The Frequent Miler team isn’t just sitting around earning miles and signing up for new credit cards. Ok, we are. But we don’t just do that. We also travel a lot. Between all of us, we’ve spent at least a couple of hundred nights in hotels this year. But which ones stood out? Well, let us tell you.
This post contains lodging highlights for Greg, Nick, Stephen, and me from 2025. Just to be clear, these aren’t our favorite hotels in the world that are currently open…it’s our highlights from the ones that we actually stayed in during 2025. It could be the location, the time of year, the particulars of our stay, or a combination of all of them, but each of the properties below is still sticking with us at the end of the year.
Frequent Miler’s Favorite Hotel Stays of 2025
Greg *THE* Frequent Miler
Grand Hotel Victoria Lake Como
To celebrate our 30th anniversary, my wife and I spent 5 nights at the Grand Hotel Victoria. It’s a Small Luxury Hotels of the World property, which we booked with Hilton free-night certificates. We had a terrific stay! It’s incredible what can be done with points and miles! This hotel is an excellent example of a place we would never have considered paying for in cash, but we were able to enjoy it thanks to Hilton’s partnership with SLH.
One of the best aspects of the hotel is its beautiful front yard with a great view of Lake Como and the mountains beyond. We enjoyed several evenings sitting there, ordering cocktails and snacks.
Breakfast each morning was delightful. The food, coffee, and juice (fresh squeezed!) were excellent. And we loved the views. We ate dinner at this restaurant once, and the food was terrific (especially the pasta dish we shared, which was one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip).
Park Hyatt Milan
We spent the last night of our anniversary trip to Italy in a junior suite at the Park Hyatt Milan. What a delightful stay! The location is almost unbelievable—the Piazza del Duomo is just around the corner. And the hotel itself was great. Service was prompt and friendly, our room was luxurious, and breakfast was fantastic. In recognition of our anniversary, they even sent us a heart-shaped cake:
NoMad London
The NoMad London is a very good hotel in an excellent location. The building used to be the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, and hotel guests get free access to the connected Bow Street Police Museum. The building has been beautifully restored and features its main restaurant in a gorgeous glass-topped atrium. Breakfast, which is served in the atrium, was outstanding. Beyond the hotel’s features, its location in Covent Garden is fantastic. Covent Garden is an attraction in itself, and it is also within easy walking distance of many theaters, museums, restaurants, and more.
Nick
JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes
We’ve been to Orlando a handful of times in recent years. Our go-to hotel had been the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, which is a solid value as a Hyatt Category 4 property. Service is consistently good, and the property has a nice pool complex, a climbing wall, and a pitch-n-putt golf course.
However, we decided to try something new a few months ago and went for a single night at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes. At least, we expected to be there for one night. We ended up enjoying the property so much that we extended our stay for a couple of nights and cancelled plans to go to Legoland, as we thought the kids would have just as much fun at the hotel without spending the money on a theme park day.
We were right: between great pools, three awesome water slides, a ropes course, ping pong and foosball, and more, we had a great time and didn’t want to leave when it was time to go. The hotel is really well maintained, and we all agreed that we could come back and enjoy a few days without leaving the hotel, especially at the price we paid (46K points per night).
The rooms were comfortable and well-appointed. We had a room with two queen beds that also featured a chaise lounge, so it was a comfortable space even though it wasn’t really an upgraded room. Everything was spotlessly clean, and the beds were comfortable.
Great Wolf Lodge Traverse City, Michigan
When I asked my wife about her favorite hotel in 2025, she struggled to even remember specific places we stayed. When I asked my kids, my five-year-old answered instantly and unequivocally: “Great Wolf Lodge!”
I have to admit that while I enjoy the water slides at a place like the JW Marriott Grande Lakes, I am less enthusiastic about an indoor water park. I wouldn’t classify myself as a germaphobe exactly, but I don’t love the idea of being shoulder to shoulder in a pool full of people. We went to Great Wolf Lodge and Camelbak in Pennsylvania last year, and while we had a great time at Camelbak, I’m not sure I’d return to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos.
