Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
A couple of weeks ago Hilton kicked off their integration of Small Luxury Hotels (SLH) properties with the addition of three properties – Teranka Formentera (one of the Balearic Islands), Nobu Hotel Marbella in Spain and Flemings Mayfair in London.
That list has now been expanded to a total of 18 properties including properties in Scotland, Denmark, Hong Kong, China, Nicaragua and more.
You can see the updated list here. Two of the highlights on this list are the highly rated Calala Island in Nicaragua and the Grand Hotel Victoria Concept and Spa – Lago di Como in Italy. The latter is a property that Nick has visited a couple of times (see his reviews here and here) although I haven’t been able to find any availability at either of those properties.
In fact, I’ve struggled to find any availability whatsoever at the handful of properties I’ve checked, so it seems like Hilton is still in the process of properly integrating these hotels. If there are any that you’re particularly interested in, it’d be worth monitoring them each day because if and when dates do become bookable with points, I suspect that availability will dry up again quickly.
I did manage to find one hotel with at least some availability. The Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa in Jackson, WY – just a short drive from Grand Teton National Park and 1-2 hours from Yellowstone National Park – has about two weeks at the end of October/beginning of November bookable with cash or points. The cash rate ranges from $435-$640 with taxes and fees, with points bookings ranging from 94,000-105,000. That means you’d be looking at getting 0.46-0.61cpp (cents per point) of value. That’s not amazing on the low end, but a bit better on the high end, especially if you can take advantage of Hilton’s 5th night free benefit on award stays.
I imagine that we’ll see Hilton continue to gradually roll out more SLH properties, so we’ll keep you updated when we notice more hotels going live.
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I had called Grand Hotel Victoria Concept and Spa yesterday and they said it would be live today. Sure enough, I just found 5-night availability in October. Going for 120K/night. Enjoy!
That was already there yesterday, though.
When I saw it (before this post) the hotel was showing up but you couldn’t book it. It said “Call to book”. I guess it went live sometime after that yesterday, I didn’t check again.
I’m hoping my dates open in the future, but seeing how scarce it is now I’m not expecting it will.
I’ve been checking on the hour (minus when I was sleeping) and I haven’t seen anything open up yet. Hoping your dates open up!
I never wanted to part with the enormous number of Hyatt points needed for Calala & Rusty Parrot (before the fire). Now, however, I can easily transfer my 230k (recent 200k MR AMEX Biz Plat SUB + 30k MR ($20k SUB spend at 1.5) at 2x (or wait for a better AMEX transfer bonus) to easily book 5 nights. VERY excited about this partnership!
Not seeing anything for cash or points for Calala for the full calendar. Hopefully they standard room availability!
They were available for 3+ nights at a time for 150k points a night. Great value here but the limited nights were snatched up quick
I am seeing some dates available in Oct for the Grand Hotel Victoria
120k points
So some Oct dates for 120k Hilton points = ~$600/night.
Previously booked Aug dates for 25k Hyatt points = ~$450/night
I dont care. Stayed here last week. WORTH EVERY PENNY. Take my points. All of them.
lol. Glad you enjoyed it! Definitely a gem of a property.
Do you think Arizona Castle Hot Springs will become bookable via Hilton? It’s my understanding this property was not available thru the SLH partnership with Hyatt.
No idea at the moment I’m afraid.
[…] Update (Jun 26, 2024) – More properties are now available for booking through Hilton channels. You can choose from a total of 18 SLH hotels. (HT: FM) […]
Thanks for the update!
I have a cash booking next month at Grand Victoria via SLH (Hyatt Prive like). The Hilton website currently shows it Sold Out for those dates. Wondering if it is possible to re-book in order to earn Hilton points.
I really wouldn’t risk it. Not worth the potential to lose your booking IMO.