The few sweet spots that escaped Wyndham massacre

The Wyndham category changes have gone into effect.  As expected, it’s a massive devaluation.  Most of my hotels of interest have doubled to 30k per night, including:

• Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill
• TRYP Times Square and a dozen other NYC hotels
• Mills House in Charleston, SC
• Wyndham Santa Monica Pier

… Just to name a few.  These were previously great deals at 15k.  In particular, the TRYP recently became bookable on wyndham.com, and I booked a gigantic room with 4 beds for 8 people for the same 15k, in Times Square!  Now at 30k, these deals (other than maybe that 4 beds room) have been crushed, and the value of Wyndham points diminished.  The only other time I’ve seen this severity in hotel devaluation was when Hilton doubled their top category from 50k to 95k back in 2013.

That said, here are a few sweet spots I found remaining at 15k.

Ramada Khao Lak

I stayed here in 2015 and loved it.  It’s right on a beach with multiple local restaurants setup in the sand.  Peak season rate is $250-300 USD all in.  It’s ranked higher by Tripadvisor traveler reviews than the JW Marriott Khao Lak which costs 35k Marriott points.  A bright star all along, especially in the new category system.

 

 

Hotels/Condos in Hawaii

The properties I had eyes on in Big Island and Kauai surprisingly remained at 15k level.  For example, here are 4 hotels in Kona remaining 15k, with some 1000+ sqft in size:

 

Halcyon Resort La Souterraine

With a name you probably can’t pronounce, we’re off to a good start.  You can get the Presidential Suite at this French resort for the same 15k as an entry level room.  Get your friends, family, and/or lovers ready!

 

I have not found anything of interest at the newly created 7.5k category.  If you have, please let me know.  If you found more remaining sweet spots (hopefully there are a few more), please leave a comment as well.  I hope everyone had the chance to book something good before the switch.