Rotana Rewards and Status Match Opportunity

Rotana hotels is a Middle-East focused hotel chain operator. It has a portfolio of over 100 properties in 26 cities. It operates under several distinct brands – Rotana, Centro, Rayhaan, Arjaan and The Residences. It is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

Rotana has a number of business hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It also has some beautiful resort properties. Three of these are in my wish list – Fujairah Rotana, Cove Rotana RAK and Saadiyat Rotana Abu Dhabi.

Unlike Jumeirah, Rotana’s portfolio is entirely based in Middle East and Africa.

I had previously explained Jumeirah hotels and its loyalty program Jumeirah Sirius.

Now, let us look at the Rotana Rewards program in more details.

Rotana Rewards Select – Tiers & Benefits

There are three tiers – Select, Select Gold and Select Platinum.

Select is free to enroll. To become a Gold member, you need to collect 50,000 Points or spend a total of 35 room nights and more yearly. To become a Platinum member, you need to collect 90,000 Points or spend a total of 65 room nights and more yearly.

Here is a comparison of various tiers

	Select	Select Gold	Select Platinum
Discount on room rates	10%	10%	10%
Late check-out	Till 2:00 pm	Till 4:00 pm	24-hour
F&B discount	10%	10%	10%
Spa / Business Centre discount	None	10%	15-20%
Complimentary Internet	Yes	Yes	Yes
Double-dip on airlines	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free nights	None	Stay 7 pay 6	Stay 5 pay 4
Room upgrades		Enhanced room	Classic suite
VIP Amenities	None	Yes	Yes
Bonus points	None	15%	25%
Club Rotana access	None	None	Yes + 1 guest

The Platinum status benefits are quite impressive – especially the access to Club Rotana, 5th night free and upgrade to Classic suite. A suite is at least $100 more than a standard room in Towers Rotana, Dubai.

Apart from the Rewards Select Tiers, Rotana Rewards also offers Exclusive membership. This is a paid membership with annual fee of AED 1,050 ($286). There are several benefits including up to 50% off dining bills, special room rates, guaranteed late check-out and more. You can find all the benefits here (link).

Rotana Rewards Select- Earning Points

You receive 2 Points for every AED 1 spent (8 Points for every USD 1 spent or equivalent in local currency) while dining or staying at Rotana properties.

Gold and Platinum members receive 15% and 25% bonus points respectively.

You can double-dip this this program and also earn points on airline partners. More on this later in the post.

Rotana Rewards Select – Status Match Opportunity

At present, Rotana Rewards is running a status match program to more popular hotel loyalty programs such as Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Le Club Accor. The precise matching system is not clear. However, it is indicated that mid-tier status will match to Rotana Rewards Select Gold and high-tier status will match to Rotana Rewards Select Platinum.

In other words, having a Hilton Honors Gold will get you Rotana Rewards Select Gold for free. Similarly, Hilton Honors Diamond will get you Rotana Rewards Select Platinum.

It takes up to seven days to process the status match request.

There is no expiry date mentioned for this opportunity. However, if you have a stay planned at a Rotana property, register now (link).

Rotana Rewards Select – Redeeming Points

This is the full redemption table. As with Jumeirah Sirius program, there are far too many points levels to choose from.

