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 hundred of 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 myself from 2024. 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 2024. It could be the location, the time of year, the particulars of our stay or a combination of everything, but each one of the properties below are still sticking with us at the end of the year.
Frequent Miler’s Favorite Hotel Stays of 2024
Greg *THE* Frequent Miler
St. Pancras London
We’ve come here so often that it’s like coming home. This is a good but somewhat ordinary hotel if you stay in the main section, but if you get upgraded to a suite in the Chambers Wing its like staying in a castle with an outstanding and elegant lounge. Almost every time we’ve been upgraded to a suite…and they’ve given us the same room that we had on our first visit!
Great Scotland Yard Hotel London
The Great Scotland Yard Hotel is a terrific hotel located smack in the center of London’s most iconic tourist spots. Steps from the hotel you’ll find Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, etc. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your perspective. Obviously, if you’re there to sightsee, it’s great. And, for others, the good news is that the hotel is tucked away on a quiet side-street. The bad news is that you can’t go far in any direction before having to push your way through throngs of tourists. I think the location is perfect for first time London visitors.
Amerikalinjen, Ascend Hotel Collection – Oslo, Norway
My stay at the Amerikalinjen Hotel was terrific. Even though I had booked with Choice points and don’t have elite status with Choice or with Strawberry hotels, we were proactively upgraded from a standard to a Superior room. While it wasn’t huge, it was beautifully appointed. Its tremendously high ceiling added to its glamour. The hotel’s location is perfect: It’s an easy walk from the hotel to many tourist sights, and it is very close to a metro stop for venturing farther. And for those arriving or departing by train (like we did), it’s directly across the street from the station. Breakfast is a highlight here. It is included for free with all bookings and we found the variety and quality to be excellent. Amazingly, you can optionally choose to have your free breakfast brought to you as room service. It’s a wonderful, elegant hotel right in the center of the action in Oslo, and great price with Choice points!
St Regis Chicago
We used Nightly Upgrade Awards and were upgraded to a very large, comfortable suite with a beautiful river view. If you get a suite, you get a butler. We actually brought shoes with us for the purpose of the free shoe shine service and also asked the butler to press some clothes and bring coffee daily (both are free services). You can ask for any kind of coffee such as lattes, french press, etc. Elite breakfast in the restaurant was good and the $60 credit per day was just enough but only because we didn’t order coffee with breakfast. Overall, it was a great stay!
Conrad Tokyo
Standard rooms are huge. They include big picture windows and a wall to wall sofa that acts as a huge window seat. I was upgraded to a room with a gorgeous bay view. Breakfast was top notch. Everything at this hotel is extremely elegant
Nick
Hotel Verte, Marriott Autograph Collection – Warsaw, Poland
This pick is one that didn’t even come to mind when Greg and I did our podcast episode about our favorite awards of 2024, but in hindsight it might have been my favorite hotel of the year not named Grand Hyatt Kauai. The hotel is an old palace and at least the first-floor rooms maintain the high ceilings and the bathrooms were spacious and spotlessly clean. What really made this one of my favorite hotel stays though was the situation: Based on a reader tip to check tickets for the overseas shows, I had gotten reasonably-priced tickets for my wife to see Taylor Swift in Warsaw.
I booked our rooms about 9 months in advance (and thank goodness for that as room rates soared!). The hotel fully leaned into the fact that everyone was there for the concert, playing nothing but Taylor Swift music 24 hours a day (seriously, not exaggerating) in the common areas, setting up life-size cutouts for photos, and keeping a free friendship bracelet-making-station in the lobby stocked throughout the stay, where guests mingled (my wife and sister ended up 1 row away from a family we met at breakfast and saw at the bracelet-making-station). I’m not personally a big Swiftie, but I felt like they nailed it for folks like my wife and I can appreciate the excitement I saw in so many folks throughout the stay.
