When we travel, we usually like to visit new places. Even when we visit the same place repeatedly like New York City, we often will stay in different hotels each time just to change things up. This summer though, we are revisiting two places and staying in the same hotel again as we very much enjoyed both the first time.

Next weekend, we are headed to Washington DC to visit our younger daughter who is interning for the summer. Our older daughter will also be taking the train down to meet us there. I decided to book the Park Hyatt for our three night visit as we had a great time there last summer. It helped that I was able to use a Suite Upgrade Award which will ensure enough space for our older daughter to stay with us. The hotel is within walking distance to our younger daughter’s Foggy Bottom apartment, has a great breakfast benefit for Globalists and a great bartender whom we befriended last year.

In August, we are going back to Kauai – for four nights. Yes, I agree this sounds kind of dumb. It’s 10+ hours of flying each way for four days and four nights of vacation. However, I found four nights available on points at the Grand Hyatt just before the category was raised by Hyatt, so 25,000 points per night for a hotel that sells for $800+ per night is a great deal. I also managed to use a bunch of Delta eCredits to buy the round trip tickets and used Regional Upgrade Certificates for both of us to upgrade all four flights (connecting in Seattle each way) to First Class. Our journey will be relatively comfortable and we should get four full days to enjoy the island. There are a few things we didn’t get to see and do when we visited in 2021 and my wife loves the beach where the Hyatt is located as it’s one of the best shelling beaches in the world.

Unfortunately, this time I was unable to apply a Suite Upgrade Award to our booking. I’m hopeful it might open up before our trip, but if not, perhaps we’ll at least get upgraded to an Oceanview room. The included lounge and other benefits for Hyatt Globalists, restaurants, pool area and beach make this a fantastic hotel and a good value for using points in Hawaii.

Despite our desire for new experiences, sometimes it just makes sense to revisit old favorites. We’re looking forward to our DC and Kauai trips and enjoying these hotels again. Even though I have written reviews of both, I’ll be sure to compare our visits and point out any changes, good or bad.

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