I am not one who chases elite status very much. I have never had an elite status on an airline (not counting the Southwest Companion Pass) and my only hotel elite statuses have come through credit cards, status matches and the such. I don’t travel for work and don’t like to pay for stays, so it’s hard to get hotel elite status the “regular” way.
I try not to get too tied up into the whole DYKWIA of status (best video ever), though I’m not always good at that
(SEE ALSO: I’m p***ed I didn’t get upgraded)
Plans are firming up for our trip to Peru in a little bit, and even though there is a government strike / huelga in Peru while we’ll be there, I wanted to get the rest of things booked up while we’re there. We have 5 nights at the Tambo del Inka in Urubamba, but there were still 3 nights that needed to get booked. One in Cuzco on our way back from the Sacred Valley, one in Lima before we fly back to the states, and then a night in Washington DC before we head back to Ohio. Here’s what I ended up booking.
Cuzco – Hilton Garden Inn Cuzco
I checked prices for the hotels in Cuzco but ended up going with the Hilton Garden Inn Cuzco (image from Hilton.com)
There were other non-chain options but I figured, I’ve got the points (especially since you can get 80,000 or 100,000 Hilton points pretty easily till 5/31) so might as well use points and save cash.
It was 20,000 points vs. a cash price of $116 with tax, so 0.58 cents per Hilton point which is slightly above average (I think of Hilton points as being “worth” 0.4 cents per point. I also considered using Barclay Arrival miles instead.
I had to book a 2 Doubles room but have requested a King room
Lima – Doubletree El Pardo Miraflores
Hotels in Lima are mostly centered in the more touristy Miraflores area. We looked at one hotel near the airport but decided to book the Doubletree El Pardo Miraflores (image from Hilton.com)
It looked like there is a Club Lounge there so that’s an option. One downside is that we won’t have very much time in Lima as our flight back from Cusco arrives in the afternoon and we have to fly out early the next morning. I was hopeful to move our flight from CUZ-LIM to earlier in the day but LAN apparently doesn’t release any award availability for closein dates (or else it’s all booked up, but that seems unlikely as there are like 10 flights a day every day.
I paid 29,000 points for a standard room vs. $115, or right about my average cost of 0.4 cents per Hilton point
Washington DC – Grand Hyatt Washington DC
A few weeks ago I asked for your opinions on hotels to book in Washington. I ended up booking the Grand Hyatt using my wife’s free night certificate. It’s a Category 4, which normally would cost 15,000 Hyatt points. The cash price is…. expensive 🙂
With tax, it’s $525 / night, so 3.5 cents per Hyatt point which is pretty solid value, but using a free night certificate is great. I am a Globalist with Hyatt, so I am hopeful to get upgraded to a room with a view and Club access. We won’t have much (any?) time to do anything too touristy at Washington, but a nice view of things would be appreciated as we have to resign ourselves to returning back to work and “real” life the next day…
Upgrades?
I have top tier status with both Hilton and Hyatt (Diamond and “Globalist”) so I am hopeful for upgrades. The things that I look for a nice view and breakfast / lounge access. I am hopeful to get upgraded in all 3 hotels, but we shall see.
Any recommendations on things to do with limited time in Cusco, Lima or Washington DC?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
With Hilton, you would not get an upgrade until the time of checkin. For Hyatt, did you check to see if you could use an upgrade certificate? Or maybe you don’t want to burn one for just one night? The suites at the Grand Hyatt in Washington are very spacious and beautiful!
Forgot that you said you used your free night for the Hyatt. 🙂
No airport hotels in D.C. that run less in points or cash? Why go into the city if you’re just going to haul out to the airport the next day?
Oh, and please, please change the default on comments to make it so that a person leaving a comment doesn’t automatically subscribe to the newsletter.
I have to go between airports (fly into IAD, out of DCA) so I thought I’d stay in town. We’re using a free night cert so point cost doesn’t matter as much. Yeah I could save the free night cert for another day but I seem to always have trouble using them
How is the Globalist upgrade going to work if you’re the Globalist and your wife’s certificate was redeemed? Would you guys still be able to get complimentary breakfast?
That’s what I’m not sure about and am trying to figure out