Tips for booking & saving money at One&Only Resorts

Friday newsletters always feature luxury travel contests, tips, or news.

Today: How to book & save money at One&Only Resorts?

One&Only ranks among my favorite hotel brands in the world. One&Only was created in 2002 exclusively for the luxury resort market by Solomon Kerzner – a South African accountant and business magnate – and now features some of the highest-rated resorts in the most idyllic spots in the world, such as the Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Rwanda and Cape Town. Each resort in the One&Only collection not only offers a unique design and ambiance which embraces the local surroundings, but also an unparalleled commitment to the finest experience on every possible level. Luxurious accommodation is complemented by impeccable service, exclusive wellness sanctuaries, lively entertainment and a host.

But with the group’s stellar reputation also comes a heavy price tag. Staying at a One&Only Resort often requires deep pockets, with entry room rates well above $1000 USD per night at several properties. Unfortunately, One&Only currently lacks a formalized points loyalty program – probably because their wealthy guests keep returning anyway. One&Only also doesn’t have an invitation-only program, contrary to some of its competitors (for example, Belmond Bellini Club and Four Seasons Preferred Program). However, there are some tips & tricks that can save you money when staying at a One&Only Resort. In this article:

You can share your own tricks in the comments below.

1. BOOK VIA VIRTUOSO

All One&Only Resorts are members of Virtuoso. Virtuoso is not your classic hotel booking engine website. It’s the industry’s leading, invitation-only network of the world’s best luxury travel advisors, spanning over 26 countries and 9,000 travel advisors. So when you book a Belmond hotel via Virtuoso, most of the time, you will be in touch with a Virtuoso travel agent who will make the booking for you. There are some Virtuoso travel agencies though that offer an online booking tool, such as Classic Travel, which has an excellent website and is my overall preferred Virtuoso travel agency for booking a Belmond (or any other luxury) hotel.

Booking a One&Only Resort via Virtuoso instead of via the official One&Only website has the following benefits:

The single best reason to book a One&Only Resort through a Virtuoso travel agent is that it means value for money as you’ll get access to complimentary VIP perks, such as room upgrade, flexible check-in and check-out times, daily breakfast and a resort, spa, or food credit (or something else). While the exact perks differ from hotel to hotel, they can easily be worth a few hundred dollars per night.
In most cases, the Virtuoso rate is identical to the Best Available Rate (BAR) found on the official One&Only website, which is a flexible rate that can be cancelled without penalty. For that reason, you’re leaving money on the table if you book a paid stay at the best available rate (BAR) via the One&Only website and not via Virtuoso.

It’s important to emphasize that early booking discount rates, special promotional packages, corporate rates, group rates, and other discounted rates do not qualify for Virtuoso benefits. Therefore, I always recommend to check the lowest rate on the One&Only website, and then weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to book via Virtuoso (best available rate with free benefits) or not.

2. BOOK VIA YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY

When you own an American Express credit card, you can book almost any One&Only Resort via Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. This will offer you similar benefits as those offered via a Virtuoso travel agent:

Room upgrade upon arrival when available
Daily (continental) breakfast for two people
Guaranteed late 4pm check-out time
Noon check-in when available
A spa, food, and/or beverage credit (valued at a minimum of US$ 100 USD)

Holders of a Visa Signature credit card can also benefit from Virtuoso-like extra perks at One&Only Resorts when they make the booking via their credit card travel office and/or pay with their credit card. Contact your local VISA credit card company to find out whether they offer this travel service.

When you own a Citi Prestige Card (USA citizens only) you can make use of the fourth night free benefit: when you book a four night stay at a Belmond property, you get reimbursed the cost of the fourth night, minus any taxes and service fees. The fourth night benefit is calculated based on the average nightly rate of your complete stay. Reservations must be made through Thankyou.com or the Citi Prestige Concierge and you must pay for your stay with your Citi Prestige Card, ThankYou points, or a combination of the two.

3. BOOK VIA HOTELS.COM

Hotels.com – part of Expedia – is one of my favorite hotel booking websites, mainly for three reasons:

You collect credits towards free hotel nights via Hotels.com’s Rewards program. When you book and stay 10 nights at eligible hotels, you’ll get 1 night free to redeem at another. Hotels.com works out the average value of all the 10 nights you’ve collected and gives it back to you as a free night. All you need to do is make a free Rewards account and login into your account before making any bookings.
You can often apply 10% discount coupons. Unfortunately, almost all of the world’s major hotel chains are excluded from the list of hotels for which you can use a discount coupon (although I have been able to use discount coupons for booking Belmond properties in the past)
Hotels.com also has an excellent Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) program: if you find a cheaper price, Hotels.com will match that rate (and refund you the difference) after you submit an online BRG claim. The Hotels.com BRG is available only for exact itinerary matches, including property, room type, and dates of travel (as is the case with all other BRG programs). The BRG also includes an identical cancellation policy (which can make it harder for your BRG claim to be approved).

Those three advantages work very well when booking a stay at a One&Only Resort. As mentioned above, One&Only does not have a loyalty program, so you may as well book the room via Hotels.com instead of the official Belmond website so that you will get some of your money back in the end (by investing it towards free hotel nights).

It’s important to notice that Expedia is currently rolling out a new loyalty program – called One Key – which will replace the Hotels.com Rewards program. One Key launched in July 2023 in the United States, with other countries to follow later in 2024.

4. BOOK VIA THE ONE&ONLY WEBSITE

Except for the Best Available Rates (BAR) – which are always best booked via a Virtuoso travel agent – it makes sense to check the One&Only website for the presence of any offers, packages or special deals. You can check these deals by clicking on the “offer” tab on the top of the home page of each One&Only Resort. Several types of deals are offered:

Single hotel package deals require a multi-day stay at one property and usually include a discount on the room rate and a few benefits such as airport transfers and complimentary wellness treatments.
Multi-hotel package deals are offered in destinations where One&Only manages multiple properties in close proximity to one another (e.g. ). The package deals usually offer a discounted stay when you visit multiple hotels during one itinerary in addition to complimentary transfers between the hotels and few other benefits (e.g. spa treatments).

That said, booking directly via the One&Only website is my least preferred method of booking, and here’s why:

One&Only doesn’t have a revenue based loyalty program, so you cannot earn credits with the company towards free hotel nights. The only way to make your stays at One&Only count for some kind of loyalty scheme is by making the bookings via Hotels.com, where you can invest into a free hotel night for every ten nights booked (which can be spent at other Belmond hotels).
Most hotel brands offer a best rate guarantee: if you find a lower qualifying rate on the internet, the hotel will match the lower rate, and often throw in an additional discount. Unfortunately, One&Only does not offer a best rate guarantee.
Never book a flexible ‘best available rate’ on the One&Only website. Once again, as explained above, you’re leaving money on the table if you book a paid stay at a One&Only Resort via the hotel website and not via Virtuoso, because you can’t receive Virtuoso benefits (such as breakfast, free upgrade, and a resort credit) by booking directly with the hotel.

IMHO, it’s utterly weird that One&Only isn’t rewarding loyal consumers who book directly via the company’s official website, but that you can score free stays at One&Only Resorts by booking via Hotels.com or get very nice benefits at One&Only Resorts (as if you would have elite status) by booking through Virtuoso or your credit card company.