As most of you are probably aware, Hilton Honors now has a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), letting members redeem points at some amazing properties. This opens up all kinds of great redemptions, though Frequent Miler highlights what might just be one of the highest value hotel redemption opportunities we’ve ever seen with any program.
In this post:
Redeem Hilton Honors points at RiverView Ranch
RiverView Ranch Retreat & Western Adventures is located in Alberton, Montana, and is now part of the SLH collaboration with Hilton Honors. When a standard accommodation is available (the “King Lakefront Suite”), the hotel is bookable for 130,000 Hilton Honors points per night.
Hilton Honors elite members get a fifth night free, meaning you could pay as little as 104,000 points per night, in the right increments. You can even use Hilton Honors free night awards here.
As a point of comparison, the cash cost would be $3,724 per night before taxes and fees, and comes out to $4,766.72 per night all-in (there’s a 20% resort fee, to cover many of the activities).
Personally I value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, meaning I’d consider 130,000 points to be worth $650, and I’d consider 104,000 points to be worth $520. Suffice it to say that this is an astonishingly good use of points.
Now, I can’t vouch for whether the hotel is worth the retail price, but it’s not often you get to redeem points at a property charging nearly $5K per night. Just be aware of the cancelation policy:
Cancellations fees: 20% of total stay if cancelled between booking date and 2PM (local) – 61 days prior to arrival; after 60 days prior to arrival – 100% of total stay.
What’s included with a RiverView Ranch stay?
If you want to learn more about RiverView Ranch, check out the lodge’s website. This property seems to consist of a 12,000 square foot lodge, with just nine rooms. Based on looking at the rooms, you’re definitely not paying the high price tag for the accommodations, but rather for the overall experience.
The lodge is in the middle of nature, so as you’d expect, it’s heavily focused on the outdoors. This is marketed as an all-inclusive experience, covering everything from food and drinks, to activities, to airport transfers. For what it’s worth, Missoula International Airport (MSO) is roughly a 40-minute drive away.
You can learn more about the food here, and learn more about the experiences here. Below is a sample recommended itinerary for a stay, though it’s entirely customized for each guest, based on their preferences.
Bottom line
I love Hilton’s collaboration with SLH, given the unique opportunities it opens up, where you can earn and redeem points. While there are lots of cool opportunities, RiverView Ranch is on a different level. You can redeem just 130,000 Hilton Honors points per night at a property that would retail for nearly $5K per night.
This is a fun option, and I’m tempted to book. However, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the experience to be worth the price tag. But given the real price you’re paying with Hilton Honors points, I can’t imagine it would disappoint!
Anyone plan on staying at RiverView Ranch?
Which of the following two statements better reflects how much the points spent on a standard redemption at this ranch would be "worth"?
$650 or nearly $5K?...
Fees are thru the roof. Here's what I found for these rates:
Total for stay
435,000 Points + $7,884.48
King Lakefront Suite
Standard Room Reward
Total room charge
$6,159.75
Total Points
435,000 Points
Total fees
$1,231.95
Total taxes
$492.78
Total for stay:
435,000 Points + $7,884.48
Total room charge
$6,159.75
Total Points
435,000 Points
Total fees
$1,231.95
Total taxes
$492.78
@ LBJ -- Hmmm, what am I missing? When I try to make a points booking, I don't see any fees listed.
Ah! I figured it out..was trying to purchase the last final points needed! Transfered from AMEX and confirmed the booking with no fees. Looks like a cool property - great find!
A sample itinerary for a five-night experience at the RiverView Ranch from their website:
Day 1: Pickup from airport, arrive, carriage ride, farm-to-table dinner
...Day 2: Breakfast, trail ride, picnic lunch, shooting range (including clay pigeons), dinner
Day 3: Breakfast, ranch and garden tour, lunch, paintball, lawn games, lakeside dinner
Day 4: Carriage ride to breakfast, spa day (massage, facial, sauna), lunch, riverfloat/water activities, BBQ
Day 5: Breakfast, transfer to airport
A sample itinerary for a five-night experience at the RiverView Ranch from their website:
Day 1: Pickup from airport, arrive, carriage ride, farm-to-table dinner
Day 2: Breakfast, trail ride, picnic lunch, shooting range (including clay pigeons), dinner
Day 3: Breakfast, ranch and garden tour, lunch, paintball, lawn games, lakeside dinner
Day 4: Carriage ride to breakfast, spa day (massage, facial, sauna), lunch, riverfloat/water activities, BBQ
Day 5: Breakfast, transfer to airport
How in the heck are they getting away with $4K+/night? This itinerary would presumably be over $20K?? The room pictures are pretty sad too
Anybody worth networking with that would spend this kind of money probably has a vacation home/ranch in Montana already
Apologies for not realizing you already posted the sample itinerary @Lucky, the images hadn't loaded as I was reading the article
@ betterbub -- I appreciate it! I was updating the post after publishing it, so I think you posted it as I was working on the post. Appreciate it! :-)