W Barcelona - Points Decisions and YouTube Tour!
W Barcelona - Points Decisions!
W Barcelona - the most iconic hotel in Barcelona!
Hello from the W Barcelona! We just posted our W Barcelona review and tour on our YouTube! Are you subscribed? Check out exactly how analysis multiple point currencies, pick the best redemption, and enjoy a review and tour of of of Spain’s most iconic hotels, the iconic W Barcelona Hotel. We had two nights after a Mediterranean Cruise to stay in Barcelona and have a serious affinity toward the W Hotel brand. Before the cruise we had stayed at the Barcelona EDITION Hotel for 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points, which I had to top off with 20,000 American Express Membership Rewards for the stay. Totally worth it! The Barcelona EDITION was in the Gothic Quarter, and we wanted to check out the Beach during this next stay, so we decided on the W Barcelona. We had three different points currencies to analyze before we made our final booking decision, here are our cost calculations:
Room Decisions and Cash Costs
Since we were heading to the beach in one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona naturally we wanted a room with an Ocean view. This proved to be well worth it when we saw the view later! To be honest it felt like we were still on a cruise when would looked out our giant windows!
This being said we selected a Wonderful Room with a King Bed and Ocean View.
The cash value of this room was just under $500 a night, the first night being $486.92 and the second being $491.97. Taxes came to be $82.48. The grand cash total of the stay would cost $1,067.45, plus $11.14 in local and city tax upon check-in.
To The Points
On Amex Travel this two night stay would have cost 120,000 Membership Rewards Points.
On the Marriott Bonvoy App we got the same result, 120,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
Both of these options would have gotten us a much less than desirable $0.0089/cents per point (cpp) redemption. I'd say this was about average for most Marriott Bonvoy Point redemptions according to TPG's evaluation... but we tend to shoot for over $0.014/cpp for Marriott Bonvoy Points. Same goes with the American Express Membership Rewards, terrible cpp redemption rate, so we didn't think twice.
Next we checked Chase Ultimate Rewards, which came in at a low points price of 70,420 Ultimate Rewards Points! With our Chase Sapphire Reserve we were able take full advantage of that 50% extra value on awards bookings and get a $0.015/cpp redemption.
But wait, here is where more value gets added in! Thanks to our Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Status we were issued an upgrade from our Wonderful Room, to a Cool Corner Suite with a King Bed! Rates for that room were 642 Euros, or $700 USD!!! This Cool Corner Suite room would have totaled in at 1,417.81 Euros, or $1546.05 USD. If you were to factor that price into the 70,420 Ultimate Rewards, our cents per points total would have been just about $0.022/cpp. This being said, we were even more excited about this redemption and the availability for an upgrade!
The Final Point
This post is already getting lengthy and the W Barcelona is truly a destination of its own. We could go on for a LONG while about everything there was to see, but we think it would be better to see it on video! Feel free to watch our full tour and review of the W Barcelona here! We are on a mission to hit all the W Hotels and EDITION Hotels worldwide, as well as all of the American Express Centurion Lounges! Stay tuned for more if this interests you!