Hong Kong Hotels for Grandma

Now that my grandmother's flights were booked for her 65th Birthday trip to Korea and Hong Kong, it was time to get her hotels booked.

Fortunately, we had spent 5 days in Hong Kong ourselves in 2014 so we could offer some recommendations.

Since Hong Kong (like NYC) is quite expensive for hotels, we didn't want to use cash when we had so many hotel points and awards at our disposal where we could get out-sized redemption value.

InterContinental
For the first night, we used 50,000 IHG points to book her in the InterContinental Hong Kong on the Kowloon side where she would be right on the Avenue of the Stars to enjoy the nightly laser light show.

Retail cash prices were $351 USD, so we were getting 0.7 cents/IHG point. Not a great redemption, but it's actually just a placeholder booking until September when we'll rebook it. Recall, just for having the Chase IHG Visa credit card ($49 annual fee), we get a Free Night Award certificate at every anniversary - which is September for us. So even after paying the annual fee, we'll save $302 cash for a night at one of the best hotel properties in Hong Kong.

Conrad
Then for the last two nights, we booked my grandmother at the Conrad Hong Kong which was back on the mainland side.

Just like with IHG, we had a Free Night Award with Hilton. Unlike IHG, however, this award is only good for a weekend night (Fri, Sat or Sun). So we used it for the last night of my grandmother's Hong Kong trip which was a Friday night.

However, we wanted her to enjoy another night at the Conrad since they offered an amazing (complimentary) buffet breakfast for Hilton Gold members each morning at their Garden Cafe (if you ask nicely). So we used 80,000 Hilton HHonors points to book another award night on Thursday.

The cash retail prices for the Conrad Hong Kong were $404/night after taxes, so we were saving $808 at least by using the weekend award certificate and points. While not the best redemption (approximately 0.5 cents/HH point), it was a very compelling use of Hilton HHonors points given the quality of the hotel.

Plus, they should get a late checkout so that they'll have a relaxing final day before heading to Hong Kong Airport to enjoy the Cathay Pacific business class lounge.

I hope you have a great birthday trip, Grandma!