Separately I wrote about the fact that Choice Privileges points can be used to book many (but not all) high-end Preferred Hotels & Resorts. When starting with Citi ThankYou points, you can get great value this way. This is because it is now possible to transfer Citi ThankYou points 1 to 2 to Choice. Whatever Choice charges for a stay, you would only need half as many ThankYou points to make it happen. That makes Preferred Hotels & Resorts a great value option for redeeming Citi points.
Coincidentally, shortly after posting “Preferred Hotels & Resorts via Choice: Value unlocked. Frustration assured” I received a PR announcement from Preferred Hotels trumpeting: “Preferred Hotel Group Celebrates Annual Independent Hotel Day With Announcement Of 2021 I Prefer Members’ Choice Award Winners.” Normally I’d hit “delete” before finishing the first sentence of an email like this, but this time I was curious: How many of these members’ choice award winners are available to book with Choice points and at what price?
Below you’ll find each of the Preferred Hotels award winners, along with info about whether or not each is available to book with Choice points, and the point price when available. Remember that you would only need half as many Citi ThankYou points to book these as long as you have a Citi Premier or Citi Prestige card to enable 1 to 2 transfers.
Top Hotels in North America
Five out of ten of the top hotels in the Americas are available to book with Choice Privileges points:
- Atelier Playa Mujeres – Cancun, Mexico (Not Available with Points)
- Estudio Playa Mujeres – Cancun, Mexico (Not Available with Points)
- Biltmore Hotel – Coral Gables, Florida, United States (Not Available with Points)
- Boston Harbor Hotel – Boston, Massachusetts, United States: 55K Points Per Night (but rarely available)
- Baccarat Hotel New York, New York, United States (Not Available with Points)
- Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach – Honolulu, Hawaii, United States: 45K Points Per Night
- The Broadmoor – Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States: 45K Points Per Night
- Chatham Bars Inn – Chatham, Massachusetts, United States (Not Available with Points)
- Hotel Monteleone – New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: 45K Points Per Night
- Windsor Court – New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: 55K Points Per Night (but rarely available)
Top Hotels in Europe
Seven out of ten of the top hotels in Europe are available to book with Choice Privileges points:
- Belmont Champs Elysees – Paris, France: 35K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Grand Hotel Excelsior – Valletta, Malta: 35K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Grand Hotel Tremezzo – Lake Como, Tremezzo, Italy (Not Available with Points)
- The Stafford London – London, United Kingdom (Not Available with Points)
- Pulitzer Amsterdam – Amsterdam, Netherlands: 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Dromoland Castle Hotel – County Clare, Ireland (Not Available with Points)
- Alcyhymist Grand Hotel & Spa – Prague, Czechia: 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Excelsior Palace Hotel – Rapallo, Italy: 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Hotel Villa Cipriani – Asolo, Italy: 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Dylan Dublin – Dublin, Ireland: 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
Top Hotels in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa
Only three out of ten of the top hotels in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa are available to book with Choice Privileges points, and all three are in Singapore!:
- The Fullerton Hotel Singapore – Singapore: 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- The Fullerton Bay Hotel – Singapore: 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Royal Plaza on Scotts – Singapore: 35K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- The Brando – Tetiaroa, French Polynesia (Not Available with Points)
- Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu, Maldives – Dhuni Kohlhu Island, Maldives (Not Available with Points)
- Andara Resort & Villas – Phuket, Thailand (Not Available with Points)
- The Fullerton Hotel Sydney – Sydney, Australia (Not Available with Points)
- Coco Bodu Hithi, Maldives – North Male Atoll, Maldives (Not Available with Points)
- Akasaka Excel Hotel Tokyu – Tokyo, Japan (Not Available with Points)
- Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay – Fnideq, Morocco (Not Available with Points)
Top Hotels in the Caribbean, Central, and South America
Only three out of ten of the top hotels in the Caribbean, Central, and South America are available to book with Choice Privileges points:
- Turtle Inn – Placencia, Belize (Not Available with Points)
- Half Moon – Montego Bay, Jamaica: 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- Pink Sands Resort – Harbour Island, Bahamas (Not Available with Points)
- Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa – Sandys, Bermuda (Not Available with Points)
- Cap Maison Resort & Spa – Gros Islet, Saint Lucia (Not Available with Points)
- Condado Vanderbilt Hotel – San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States: 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- West Bay Club – Providenciales, Turks & Caicos (Not Available with Points)
- 100 Luxury Suites – Bogota, Colombia (Not Available with Points)
- Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Not Available with Points)
- Hotel Club Francés Buenos Aires – Buenos Aires, Argentina: 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
More “Best” Hotels
There are many fantastic Preferred Hotels & Resorts beyond those listed above. To find a few, I looked back at a couple of past posts of mine where I dug through Travel & Leisure’s “World’s Best” lists to find point-bookable hotels:
- “World’s Best” points-bookable hotels & resorts in the continental United States 2020
- The Best Points-Bookable Hotels in the World (includes data from 2020 and 2021)
Here are the hotels from the above posts which are bookable with Choice points:
Cala de Mar Resort & Spa Ixtapa, Mexico
- #38 on Travel & Leisure’s Top 100 Hotels in the World for 2020
- 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
The Middle House, Shanghai
- #69 on Travel & Leisure’s Top 100 Hotels in the World for 2020
- 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
The Fullerton Hotel Singapore
- #77 on Travel & Leisure’s Top 100 Hotels in the World for 2021
- 45K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
- This hotel was also listed above in the Top Hotels in Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa
The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown, Houston
- #6 of Travel & Leisure’s Top 15 City Hotels in the Continental U.S. in 2020
- 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
Hotel Emma, San Antonio, Texas
- #15 of Travel & Leisure’s Top 15 City Hotels in the Continental U.S. in 2020
- 55K Points Per Night (Check Availability)
Bottom Line
The lists above only scratch the surface in showing the many great hotels that are bookable with Choice points thanks to Choice’s partnership with Preferred Hotels & Resorts. Citi’s new ability to transfer points 1 to 2 to Choice makes these awards a great value. Unfortunately, booking these awards is unbelievably frustrating. Before you dive in, make sure to read my previous post for tips: Preferred Hotels & Resorts via Choice: Value unlocked. Frustration assured.