I therefore didn’t have it on my radar to visit another Great Wolf Lodge this year, until Stephen wrote about a deal to get rooms at Great Wolf Lodge properties from $84 this summer. We had a few days planned in Traverse City during our JetBlue 25 for 25 travels, and I noticed that they had a Great Wolf Lodge. We’d be there just before my 5-year-old’s birthday, and I knew it would excite him. We decided to book one night at Great Wolf Lodge, knowing we could get there as soon as the park opened on Day 1 and stay until park closing on the checkout day.
That turned out to be a great decision. The Traverse City location was impressively well-kept. While there’s no doubt that Great Wolf Lodge exists to find as many ways as possible to separate you from your money, this location was nice, and the service was very friendly. Here’s a short video review we published on YouTube:
Of course, this is not a place where you’ll redeem hotel points. However, it can be booked via Hotels.com. I would therefore consider redeeming my Capital One Shopping rewards for a Hotels.com gift card to use for a return.
Grand Hotel Victoria, Lake Como, Italy
While my 5-year-old picked Great Wolf Lodge, my 7-year-old’s pick for favorite hotel of 2025 was the Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio, Italy. You read above about how Greg stayed during his 30th-anniversary trip, though I think he forgot to mention that my family crashed his trip, with an overlapping stay of our own.
While Greg noted the views of Lake Como from the front lawn and the delicious breakfast, what my kids love the most about Grand Hotel Victoria is the spa.
That’s probably an odd thing for a 5 and 7-year-old to love, but I love that the hotel offers family hours in the mornings, as my kids loved the many pool jets, the hot and cold pools to walk through, and the steam rooms. My wife and I love the spa there, too!
And Lake Como is gorgeous. I love a tropical beach as much as anyone, but I think that Lake Como has turned me into a mountain lake guy. I could spend days strolling around the town — or any of the surrounding towns. I expect that we won’t be back for a while, but I hope to one day return again.
We booked our stay at the Grand Hotel Victoria, a Small Luxury Hotels of the World property, using a combination of Hilton free night certificates (from the Hilton Aspire card) and Hilton points.
Stephen
Inverlochy Castle in Fort William, Scotland
We took a trip to Scotland with friends in late April/early May, staying in Falkirk, Fort William, the Isle of Skye, Inverness, and Aberdeen. The hotel highlight of that trip – and our entire year, in fact – was Inverlochy Castle.
My wife had seen Inverlochy Castle mentioned in one of the books she’d read, so she was interested in visiting it during our trip. When researching it online, I couldn’t believe our luck that it’s not only a hotel now, but it’s part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and can be booked through Hilton.
We managed to snag two rooms for three nights. The award pricing at the time was 105,000 points per night per room versus a cash price of $852 per night. Rather than either of those options, though, we redeemed Hilton free night certificates as we’d built up a large enough stash of them.
I was extremely pleased with that redemption, as we loved our stay. The service was superb, the accommodations were comfortable, the setting was beautiful, and the breakfast was very tasty.
Fort William is a great location to visit as you can take a road trip through the Highlands, visit lots of Harry Potter filming sites, take a gondola up Ben Nevis (Scotland’s highest mountain), and more. In fact, we returned for an additional two nights at the end of our trip to ride the Jacobite Steam Train, which appears as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies.
The Two Byres on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
OK, so strictly speaking, this wasn’t a hotel stay. However, it rivalled Inverlochy Castle for my favorite stay of the year, and it was actually booked using hotel points.
The Two Byres is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
The property is impeccable inside. The interior is simply stunning, from the living room with a fireplace and large windows overlooking the ocean…
…to the extremely well-equipped kitchen…
…to the comfortable bedrooms…
…to the lovely bathrooms…
…to the ocean views and field of sheep during lambing season…
…to the night sky unspoiled by light pollution. This was a photo we took with our Google Pixel 8 using the astrophotography mode.
