Hopefully this inspires someone with what they can do with their Hilton points!
I'm going to Egypt March-May, 2015 with Hilton points funding the hotels portion in Alexandria, Cairo, Giza Pyramids, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, & Sharm El Sheik.
I have redeemed 359,800 HHonors points so far on 44 nights at the following hotels below:
Hilton Pyramids Golf Resort (3 nights)
Hilton Alexandria Corniche (8 nights)
Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza (2 nights)
Hilton Hurghada Resort (5 nights)
Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian All-Inclusive (4 nights)
Hilton Hurghada Plaza All-Inclusive (4 nights)
Hilton Sharm Dreams Resort (10 nights)
Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort (5 nights)
Hilton Sharks Bay Resort All-Inclusive (3 nights)
Still need to earn another 60,000 points for my last 8 nights in Sharm & Cairo at category 2 hotels (10k/night, 5th night free).
Other than the All-Inclusive resorts which are 20,000 points a night, all the other resorts I've booked so far are Category 1 hotels, which only cost 5k points a night! 5th night is free, so 5 nights is only 20k HHonors points! You could spend a month on the Red Sea for only 120k Hilton points! Had I not redeemed any all-inclusive hotels, the 44 nights would've cost under 200k points, but I figured I'd let my Hilton points save on food money on the trip, and I'm curious to check out the resorts, especially Marsa Alam Nubian.
Free breakfast and internet as a Gold member and the hotels w/lounges are already showing VIP e-upgrades to executive rooms w/lounge access. Pretty stoked! I know not everyone would enjoy 6 weeks in Egypt, but I couldn't think of a better redemption for me personally than relaxing on the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, & amidst pyramids and epic ruins for such a small amount of points.
& yes, I have been to Egypt before, so I know what to expect, or not to expect
Anybody else taken advantage of the category 1 status of the plethora of Hilton hotels in Egypt?