We went on a river cruise in east Europe last year and got very good value using points in Bucharest and Budapest. Note that I carry the Amex aspire for diamond status which helps tremendously for locations in Europe.
There was a cool Hilton in Talinin, Estonia, and we stayed in a decent Hampton in London pretty near the Imperial War College, and felt rather central to us.
For us, Europe is the real winner for Hilton and HH points. We don't use them domestically ad Hyatt are considerably better. But Hilton is very good in Europe.
We al have different experiences. Mrs. brp is actually our Globalist as we got her the Hyatt card and that is her main spender. We're at 67 nights this year between stays and spend. We've had very good experience on our stays for the most part. The published perks, upgrades and very good staff. We've also had generally very good service with our Hilton stays. Each has had a few clunkers...but very few percentage-wise.
Others have been OK, but well worth the $ or points to us.
We did Prague, Berlin, and Barcelona Hiltons for Christmas break using the 5 for 4 HH deal at each but also had to book 2 rooms in each for us and our sons. All have executive lounges that you can get breakfast and dinner/drinks plus anytime snacks/coffee/tea/etc.
I don’t really mind them personally, but most of my stays are for work travel. That said, our better leisure stays have been at places like the Park Hyatt, some Thompsons, and the Grand Hyatt Kauai. My main point was that when you look at the award charts, those properties typically fall into Category 5 to 8, so around 17,000 to 45,000 Chase or Hyatt points per night. I'd rather save my Chase points for flights for our family of four, where we can usually get one-way tickets for around 6,000 to 10,000 miles each, and just use Hilton points for similar hotel stays.
That is one area I have not visited yet. I love history and would love to stay. I am traveling to Türkiye and Uzbekistan in October for work and may try to get some time in that area. May see if I can divert there on the way back for a few days.
Grand Hyatt Kauai was by far the best Hyatt property we’ve stayed at so far.
We stay at really a lot of Category 4 and 5. They're not GH Kauai but very nice. We need to buy most of our plane tickets for status, so that frees up the Chase UR points for hotels
I 2nd that
yeah but is it just a hotel room for how many points? I still wish to stay at Westin Princeville 1-2 bed for 1-2k cost, and saves the points for a business flight.
Depends on the season but 45k points per night roughly. The standard rooms are quite large. We did get upgraded to an ocean view but it was a long trek from building 2.
There is one I think we'd both vote for. Any details on the cruise. Std thing or did you use pts from somebody? How do the hotel nights tie into the cruise?
That is what I expected, but she just did other stuff. I just watched from the bleachers.
OK, get this. The #1 reason we are going to Europe in Aug is to meet people in Strasbourg. But no Hilton for us.
Maybe she did better. With "points", I react "Use-Em-Or-Lose-Em". Her mindset is "How can I charge more on my card at some other hotel and get more miles or points?" OK, last summer, we spent 2 nights in Odaiba, partly b/c she wanted to visit both the new highly-automated fish mkt (Toyosu) & the old fish mkt (Tsukiji) which we visited a few times before. After Tsukiji, we took a short walk to a very nice royal garden (Hamari-longnameIcannotremember). directly across the street from the garden is the Conrad Tokyo. We could have stayed there. I pointed it out but I got the impression it made no impression. but I got lost because there are so many bridges and they all looked new & unfamiliar.
We stayed at the Hilton Old Town, walking distance to many things so I would suggest there plus it is right next to the metro stop.
While the places we use our HH points in the US aren't 'cheap' they are great values compared to the cash price (or Marriott equivalent cash or Bonvoy points price). The Conrad Downtown New York and DTLA are well worth 90K points. And I've booked two nights in the newly refurbed Waldorf Astoria New York - the standard HHonor price is a steal compared to the cash price (or what Marriott wants for the St Regis or JW Essex House).
The Conrad St James and Iceland Parliament Hotel were two of our favorite hotels ever. And we're very much looking forward to the Conrad Tokyo next year.
Probably too late to matter...but the Maison Rouge Strasbourg (Autograph/Marriott) was extraordinary. Amazing location, service, lounge, and bar/restaurant and very nice rooms as well.That is what I expected, but she just did other stuff. I just watched from the bleachers.
OK, get this. The #1 reason we are going to Europe in Aug is to meet people in Strasbourg. But no Hilton for us.
And the best resort on Kauai for that matter (as much as we love Waiohai).
When I go to Bangkok, I stay in the Conrad and it is very nice with an exceptional executive lounge. The Conrad in Cairo isn't bad either... Right on the Nile.
We have the BoHo Prague SLH booked next fall using 5 nights for 4 nights worth of HH points. Looks like they're just a couple of blocks apart. We were able to book it with points outside of a year ahead, too.
Nice...we really enjoyed the Christmas markets there plus all the history. Need to go back when it is a bit warmer though.
I have stayed there multiple times and always enjoyed it. It's been eight or so years since my last stay there, but I would definitely go back
They have a decent lounge and not crazy busy like the Berlin Hilton. The Berlin Hilton has 3 executive floors and a big executive lounge that is filled at happy hour with a pretty decent buffet and open bar.
The Bucharest hotel was the night before the cruise to make sure we got there with plenty of time. The cruise ended in Budapest and we extended our trip to explore the city. The river cruise was with AMAWaterways Gems of Southeast Europe and was paid in cash. Highly recommended experience.