Traveling has certainly changed a lot over the last few months. However, thanks to enhanced safety measures at the Hilton portfolio of hotels and the benefits of Hilton Honors® membership, you can still get a little R&R away from home.

Maybe you finally book that road trip you've always wanted to take, or perhaps you decide to plan trips to more open spaces, like the beach. 

Cue the Hilton Honors Program

You're probably thinking:

"You're a Hilton Grand Vacations Owner. Why not book with your allotted ClubPoints?" 

My husband and I evaluated our ClubPoints allotment (3,400 Points every other year) and decided that we'd rather save those ClubPoints for a big trip in 2021 versus using them for shorter trips in 2020. Thankfully —in addition to our Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare, we've also invested in and enjoy the benefits of the Hilton Honors® program. 

Why Hilton Honors? Well, on top of the amazing Hilton Grand Vacations properties around the world, the ability to convert ClubPoints to Hilton Honors Points and stay at the Hilton portfolio of hotels worldwide makes the possibilities endless. Becoming a member of both programs gives you more travel opportunities, even if you're traveling near your home or planning a staycation. And bonus, you still get the incredible consistency of the Hilton brand that you know and love. 

We've been loyal Hilton travelers for quite some time. And now, we've saved up enough points that we can fully book vacations solely with Hilton Honors points.

Putting Our Hilton Honors Points to Good Use

With a reasonable allotment of Hilton Honors points saved, we wanted to take the opportunity to get away from home and decompress—even if only for a couple of days. And, given the current environment, we felt the safest to explore drive-to locations. Luckily as Orlando residents, we're pretty close to the beach, no matter which coastline we choose. 

This is how we found our "gem" of a spot—Melbourne Beach. This quaint destination has quickly become a favorite of ours, and we traveled there twice this summer for weekend getaways at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel, Melbourne Beach Oceanfront. I mean, can you go wrong with a beachfront property with incredible views?! 

We used 50,000 Hilton Honors points per night for an oceanfront room with a balcony and around 65,000 points per night for a ground floor room with an extended patio. It's nice to have the option to use your points however you please. 

We've stayed in both types of rooms and have realized that we love the balcony room. Sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine in hand and looking out on the ocean seems to make all your worries disappear.

Travel pro-tip: If you can travel during the week, you can save on your point value per night versus staying over the weekend.

As far as health and safety are concerned, we felt incredibly safe at this property. All of the Hilton CleanStay™ practices made us feel at ease, especially the seal on our door, letting us  know that we were the first guests to step into the room since housekeeping cleaned and sanitized it. 

 

Measures like this help us feel safe and give us yet another reason we love traveling with the Hilton name.

All I know is that with the benefits of the Hilton Honors program, there is another trip in our near future, whether it's back to Melbourne or maybe trying out another property along the coast. 

Read Visit Beautiful Melbourne (And Use Hilton Honors Points to Get There) to hear another Owner’s story of putting her Hilton Honors points to use in another Melbourne…Australia.