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Grand Hyatt Kauai
The Grand Hyatt Kauai is a huge convention hotel, where it might take you 8-10 minutes to walk from the lobby to your room. Ordinarily, that description wouldn’t be one of flattery, but despite some of those ways in which the hotel might sound “typical”, I love the Grand Hyatt Kauai. The grounds are beautiful and well-maintained, the beach feels private and tranquil (oh how I miss the sunsets!), and the staff has that spirit of Aloha that I have found missing at resort factories on Maui (no disrespect to Maui — it’s beautiful — I just feel like the staff at the Grand Hyatt Kauai is a cut above other properties in the islands). We originally planned to spend 5 nights here and a few on the Big Island, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave and ended up extending our stay and skipping the Big Island this time. Many of us have hotels that truly feel like a home-away-from-home, and even though it had been a few years since our last visit, the Grand Hyatt Kauai felt like coming back home.
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Caption by Hyatt Namba – Osaka, Japan
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This nearly new hotel in Osaka is such a slamming deal that I couldn’t realistically consider staying anywhere else. It isn’t a luxury property, but it nails a combination of form and function that makes the most of relatively limited room space while the decor (like the samurai sord design of the clothes racks) is just the right amount of funky to strike a great balance. But the real reason this hotel makes my list — apart from being really well-located, just steps from Koronamon Market — is that it’s a Hyatt category 1…and a lot of dates are off-peak. I paid just 3,500 Hyatt points per night to stay right in the middle of Osaka, Japan. At that price, I just stopped looking — what was I going to book that could possibly be a better deal?
Stephen
Conrad Maldives
Long before we properly got into the points and miles world, my wife and I had been interested in visiting the Maldives. At the time that seemed like a bit of a pipe dream as we had no money, so we said we’d aim to visit the Maldives to celebrate our 20th anniversary and renew our vows (we decided that around the time of our 3rd anniversary to give a sense as to how long ago that was).
In 2024, we celebrated that 20th anniversary and spending it in the Maldives was a plan that came to fruition. In fact, thanks to hotel points and free night certificates, we were somewhat spoiled for choice in terms of which resorts we could book. We ultimately decided on an 8 night stay at the Conrad Maldives for a couple of reasons – the opportunity to stay in an overwater villa without having to pay a cash upgrade for the privilege of doing so and the chance to eat at Ithaa, the hotel’s undersea restaurant.
Staying here ended up being an excellent choice.
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort Spa and Casino
It’s an excellent hotel with an abundance of free and paid-for activities – you could probably stay there a week and not get bored.
Historic Davenport, Marriott Autograph Collection – Spokane, Washington
My wife and I spent a month in Washington state recently, with the first 10 days of that time in Spokane. We received a lovely upgrade to a junior suite with a fireplace. Service was good, it’s a beautiful property, has an interesting history and it’s a superb location for exploring downtown. It’s a beautifully restored property with pretty good elite recognition which is in a central spot that makes all of downtown walkable. In fact, we enjoyed our stay there (and Spokane itself) so much that we’ve booked another night there in a few months time when driving back through Washington.
Spirit Ridge (Hyatt) – Osoyoos, British Columbia
Spirit Ridge is in Osoyoos, just a few minutes over the US/Canadian border and about 3.5-4 hours from Spokane. Due to its climate, it’s a popular vacation spot for Canadians, with the town’s population swelling from Victoria Day in mid-to-late May through the end of summer/early fall.
The resort is beautiful, with all kinds of great amenities and features. Every room there is at least a one bedroom suite with a kitchen. There are separate adults-only and family pools and whirlpools, a water slide, hiking trails, a cultural center and even North America’s first indigenous-owned winery.
Breakfast options were very good, elite recognition – particularly when it come to room upgrades at check-in – was excellent and, depending on which suite you get, the views of the vineyard and Osoyoos Lake are tremendous. What makes this hotel even better is that it’s a category 4 property in the World of Hyatt program (it’s part of The Unbound Collection) and so you can redeem category 1-4 free night certificates there or as few as 12,000 points per night.
Tim
Hana-Maui Resort, Destination by Hyatt – Hana, Maui
Both my wife and I loved the Hana-Maui Resort. Built in 1935, the property is dated, but in a good way, with an “old-Hawai’i” feel that permeates the plantation-style bungalows, tin roofs and laid back atmosphere. This isn’t the place for folks looking to lay on the beach all-day, go out for fine dining and then watch a movie in the room afterwards. It feels more like a national parks lodge: there’s no TVs, no connected beach and the nightlife is non-existent…the hotel restaurant is the only place in town open after 7-8 pm. That said, it’s a great place to relax on a beautiful and sleepy side of Maui that most people only experience for an hour or two. We were there for one night and wished we’d had a couple more.
