Sorry I haven't been back in touch. These are all good ideas.

Using your suggestion I have booked 5 nights at the Hilton Waterfront Resort in Huntington Beach, CA. We'll add a couple of other 5 night stays in southern California or Mexico to make it a 2 week or more trip out west this winter. Might slip down to the ST Regis Punta Mita resort, near Puerto Vallarta.

Mendoza Park hyatt in Argenta looks wonderful, but I am not sure how relaxed I'd be for 8 hours plus plane trip to Argentina, with Gracie.

Kimpton , we would enjoy it. For sure some other time. But my goal this winter is to burn a bunch of hotel points, ( Hyatt, SPG , Hilton) to escape the less than perfect Mid Atlantic weather in January and February.

An occasional kitchen along the way would also come in handy. Not every stay, but sometime just to break up the eating out. Our routine the last few winters with Gracie has been to spend time at the Boca Raton resort Bungalow suites , and the Hilton Bentley South Beach. Both with nice full kitchens. However we need to break out of the rut this winter and add some new dog friendly hotels.

I have been reading a lot about the Hyatt Ziva and Zilara properties ,they would be great, but do not accept pets, only service animals. I wonder how they'd feel about a Shih Tzu service animal?

Any personal experiences in the Caribbean on points?