The Hilton Honors program has grown on me greatly in the past few years for several reasons:
- It’s easy to earn Hilton’s top tier Diamond status with the Aspire Card
- Historically one of Hilton’s biggest challenges has been that their luxury footprint was limited, though this is an area in which they’ve been improving greatly
- Their points earning rates are excellent for hotel stays, so staying at Hiltons is rewarding
So while I don’t find the need to be “loyal,” I’m increasingly interested in Hilton’s luxury footprint. That’s also why I’m excited about the number of luxury properties they’ve added in the past few years, like the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.
Well, there’s another luxury property that has just joined the Hilton portfolio that’s worth knowing about, in my opinion.
Zemi Beach House, A Hilton LXR Hotel
Zemi Beach House in Shoal Bay, Anguilla, has just joined the Hilton Honors portfolio as an LXR Hotel.
For those of you not familiar, LXR is Hilton’s independent luxury hotel brand that launched as of late 2018, and as of now there are only a few of them. Zemi Beach House is the first LXR property in the Americas, and only the third in the world (after Dubai and London).
The beachfront hotel originally opened in 2016 and has 65 rooms, and is also Hilton’s first property in Anguilla.
The hotel has three pools including family and adult-only pools.
On top of that, the hotel has five dining venues/bars, described as follows:
- Stone, a fine dining restaurant serving seasonal, locally sourced, sea-to-table cuisine along with a large international selection of carefully chosen fine wines served by Zemi Beach House’s in-house sommelier
- 20 Knots, a casual “toes-in-the-sand” restaurant and beach bar offering an international menu with a variety of cuisines infused with the flavors of Latin America
- Rhum Room, a refined and elegant rum tasting room featuring more than 100 small-batch, single-estate rums that recall the Caribbean’s 18th-century sugarcane plantations
- Shoal Bay Zemi Beach Club, the resort’s casual “no shoes, no problem” atmosphere serving inventive cocktails against the backdrop of crystal-clear turquoise waters and towering palm trees
- The Bohio Bar & Lounge, the Zemi Beach House bar that serves pre- and after-dinner cocktails, champagne and wines by the glass for guests to gather and enjoy live music and conversation
Then there’s Zemi Thai House Spa, set in an authentic 300-year-old Thai house boasting 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space.
I’ve never been to Anguilla before, though I feel like this hotel is giving me a reason to visit. So many of my decisions lately seem to be motivated by points — for example, I never thought I’d vacation on a private island in Nicaragua, but yep, that’s happening.
Redeem Hilton Honors Points At Zemi Beach House
Zemi Beach House is bookable for 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night, which is quite a bargain when you consider that paid rates here run $800+ per night in high season.
On top of that, when booking a cash rate you have to pay a total of 24% in taxes and service charges, while those don’t apply on points bookings.
If you want to earn Hilton points for a redemption here, see this post for the best credit cards for earning Hilton Honors points, and see this post for the best hotel credit cards for earning free nights.
Bottom Line
It’s great to finally have a luxury points option in Anguilla. This hotel looks quite nice to me (though perhaps not “epic”), and I hope to check it out at some point.
While Hilton’s LXR portfolio is growing at a snail’s pace, ultimately I love the concept of “independent” luxury hotels participating in global loyalty programs.
Does anyone have plans to visit Zemi Beach House now that they’re part of Hilton?
Hi Ben,
Responding to your comment:
"On top of that, when booking a cash rate you have to pay a total of 24% in taxes and service charges, while those don’t apply on points bookings."
I would like to book a trip. Paying with points and saving and additional 24% sounds too good to be true.
Have you used points for a stay on the island and confirmed the 24% in taxes and service charges...
Hi Ben,
Responding to your comment:
"On top of that, when booking a cash rate you have to pay a total of 24% in taxes and service charges, while those don’t apply on points bookings."
I would like to book a trip. Paying with points and saving and additional 24% sounds too good to be true.
Have you used points for a stay on the island and confirmed the 24% in taxes and service charges are not added to at check out?
Do you have a source for this information?
Thank you!
Heading there later this month. Can't wait as Anguilla and Shoal Bay is our most favorite beach in the world. Used my free weekend night from $15K spend on the Surpass AMEX as well as Hilton Honors points with fifth night free.
It will be easier to get to Anguilla later this year when Jet Blue will start operating a nonstop from FLL to AXA.
Too bad it’s sold out on the weekend of March 13. Would love to burn some hilton pesos (and free nights)
@Matt nope SRQ/TPA.
@MACH81: are you in Miami? You can take Jet Blue from FLL, or take Delta through ATL. (I'm taking the late Sunday night MCO-ATL flight, then on the early ATL-SXM).
The lovely MIA-SXM flights are on the Max for April. Mmm...
I had been looking at various options close to NYC/CT for a warm weather destination in March.
Was considering other options when I saw this so I Just booked 5 nights in March on points. Should be an easy flight to SXM either on UA or JetBlue. Strange that the only 95k points option you show above and which was available for booking was a 2 Queen Bed room.
@RC and @Lee thank you! Nice option indeed!
I stayed at Zemi in 2017 and booked it for a corporate retreat in early 2018 before they were hammered by the hurricane and we had to withdraw the group offer. Glad to see they have recovered, and especially that it is points-accessible now. Can't say enough good things about the setting and the service. And (at least in 2017), the entire transfer from SXM (shuttle to ferry, ferry itself, and ferry pickup/hotel transfer) was included in the rate.
@MACH81. As RC says, fly to SXM and ferry or take AAS 7 min flight. I highly recommend that. JetBlue just signed a deal with AXA to fly direct from FLL so look for that sometime last 2020
@MACH81 The most practical way to get to Anguilla is to fly to SXM and take a ferry - about 20 mins. The island and property are stunning and definitely worth a visit.
Unfortunately it seems you have the spend the night in SJU since the SJU-AXA leaves SJU at 10am. Terrible schedule (arrives there at 11.05 and returns to SJU at 11.50am
On a saab340
I'm staying here as part of my honeymoon in January. Booked before the LXR announcement was made, using Citi Prestige 4th night free. So excited.
@Lucky: is it clear (in practice, not just on paper) what the Diamond benefits will be? Probably very little evidence I imagine at Zemi specifically since it just took on the LXR brand.
Glad to see more aspirational redemption options being added to Hilton. It's hard for me to get excited to accumulate points so that I can stay at a Hilton Garden Inn in Topeka.
I was just in ST Martin and Anguilla for my birthday in November! The Zemi is stunning and shoal bay is definitely one of the best beaches in the world! There is nothing to do in Anguilla though which is really nice for a beach vacation.
I have stayed in this property last year.
Quite solid structure, amenities and the service was top notch!
So you've already booked a stay at Calala Island??