At an intimate omakase-style dinner hosted by chef Lorena Garcia inside her private culinary loft in Miami, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts was serving more than a meal. The event, part of the company’s Wyndham Rewards Experiences platform, underscored how hotel loyalty programs are evolving beyond free nights and discounts into emotional, experience-driven engagement.
The gathering brought together a small group of Wyndham Rewards members from across the country for a one-night-only culinary experience curated by Garcia, a former competitor on “Top Chef Masters,” whose restaurants include CHICA locations in Miami and Las Vegas. The event was offered through Wyndham’s experiential bidding platform, which launched last year and gives members access to sports, entertainment and culinary events through points redemptions and auctions.
Prior to the event, Mike Shiwdin, head of loyalty, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, who spoke exclusively with Hotel Business, said the company sees loyalty programs as an expectation among today’s travelers, but noted that consumers increasingly want value that extends beyond the hotel stay itself.
“Consumers are looking for ecosystems of value,” he said. “It’s no longer just, ‘Here’s my favorite coffee shop’ or ‘Here’s my favorite hotel brand.’ What we’ve been focused on since the launch of Wyndham Rewards Experiences is how to expand our loyalty ecosystem so that whether you’re staying at one of our hotels or in your everyday life, there is a value that you can gain from being a Wyndham Rewards member.”
The platform launched with about 100 experiences and is expected to surpass 300 this year, according to Shiwdin. Partnerships with organizations including Madison Square Garden, Live Nation and Minor League Baseball have enabled Wyndham to offer experiences ranging from backstage concert access to sports events and festival meet-and-greets.
Shiwdin said the strategy is rooted in providing experiences that members “simply cannot get anywhere else.”
That includes opportunities such as backstage access at concerts, private festival tours and sports-related events. Wyndham recently offered a Kentucky Derby package that included VIP gala access and bourbon tastings, while another program allowed members to bid on the chance to play in the pro-am at the Wyndham Championship golf tournament.
The Miami dinner with Garcia marked Wyndham Rewards Experiences’ first culinary-focused event. Shiwdin said the relationship developed after Wyndham hosted a meet-and-greet with Garcia as part of its sponsorship of the Austin Food & Wine Festival.
“Tonight is one that I’m incredibly excited about,” he said. “It’s our first culinary experience in the Wyndham Rewards Experiences platform. But what makes it so unique is that it’s at her private culinary loft, and the menu that she’s developing is unique to anything else that you can get at any of her restaurants.”
The event itself highlighted a broader shift across hospitality loyalty programs, particularly as younger travelers place greater emphasis on memorable experiences than on transactional rewards.
At the same time, Shiwdin said Wyndham is intentionally maintaining a simpler points structure than many competitors. The company currently offers three redemption tiers for hotel stays—7,500, 15,000 and 30,000 points—an approach he said helps members better understand the value of their points.
“As our competitors are continuing to make their loyalty programs more complex each and every year, our core pillar is how do we maintain that fixed-price structure so that our members can plan for that next destination with their points,” he said.
The strategy also ties into Wyndham’s broader mission of making travel accessible, he added. Many members earn points through the company’s economy and midscale brands before redeeming them for higher-end stays or exclusive experiences.
“We are truly widening the audience that is coming into Wyndham Rewards,” Shiwdin said. “These experiences are gateways for us to really drive that emotional loyalty that then drives value to our ownership groups.”
According to Shiwdin, the experiential platform is already influencing member behavior. Wyndham has seen increases in hotel spending among members who engage with the experiences platform, including among lower-tier loyalty members.
Notably, many participants are traveling specifically for the experiences themselves. Guests attending the Miami dinner flew in from states including California, Michigan and Texas, staying for the weekend at The Balfour Hotel as part of the package.
“That’s the power of this experiential platform,” Shiwdin said. “Marrying the once-in-a-lifetime experience along with the opportunity to experience all that we have to offer.”
