Why it makes sense to hotel hop... maybe?

Go hang out in Bangkok instead and pop back and forth between the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit and the Westin Sukhumvit next door. The hotel is used to accomodating this and will even move you directly from room to room...

I'd probably go ahead and hop.

One quick thought on the "math" aspect of it. I think your valuation of the free night is reasonable, so it makes sense to say you're taking $75 of the cost of the rooms. But...this means you can't really consider it a free night whenever you redeem that free night. That would be double dipping.

Either, these stays cost full price and you get a free night down the road, or these stays cost $75 less and the "free" night costs $225. Either way you're saving $225 at some point. Counting it on both sides is trying to claim a $550 savings that isn't actually happening.

Life is too short to completely pack up your room, be required to return to the first hotel, transport your belongings, and unpack at the second hotel. If I'm staying 3 nights, I prefer to find the hotel with the best locations and quality/service/value, and then enjoy my stay. I know I'm passing up getting credit for multiple stays, and while that is a shame, being able to use my time at the destination more productively has value. I guess that's why the loyalty programs often use stays as a criterion, only a few people would go to the trouble of the daily switch.

Great points from both Gary and Zach

I would definitely do the hotel hopping if you are travelling solo. As you mentioned, it's much more of a pain when with family or friends that aren't used to the types of things we do

Just did this in Boston, not for points but for balancing hotel nerdery with budget and the only drawback was that the hotels weren't that close and it was raining super hard when it was time to switch. The only other thing would be if you had plans during the day, feeling the need to get back to check out on time (4pm is sweet though)

For solo travel.....mattress hop!!!! I did in Vegas, 3 hotels in 6 days. However it was only to enjoy each hotel, I wasn't into points yet.

I'd switch if it was only me or me and just 1 person.

Personally, I can't do it because I'm usually traveling with a work team. But in your case you should since, as you state, reviewing the hotels is now part of your job.

When I'm alone, I switch.
When with the wife, I park it.

@Kate, changing hotels in the BOS rain is no fun, especially if there is a Noreaster.

The best options for mattress running are local hotels where you check in and out and rotate your stays so as to multiply your stays. With a 4pm checkout, true mattress running while actually traveling should not be that cumbersome providing the hotels are not located too far from each other.

@Lucky, I would value the free nights at potentially more than $275, if you book award stays at hotels that cost $400 or €400 a night.

Life is too short not to hop. I pack lightly, and always hop. It's fun. Or, if I'm with my husband and we don't change hotels, I check in one night, my husband checks in the next, etc. I ask the front desk if we can stay in the same room (makes housekeeping easier for all involved). Since I/we stay in a lot of hotels for only one night, I leave a decent top for to housekeeping - either $5 or $10 per day.

How many days do you need in between stays at the IC? Could you not go back after day 2 and start a new stay if you have a gap in between?

Oops...I leave a decent tip for housekeeping...

I'd hop. Not sure my wife would agree.

I am a marriott platinum. When i travel for long periods of time (e.g. i spent 2 weeks in london last month), i generally hop after every 2-3 nights. The reason for this is that when you show up with a two week reservation, marriott isnt willing to upgrade you to a nicer room - they will say no availability. So i always end up in a small room (and those of you traveling to london know how small those rooms can get). Now, if you are there for only 2-3 nights at a time, you have a better chance of getting upgraded to a nicer room (or a suite in my case each time). It also gives you an opportunity to check out other hotels and do some comparisons. during my two weeks there, i stayed at chancery court, london hall, grovenor house, and grovenor square.

I did this recently and will do it again. I have a routine trip that requires a 2.5-hour drive after flying across the nation. I stopped after 1.5 hours to stay at a Marriott brand to add 1-night and 1-stay to my account. With another stay at the end of the trip before an early flight out I got two stays in one trip and a free Cat-4 certificate.

Not being a hotelguy, I've to ask: which airline are you flying with?

Crazy. KL is a massive pain to move about in. You'll waste most of your vacation moving your belongings around.

I have a six night stay planned in Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. I was not planning on hotel hopping until the great Starwood promo was announced. Now I will change rooms every night between the different LAX hotels at a cost of ( Approx $125 per night) in order to score two free resort nights. Probably will use the freebies at The St Regis in Punta Mita ,Kuai or W South Beach. If redeemed at these places, I value the night at approx $400-$600.

Will a hotel ever let you check in and out without leaving the room?

Thanks for the feedback, folks!

@ Ralph -- You don't think I'm revealing that so easily, do you? The award portion of this is the true masterpiece. Stay tuned. 😀

@ Jon -- Sure, but it will only count as one stay, no matter how many times you check in and check out, if the nights are consecutive.

Given that it's a "vacation," I'd say stick in one spot!

While chasing the free nights is always tempting. The hassle of packing makes it not worth it. This is especially true for me when on vacation where my number one goal is get as much out of it as possible. Moving hotels will just get in the way of sight seeing. Now on a business trip I would go for it.

I think everyone's situation is different. If you were traveling with 3 young kids, moving hotels probably doesn't make sense. However, if you are traveling alone it can be a lot easier. There's also a number of us who rely on award stays to make travel affordable. For us it can be worth it.

You're staying at the wrong resorts if $225 is your valuation.

KL! FOOOD!!

Don't forget to take advantage of SPG BRG while you're at it for an extra 2k/stay. (A very large portion of my SPG bookings are with it)

@ Nybanker -- That's what I value them at, and not the retail price. I wouldn't pay more than $225 for an award stay at any of the hotels on the list, especially given that I don't earn points, stay credits, etc. There are plenty of great resorts out there, so I don't see any reason I should want to pay more than that for a one night stay.

On a per stay, free nights type promotion like BWB, you have to, its such a good deal. I was hopping between Hyatt and Hilton every night when Hilton also had the free night promotion. I wished there were 2 Hyatts in my area but there werent. I used the free nights at the Park Hyatt Shanghai and Grand Hyatt San Francisco and Hyatt Regency Monterey. It was well worth it.