Tl;dr – Matched statuses to Rotana Rewards Select have started to land.
The other day I wrote about a potential backdoor (of sorts) to GHA Discovery Elite Status. Rotana Hotels & Resorts is offering a free status match for Marriott Bonvoy, IHG® One Rewards, ALL, Accor Live Limitless, and Hilton Honors members, where you can match up to Rotana Rewards Select top-tier Platinum status. The hook is as follows: Since Rotana is scheduled to join GHA Discovery later this year (the transition should be fully complete by early 2026 at the latest), and it’s expected that elite status in Rotana Rewards will transfer over to GHA Discovery’s loyalty program, you can indirectly turn your current elite status with those four loyalty programs to GHA Discovery elite status. GHA Discovery is a loyalty program from the Global Hotel Alliance, a network of over 800 upscale and luxury hotels and resorts worldwide, including brands like Corinthia, Capella, Anantara, and Kempinski.
I promised an update once I received one. I just received an email from Rotana informing me that my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status was matched to Rotana Platinum.
In case you’re curious, here are the highlights of the benefits Platinum elite status affords within the Rotana portfolio:
- Stay 5 Pay 4 – Enjoy a free night stay on staying for 5 consecutive nights and booking at Rotana public rates. Guaranteed Room Availability: Get a guaranteed room by calling the hotel 48 hours in advance.
- Room Upgrades – Enjoy an upgrade to the best available room, up to a classic suite (subject to availability).
- Late Checkout – You can also enjoy a 24-hour check-in and checkout (subject to availability).
- Club Access – Club Rotana – With your Platinum membership you enjoy exclusive access to Club Rotana for yourself and an additional guest while staying at the hotel. You can also avail a selection of personal services and exclusive facilities at the Club.
As mentioned earlier, the real prize is GHA Discovery Elite status, specifically Platinum or Titanium. Platinum benefits include room upgrades and late checkout, while Titanium status includes everything at the Platinum tier and also affords guests complimentary breakfast, ‘double room upgrades’, and early check-in (and slightly later late checkout). You can also share elite GHA status with others (though I’m not certain if it’s Titanium status recipients will receive).
If you’re interested, there’s still time to participate in this status match. For context, I applied for this status match on April 20th and just received confirmation of my upgraded status today, April 25th, 2025.
