I don’t write that subject line with any alarm.
I knew (assumed) that when we learned the Waldorf Astoria New York would reopen for bookings today for stays from September 1, 2025, that the prices would be high and that would have to mean high points prices.
I did *hope* for 120,000 point Standard Reward Nights, but once I saw the cash rates, I knew it would be 150,000 points.
Here’s the thing. Hilton points are generally valued at around 0.5 to 0.6 cents. the cheapest room at this property is $1,598 before tax or, buckle up, $1,839 after tax.
So you are still getting crazy value of more than 2X the generally accepted value of a Hilton point at 1.22 cents per point.
Other nights the rate with tax, still bookable for the same 150,000 points, is $1,947 after tax or 1.3 cents a point.
A base room books into a 475 sq ft King room, roughly double the size of any standard room in New York City, crazy as that is to many not from expensive cities.
And the hotel and rooms look gorgeous, as I covered in my initial article on the Waldorf Astoria New York’s reopening.
The best part? You can still use a Free Night Reward certificate, just like you can at nearly any Hilton or Honors-participating SLH in the world.
You earn these annually with a Hilton Honors American Express Aspire® Card when you pay your annual fee (actually awarded 6-8 weeks later), again is you spend $60,000 on the Aspire and you can also earn one with $15,000 in annual spend on a Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.
I think it’s awesomely bonkers that Hilton Honors remains committed to letting you use these Free Night Reward certificates for hotels of any price point, like this hotel and the Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives – and we still haven’t seen a Standard Reward night over 150,000 points, something I believe Hilton wants to maintain as long as possible.
Remember that there is no possible way to use a Marriott free night certificate for a room over 100,000 points (85k + 15k max top off) and Hyatt maxes at Category 7 – no top off allowed.
Even if you just used one night from the Hilton Aspire Card, which has a $550 annual fee, you’d recoup that annual fee nearly 4X over with the one free night and that ignores that the card also comes with $200 in resort credit twice annually and top tier Diamond status.
Here are a few photos from the original post on this hotel.
Thoughts?
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