How Did You Spend Your Labor Day Weekend?
I just returned from a little road trip to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It was a relatively low key weekend – a drive, a few Walmart stops along the way and mainly relaxing by the beach and the pool.
I won’t be writing a full review of the hotel, but we redeemed 20,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points a night for two nights at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay. The hotel gets fully booked for the busy weekend so prices there are not cheap. Overall, it was a nice way to spend a few days, but I can’t say I was overly impressed by the hotel or the value. Compared to the Park Hyatt Vienna at 25,000 points a night… well, there’s really no comparison, the Park Hyatt Vienna where I stayed earlier in the summer is much better value for the points hands down.
Anyway, even though I try to maximize points, not everything turns out to be amazing value and it’s important to share the good and the “ok” redemptions I have with my points. We did enjoy the town and the shore and I had a very nice Asian style salmon dish at local restaurant Jimmie and Sooks. I just feel that spending that many points on the hotel did not really add too much extra to the vacation and I could have been just as happy at a mid-category hotel. We do have enough Ultimate Rewards points to transfer to Hyatt, but for those that do not… make sure to save up for that special vacation!
I am off to get ready for the work week ahead, but I did want to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day, however you chose to celebrate our American holiday.
I am interested to hear some ideas for my next summer trips. What did everyone else do for Labor Day?
I made “points” by cleaning out an overstuffed garage to get ready for a sale next weekend. Exciting, because in a little over a month, wife and I are flying, all on points, and staying, mostly on points, in Melbourne, AU. Then, on to Phukett, mostly on points, for 5 days, then back to the Pacific Northwest, on points, if course.
Your reviews and posts are not only interesting, but inspiring me to keep racking up the points so my wife and I can travel…. retirement is just around the corner and “Points R Good!”
BTY, staying for one night at the Hyatt Grand in Melbourne, and will post a review in October. Thanks, Inna!
Wow, sounds like a great trip! Nice job putting it all together :)
I just closed on my first home 5 weeks ago, so I didn’t do anything more interesting than buy a couple of lamps and wait for my bedroom furniture to be delivered. However, I usually go away this time of year on a big trip. Last year I did the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Beijing (first time flying first class – points of course!), and in recent years I went to Buenos Aires & the falls of Iguazu, the Inca trail in Peru, and a friend’s wedding in Scotland…back when I actually paid for flights. All those destinations were great choices for that time of year, since I’m not a fan of hot weather (let’s ignore the fact that I just moved from NYC to Florida – I have great a/c and a pool!).
The Inca Trail and Iguazu are still high on my list. Hopefully, I’ll make it there someday soon!
3 WMs, 1 Kroger, 1 Staples, 1 Target :)
Sounds productive!
Spent 2 free nights in Inter Continental, Montreal from Chase IHG free night certificate
Great idea. Maybe I’ll revisit Montreal one of the long weekends next summer :)
I had a similar experience to what u had ! spent 60k on 3 nights at Hyatt country resort & spa in San Antonio .. Price wise it was v.good (360$/night), but quality wise, well, it ain’t no park Hyatt, if u know what I mean! But we did have a good family time and that’s what matters the most :)
I’m on my trip to Hawaii and Maui. Priceline NYOPed two hotels on Hawaii and Maui (Hapuna Beach Prince and Makena Beach and Golf Resort). As usual, priceline was much better value than anything else, and I can pay back those with Priceline points. Got 10% cashback for going via shopathome.com and 5 points per dollar from Priceline CC. Much better value than transferring points to Hyatt, or using SPG. Flew with Alaska Airlines using 25k British Avios each. Didn’t visit any Walmart here.
I probably wouldn’t visit Walmart if I were in Hawaii either. Hope you had a great time!
Actually I did visit Walmart to buy some food/supplies, because Costco was closed yesterday.
We are in Riga Latvia mid way though 43 day trip First Class old US Air redemption 120’K each stopover Europe destination Japan then back to SFO. All nights paid for points and miles.
Yes we are retired :)
A 43 night vacation all with points and miles. Very impressive and so glad it could all come together :)
Long weekend in Chicago, arriving via Avios. one night on
points at the very nice JWMarriott, second was unavailable and had to pay cash. Ouch! The points redemptions have really got me accustomed to staying in some pretty nice hotels.
You make a very good point, Professor, to discuss both the pros and cons of redemptions. When you mentioned “value” did you mean points against $$$ (I’m guessing Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay was not as expensive than Park Hyatt Vienna) or points against what kind of soft/hard product you get (I’d say on average service in a Hyatt Regency in the USA is not as good as at a Park Hyatt elsewhere?) ;)
As for my Labor Day weekend, I am enroute back to the USA from spending the past 5 days in Spain with friends. I mostly use points for travel versus hotel stay since I tend to pick the hotel based on its location in the city.
I stayed in this hotel last Labor Day weekend and I thought the hotel was great. I was there with my wife and two boys ages 5 & 2 at the time and there were a bunch of activities for them to do at the hotel. We went swimming, on the water slide, to the beach (some sand at the lake, but a beach for the kids), boating, biking, mini-golf and enjoyed a bon fire. All in two days. The kids had a blast and we were able to enjoy some nice drinks at the pool.
As a family trip I though the hotel was a great destination within driving distance of NY that had a look and feel of being at a resort in FL but much closer.
I spent the weekend at the Waldorf Astoria Boca Beach Club in Boca Raton, FL where I redeemed a Hilton certificate. I wasn’t that impressed after staying not too long ago at the Andaz in Costa Rica and the Intercontinental Thalasso in Bora Bora.
I went to Acadia National Park… moot point, because I know you went yourself last year.
In terms of Hyatt redemptions, I redeemed my two Hyatt certs in Key West a few years ago. The resort was nice, but I’m sure it doesn’t compare to Vienna. I loved Key West, so it was a worthwhile redemption for me. Hyatt does have multiple vacation club properties in Key West, which go for as little as 12,000 pts for a studio apartment. If I went back on points, that’s probably what I would redeem for.