The house was wonderful in every way, as was the Isle of Skye. What made it even better was that we didn’t have to pay cash for the stay.
The Two Byres is bookable through various channels, including Booking.com and Airbnb. Another booking channel is Cottages.com, which has a partnership with Wyndham. You can redeem 15,000 points per bedroom per night, so for a three-bedroom property, it costs 45,000 points per night. If you have a Wyndham credit card, you get a 10% discount on award redemptions, so our net cost was 40,500 points per night. With Vacasa redemptions going the way of the dodo, one of the few remaining good uses of Wyndham points is booking properties in the UK through Cottages.com.
Clarion Hotel Prague Old Town
My other favorite hotel stay came during the 100K Vacay challenge. The final couple of days of my trip took Shae and me to the Czech Republic, where we stayed at the Clarion Hotel Prague Old Town.
At only 10,000 Choice Privileges points per night, it was a decent redemption. What made that redemption even better was that we were able to book a one-bedroom suite with a castle view. That description on the Choice website completely undersold what that room type offered.
In addition to the separate bathroom and living room…
…the suite comes with an incredible terrace. It was a huge outdoor space looking out over the river, Old Town, and the castle.
A buffet breakfast was also included, so for 10,000 Choice points (or only 5,000 Citi ThankYou or Wells Fargo points), this makes an excellent option for a trip to Prague.
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Tim
Hyatt Regency Seragaki Island – Okinawa, Japan
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JW Marriott Masai Mara – Kenya
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The JW Masai Mara is one of the most enjoyable points redemptions I’ve ever made. It’s my wife’s unqualified favorite. What’s on offer here is simply superb. The tents are luxurious, private, spacious, and have great views. The service is excellent, both in execution and in generosity. The food was surprisingly delicious; the juices, coffee drinks, and cocktails were some of the best I’ve had in a while…inside or outside a hotel. And the game drives were simply out-of-this-world; the quality and proximity of the wildlife viewing were on par with my private conservancy experience from years earlier. It’s hard to come up with cons here; there are so many delightful surprises and unexpected details.
Maison Métier New Orleans (Hyatt Unbound Collection) – New Orleans
From the moment we walked into the impressive atrium, we loved Maison Métier. The property oozes Prohibition-era style – and has a “speakeasy” to prove it. When we walked into our room, the high ceilings and antique furnishings made it feel spacious and airy, aided by the fact that the usual brand-specific, looped TV advertisements were replaced by the local jazz station wafting in from the bedroom radio.
There are some thoughtful little details for guests here. The lack of an in-room coffee machine is made even better by fresh coffee delivered to your door each morning. Wine, cheese, and charcuterie are offered each evening, at which point a bureau opens up to reveal a candle-lit honor bar with all the fixings. Breakfast is delicious.
Park Hyatt Zanzibar – Stone Town, Zanzibar
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We loved our stay at the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. The hotel feels like a calm, leafy oasis in the middle of the twisted alleyways and carved wooden doors of the vibrant heart of Zanzibar: Stone Town. Some Park Hyatts can feel a bit sterile, but this one elegantly captures the vibrant mix of African and Arabic influences that Zanzibar is known for. There is a vast, waterfront terrace that spans the entire property, offering beautiful sunsets and fabulous people (and boat) watching. Inside, the hotel is cool and breezy, with ornate lounging areas and leafy courtyards aplenty. The included breakfast is delicious, with fun touches like coconuts cut to order and a roving spiced coffee cart. When we were there, the internet was a disaster, an irritating obstacle when working remotely. However, despite that, it was a delightful place to hole up in and explore the “Spice Island” from.
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We have a Milan trip in Feb and I just recently managed to grab a couple of SUA award nights at Park Hyatt Milan. Grand Hotel Victoria is closed until mid-March, so that one will have to wait.