I’m starting to look at travel plans for 2020 and one of the places to go that’s on our list is San Francisco.
We’ve visited many times before. The first few times in town we stayed at bed and breakfast places which were nice but weren’t cheap. The last time we visited, I was able to book a points & cash rate with Starwood at The Palace Hotel, part of the Luxury Collection.
While it was a very nice hotel, we’re always looking for new places to stay.
The Palace Hotel is part of the Marriott Bonvoy program. Thanks to the new variable points system, one of the nights we’d be staying would cost 50,000 points and the other nights are off-peak and only 40,000 points. I do have a free night certificate from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card good for a free night up to 50,000 points so we could stay the other three nights for 120,000 points.
I just don’t want to feel like I’m limiting myself to Marriott Properties.
We have enough points with Marriott Bonvoy, IHG Rewards Club or Hyatt to pay for our entire stay and Hilton points to pay for at least a few nights.
I know that Kimpton has some great properties in San Fransisco that we can use IHG points for. What about Hyatt hotels? Are any of them worthwhile?
We’ve visited the city before so there’s no need for us to be at Fisherman’s Wharf or any other touristy areas. We won’t have a car for most of our stay so we’d like to be close to public transport instead of being dependent on Uber or Lyft for the whole time. We’ve been there enough to know that the streetcars are more of a sightseeing thing than a form of transportation.
If I were to ask Sharon, she’d be just as happy to stay at The Palace as she would to stay at the Villa Montes, Ascend Collection hotel near SFO, one of the strangest hotels we’ve ever stayed at.
Such is the curse of having a variety of points and miles. Besides being able to book a room for free with points at any of these places, I’m also able to book whatever place I want to use a cashback card to cover the expenses. I just want to make sure that wherever we stay is worth it.
Where would you suggest?
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
5 comments
Check out the Parker Guest House by Dolores Park – much better location than the standard hotels and a really cool setup.
I like staying at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins. The hotel itself could use a refresh, but the location is so idyllic. When taking the cable car to the top of the hill, or looking at the view from your window, there’s no mistaking that you’re in San Francisco. I guess the Fairmount across the street offers all that and more, but they don’t accept any of my award points.
We really like the HR Embarcadero.
http://theflightbrothers.net/2019/09/17/review-hyatt-regency-san-francisco-embarcadero/
I enjoy staying in the Financial District, typically Le Meridien has groupon offers that include parking
I will stay at Le Meridien next year too, as it is available for $149 rate at Groupon for that so-called name-unreviled 4-star hotel with free cancellation policy.