mheals16

Hi All,
First time posting here so please bear with me

I'm planning a trip to Dublin and Edinburgh March 4-12 with my girlfriend and trying to maximize the value of my club carlson points. I'm planning on proposing, so obviously I'm trying to make sure this is perfect and I may be over thinking it. Right now I have 390K saved up from work travel and this is what I'm thinking so far:

2 nights at the Dublin Radisson Blu - Using two e-certs, retail price is 290/night
1 Night at the Shelbourne - 40K Marriott Rewards points (I'm proposing this night so I wanted to upgrade)

Here's where I need the most help, in Edinburgh
This is what I have so far
2 nights at the G&V Royal Mile - 140K retail price is $186/night through AMEX
2 additional nights at the G&V Royal Mile paying cash of $186 per night through AMEX

My thinking here is that I don't want to spend 280K of my points for this entire stay when I'm only getting a value of .27 centers per point. I'm also trying to limit the amount of cash I'm spending, so I split it.

I should note here that I am also considering 2 nights at the waldorf for 100K hilton points. I think I'm getting better value there than spending 140K at the G&V but am concerned about the hassle of checking out then checking in again. What are people's experience with hotel hopping?

Is it work the extra $373 to keep the 70K in club carlson points?

Would love your thoughts on this as I can't make up my mind. We're planning on going to London some time in the summer so I may be better off saving them for that trip.

Thanks in advance for any advice, I really appreciate it.

ConradS

But the G&V is a great hotel. Go for a better room and try the restaurant one night.

DesertRat

If you can get G&V for $186 per night i'd save all the points, if you don't mind laying out the cash. I'd value CC points at .05, and you can probably get more than that using them in London during the summer, so my recommendation would be to save them, at least for the two extra nights and maybe for all four nights.
FWIW, if you pay for at least one night, you can also get that 5k CC bonus with two brands pretty easy since G&V is Quorvus.
G&V is great, and in a great location. Should be great for the occasion!

mheals16

Thanks both, appreciate the replies and I feel better about booking the G&V, it does look pretty amazing and the location can't be beat.

Desert Rat, what 5K CC bonus are you referring to? I'm not sure if using my CC card is worth the Foreign transaction charges for the points so I would most likely be using my AMEX golf or Chase sapphire.

I'm thinking of ponying up the cash for the 4 nights and saving the points for London or possibly Australia at the end of the year, I hear the Sydney Radisson Blu is pretty nice.

Gagravarr

Do you have any status with Club Carlson and/or Hilton HHonors?

As an HHonors Diamond plus CC Gold, at similar prices, I pick the WA over the Radisson Blu in Edinburgh every time. I gather the G&V is nicer than the Radisson Blu, but the extra points/cash they wanted meant I've not stayed there yet - always gone elsewhere for better value! Will depend on status though

DesertRat

I meant CC = Club Carlson, sorry. It's the one where you get 5K for staying in two different brands, which you'd do between the Radisson and Quorvus (the G&V). But no biggie, since 5K is only worth ~ $25.

AMBurns1512

If you are considering maybe a Hilton in Edinburgh have you looked at the Doubletree? It's much more affordable than the WA and it's just been renovated in the past few years. I was there last week and stayed in the one bedroom suite, complete with flower petals on the bed etc. and it was fantastic. Staff were great too. Just thought I'd mention in case you wanted another option.