Maybe I should get a life, but I went to every website of the top 500 hotels according to Travel and Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels of 2015 list. I’ve done this every year, but this is the first time I’ve been so thorough.
In this post I’m going to list all points options for every one of 160+ points hotels of the top 500. And I’ll go ahead and list all the hotels on the list for each rewards program.
If you have points or free nights with a hotel chain, which chain has the most of the Top 500 Hotels to redeem with:
Marriott
Choice
SPG
Hyatt
Fairmont
IHG
Hilton
50
42
25
14
12
10
8
Choice Points = 42 Top Hotels
Shocked as I am?
I should start by clarifying that there are no Choice Hotels that are T&L Top 500 Hotels. None. Instead, Choice Rewards has a partnership with the Preferred Hotel Group which allows you to redeem points for their luxury hotels.
Still, isn’t it amazing that one of the most neglected hotel rewards programs by aspirational travelers has some of the best redemptions for nice hotels?
And I should also explain that the Preferred Hotel Group doesn’t actually own hotels but it is made up of independent hotels.
Award prices range from 30,000 points to 60,000 points a night. Although, do note that a couple of the properties I didn’t see the points price for. They show up on the preferred hotel group booking, but didn’t show up when I was searching for Choice points. Like Dromoland Castle, what’s the deal?
The best way I know for earning points I explained on this post about Choice Hotel redemptions, is via Amtrak. If you have the Amtrak card (or Amtrak status) you can transfer 25,000 Amtrak points into 75,000 Choice points per calendar year. Since Chase transfers to Amtrak 1:1, it’s basically transferring Chase to Choice 1:3 if you have the Amtrak card.
The hotels on the list:
Enchantment Resort and Mii Amo Spa, Sedona
Montage Beverly Hills
Carneros Inn, Napa
Ojai Valley Inn & Spa
Montage Laguna Beach
Grand Del Mar, San Diego
Cavallo Point—The Lodge at the Golden Gate
The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
The Sebastian Vail
Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater
Seagate Hotel & Spa, Delray Beach
Marco Beach Ocean Resort, Naples
Hammock Beach Resort, Palm Coast
Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort, Kauai
The Brown Hotel, Louisville
Windsor Court Hotel, New Orleans
Inn by the Sea, Porland
Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowes Wharf, Boston
XV Beacon, Boston
Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, Chatham
Townsend Hotel, Birgmingham
The Sagamore Resort, Bolton Landing
Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort
Hermitage Hotel, Nashville
Montage Deer Valley, Park City
Sundance Mountain Resort
Woodstock Inn & Resort
Keswick Hall, Charlottesville
Tides Inn, Irvington
Willows Lodge, Woodinville
The Jefferson, Washington, D.C
Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee
Hotel Terra, Jackson Hole
Hotel Grand Pacific, Victoria
Dromoland Castle, Ireland
The Fitzwilliam Hotel Dublin, Ireland
Castello di Casole, a Timbers Resort, Italy
Hotel Schweizerhof Luzern, Switzerland
The Stafford London, UK
Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa, Bermuda
Peter Island Resort & Spa, BVI
Cap Maison, St. Lucia
Marriott Points = 50 Hotels (17 Marriott + 33 Ritz Carlton)
34 of the top 500 hotels were Ritz Carlton hotels, which can be redeemed with Marriott Rewards points. However, non Ritz Carlton hotels like JW Marriotts, and hotels in the Autograph Collection, are a lot cheaper.
If you count Ritz Carlton as part of Marriott, it makes Marriott the Chain with the most hotels on the Top 500 list.
The Marriott credit card has been known to have a 70,000 point signup bonus, and the Ritz Carlton card has off and on had a 140,000 point bonus (with a near $400 fee). Chase Ultimate Rewards points also transfers to Marriott but I would never make that transfer, personally.
Here are the top hotels:
The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa
JW Marriott Marquis Miami
Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club
Bohemian Hotel Savannah Riverfront
Raphael Hotel, Kansas City
Wentworth by the Sea, New Castle NJ
Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville
Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa
The Shelbourne Dublin, a Renaissance Hotel
Powerscourt Hotel
Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel
CasaMagna Marriott Cancún Resort
JW Marriott Mexico City
JW Marriott Hotel Lima
JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square
JW Marriott Bangkok
Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain
Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel
Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island
Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale
Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne
Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples
Ritz-Carlton, Naples
Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta
Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation
Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua
Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis
Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park
Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte
Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City
Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown
Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.
Ritz-Carlton, Toronto
Ritz-Carlton, Montreal
Ritz-Carlton, Vienna
Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul
Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Ritz-Carlton, Santiago
Ritz-Carlton, Cancún
Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai
Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
SPG Points = 25 Hotels
SPG is definitely known for having luxurious properties, however their earnings are a bit slow. SPG actually has the slowest earnings of all the best hotel rewards programs. The best way is via the SPG credit card, which is Amex and therefore you can only get the card bonus once. However, a lot of people use the SPG card as their daily spender since SPG points are so rare and so valuable.
