Best Place to use Hilton Points

Not2L8

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Which Hilton property would you choose if you are using points for your stay? I have about 100,000 points to use for two nights. I prefer Disney Springs area; do you get things like EMH?

Thanks!
 
We are Hilton Honors Diamond. Stayed all three DS Hiltons.

Depending on your dates you should have more than enough for two nights.

Disney Springs my choices would be:
1) Doubletree Suites if looking for space, nicely appointed suites, least amount of points.
2) Buena Vista Palace if looking for awesome pool area.
3) Would only book Hilton LBV if other two were full.

hiroMYhero covered that you get EMH and 60 day FP+ if booking for 2018. We don't know if that will continue.
 
I mostly concur. DoubleTree Suites is definitely the top of the list for Hilton brands at Disney Springs. The Hilton Buena Vista Palace has beautiful public areas that were just renovated. Unfortunately, I don't believe they renovated any of the rooms. Until that happens, I personally won't return because in my last stay I had a disgustingly dirty room. Other people have reported okay rooms.

I'd never use points to stay at the Hilton Lake Buena Vista. I'd feel like I'm getting ripped off paying the 50,000 points they ask for a standard room. The hotel is average on a good day.
 


Thanks for the advice! I will look into Doubletree, even though no one mentioned the chocolate cookies that should await us there! :rolleyes1
 
Thanks for the advice! I will look into Doubletree, even though no one mentioned the chocolate cookies that should await us there! :rolleyes1

Oh .... the smell .... and they are good. And we are one of those that go back and ask for more. ::yes::

Depending on your HH level, you may also qualify for the breakfast coupons.
 
We prefer the Bonnet Creek Hilton/Waldorf over the DS Hilton offerings. The DS Doubletree is ok (esp. if you need the extra space) but it feels like it's just too far out of the way to walk to DS, which negates the advantage of a DS Hotel in the first place for us. The Hilton DS has just gone so far downhill in the last 10 years, and is in serious need of a refurb all around - the quality just doesn't live up to the Hilton branding. I can't speak for the Buena Vista palace as we haven't stayed there.

Bonnet Creek overall is a much newer/nicer property with much better amenities. Yes, it does feel more "away" from Disney than the others but in reality you are still near to everything. There are something like 8-10 restaurants on site (including pool bars and QS), and the huge lazy-river pool is awesome. If you want a truly peaceful/relaxing experience, go next door to the Waldorf, but your 100k points may not go far there.

The only thing to be aware of at Bonnet Creek is that the buses run on a schedule. So if you miss the 3:20 bus you might be waiting until 4:20 (some times/routes are on a 30 min schedule, but others like the daytime DS route might only run once every 2 hours.) Of course, the upside to this is the predictability, you won't be left standing in the parking lot wondering when the next bus might come.
 


We used our points one year at The Doubletree in Disney Springs. It was wonderful to have a suite even though it is just my husband and I. As Hilton Rewards members, we were on the top floor which was nice and quiet. It is also convenient to the restaurants on 535 if you wish to have dinner off Disney property. We still drove to the parks but as Florida Resident AP holders, the parking was free anyway. We thought it was a little too far to walk to Disney Springs, but they do have a bus after 6:00 p.m. (I believe) or just drive. We would stay there again with or without points. The staff was great and the hotel was very clean.
 
We are also Hilton Diamond. I actually like the Embassy that is right outside of Disney property better than any of the Disney Springs area Hilton properties. They do have transportation, but if you have a car, that's your best bet.

We just did EMH in June and it's just not what it used to be now that all of the extra hotels have been added, so we don't feel that not having it is a big deal.
 
For point value doubletree is probably the best. I stayed last summer at the Hilton properties a lot for work. If I could get Parc Soliel 1 bedroom I went with that, if not I preferred BV palace. Double tree is nice but not a strong pool area and was not walkable to springs, which I ate at for dinner.
 
For point value doubletree is probably the best. I stayed last summer at the Hilton properties a lot for work. If I could get Parc Soliel 1 bedroom I went with that, if not I preferred BV palace. Double tree is nice but not a strong pool area and was not walkable to springs, which I ate at for dinner.

Disney Springs is walkable from Doubletree.
It's a matter of personal preference.

It is the farthest DS hotel from Disney Springs.
But you can walk and we have a number of times.
It's actually pleasant and tree lined.
There is also the bus you can take.

