2025 was another great year for hotel stays for us. We stayed at some bucket list properties even though we ended up canceling our trip to France and missed out on the Park Hyatt Vendome. All of these properties have detailed reviews on the blog so if you missed them, you can go back and read those posts.

In February, we went to Bali and stayed at three fantastic properties. The Andaz Bali was probably my favorite of the three even though it would be considered the least luxurious. We got a double upgrade even beyond using a Hyatt Suite Upgrade Award and our Lagoon Suite backed on to the end of a private lagoon shared only with a few other rooms (we never saw anyone else). Breakfast there was great every day and the location was perfect for my wife’s shell-hunting and my adventures snorkeling on Nusa Penida. The hotel was great value at Hyatt Category 4 (although it’s gone up to Category 5 since) and has extra facilities available thanks to the Hyatt Regency next door.

From the Andaz, we moved on to the Viceroy Bali near Ubud in the center of the island. We had a fantastic pool suite on the end again and very private. The hotel had amazing views of the Bali volcanos from the breakfast restaurant. It was convenient to Ubud but still felt very secluded. It was a great use of expiring Hilton free night certificates with $800+ per night cash rates.

The final stop in Bali was at the Alila Villas Uluwatu and while it was really nice, I didn’t think it quite lived up to the hype. It got warm in the villa and it was a bit of a pain to get back and forth to the main building. That said, it probably had the best food of the Bali properties we tried. At up to 45k Hyatt points per night as a Category 8 and quite isolated from most places in Bali, I think it’s a bit overrated unless maybe you are going to have a destination wedding.

In late May/early June, we spent a long weekend at Hermitage Bay in Antigua, a Small Luxury Hotels property bookable through Hilton. Despite the cost of 150k Hilton points per night, it was a fantastic all-inclusive stay at a 30 room resort on the beach. The stay included airport transportation, all food and drinks (including the good stuff) and even daily sushi. The only downside were the bug bites, but I soldiered through with another margarita. The standard award rate has since been increased to over 200k Hilton points per night.

My last international trip of the year was way back in July when I went to Bangkok via Dubai and returned via Doha. I only had four hotel nights on that seven day trip as the first and last nights were spent onboard First Class flights. Emirates put me up at the JW Marriott as part of their Dubai Connect program and for a room I spent all of about five hours in, it was very nice. On the way back through Doha, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha Airport and it was a perfectly fine Hyatt Regency for only 5k Hyatt points for the night.

In Bangkok, I spent two nights at the Grand Hyatt Erawan. I didn’t use a suite upgrade as I was using an expiring Hyatt Category 1-4 free night certificate for one of the nights and you can’t use two different certs on one stay. Never mind though, I got a nice upgrade to a Grand King Suite (a standard suite) on the 22nd floor. The breakfast was amazing as expected for an upscale SE Asian hotel and the location was perfect for what I planned in Bangkok. It’s a bit older than some other properties but very well maintained with a nice lounge.

On our domestic trips, we stayed at some familiar places. We once again stayed at the Park Hyatt DC, but I think we might finally move on from this hotel that desperately needs renovation on our next trip. In fact, later in the year, I stayed at the Grand Hyatt DC on a business trip and was very impressed with the renovations there.

In New York, we had our second and probably final stay at the Marriott Luxury Collection Manhattan. I pounced on a great deal when the property reflagged from Hilton to Marriott last year and grabbed a couple of weekends at 34k per night. It’s a great location and a nice all-suite property, but the rates have normalized for Marriott so it’s back to Hyatt in New York for us.

Speaking of New York City Hyatts, I had a nice one night stay at the Hotel 50 Bowery on a business trip and would stay there again. It’s a good location if you need to be downtown and the rooftop bar was a nice highlight.

On our annual (or sometimes semi-annual) trip to Marco Island, we tried something new and booked the JW Marriott via Chase’s The Edit, which was a better deal (at the time) than through Marriott. I really liked the resort as there were a ton of restaurants and the rooms were nicer than our usual resort, the Hilton. It’s nice to have another option in Marco when the price is right.

There were several other domestic trips I took to Minneapolis, Chicago and Las Vegas for points and miles meetups, but none of the hotels I stayed in were particularly noteworthy or unique. Those trips were more about networking and seeing friends than the destination or hotel.

Next year, on our international trips, we will return to the Great Scotland Yard in London in February, this time in a suite. In late March, we are planning to stay at Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand which is even more exclusive Small Luxury Hotels property with only eight rooms. It’s 200k Hilton points per night, but as a friend likes to say about points and miles, “earn ’em and burn ’em.” We’ll also have a night at The George in Christchurch, yet another Small Luxury Hotels property. For our Japan trip in August, we have a couple of interesting hotels booked including the Conrad Osaka and the Hyatt Centric Ginza.

Domestically, we are trying the Hyatt Centric Fort Lauderdale when we visit my mom in late January. If the drive back and forth to her house isn’t too bad, that may become our go-to property there as it’s a good place to burn Hyatt Category 1-4 certificates (for now). We will also have several hotel credits to burn via Chase, Citi and Amex so hopefully some more trips will materialize where we can use up these credits. We know we’ll be in New York, DC, Vegas and a few other places.

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