Originally Posted by
ermintrude
To try something new.
RE the chain base hotels I'm pretty much a Marriott guy though I have been Hyatt Diamond. I was misinformed about the redemption value of Hilton points (I didn't check) which is quite frankly awful - for example I can stay 10 days in a $300/night marriott chain hotel in capetown easily for 80K points.
Marriotts Protea hotels in Africa are an absolute steal on points. I combined a week at Proteas on points along with a tour of Africa last summer.
In terms of Hilton, it is so true that Honors points aren't worth what they once were. I can still find value along the way, but it's definitely not getting any easier. Of course, you could argue the same with Starwood. There was once a time when their St. Regis in NY could be had for 10K. Now it's 35K, and yet their rates have not increased 3.5 times.