rates for a one-night stay at Park Hyatt Chicago on March 31, 2025, for two people. Asmallworld is offering a short-term promotion at the property on that date, and priced the stay at £381 a night in a city view deluxe king room, including breakfast (up to £24pp) and a £79 hotel credit. The same stay costs £513 at booking.com and £403 direct from Hyatt, so you’re saving at least £22 a night through Asmallworld. Book a four-night stay and you’ll have saved enough to pay for the cheapest premium membership. It’s worth noting that without the promotion, the savings may not be as high — if you save anything at all.

Dis-loyalty

Dis-loyalty, from the Accor-owned hospitality group Ennismore, is one of the newer travel members’ clubs, launching in 2023. It has a relatively small portfolio, with about 90 hotels. However, the selection includes brands such as the Hoxton and Mama Shelter, which are much more affordable (dis-loyalty.com).

Membership costs £144 a year, which gives you 10 per cent off at all its hotels with no blackout dates. The discount is bumped to 20 per cent if it’s your first stay at a hotel, and 50 per cent in the first three months of a new hotel’s opening. You also get 10 per cent off food and drink at any of the Ennismore restaurants and bars, a free barista-made coffee a day even if you’re not staying and invitations to exclusive events.

Dis-loyalty is proud of the fact that if you make use of your free coffee benefit three times a month (assuming £4 a coffee), you’ll already have made back the cost of your membership. But what if you’re not into coffee?

We compared the cost of a one-night stay for two at the Hoxton, Vienna, on March 31, 2025. Through Dis-loyalty, this came to £126 a night room only, assuming 10 per cent off on a stay in a Snug room — or £109 a night at 20 per cent off. The same stay costs £140 when booked directly with the Hoxton, and £140 with booking.com. So even if you just stay for one night, you’ll have saved enough to cover your membership for the month. However, once the savings drop to 10 per cent, it’s worth shopping around. For example, the hotel’s parent company, Accor, sometimes runs separate promotions that might make the stay cheaper when booked directly through it.

CitizenM

With just 36 hotels, CitizenM doesn’t give members of its mycitizenM+ scheme a lot of choice when it comes to destinations. But then it’s geared more towards business travellers, with properties in key cities in North America, Europe and Asia (citizenm.com).

For £90 a year, you’ll get 15 per cent off on your stay, rising to 30 per cent during sales — and you’ll get early access to those. There’s free access to its co-working lobby even if you’re not staying at the hotel, and you can get 15 per cent off food and drink too. If there’s availability, you’ll also enjoy a late check-out until 2pm and a premium view room.

Say you wanted to stay for one night at CitizenM in Geneva on March 31, 2025 — when the hotel is running high occupancy — and there are two of you staying in a king room. With the 15 per cent discount, you’d pay £528 a night room only. The cheapest rate without the membership is £589 when booked directly with CitizenM, and £621 through booking.com, so you’re saving at least £61 a night here. Obviously the savings will vary depending on where and when you stay but you’ll break even after just two nights in this case.

Mr & Mrs Smith

Mr & Mrs Smith has been around since 2003, and now has over 2,000 hotel partners in its portfolio. It offers a free membership tier, which includes access to exclusive hotel offers, loyalty money (cashback) on every booking and free “Smith Extras” such as champagne, spa treatments and hotel credit. Paid membership starts from £100 a year, and gives you additional benefits such as priority access to special deals and discounted entry to airport lounges via Priority Pass (worth £69). Crucially, it has a best-price guarantee. If you see the same stay elsewhere, it will price match it and give you £50 in loyalty money to spend on future bookings (mrandmrssmith.com).

When we checked the price of a one-night stay at the One&Only The Palm in Dubai on March 31, 2025, Mr & Mrs Smith priced it at £1,479 in a Palm Manor premier twin with breakfast. You also get £40 restaurant credits as a Smith Extra. The same stay booked directly through One&Only was significantly cheaper at £1,081 a night, while booking.com quoted £1,333. So no savings here, but you could try for a price match.

We gave Mr & Mrs Smith a second chance and checked the prices of a stay for the same date at the COMO Metropolitan Bangkok. It quoted £130 a night in a city room with breakfast, plus a martini each and late check-out as a Smith Extra. But there were no savings to be made as booking.com quoted £137, while the room was only £111 when booked directly with COMO. So while it might be worth signing up for the free membership, we’d be hesitant to pay unless you’ll benefit from the other perks.

Qin Xie