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Ajul Luxury Hotel & Spa Resort is a Wyndham Registry Collection Hotel in Greece on the Aegean Sea. It looks like this hotel opened June 1st, 2023 (or at least, that’s the date on the press release). Upon first glance, this looked exciting so I dug into it a bit to see if it would be a good use of Wyndham points. The answer? Compared to this resort’s cash rates, yes, it’s possible to get great value here. Is it exciting? Well… see my thoughts below.
Recent reviews are mostly 5 star (here is our affiliate link to the property on TripAdvisor). The less glowing reviews seem to indicate that the new resort was not yet 100% ready for prime time. If you’re interested, you might want to plan your visit for next year, at the earliest, to give the resort time to season.
The most exciting thing I found in my research was that this hotel offers up many room types for the same point price: 30,000 Wyndham points per night. For example, you could book their base room, Deluxe Double, for 30,000 points; or you could book the “Deluxe Family Room Sharing Pool” (which appears to be a suite with a semi-private pool) for the same 30,000 points. In late June of next year I found that the AAA rate (which was the best flexible rate I could find) for the Deluxe Double was 380 Euros per night (about $418 USD). Paying 30,000 points per night for that room would have meant getting a respectable 1.4 cents per point value. That said, the Deluxe Family Room Sharing Pool was 650 Euros per night (~$715 USD). Paying 30,000 points per night for that room would have meant getting 2.4 cents per point value. That’s excellent.
I wanted to be excited about this resort, but I’m not. First, it has 171 rooms. I tend to prefer smaller boutiquey types of places. Second, while reviewers raved about swimming the crystal clear waters in the sea, I don’t like the fact that you can’t walk to the beach. They do have a shuttle to take guests back and forth, but I don’t find that appealing. Finally, the resort’s room photos look spartan and Holiday-Innish to me. Luxury might be there, but I’m not seeing it.
Here’s my screen capture of the hotel’s website showing the Deluxe Family Room:
And here’s a picture of a sea-view room, which I downloaded from the Wyndham press release:
OK, moving on. Wyndham’s Registry Collection is their nascent luxury brand with 17 properties at the time of writing. Maybe there are some more exciting options? If anyone has experience with any of these, please comment below!
Wyndham Registry Collection:
- Mexico
- TRS Yucatan Riviera Maya, Adults Only – All Inclusive Resort
- Grand Palladium Kantenah Riviera Maya, All Inclusive Resort
- Grand Palladium Colonial Riviera Maya, All Inclusive Resort
- Grand Palladium WhiteSand Riviera Maya, All Inclusive Resort
- Grand Palladium Vallarta, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- TRS Coral Costa Mujeres, a Registry Collection Hotel
- Panama
- Bristol Panama, a Registry Collection Hotel
- Dominican Republic
- TRS Turquesa Punta Cana, Adults Only – All Inclusive Resort
- Grand Palladium Punta Cana, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- Grand Palladium Palace, All Inclusive Resort, Spa & Casino
- Grand Palladium Bavaro Suites, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- TRS Cap Cana Adults Only – All Inclusive Hotel
- Brazil
- Grand Palladium Imbassai, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- Jamaica
- Grand Palladium Jamaica, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton, All Inclusive Resort & Spa
- Greece
- Ajul Luxury Hotel & Spa Resort, A Registry Collection Hotel
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Thanks. Trying to figure out how to use some Wyndham points from biz earner I got for status matching.
Did you do all the status matches already? I am doing this weekend. According to me it should me stop at Caeser’s to get card then Hard rock and them Ocean right?
The Dolce Wyndham Attica Riviera in Greece looks nice too and only 15k points even for a sea view bungalow.
Also the Wyndham Tamarindo in Costa Rica looks nice and is 15k points with free breakfast.
I tried 4 people in the all inclusive ones in Riviera Maya and the price was 30000 points…any idea if that is truly the cost with 4 people?
Following is a Grand property I have been watching & waiting for years now to open – looks like maybe, finally, after a multitude of political & financial delays. Not small but is AI & on a beautiful stretch of Bajan beach (I stayed just down from it at a Hilton ts while under construction). Check out, too, its storied & mysterious former self: https://www.jaxfaxmagazine.com/2023/07/01/return-of-sam-lords-castle-caps-wave-of-new-development-on-barbados-west-coast/
https://www.slcwyndham.com/
For stays in Greece, there is also the Wyndham Grand Crete Mirabello Bay. I stayed there last year and liked it. It looks like it jumped up in price from last year–when we stayed it was at 15k points/night, with a cash rate of around 450 Euros (so over 3 cents/point). Now it is 30k/night, though you can book rooms with private pools at that rate, which would cost over 500 euros/night.
wyndham grand residences in costa del sol (Malaga, Spain) is also very nice. There’s some stunning rooms with a private pool with glass, overlooking the coast…unfortunately ours “only” had a jacuzzi (jacuzzi outside, and in the master bedroom)
They also have 2 and 3 bedroom ones, all bookable with points
Accommodation | Wyndham Grand Residences Costa del Sol
The first four hotels on the list, in Mexico, are all one giant complex. It doesn’t feel like a giant complex, though, because of how it’s spread out in forest and mangrove swamp. In January, I stayed at the White Sands, which has larger rooms than the Kentanah and Colonial, but is a little further from the beach.
I thought I got fantastic value for my Wyndham points, redeeming 30k per night for a room that was $418. I stayed at the Hilton La Romana in the DR last year and have previously stayed at the Ziva Cancun, and I think that Grand Palladium is in that same tier. The restaurants were very good, and I enjoyed diving with the on-site dive shop.
Cool, thanks for the info!
how many people did you do per room? it seems to give me the same price for 2 or 4 people. no problem with the all inclusive?
I was there by myself, so I don’t know.
I’ve been very curious about these, always have stayed at the Hyatt all inclusives, esp since the AMR aquistion (some of the Secrets/Zöetry properties are very nice). I thought I’d gathered the TRS was sort of the top end, why did you pick White Sands? Curious if I decide to give it a shot which one to book.
JayP, the TRS was unavailable with points on the dates of my stay. It is definitely a small tier above the other three Grand Palladium resorts in the compound, with a couple of exclusive restaurants and a private beach and pool area. Otherwise, all guests can eat at all of the restaurants in the complex.
Of the other three resorts in the complex, I thought that the White Sands had the nicest pool area, but the beach in that immediate area is rocky. The best beach area for swimming in the ocean is at the Kentanah end of the complex. And, as I said in my original comment, all of the rooms at the White Sands are at least junior suites.
But everyone has their own priorities at a place like this. I didn’t use the spa, though it looked very nice. Nor did I use the archery or miniature golf areas — there’s lots of stuff to do, if you want to do things. I spent a day diving and spent the rest of my time relaxing and eating.
Thanks for the info!