Here are the top SPG hotels:
The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort
St. Regis San Francisco
St. Regis Aspen Resort
St. Regis Atlanta
Royal Hawaiian, A Luxury Collection Resort
St. Regis Princeville Resort
St. Regis New York
St. Regis Houston
St. Regis Deer Valley
Hotel Goldener Hirsch, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Hotel Imperial, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Le Bristol, Paris
Hotel Grande Bretagne, a Luxury Collection Hotel
King George Palace
Le Méridien Budapest
St. Regis Florence
Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Hotel Maria Cristina, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Hotel Alfonso XIII, a Luxury Collection Resort
St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort
W Retreat & Spa, Vieques Island
The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort Villas & Spa
St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
Westin Beijing Financial Street
The Westin Bund Center Shanghai
Hyatt Points = 14 Hotels
Who isn’t in love with Hyatt? Not only do they have such nice properties but there are a number of amazing hotel redemptions, with award nights ranging from 5,000 points to 30,000 points a night.
Even hotels on this list can be had with a category 1-4 cert you get every year you pay the annual fee for the Hyatt Visa (PH Saigon and Siem Reap). But then again, you could also pay 15,000 points.
And not only is there a Hyatt card you can get two free nights with, but you can transfer 1:1 from Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Top Hyatt hotels:
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch
Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa
Park Hyatt Chicago
Le Palais de la Mediterranée
Park Hyatt Milan
Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
Park Hyatt Siem Reap
Grand Hyatt Tokyo
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Park Hyatt Saigon
Park Hyatt Sydney
and 1 M-Life Redemption:
ARIA, Las Vegas
IHG Points = 7 Hotels (plus 3 to Kimpton)
IHG has its 5 star brand, InterContinental Hotels, although many of the ones I’ve seen on the list have been demoted. I remember seeing the IC Budapest being on the list, as well as Paris and Madrid. We’ve been to the IC Budapest and Paris Le Grand and there are no complaints… but I can certainly understand them being demoted.
The IC’s in Atlanta, DC and Sydney seem to be the only hotels in capital cities this year. But the properties on French Polynesia are also doing well for the brand. See our infographic on Overwater Bungalows on Points. I can’t imagine using my points for the properties in Vegas though…
Earning points with IHG is easy. Their credit card gives bonuses between 60,000 and 80,000 points, plus a free night every year. Plus, you can transfer from Chase. But lately I’ve been earning most of my IHG points from promotions like the latest Set Your Sights IHG promo.
Hotels on the list:
InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta
The Palazzo
The Venetian
Willard InterContinental
InterContinental Sydney
InterContinental Resort & Thalasso Spa
InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa
Plus 3 Kimpton hotels:
EPIC, Miami – A Kimpton Hotel
The Grand Hotel, Minneapolis
Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City
Hilton Points = 8 Hotels
Recently I did a post that shows 15 different credit cards that earn Hilton HHonors points. That includes a lot of ways to earn Hilton points. Everything from transferring from Virgin Atlantic to American Express.
But of course Hilton has their own credit cards, and in fact I explain the differences between the 4 Hilton cards in the same post. But one of them gives two free weekend nights at any hotel.
Hilton hotels on the list:
The Boulders, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort
Waldorf Astoria Chicago
The Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans
Waldorf Astoria, Park City
Trianon Palace Versailles, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort
Hilton Beijing Wangfujing
Fairmont = 12 Hotels
For whatever reason Fairmont is less talked about than other chains but just like Hyatt its credit card gives two free nights anywhere, and they have nearly the same number of hotels in the Top 500 list.
The top Fairmont hotels:
Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui
Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver
Fairmont Waterfront, Vancouver
Fairmont Chateau Whistler
The Savoy, UK
Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Cambodia
Fairmont Mara Safari Club, Kenya
Fairmont the Norfolk, Kenya
Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, Kenya
Accor Points = 3 Hotels
I’ve never even had a single Accor point, but they do have a rewards program. So if you do have Accor points for whatever reason, I thought I’d include their 3 top hotels.
Top Accor hotels:
Sofitel Washington D.C. Lafayette Square
Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, Cambodia
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Vietnam
Other Interesting Facts
Four Seasons
Mandarin Oriental
Rosewood
Peninsula
TAJ
Shangri-LA
Keminski
Trump
44
10
9
8
7
5
4
3
The single brand with the most hotels on the list again this year is the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, I’ve never stayed in a Four Seasons hotel as they have no rewards program or way to earn free nights (that I know of).
Still, I wanted to include the other chains that were commonly among the top hotels for the other hotel junkies out there. Not surprising to see Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, and others on the list.
Conclusion
I find it incredibly impressive that one third of the Top 500 hotels in the world can be gotten for free with free nights or points earned from credit cards or promotions. It’s a good time to be a points collector.
But let me leave with two tips for free nights at these luxury hotels:
1) Free night certs are the way to go. The 50,000 points signup bonus with Marriott won’t get you a single free night at the best Ritz Carlton. But you can sign up and get two free nights with the Hyatt visa, the Fairmont card, the Hilton reserve, or the IHG card annual night.
2) Choice is the most under rated program and you should consider the Amtrak card. See more about Best use of Choice points for details. Via this strategy you could get some of the top hotels on this list for a little more than 10,000 Chase points. What a deal.
Either way, there’s no shortage of ways to get free nights at nice hotels.