Do you have recommendations for Choice bookable Preferred Hotels that didn’t make the lists above? Please comment below.
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[…] year, so make sure you'll be ready to use them or you'll lose them. Also keep in mind that select preferred hotels can be booked through Choice Privilegespotentially better value (especially if you transfer 1:2 from Citi ThankYou […]
Boston Harbor Hotel has NO avail from now till as far in 2025 that I checked. Has anyone actually ever stayed there on Choice Points?
Any idea if the new Montage in Big Sky is available on points?
https://www.montagehotels.com/bigsky
It doesn’t appear to be available yet
I called Choice today to try and book Cavallo Point. Total of 4 CS reps and 43 minutes on the call. The last CS rep actually knew what Preferred Hotels and Resorts was (unlike the first 3) but then told me that this property no longer participates in Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Called her out and said that the property was still on the availability calendar and then she told me that the error was because I told her the property is in Sausalito but it is actually in San Francisco. When I asked her “Since Cavallo Point is now in San Francisco, can you book my reservation?” She told me the best she could do was put in a ticket. -_- (I told her to put in a ticket. I could really use a drink right about now.)
Lol. 43 minutes isn’t even close to enough pain to book a place like Cavallo Point. Choice monitors your frustration level and only goes ahead with a booking once your 1 to 10 frustration dial is at 11.
Half moon Jamaica no availability for 2022.really????
Only somewhat related, but the iPrefer (Preferred Hotels loyalty program) has an Offers tab. You can get buy 3, get 4th night free, or kids eat free +10%off, or 10% off plus free breakfast using various credit cards to book. I found it helpful when I stayed at the Hotel Effie in Sandestin, FL.
Good to know, thanks!
Does anyone have any experience calling CP toll free number to book a room? I find that CP reps answer the phone in another country and are “english as a second language”. While the CP reps try to be helpful it can be a frustrating experience to communicate.
Yes, I wrote about how much fun it is to call here: https://frequentmiler.com/preferred-hotels-resorts-via-choice-value-unlocked-frustration-assured/
M2M did a similar write up and they found the Montage in Laguna Beach, CA as a worthy redemption at 4.7x per TYP. An $1100 a night property
Have stayed at many of the Preferred hotel group using Choice points over the past half decade; the highlights of which for us were definitely the Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore and The Europe in Ireland (the pools at both are unreal).
You are almost underselling how difficult/ non-straightforward the booking process is compared to a typical reward booking, but well worth the effort.
Great info, thanks!
The Lodge at Cavallo Point is an excellent option at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County right across from San Francisco. It’s very luxurious and the restaurant, check in, and some of the rooms are located in renovated historic military buildings. I am a local and would totally consider it for a staycation with the 2:1 TYP transfer ratio.
That’s great to know because that’s the property I booked (which I wrote about here: https://frequentmiler.com/preferred-hotels-resorts-via-choice-value-unlocked-frustration-assured/)!
Now, unfortunately there’s a good chance I’m going to have to change the dates of my stay and that means calling again. Yikes!
Having been to the Broadmoor Resort many times, I can report that it is truly magnificent. The complex has so many amenities and amusements, it would be difficult to mention the all. Horseback riding, snow skiing, ice skating, golf, the list goes on. It you like the mountains and fresh air, you’ll love the Broadmoor!
I’ve never been, but almost went…
Back in 2013, Boarding Area was planning to host a number of bloggers at the Broadmoor, but they ended up changing to another hotel because Prince Harry was going to be at the Broadmoor at the same time and the Broadmoor could no longer provide the exclusive meeting space that was originally planned.
I think Hotel Emma is by far the best value American hotel on this list, assuming that you’re booking it with Choice points transferred from Citi. Not only is it an incredible property, part of an even more incredible complex of shop and restaurants, and probably one of the most unique hotels in the whole US, but it usually goes for a high nightly rate. Getting it for $250-ish worth of Citi TY points per night is a steal.
I live about 30 minutes from “The Pearl” development, which is where the Hotel Emma is located inside of the old Pearl Brewery building from the 1800’s. I often visit the many shops and restaurants there and have stayed at the hotel too. It really is an amazing use of a historic property!!
I can’t wait to try it out someday!