If you are at the park and want to have dinner in DS.
(Which is great option for better food at better prices)
After 4 pm you can take a bus from a park -
direct to Disney Springs.
There is no bus back to the park.

We are also Hilton Diamond. I actually like the Embassy that is right outside of Disney property better than any of the Disney Springs area Hilton properties. They do have transportation, but if you have a car, that's your best bet.

We just did EMH in June and it's just not what it used to be now that all of the extra hotels have been added, so we don't feel that not having it is a big deal.

On points the Embassy LBV is a good value, particularly when you add the breakfast and managers reception ... and if you plan pool time. Points mean you can avoid the big resort fee. If paying then the Embassy Suites LBV SOUTH is the better option. Nicer hotel, no outside rooms, no hefty resort fees and easier to get to parks. But yes, neither get EMH. That is a plus for some, not for others.
 
On points the Embassy LBV is a good value, particularly when you add the breakfast and managers reception ... and if you plan pool time. Points mean you can avoid the big resort fee. If paying then the Embassy Suites LBV SOUTH is the better option. Nicer hotel, no outside rooms, no hefty resort fees and easier to get to parks. But yes, neither get EMH. That is a plus for some, not for others.

Out of curiosity and since in points they're close in same value, what do you think is nicer about LBV South? We've always stayed on points at LBV (not south) and have been happy with it. We've never had an outside room, my kids like the pool and the splash area, great (and entertaining!) breakfast, and on points we aren't paying for parking or resort fees. And it seems easy to get to the parks. But now I'm curious if we're missing something that might make LBV South better?
 
Out of curiosity and since in points they're close in same value, what do you think is nicer about LBV South? We've always stayed on points at LBV (not south) and have been happy with it. We've never had an outside room, my kids like the pool and the splash area, great (and entertaining!) breakfast, and on points we aren't paying for parking or resort fees. And it seems easy to get to the parks. But now I'm curious if we're missing something that might make LBV South better?

South is newer, smaller but still the full atrium beautifully done - and no chance of outdoor rooms. Customer service has always been top notch, our first visit (9 days) DH met us there after staying at Ritz Carlton and said the service was much better than Ritz.

We are not big pool people (at Disney) so we enjoy their smaller pool with nice loungers AND not having to pay that hefty resort fee for all that stuff we won't use. But if you have younger kids that will be enjoying the pool, LBV has upgraded their whole area to provide that. And if you are on points you don't have to pay that fee. We are all adults, so we like the quieter upscale feel. We usually select a room facing Disney and enjoyed some great fireworks especially holidays at the Marriott.

We stay at Embassy often all over the place (stayed at 4 of them in Orlando alone) and South has the best breakfast of anywhere we have been. Always seems a few more options, they do a great banana bread pudding and the managers reception has more nibbles than anywhere we have been.

Driving is easy, literally a couple turns out the parking lot and you are on World Drive or Osceola which bypasses all the traffic around Palm Parkway/535/Disney Springs. We can get in our car and in 10 minutes or less be parking our car at a park. We can't do that from the Palm Parkway area.

Are you sure you aren't paying parking??? Years ago that resort had no parking fees, now they do. When I go in to book with points, it tells me parking is an optional service so we pay the fee. In all our years we have never had parking fees waived with points. Maybe that has changed we have been banking a few years now ... we tend to only use at hotels that are huge ticket items (NYE in Times Square, NYE in NOLA, Waldorf in Key West ....).

One thing about South is their rates and points vary greatly. I've seen anywhere from $103 to over $200 for the same room, and the points change as well.
 
Are you sure you aren't paying parking??? Years ago that resort had no parking fees, now they do. When I go in to book with points, it tells me parking is an optional service so we pay the fee. In all our years we have never had parking fees waived with points. Maybe that has changed we have been banking a few years now ... we tend to only use at hotels that are huge ticket items (NYE in Times Square, NYE in NOLA, Waldorf in Key West ....).

One thing about South is their rates and points vary greatly. I've seen anywhere from $103 to over $200 for the same room, and the points change as well.

Yes, I'm sure. We stayed there earlier this month for one night before we checked into AKL and we paid for our room with Hilton points, but we did not pay for parking for resort fee. We have not always had parking fees waived at other hotels (although we try our best to stay at places that do NOT charge parking) and we checked both before checking in, and also checked after we checked out, and they did not charge us for parking at LBV. We are diamond? I don't know if that has anything to do with it because diamond technically is supposed to get more perks than other tiers. Or maybe that's just something that that particular hotel does? Not sure.
 

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