pool area of Doubletree Sonoma, Rohnert Park, CA

My computer suddenly opened up a weblink to the PointStretcher Dates Calendar for May and June 2008. It was unintentional on my part so I take it as a sign to post about Hilton.

PointStretchers are great when you can use them for a reservation and the 40% savings really does stretch your points for awards.

I see the Hilton Budapest is available for late June pointstretcher dates. My wife and I stayed here on a PointStretcher in 2002 in July and the King Duna Suite upgrade was one of the most memorable hotel stays we have ever experienced. The hotel is on the Castle Hill. The hill is so steep the city has had the Castle Hill funicular for nearly 140 years (rebuilt in 1986 after funicular destroyed in WWII).

Lovely acoustic guitars and local folk music drifted up from the courtyard to our room windows and the views from the room of the Danube River let us see for miles. In contrast to the vista of the valley was an upclose view of the Fisherman’s Bastion Disneyesque building located directly outside the window. A more detailed link about Fisherman’s Bastion is here. The view is incredibly beautiful. The King Duna suite was at the height of the upper part of the Bastion and to my recollection was less than 100 ft away. The entire area was a popular romantic evening getaway for couples. And there were lots of couples on the warm July evenings looking over the lights of the city below.

View of San Francisco Ferry Building from Hyatt Regency Embarcadero

If you’re going to San Francisco…

Hyatt Gold Passport has a 5,000 points bonus special offer for 2-night (or longer) stays through the summer months.

The promotion runs from today, May 28, 2008 through August 31, 2008.

Gold Passport Offer Code = SFO5K which needs to be inserted in the reservation booking page.

All the Bay area Hyatt Hotels are participating:

- Hyatt Regency San Francisco at the Embarcadero
- Hyatt Regency San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf
- Grand Hyatt San Francisco
- Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
- Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
- Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel and Spa, Santa Rosa

I did a few booking checks and rates are as low as $179.10/night for Grand Hyatt and San Francisco Hyatt Regency for July 3-5 on AAA rate. Weekends in San Francisco have lower hotel rates, except for Fisherman’s Wharf.

The SFO airport Hyatt and Santa Clara are the best deals for people wanting stay credit and points at a low rate with rates close to $100/night for some dates in summer.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa has lowest rates midweek.

Points Calculator:
Assume $360 base rate for two nights in San Francisco.

Earn 5 points/$1 = 1,800 points.

Plus, earn 5,000 points bonus.

6,800 points is enough for two upgrade awards using points.

A free night at a Category 1 hotel is 5,000 points or 8,000 points for a Category 2 hotel. Last month I redeemed 8,000 points for a Category 2 hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix when I attended the Freddies Awards. I received a 1,000 points award rebate at the hotel at check-in. 7,000 points saved me the cost of a $300/night hotel room.

This is a good Hyatt Gold Passport deal. Spend a couple nights in San Francisco and earn a free night’s worth of bonus points with the SFO5K offer.

See other Hyatt Gold Passport Exclusive Offers for bonus points at other hotels.