Hyatt Regency Palais de la Mediteranee – Nice, France
Amongst Hyatt’s properties in Europe, the Palais de la Mediteranee is one that’s often mentioned among folks’ favorites, and deservedly so. Set right on the Promenade des Anglais with a famous Art Deco façade, this might be my favorite Hyatt Regency ever. The location couldn’t be better, the service and elite treatment is superb and it’s seemingly impossible to find a room that doesn’t provide marvelous views of the turquoise water of the French Riviera. We loved our stay here and couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else in Nice.
Ortea Palace, Marriott Autograph Collection: Syracuse, Sicily
This might have been my favorite stay of 2024. The Ortea Palace occupies a 1920’s former post office perched right over the Porto Piccolo in old Syracuse. The location couldn’t be better and you can walk pretty much anywhere in the old city that you’d like to go. The restoration into a hotel is incredible: the property is absolutely gorgeous with copious amounts of red and white marble wrapped with period fabrics. Elite treatment is excellent, with delicious breakfasts served in a stunning dining room. We used Nightly Upgrade Awards and were upgraded to a two-floor suite with a soaking tub on the mezzanine, 20ft windows and two water-view balconies – we could watch sunrise from one and sunset from the other. Incredibly, it’s only 40,000 Marriott points per night.
Kasbah du Toubkal, Mr & Mrs Smith (Hyatt) – High Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Even before Hyatt purchased Mr & Mrs Smith (MMS), the Kasbah du Toubkal is a property that I’ve had my eye on. It’s a restored kasbah located about 40 miles from Marrakesh in the High Atlas Mountains beneath Jebel Toubkal, Morocco’s highest peak. Just getting there requires a 15-20 minute uphill hike from the town below, but don’t worry, your luggage is carried for you via mule. The property is staffed by members of the local Berber community, has an onsite hammam, great food and a plethora of wonderful trails just outside the (sizable) front door. Like many MMS properties the value with Hyatt points isn’t great, but it’s still a one-of-a-kind mountain retreat.
What’s a solo traveler to do? Do any rooms at these great places/ suites have 2 beds? Friends don’t like to share beds. I’ve always wondered about over water bungalows, and various suites. or is it only standard rooms that come with 2 queens?
Thanks for the look into these great options. If possible in the future, please include how many points/dollars you used for your stay with total nights. this would help provide prospective into fitting into reader’s budget and schedules. Great job!
That’s a great idea!
Definitely agree about Hana-Maui resort. We said exactly the same thing, wish we had booked more than one night and reminded us very much of Jasper Park Lodge. Even tried to cancel some nights at Westin Maui and Wailea Beach Resort but cancellation terms were too restrictive
Great list of hotels, thanks for sharing FM Team 🙂
Second the Hana-Maui Resort! What a great vibe.
As a side note, would be nice if the posts had photos imbedded and not relying on IG. For us non-IG user!
Thanks for the feedback about the IG posts. Where they’re included is primarily when we don’t have a Bottom Line Review written for hotels in question yet. Ideally, we’d always like to default to blog content and images vs IG reels, but there are some instances where we don’t have blog posts and images (yet) to fall back on.
Also, if you take a look at the IG reels that I shared, you can actually watch them within the post without having an Instagram account. Just hit the play button. You’ll only need to go to IG to watch them a second time. I see that Nick’s are shared in a different format that does require you to go to IG, I’ll try and get that fixed.
Appreciate the comments!
Understand totally, and appreciate the fantastic blog and work you all do! I listen to the podcast every week and check the site almost every day!
didn’t expect to see my hometown of Spokane mentioned here, but the Davenport really is a gem. we really are fortunate that it was saved after all the years it was closed/attempts to demolish it.
I have a friend who lives in Spokane who periodically posts pictures of meals she has at The Davenport and I’m sold on it if we ever make our way out there!