Owning stock in a publicly traded company is a way to potentially earn money. You always hear wild stories about people who purchased stock in a company, and X amount of time later, the stock is worth a ton of money.
A famous story in my family’s history is that my maternal grandfather had the opportunity to buy stock in IBM, back when it was still a relatively new fledgling company. Being something of a cheapskate, he didn’t buy in. But had he, my family probably would have been bajillionaires today (Note: the opportunity happened way before 1970; the stock was even lower then).
Of course, you can LOSE a lot of money in the stock market, too. But that’s the chance you take when buying stock.
Perks of stock ownership
One thing that some companies offer their stockholders is certain perks and benefits. Most companies don’t give perks anymore – or if they do, it’s not nearly as lucrative as it used to be (for example, decades ago, the Walt Disney Company used to give its stockholders substantial [I read upwards of 40%!] discounts on hotel rooms at their resorts and even free park passes to those who went to their annual stockholders’ meetings). But some companies still offer something. For example:
- Berkshire Hathaway gives its shareholders an 8% discount on GEICO insurance.
- Lindt gives a free box of chocolate to any shareholder who attends their annual shareholder’s meeting.
- Whirlpool reportedly offers discounts of up to 30% on merchandise from their various companies’ brands of home appliances.
What perks do hotel companies offer shareholders?
Even if benefits aren’t necessarily what they used to be, some hotel brands still offer their stockholders some perks. Here are a few examples:
Accor
Accor offers Gold status (Accor offers Classic, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond status in their Accor Live Limitless program – you typically have to spend a minimum of 30 nights in an Accor hotel per year, or earn 7,000 bonus points over the past year to reach Gold status) to its shareholders who own at least 50 shares of its stock, via its Accor Shareholders Club. (as of this writing, 1/8/25, Accor stock is currently trading at about $48 per share, so your minimum investment would need to be about $2,400)
Shareholders are also invited to attend hotel tours that are periodically announced by e-mail.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
IHG is very hush hush about the benefits it offers its stockholders. From their website:
As a IHG shareholder am I entitled to discounts at IHG hotels?
IHG offers discounted hotel stays (subject to availability) for ordinary shareholders who hold their shares in certified form, in their sole name, with the Companies Registrar. The IHG Shareholder Discount (the ‘Discount’) is available through a dedicated, controlled access website, details of which are provided in Company mailings direct to Shareholders, usually along with their Dividend Confirmation Statements.
However, back in 2021, a FlyerTalk member, “Patroclus,” who said they were an IHG employee, may have shed some light on the topic on a FlyerTalk thread about IHG shareholder discounts:
It looks like it’s 15% off of the regular Best Flexible Rate–which is just the base rate that we sell. The shareholder discount does have a harsher cancellation policy than normal however. It requires full prepayment from the time of booking, and the terms indicate there is no refund in the event of cancellation. This puts it in the ballpark of the Book Early & Save discount that anybody could book online prior to COVID and especially so if you piggyback your IHG Rewards member discount on top of that. The terms also state that you are required to present a voucher. Speaking as someone who has worked at IHG hotels for approximately 10 years, I encountered this discount code for the first time only today, and I don’t know what type of voucher I’d even be looking for. If you use this discount at a specific hotel with a stickler at the front desk and you don’t have a voucher, it’ll likely affect your experience there.
15% off a nonrefundable base rate isn’t really exciting at all, is it?
A single share of IHG stock as of 1/8/25 is about $122.
Meliá Hotels International
Meliá, like Accor, gives its shareholders membership into the Shareholders’ Club. That gives you Silver status (or Gold status if you own at least 1,000 shares for at least 1 year), once you fill out their forms to be in their rewards program.
A single share of Meliá stock, as of 1/8/25 is about $7.47.
Premier Inn
Premier Inn is the largest hotel chain in the UK. As a shareholder, you’ll receive a shareholder benefits card if you own at least 64 shares. With that, shareholders staying in a Premier Inn hotel in the UK (including hub by Premier Inn and ZIP by Premier Inn) – and their guests – can enjoy a free Premier Inn Breakfast for each morning of their stay (subject to availability). (they specify that you can claim a free breakfast for up to two adults per room, for up to two rooms – and you must be staying in one of them).
A single share of stock for Whitbread (they own Premier Inn), as of 1/9/25, is about 2,899 pence ($35.70).
Is it worth it to buy hotel stock?
Obviously, people buy stock in hotels because they think/hope the price will rise.
But should you buy hotel stock for the benefits? Although the bennies used to be nice, nowadays? Not really; of the hotels that still offer perks to stockholders, save for maybe Accor, none of them are really that thrilling…and some cost an awful lot.
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