Originally Posted by
MikeFromTokyo
This is certainly not true of the Flyertalk population. Many people specifically target high end properties for award redemption because they provide superior value.
However, there is certainly nothing wrong with Hyatt Regency, so by all means you should stay there if you prefer.
Trust me, if you haven’t ever stayed at PHT, you’re missing out I think. It used to be one of the finest hotels in the world. While it is showing its age a bit now, it’s still an iconic hotel.
I would like to stay there overnight one day. I've been there before, though.
As for whether 5-stars offer superior value for award redemption, that's debatable. It depends on the particular example and how you look at things. I don't travel nearly as much as some others here on FT, so I value my points like money. Using Hilton vs Conrad as an analogy to HR vs PH, to me Conrad is not worth much more than 1.5x the cost of Hilton. I would consider an award stay at Conrad if I can get my targeted valuation AND it doesn't cost me >50% over Hilton. But I rarely see such scenario. Hilton Shinjuku is more likely to offer better yen to points conversion than Conrad. On the other hand, Conrad is sometimes only ~1/3 more expensive than Hilton for paid rate. You can actually sometimes stay there for <$400USD total after tax. PH seems to be always far more expensive than that.
Who knows? Maybe the above analogy is way off. Maybe PH is in a a different category altogether than Conrad and that it's worth >2x HR and worth $200 more per night than Conrad. Anyways, my only ticket to staying at PH was their credit card with the free annual night, but I waited too long.