Preferred Hotels & Resorts now require more Choice points – The Points Guy

If you wish to redeem Choice points for a stay at Preferred Hotels & Resorts, it’s unfortunate that award rates have increased at numerous properties within the collection.

Up until recently, you could exchange between 25,000 to 55,000 Choice points per night for stays at participating Preferred Hotels & Resorts. However, less than three months after it became possible to book Preferred Hotels & Resorts with Choice points online (which previously required a phone call), award rates at many properties have increased, now requiring between 20,000 and 87,000 Choice points per night. This increase in award pricing was first reported by Travel with Grant.

Interestingly, the Choice Hotels website’s Preferred Hotels & Resorts landing page continues to display past award rates for six of its properties.

However, when you proceed to book on the Preferred Hotels & Resorts website, the prices are higher than those listed. For instance, the Splendid Venice Venezia-Starhotels Collezione in Venice, Italy, once cost 55,000 Choice points per night. Currently, every award night available for booking at this hotel costs 66,000 points.

The cost of a night’s stay at The Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles has increased from 45,000 points to 51,000 points per night.

Cavallo Point in San Francisco used to require 55,000 points per night, but it currently demands 71,000 points per night.

The list continues. Furthermore, Preferred Hotels & Resorts properties are now available for up to 87,000 Choice points per night. These four properties include:

• Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa located in Manalapan, Florida
• Half Moon located in Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Hawks Cay Resort located in Duck Key, Florida
• Edgewood Tahoe Resort located in Stateline, Nevada

Award rates do not decrease rapidly either. The Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts, requires 86,000 Choice points per night, while two other properties each require 85,000 Choice points per night.

The minimum award rates for Preferred Hotels & Resorts start at 20,000 Choice points per night at The Thief in Oslo, Norway.

Numerous travelers are disheartened by the rise in award pricing. However, the partnership probably witnessed a significant uptick in redemptions once online bookings were introduced, potentially necessitating — or at least motivating — an increase in award rates. This pattern of elevated award rates is common across various hotel collaborations, such as the option to use Hyatt points for Mr & Mrs Smith properties.

Related: 14 methods to earn Choice Privileges points

I had thought about using 55,000 Choice points per night to stay at Noku Maldives, but this hotel is no longer available for booking through the Preferred Hotels & Resorts partnership. Therefore, with the current selection of properties and their award pricing, I don’t plan on redeeming Choice points for any Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

I’ll keep obtaining excellent value by redeeming Choice points for accommodations in Japan at a rate of 8,000 to 12,000 points per night, as well as in high-cost destinations where award nights can be up to 35,000 points per night. Typically, award nights at Choice Hotels properties range from 6,000 to 35,000 points throughout most of the world (excluding Asia Pacific, where they can reach up to 75,000 points). Additionally, I’ll be on the lookout for Choice Hotels Sweet Spot Rewards properties and Choice Privileges Experiences, as they both offer great opportunities to maximize the value of Choice points.