roki

I've narrowed down (not wanting availability to drop even more during a peak time) two options for the 3-night stay in Edinburgh:

W=A Caley @ $188 (USD) + 28K points per night (Deluxe Room, rack rate $338/night)
Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa @ $132 (USD including VAT) + 6K points per night (Classic Room, rack rate $340/night)

My lean is towards the Sheraton at this point, even though I have ~130K Hilton points and only 46K SPG points. After "missing" the W=A at £55 + 20K a night, paying 2.5x that makes me grit my teeth for sure. The Sheraton looks like a very nice property. I have Hilton Gold, but no status with SPG (or whatever the SPG card gives you).

Any recommendations?

edit: ran the nitty gritty math just for fun, as well as corrected some data.

W=A Caley = $1013 Rack Rate for 3 nights
$564 + 84K points for C+P, making my HH points worth ($1013-$564) or $449, or $0.005 or 0.5cpp.

Sheraton = $1022 Rack Rate for 3 nights
$396 + 18K points for C+P, making my SPG points worth ($1022-$396) or $626, or $0.0347 or 3.5cpp.

Gagravarr

You might want to look on the HHonors forum to see what the W=A offers for HHonors Golds, especially around breakfast (not automatic at W=A annoyingly). A nice, large and filling breakfast could swing it!

(I've not stayed in the W=A, as I tend towards the other Hilton properties in Edinburgh, but the Sheraton was nice when I stayed there. Excellent pool and gym, good views of the castle, good bar with interesting drinks + helpful staff etc. W=A might be just as good though!)

roki

Thanks for the reply! I have actually been chatting with the good folks in the Hilton forums. The general consensus is that the W=A is a steal at £55 + 20K. HHGold is hit or miss on whether you get breakfast, and if you do, the breakfast is very hit or miss (some people said it was decent, some said it was stone cold and unappetizing, no one raved about it). Also some complaints that the W=A does not live up to W=A standards (although £55+20K is dirt cheap), but I've never stayed in one, so I don't have preconceptions. The DT Edinburgh is very well reviewed, but with no C+P option available the nights I'm looking at, it's either 50K/night or £239/night, which is nuts. The Hilton Grosvenor is £109/night for their compact room, and a comparable room to the W=A or Sheraton would be £154/night.

I haven't really looked outside of HH/SPG. I could look at Club Carlson, but I'm going to be using 200K+ for the first leg of the trip (London + Wales), and I still have to figure out Paris.

Gagravarr

I quite liked the Hotel Indigo, which is fairly central and handy for the trams. It's a lot smaller than the others you've mentioned.

The Radisson is great if you can get it on the Club Carlson elite 2-4-1 weekend rate, but I'd rather the Sheraton than the Radisson when they're the same price

roki

Hotel Indigo runs £150 / $226 a night (no IHG relationship / points)
Radisson is £166 / $250 a night, or £100 + 15K points, or 50K/night.

Being 3 nights, the last-night-free CC option would make it 100K, which feels steep. It's also a Sunday-Wednesday booking, so no-go on the weekend rate. Sheraton feels like a winner, so far. I appreciate the tips and recommendations, though!

Gagravarr

Another option is serviced appartments - there's loads on Grove Street not that far from the Usher Hall / Sheraton. 10 mins slow walk further out than the Sheraton, handy for Haymarket.

When I've been there during the fringe with lots of friends, getting 1 or 2 of those has worked out good value. No idea if their prices drop much outside of the fringe season, but for a longer stay could be worth checking

The Novotel just off the royal mile can sometimes be very cheap for what it is on a weekend, eg £50 for a Sunday night many sundays in the current sale, which gets you a tenner back in Accor LeClub points so effectively just £40 if you can use/transfer the points. Maybe your first Sunday night there, then the other nights elsewhere?

(My next Edinburgh weekend trip has opted for 2 nights in the Hilton Grosvenor, then the Novotel for the Sunday night, hence why I currently have it all in mind!)

Uglook

Cityjet have direct flight from Cardiff to Edinburgh , so you can spend 6-7 nights in London, then 1-2 in Cardiff and fly to Edinburgh from there...