Best Hilton Honors Category 1 Hotels That Only Cost 5000 Points

I’ve been a long time loyal fan of Hilton hotel properties.  As a consultant, I always liked their program the best because they had the broadest range of hotels where I could stay at a Hampton Inn if I had an assignment in a small town to the most luxurious of resorts in the Conrad or the Waldorf.  Despite massive depreciation that happened in 2013, it still pays to stick to one hotel program so you can keep “all your eggs in one basket” so to speak.  It’s thanks to Honors points I’ve collected over the years that stays at like the Conrad Maldives were possible but I then thought to myself, perhaps another way to maximize on points is to find gems in the Hilton Honors Category 1 hotels.

On my recent trip to Ethiopia we made an unexpected detour to Egypt and finally had the chance to stay at one of the few hotels in the Hilton chain that have mind-boggling low point redemption values.  Yes you heard it right, it only cost 5,000 Hilton Honors points to stay at the Hilton Hurghada Resort for a night.  That is the equivalent number of points to redeeming a free stay at the run-of-the-mill Hampton Inn off the side of an Interstate in the US.

Top 7 Hilton Honors Category 1 Properties

What other Hilton hotels out there are Category 1 that deserve some attention as ridiculously good offers on points?  I’ve gone through all current 47 Hilton Honors Category 1 hotels and here is my curated list of best value hotels according to:

• Uniqueness
• Location
• Amenities
• Cash price of room – all searches done in the post are for March, 2016 (updated in 2019) and in USD currency except for the Hilton Garden Inn Bali
• Cents per point – the higher the better

If you’re looking for a tool to find ALL Category 1 hotels, make sure to head to new Hilton Honors PointsExplorer tool.  I will say that it’s not the most intuitive.  Of course, bring the slider all the way to the left to filter down to 5,000 point stays but what you need to do on top is to sort it from “Lo-Hi”.

1 – Hilton Hurghada Resort

I had the opportunity to stay here 3 nights and I can personally say that this is an beautiful resort to base yourself by the Red Sea if you find yourself in Egypt.  Our 3 nights here was a perfect way to wrap up our trip.  Built in the newer part of town, you still get access to the large pedestrian streets and also the downtown center.  As a beachfront property, you are seconds away from the beach or your next dive trip.  This is a proper all-inclusive resort so expect a high level of service and quality.  While the reward night won’t be full-board, Gold status will grant you access to quite the lovely breakfast.

Sure the paid rates are also low here but a lot of that has to do with the huge downturn in tourism in the country ever since their revolution.  I still can’t believe I only spent 15,000 points for 3 nights.

A comparable alternative to this is the Hilton Hurghada Plaza which is in the same area.  The only reason we didn’t stay here was that they were doing renovations there at the time.  This is the same Category 1 with $49 rates if you were to pay by cash.

2 – Hilton Alexandria Corniche

If you’re planning on visiting Alexandria in Egypt, this is the perfect hotel to be situated along the Mediterranean.  The hotel is minutes away from the Corniche beachfront walkway and being in a historical district, you also get easy access to the Alexandria National Museum, Souk El-Attarine, and Montazah Palace Gardens.

Alexandria has an additional pair of hotels that may suit your fancy.  The Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza and King’s Ranch are both of these are larger conference hotels away from the hustle bustle of the city.  As larger properties they offer fantastic spa amenities and have way larger pools.  The rates for these hotels are $137 and $166 respectively.

3 – Hilton Sharm Dreams Resort

The trend with hotels in Egypt continue.  You can pretty much plan your trip around the country with these hotels.  Stare out into the Red Sea or the Sinai Mountains from this resort.  Located by the city center of Sharm el-Sheikh, you get access to all of the attractions of the area in addition to your private beach and all the water sports you desire.

Nearby is also the Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort which comes in at also $68/night.

While not quite in Sharm el-Sheikh, another hotel to consider is the Hilton Taba Resort & Nelson Village which is uniquely positioned at the tip of the Red Sea in Egypt and overlooking the three countries of Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia.  The rate here is $58/night.

4 – Hilton Salalah Resort

Have you ever wanted to stay in a palace?  Well here’s your chance.  Located in Oman, you’re right on the shores of the Indian Ocean and is packed with numerous modern amenities including six bars and restaurants, two tennis courts, a diving center and a kid friendly pool complex.  This makes for the perfect stop-over in your trip through the Middle East.

5 – Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport

So what about outside of Egypt and the Middle East?  Well this one is sure to get you excited.  500 meters from the international airport that you’ll be flying into is this Garden Inn which is joining the Hilton portfolio May 1, 2016.  Fine it’s not a beachfront property on Kuta but you’d be able to stay for free in Bali even if you have a small stash of points.  What’s good to know here is that they offer complimentary shuttles to Kuta which is really only 10 minutes away so you’re not far from the action.  Honestly, you’re coming out on top by staying here because you can then save your money on a good local driver to maximize your experience on the island like I did with my 5 day itinerary in Bali.

6 – DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Anhui – Suzhou

Let’s turn our attention to China for a second here because there are quite a number of solid DoubleTree and Hilton Garden Inn’s here.  This particular property is in Suzhou but should not be confused with the one that is near Shanghai.  This particular one is in the province of Anhui.  If you end up in this area, this is still somewhere you should definitely consider.   Thank you java for pointing this out!

At this particular DoubleTree, you get a very new property that does everything in grand style if the lobby is any indication of what to expect here.  It is set in in the Bianhe New Developing Zone and the restaurants, shops and entertainment of downtown Suzhou are just 10 minutes away.

7 – Hilton Garden Inn Shenzhen Bao’an

The beauty of all the Category 1 properties in China is that they’re all going to be pretty new and contemporary.  This one is no exception.  This particular Garden Inn is a great choice if you’re going to be spending anytime in the Guangdong Province of China in the south.  It’s conveniently located to restaurants and shops and is the perfect launching pad for your adventures to the countryside, Phoenix Mountain Forest Park, or visit Hong Kong and Macau in a day.

8 – Hampton by Hilton Krakow

I’ll wrap things up with a hotel in Europe.  Located near the Krakow Arena Hall and Expo Krakow, this may not be located in the heart of the city but 5,000 HHonor points a night, you can deal with the 10 minute commute to popular attractions like Wawel Royal Castle and Kazimierz.

Bottom Line

The disparity between the cost of redemption to true level of hotel is so high that these are honestly hotels that are worth building a trip around.  Keep in mind that these only cover Hilton Honors Category 1 hotels.  If you open it up to Category 2 hotels, there are a lot more options but I’ll leave that for another article 😉