Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: United Arab Emirates & Arizona, USA
Programs: UA MM/1P, EK Ag, Marriott Life Ti, Hilton Dia, IC Dia, Hyatt Glob, Accor Pt
Posts: 4,719
I've qualified on stays the last few years, with no more than 27 nights in any of them. I maintain status in other programs that require nights (namely, ICHG and Marriott), so my strategy is to stay at one of those when I have a longer stay and hotel-hopping is inconvenient or impossible and choose Hyatt when I will only be somewhere for one night.
This combines with mini-vacations on weekends to make it relatively easy for me to get to 25 stays. At one Hyatt in the Middle East at which I stay frequently, they pretty much let me check in as early as I want on Fridays (which are slow at this business hotel anyway) and stay til 4:00 or even 6:00pm on Saturday, so it's a good use of a one-night stay.
Of course hopping on a business trip in an urban area can be an inconvenience, but sometimes it's a benefit to try different neighborhoods and properties.
Not to mention the extra-points Diamond amenity, which of course one can earn 25 times, making the points-per-night ratio highest when qualifying on stays.