Originally Posted by
Tide_from_PAE
Since Hyatt only does off-peak/standard/peak award pricing for many properties, some of the best point redemptions in relation to the rack rate tend to be for hotels which are Category 1 and Category 2 hotels which are expensive due to a local event, especially one where Hyatt corporate did not decide to implement peak award pricing in advance. Hyatt has a number of such properties in college towns in the US South and Midwest where the cash rate could be $500-1000 a night before taxes by Hyatt is only asking 3,500-9,500 points per night. These are typically the nights before big football or basketball games, sometimes graduation.
Totally understand that, I've definitely seen some outrageous prices for cheaper hotels due to a surge in demand because of local events. However, I'm usually flexible on when or where I can travel, so I don't usually run into that problem. I'm not looking for the best redemptions, but rather hotels that usually have very high cash rates that are pretty unrealistic. At least for my current tax bracket haha. Park Hyatt Paris, Park Hyatt Kyoto, Alila Big Sur are some examples that I've seen. I haven't seen the cash rate lower than $1,500ish per night at these properties. I don't see myself paying cash rates for these hotels, so I'd love to try them with points. I'm wondering if there are any other properties like this, where the cash rate is never low and unrealistic for the average consumer.