Conde Nast Gold List 2014: European Hotels with Points

I am always excited when the Conde Nast Gold List comes out! It’s interesting to see which hotels from previous years are still on the list and which new ones have made it. When I browse through the hotels, it makes me want to start planning my next vacation. For the European list this year, I actually have five of these hotels on my “personal” list… hotels that I personally plan to stay at “soon”… even though I don’t have my vacation dates set just yet.

As an example, the Park Hyatt – Vendome is an aspirational property for me and, after reading the list for years, I’ve had my eye on Starwood’s Blue Palace in Crete for a while. In fact, this year, the Blue Palace happens to be the top ranking points hotel on the Gold List for Europe. Finally, Starwood’s Grande Bretagne in Athens may just be my pick for my visit to the capital city of Greece for a trip tentatively planned for 2015.

The three Park Hyatts and Starwoods on the list are surprisingly affordable with points. The Chase Hyatt Credit Card offers two nights at any Hyatt worldwide. The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express each offer 25,000 points as a sign-up bonus.

Starting with my favorite continent: Europe… here are some European hotels on the list where you can stay with points and their scores. Each hotel is scored out of 100 for the following categories (where available).

• Rooms
• Service
• Food
• Location
• Design
• Activities

France: Park Hyatt Paris -Vendome (93.0)

How to stay: 30,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night or two nights with the Chase Hyatt co-branded credit card.

Conde Nast’s review: Park Hyatt Paris – Vendome

Germany: Park Hyatt Hamburg (90.7)

How to stay: 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night or two nights with the Chase Hyatt co-branded credit card.

Conde Nast’s Review: Park Hyatt Hamburg

Greece: Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens (91.3)

How to stay: 12,000 Starwood Preferred Guest Points a night in low season or 16,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points a night in high season (May 31 – October 17, 2014). When redeeming Starwood points for hotels, the fifth night is free.

Conde Nast’s Review: Hotel Grande Bretagne

Greece: Blue Palace Resort, Crete (96.4)

How to stay: 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points a night. When redeeming Starwood Preferred Guest points, the fifth night is free.

Conde Nast’s Review: Blue Palace Resort, Crete

 Spain: Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville (94.3)

How to stay: 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points a night in low season and 25,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points a night in high season.

Conde Nast’s Review: Hotel Alfonso XIII, Seville

Turkey: Park Hyatt Istanbul Macka Palace (92.9)

How to stay: 20,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night or two nights with the Chase Hyatt credit card.

Conde Nast’s Review: Park Hyatt Istanbul Macka Palas