Making "Cents" Out of Points for Budget Travelers

Posts in category Hotel Reviews

Hilton Hawaiian Village Review

Feb24th
2012 1 Comment Written by Ken

Another part of my Hawaiian vacation in 2011 was spent at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV). A four night stay on points would normally cost 200,000 points but as a Hilton HHonors American Express cardholder, I used a 4-night AXON award to save some points. If not for that discount, I likely would have cleared out all of my points.

The HHV is huge. They weren’t kidding when they called this place a village. With so many towers in the village, I didn’t know where to check-in. I was told to head to the Rainbow Tower, which is at the furthest end of the village, near the beach. I inquired about rooms with nice views and after some research, we were given an ocean view room in the Kalia Tower on the 6th floor. We had a great view of the Rainbow Tower, the ocean and the lagoon.

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Hyatt Regency Waikiki Review

Feb18th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

It’s been over a decade since I was last in Hawaii so returning there this past summer was a whole new experience. I stayed in Waikiki for the entire trip and split the hotels into two nights at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki and 4 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

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I Heart the Grand Hyatt Seattle

Jan31st
2012 1 Comment Written by Ken

I’m finally getting around to posting my Grand Hyatt Seattle review that I mentioned in my Olive 8 review. I would like to thank New Girl in the Air for inspiring me to stay on my butt and blog instead of stay on my butt and watch TV. If you like my blog, I highly recommend checking out her blog when you have time. After reading some of her posts, I can really identify with her. We share a lot of the same ideas and have covered some of the same topics. She’s very thorough, which I like, and provides some good analysis. She’s also a lot better at staying up to date than I am!

On to the review! Mattress running from the Olive 8 to the Grand Hyatt was really easy. They’re literally right across the street from each other. It was a 2 minute walk, if that. I’ve heard that the Grand Hyatt Seattle is really good about upgrading Diamond members to suites and while I’m always tempted to see if I will get that complimentary upgrade, I decided to burn one of my suite upgrade certificates just to ensure I would get the suite.

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Hyatt Olive 8 Review

Jan12th
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Ken

I re-qualified for Hyatt Diamond in October of last year and then pretty much took the last two months off from traveling and mattress running. It was kind of weird having so many free weekends. I almost didn’t know what to do with my time.

I spent the holidays up in the Pacific Northwest and decided to hit up the Hyatt hotels in Seattle; the Olive 8 and the Grand Hyatt. I had never been to the Olive 8 before but had read good things about the hotel on FlyerTalk. This hotel is located in downtown Seattle on the corner of Olive Way and 8th Avenue, hence the name Olive 8.

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Grand Hyatt DFW Review

Sep21st
2011 1 Comment Written by Ken

I recently completed a one night award stay at the Grand Hyatt DFW. The location of this hotel is great, as it’s part of Terminal D inside the DFW Airport. One thing to be aware of is that there is a toll to get in and out of the airport. If you’re in town for a few days, be sure to prepare for this additional cost. My friend said it was only $1 each way but that may be because he has a toll sticker.

Moving on….this hotel started renovations in May and was scheduled to finish in mid-September, which is right around my arrival date. You’ll take an escalator or elevator up one level to get to the lobby. As I headed up the escalator, there was lounge music playing. It wasn’t too “clubby” but it had a nice feel to it and it fit in well with the ambiance of the hotel. The lobby is pretty small with a concierge desk and a separate check-in desk that accommodates three front desk agents.

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