Properties	City	Points
Centro Capital Center	Abu Dhabi	26,000
Centro Al Manhal	Abu Dhabi	29,000
Pearl Rotana	Abu Dhabi	29,000
Centro Barsha	Dubai	30,000
Hala Arjaan	Abu Dhabi	30,000
Al Maha Arjaan	Abu Dhabi	31,000
Burgu Arjaan	Istanbul	32,000
Tango Arjaan	Istanbul	32,000
Capital Center Arjaan	Abu Dhabi	33,000
Al Rawda Arjaan	Abu Dhabi	34,000
Centro Sharjah	Sharjah	34,000
Jumeira Rotana	Dubai	36,000
Centrol Capital Doha	Doha	38,000
Centro Westside	Istanbul	38,000
Centro Waha	Riyadh	40,000
Centro Yas Island	Abu Dhabi	40,000
Nour Arjaan	Fujairah	40,000
Towers Rotana	Dubai	40,000
Hili Rayhaan	Abu Dhabi	41,000
Media Rotana	Dubai	44,000
Rose Rayhaan	Dubai	44,000
Villa Rotana	Dubai	48,000
Karbala Rayhaan	Karbala, Iraq	53,000
Yas Island Rotana	Abu Dhabi	54,000
Al Bandar Rotana	Dubai	55,000
Centro Shaheen	Jeddah	57,000
Al Ain Rotana	Abu Dhabi	58,000
Al Bandar Arjaan	Dubai	58,000
Burjuman Arjaan	Dubai	58,000
Park Arjaan	Abu Dhabi	59,000
Park Rotana	Abu Dhabi	59,000
Westside Arjaan	Istanbul	59,000
Centro Salama	Jeddah	60,000
Beach Rotana	Abu Dhabi	61,000
Grand Rotana Resort & Spa	Egypt	61,000
Salalah Rotana Resort	Salalah	62,000
Sundus Rotana	Muscat	62,000
Beach Rotana Residences	Abu Dhabi	64,000
Raouche Arjaan	Beirut	64,000
Oryx Rotana	Doha	65,000
Khalidiya Palace	Abu Dhabi	66,000
Gefinor Rotana	Beirut	69,000
Majestic Arjaan	Bahrain	70,000
Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa	Fujairah	75,000
City Center Rotana	Doha	76,000
Downtown Rotana	Dubai	77,000
Rosh Rayhaan	Riyadh	78,000
The Boulevard Arjaan	Amman	80,000
Erbil Arjaan	Erbil, Iraq	84,000
Amman Rotana	Amaan	85,000
Arjaan Rotana Media City	Dubai	86,000
Cove Rotana Resort	RAK	86,000
Al Marwa Rayhaan	Mecca	94,000
ART Rotana	Bahrain	111,000
Erbil Rotana	Erbil, Iraq	120,000
Al Salam Rotana	Khartoum	136,000
Kin Plaza Arjaan	Kinhasa	136,000
Amwaj Rotana	Bahrain	142,000
Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas	Abu Dhabi	142,000

I really wish Rotana could simply this chart. Probably, it can have 7 categories from 30,000 to 100,000. However, it is clear that this chart is designed so that you receive between 0.2-0.25 cents for your redemption. In peak season, you may get a better value on some properties.

Rotana website does not cover using reward points for gift cards etc. However, I found this on ADIB website (see credit card partners below)

Products and services you can redeem your Rotana Rewards exclusive points for	​Total Rotana Rewards Exclusive Points required
​​Rotana Hotel & Resort Dining voucher worth AED100	​13,000
Jewelery voucher worth AED100	14,000​
​​Electronics voucher worth AED100	​14,000
​Mobile app card voucher worth AED250	39,000​

It seems Rotana or ADIB value each reward point at AED 0.01. Obviously, room redemption should fetch you better rewards.

Rotana Rewards Select – Partners

Credit Card Partners

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) offers a co-branded credit card – ADIB Rotana Rewards Exclusive Visa Card. This card offers the following benefits

• 1 Rotana reward point for every AED spent in UAE
• 2 Rotana reward points for spends at Rotana properties
• 3 Rotana reward points for all international spend
• 20% discount on Rotana bookings
• Up to 50% discount on dining at Rotana

The annual fee is AED 1,250. There is no mention of a sign-up bonus.

Airline Partners

Rotana has a number of airline partners. If you are a member of both the airline loyalty program and Rotana, you can double-dip. These are the partners are earnings

• Emirates – Earn 500 Skywards miles per eligible stay
• Etihad –
• GulfAir – Earn 250 – 500 miles per eligible stay
• Kuwait Air – Earn 500 miles per eligible stay
• Middle East Airlines – Earn 250 – 500 miles per eligible stay
• Oman Air – Earn Sindbad 500 miles per eligible stay
• Qatar Airways – Earn 250 – 500 miles per eligible stay
• Saudi Arabian Airlines – Earn 500 miles for Standard Room, 1,000 miles for Executive Room / Club Rotana rooms, 1,500 miles for Suite Rooms
• Singapore Airlines – Earn 500 Krisflyer miles per eligible stay
• Turkish – Earn 500 Miles&Smiles per eligible stay

Eligible stay refers to any stay that is booked at a published rate except for tour operator rates, travel industry rates, and complimentary / barter rates. It appears that travel agent bookings are eligible. However, it would be best to check with Rotana customer care.

Also note that there are no minimum nights restrictions.