Given the latest no-notice Hilton devaluation (the predecessors of which I covered), I just went through every low category hotel I ever stayed at on points, and all but 3 have either increased in points requirement or is otherwise no longer available at my redeemed rate. Below is the list, with the original rate, increased rate, and current rate (if different). I’ve bolded the biggest increases. One hotel, Courtyard Sha Tin, increased then decreased to lower than original; I consider this one of the biggest sweet spots currently.
Marriott / SPG
- Fairfield Inn & Suites Mobile Daphne/Eastern Shore … 10k, 15k, 12.5k
- Courtyard Bangkok … 15k, 20k, 17.5k
- Courtyard HK Sha Tin … 15k, 20k, 12.5k
- Towneplace Suites Detroit Novi … 7.5k, 15k, 12.5k
- Towneplace Suites Detroit Commerce … 7.5k, 17.5k
- Courtyard Hangzhou Wulin … 10k, 12.5k
- Courtyard Vienna Prater/Messe … 15k, 20k, 17.5k
- Fairfield Inn Evansville East … 7.5k, 12.5k … great base for Solar Eclipse of 2017!
- Fairfield Inn Twentynine Palms … 15k, 20k, 17.5k
- JW Marriott Chengdu … 15k, 20k, 17.5k
- Le Meridien Chiang Mai … 10.5k, 35k
- Le Meridien Chiang Rai … 10.5k, 17.5k
- Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera … 10.5k, 25k
- Four Points Mexico City Colonia Roma … 6k, 12.5k
Le Meridien Chiang Mai costs 3x since 2016. Credit
Four Points Colonia Roma has one of the best locations in CDMX. At 6k on weekend, it was a steal. Credit
IHG
- Most 5k Point Breaks I stayed at (now 10-15k)
- The Lodge at Eagle Crest … 10k, 25k
View of Mount Hood from the grounds of Lodge at Eagle Crest
Hyatt
- Grand Hyatt Santiago … 8k, 12k
- Hyatt Place Asheville … 5k, 12k
- Hyatt Regency Bali … 5k, 8k
My oversized balcony at Hyatt Regency Bali, a most excellent reopened property
Choice
- Comfort Hotel Diana (Venice) … 10k, left chain
- Clarion Hotel Sign (Stockholm) … 10k, ? (can’t search w/o pts)
Comfort Hotel Diana is my fav location of all time for exploring a city, merely 2 minutes walk to the absolute center of Venice or a quaint hideaway like this
Hilton
- DoubleTree Surin Beach … 20k, left chain
- DoubleTree Kuala Lumpur … 10k, 20k
- Hampton Inn Fall River MA … 10k, 30k
- DoubleTree Chicago Wood Dale – Elk Grove … 10k, 24k
- Hampton Inn Farmington NM … 10k, 20k
- Hilton Sibiu … 10k, 20k
- Hampton Inn Cluj Napoca … 10k, 20k
- DoubleTree Sighisoara … 5k, 10k
DoubleTree Sighisoara – located at the foothill of the oldest inhabited medieval citadel of Europe, a steal at 5k HH
Other
- Random Club Carlson near ORD … 15k, 28k?
In a Nutshell
This shows a few things. 1) Points devaluate a lot, especially the sweet spots. All of the above were redeemed from 2015 on, with the majority 2017 and later. In a matter of 3-4 years, the points value for the above probably got cut by close to half on average. 2) I prioritize the sweet spots in locations of interest, they probably got hit among the hardest, hence the devaluation also shows I picked the right places at the right time. Now is especially the time to burn your Hilton points – they are truly shameless in no-transparency devaluations.
I’ll follow up with my favorite properties from this list.
Those Romania Hiltons were my all-time best hotel points redemptions. Being a Diamond at Hilton Sibiu for 10k points a night was like living like a king.