Utell Hotels & Resorts is re-launching its renowned Utell Collections for Boutique, Business, Luxury, Golf and Spa hotels with an expanded 1,600 independent hotels. The new Utell Collections have been revamped to bring maximum promotional benefits to member hotels, as well as quality and expanse of choice to global travel buyers.

The Collections programs now include a wider selection of hotels from the Utell portfolio, adding more than 1,000 hotels over last year. Inclusion into each Collection is now based on an “invitation only” approach, with hotels required to fit strict criteria set for each Collection. For example, Utell Luxury Hotels must have a five-star rating (based on the HTI -– Hotel & Travel Index classification) demonstrating they offer the highest standard of facilities, including high-quality restaurants, luxurious lobby areas, beautiful rooms with full amenities and excellent overall service standards.

Ric Leutwyler, president of Utell said, “We are committed to providing our customers and the industry with a high-value program that embodies the concept of distinct Collections hotels. By developing the program in this way, we are not only ensuring that each property meets our stringent criteria, but also that more of our hotel properties can take advantage of and benefit from the extensive marketing opportunities available to them in the Collections program. These include global marketing activities such as promotional e-mail campaigns to tens of thousands of travel agents worldwide, promotions on the Utell travel agent website utellagent.com and regular worldwide promotions to key travel consortia customers. By widening our reach to include more than 1,600 independent hotels, we create a more inclusive and powerful portfolio.”

Previously, the Collections program was a fee-based service, limited to hotels that opted for membership within one of the Collections categories. Now, under the new marketing strategy, Utell will bring ultimate value and opportunity to all member properties meeting the set inclusion criteria.