November 19, 2024
Best Use of Hilton Free-Night Certificates
Pam
Hilton offers our favorite annual free-night certificate of all the major hotel brands. Surprised? We talk about Hyatt so much, and Hilton is usually low on our radar—except when it comes to their free-night certificates. The reason why Hilton shines with their free nights is that you can use them at almost ANY Hilton—even the ultra-luxurious Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad properties. As long as you can find standard award night availability (which admittedly can sometimes be difficult), you can use one of these certificates. Let’s talk about the best ways to redeem a Hilton free-night certificate.
Hilton Free-Night Certificates
First, how do you get one? The premium Hilton card—the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire—comes with a free-night certificate when you open the card and each year on account renewal. Occasionally, Hilton will also include one as part of a welcome offer. At one point not too long ago, they offered one with the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card and all three of us AND our husbands jumped on it because those certificates are that good. (That offer has expired since then.) Overall, we ended up with four free-night certificates per couple and over 300K Hilton points per couple, so all three of us were looking for the best opportunities to use Hilton free-night certificates. Here were some of our favorite ideas—some we booked and some are on our wish list!
All information about the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.
Conrad Bora Bora
This is where Jess and her husband went with their free-night certificates. Alex and I also stayed there on our trip to Bora Bora. The standard rooms don’t come up often, but patience pays off, and you can find them. I would absolutely put that on my list of where to use a certificate if I hadn’t already been.
Hilton Conrad Bora Bora—Jess loved it, too.
Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal
This is where Alex and I both redeemed our certificates. Again, we had to look for a while to find the standard-award nights, but we found them. Jess actually was looking, noticed availability, and alerted us. Thanks, Jess! Setting an alert with Open Hotel Alert can help if you have specific dates you’re looking for. Max My Point is also great for finding dates with standard award night availability. Alex and I each went here with our husbands at different times so that I could help with Alex’s favorite trick—having Grandma babysit her cute boys! The Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal is a great use of the free-night certificate.
Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
One of the most popular Hilton hotels in the United States is the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. It would be an amazing stay for families, and their standard award rooms have either one king bed or two queen beds. A visit to San Diego is always fun, and this beachfront hotel in San Diego is historic and iconic.
The Hotel del Coronado is the perfect beach vacation.
Conrad Maldives, Rangali Island
We love the Maldives, and if that is a dream destination for you, too, the Conrad Maldives might be a great place to use your free-night certificates. Being able to stay there for free would be amazing, and it even has an undersea restaurant!
Beach villa bedroom – picture from Conrad Hotel website.
Grand Wailea Maui
If Hawaii is your pick, the Grand Wailea Maui is a great choice. It’s right next door to one of my favorite Maui hotels, and the grounds are spectacular. Another tip: Hilton just finished a $350 million renovation of this property, so it should be looking like spectacular. It’s definitely an aspirational stay. Let me know if you have stayed there and what the rooms look like now. It is on my radar, and Jess has it booked for next summer.
The Grand Wailea aerial via from Waldorf Astoria website.
Waldorf Astoria Park City
I’m not a cold-weather vacation person, but this would be perfect for a skier or snowboarder. (Any stay at a Waldorf Astoria is a good pick.) Park City is a beautiful and fun town, and the Waldorf Astoria Park City looks gorgeous. Jess and her family used two Hilton free night certificates to stay here this past summer while visiting Alex and her family in Utah, and they loved it!
Conrad Koh Samui
The Conrad Koh Samui was on a short list for me, and I may use points to stay there. Thailand is a dream, and I want to return. I haven’t been to Koh Samui, but I want to check it out.
Photo from Conrad Hotel website.
Bottom Line
These are just some of the best hotels to use a Hilton free-night certificate. What Hiltons have you stayed at that should make the list? We’d love to hear from some of you about where you have stayed or where you would like to stay.
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We used our 2 at the Waldorf Astoria in DC. Not the absolute top value but somewhere we would never stay otherwise. I would be a little more strategic if I had it to do again. I didn’t realize how valuable those nights were.
Conrad Fort Lauderdale, Florida!
I stayed at the Waldorf Astoria on Maui and it was really outdated and dingy. The pools and grounds were pretty but the rest was very meh and I would prefer Hyatt Regency Maui.
I was never able to use a certificate there though. I called multiple times to the diamond desk and was told it’s not eligible. I ended up doing a timeshare presentation and got a great deal.
That is what I was worried about with the Waldorf Astoria there. Thanks for letting us know. I’ll cross it off my list!
Are they available to use at Hilton Moorea?
IF you can find standard room award availability, that is the hard part! It took me a long time to find it at the Conrad Bora Bora.