I don't think there is a disrespect toward the value oriented smart traveler here, possibly a lack of patience with the single deal noobies that the likes of Grand Slam and Radisson giveways draw in. Disclosure: I avidly participated in both.

I will to have to write up a trip report on the exotic Fourpoints and Hyatt Places of Missouri. The ground activities are covering the SWA points for airfare to and from.

I don't see any problems using points for lower end hotels. It's not always about maximizing cpp. If there's no way I'd pay $200+ for a nice room in a given city, then it's not a valid comparison. If I could have booked a decent non-chain hotel for $100, then it's the comparison between that and the points options. I factor in location, breakfast, internet, etc, then choose whether to book some hotels.com revenue room, or to use HHonors, Club Carlson, PC, etc to book a room.

Sometimes, the cheaper hotels are actually the "nicer" ones Hyatt Place often has 2 beds + the pull-out bed. Hyatt Regency Vancouver only has 2 beds per room - no pull-out beds or sitting areas. I also got breakfast at a Hyatt place

Not really, I redeem my points for lower hotels all the time. Hyatt Place Richmond VA Airport, and Jacksonville FL Airport. Both cost only 5000 pts per night. These two hotels are about $100/nt.

I stayed also redeemed my SPG points for hotel in Allentown PA and Orlando Airport. Both are about 3000 to 4000 pts per night. These two are also about $100/nt.

I went to Virginia Beach last summer used my SPG points for Aloft and Sheraton hotel cost me arount 3000 - 4000 SPG/nt. If paid in cash, would cost $120 to 150+ tax. Tax alone already $15. Totally worth it to me.

Agreed. Over Springbreak, we were at Orlando Hyatt Place near disney. A family of 2 adults and 3 kids stayed in 1 room with 2 queens + pullout bed. Plus nice hot breakfast for all five people for only 8000 pts/night.

Are you sure you still earn the airline miles on SPG Cash and Points?

It earns stay credit alright since SPG changed its policy this March. However AFAIK, based on Williams the SPG Lurker's posts, that Cash + Points are still award stays that DONT earn points or miles. Although being GLD or PLAT, you do still get amenity options which including SPG pts.

I have done several cash + pts stays this year and certainly haven't seen any earning from those stays.

I am a value oriented traveler. I feel more relaxed and comfortable in a nice clean Hampton than in an expensive, high end, pretentious 5 star hotel. Although I really enjoy saving miles and points for European adventures I would not otherwise be able to afford, and I will happily take a well-located, 5 star hotel if it makes my dream vacation happen!

There is nothing wrong with low end hotel redemptions, use your points in whatever way makes you the most happy or makes the most sense to you.

Double checked and a C+P stay for May 2012 did generate the SWA credit without any prompting for me. There was a room charge if that might be the trigger.

So only the one with room charge has generated the airline credit, out of all your cash + point stays?

I always have the preference of earning set at SPG pts. May be I need to change to airline for the sake of experiment.

The best values for us on the low end are the following:

1. Priority Club 5000 pt Pointsbreak specials.

Great deals, especially the intl Intercontinentals on the list!! I look forward when that list comes out. (note to self: When a nice San Diego property comes out on the list, I should book alot of stays when the list first comes out. When I put off booking, that hotel disappeared off the PB list.

2. Starwood Cat 1-4 Cash & Points bookings. Worked well when we went to Austria last year where rates were fairly high relative to the points & cash value. Also got alot of benefit with domestic hotels.

3. Mentioned earlier in this thread, the Carlson Orlando for 9K/night. A great deal.

4. We will investigate other programs as we have some Hilton & Marriott points.

We also do priceline bidding when we can get a great deal. We just booked 1 weekend night in the San Francisco area (a nice Eastbay Hilton for $47 bid, $59ai for one night).

Bottom line: We do whatever we can to get the best deal. Whether with points, cash, BRG, PL bidding etc, we look at all the options.

This +10

You are the only person who knows what makes the best value for you. ^

I'm sure there are opportunities. I do like Hyatt Place, I have seen then for 8K and 12K, and some people have mentioned 5K. Valuing points at 1.25 cents, an 8K redemption is $100. If you have a family and want the extra bedding, fridge, and the TV with DVD hookups, it's probably worth the points. OTOH, I have gotten Hyatt Places in Las Vegas (Paradise Road) and Orlando (International Drive) for about $55-60 all-in on Priceline. But I also "risk" getting a Courtyard or Hilton Garden Inn. To me it doesn't matter which I get, to someone else it might. Then again, the HP in Vegas was 12K/night, and at that rate wouldn't be worth it.

There's no universal rule here. One of the main purposes of FT is to enable all of us to analyze and use our points in the optimal way based on our own preferences.

I think Orlando and Las Vegas have way too many hotels compete for business, that's why you were able to get it in that range with Priceline. The best deals are in the off peak season.

That said, the program you collect in makes a difference too. Some hotel points are better used for aspirational awards, but at end of day the value of an award is up to you...

Yep, you nailed those first three just right !
I have enjoyed Stockholm/Vienna/Saigon IC's,
and some great SPG C+P's in Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia.
Still working up to Carlson now that I have a good balance.

Thanks everyone for your input – lots of useful information!

I see a number of us have similar attitude towards hotel stays. I tend to try PL first if I wasn’t working towards a hotel program promotion. If PL doesn’t work or prove to be cost inefficient, then I’d compare redeeming points (cash + points if available) vs. paying cash. The challenge for me is how to compare which points to use (across several hotel programs) and more importantly how best to guestimate the value for future use across the hotel programs. For me personally, I acquire PC points faster/easier than UR (Hyatt) points than SPG points, thus I tend to be a bit more cautious with using SPG points to ensure I’d retain a healthy balance for future needs.

DHAST – many thanks for the insight on SPG and Hyatt points redemptions niches. It’s exactly the info what I was looking for across the hotel programs.

A number of you mentioned Hampton Inn and I agree it can be of good/great redemption value. First of all, I like Hampton Inn for its consistency and value. I redeemed HH points earlier this year for an award stay at the Hampton Inn Soho for out of town guests. The cash price was high and we could’ve booked another even higher (cash) priced hotel that may result in the appearance of higher point redemption rate; however the Hampton Inn Soho was the perfect location for their purpose and the hotel itself was superb (highly rated by Tripadvisor). We went with HI Soho and it was proven a better value for my points from a utilitarian point of view.