We have some Hilton points, but as I looked at locations, none of those appealed to us. They were o

As a travel/points blogger, I am embarrassed to admit I did not succeed in planning our Friday or Saturday budget accommodation in melbourne night hotel stays.  We had not completely decided what to do or where to stay.  Nonetheless, I was eager to use points for a stay, especially because we had paid full price for our Thursday night stay at Country Inn Suites .
On the day of, sitting in our hotel, we finally decided to stay Friday night in the city of Pittsburgh.  The main purpose in going into the city was to visit a close friend in a hospital there.  So we needed to think about hotel location relative to the hospital and other activities.  My wife likes to plan around biking, as she would rather park the car once and bike around instead of driving from place to place.  She knew there was a bike trail downtown, the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, so she asked me to consider that as I looked for a hotel.
budget accommodation in melbourne We have some Hilton points, but as I looked at locations, budget accommodation in melbourne none of those appealed to us.  They were on the wrong side of the Monongahela budget accommodation in melbourne River.  I drained most of my Priority Club (Holiday budget accommodation in melbourne Inn, other brands) on our Las Vegas trip.  So I fired up the SPG app on my iPhone to see what Sheraton might have to offer.  I don't have many SPG points, but they tend to be valuable, as you will see.
Sheraton Station Square was perfectly located on the bike path, near the Duquesne Incline, on the correct side of the Monongahela River.  I had around 16,000 SPG points, all from my botched sign up bonus with American Express (my balance should be nearly double that!).  Sheraton Station budget accommodation in melbourne Square is a Category 4 (of 7) hotel, so a free night costs 10,000 Starpoints.  The other options were to pay $170 or use Cash + Points.  After some quick math, the Cash + Points budget accommodation in melbourne option looked the best.  4,000 points + $60 was the cost, and that works out to 2.75 cents per point, which is a very good value.
The hotel was, eh, it was ok.  The bed was quite comfortable, the other furnishings were pretty drab.  It seemed to be an older hotel property in need of renovation.  But you couldn t beat the location.  We were able to park for free at the Duquesne Incline and bike across the river to see our friend.  Then we returned to the hotel to clean up, and take the incline up the hill to appreciate the views and eat an embarrassingly expensive dinner at Monterey Bay Fish Grotto.
What s the point? budget accommodation in melbourne   4,000 SPG Starpoints saved me $110 off the regular rate at a hotel with a fantastic location.  I got 10,000 points when I signed up for the SPG American Express credit card, and it was time to put them to good use.  Having points in multiple (in fact, nearly all) hotel chain loyalty programs allowed budget accommodation in melbourne me the flexibility to find the hotel with the best location.  Saving $110, however, does not make me feel better about the $200 spent on dinner.  I m pretty sure that s a new record for me.
Actually, we didn t even really take advantage of the real bonus of this location: Not having budget accommodation in melbourne to drink and drive! Apparently this spot is known for being a big party scene, we saw what looked to be clubbers and a bachellorette party on the elevators. We took the romantic route, budget accommodation in melbourne which was also cool. The Duquesne Incline is a restored 1800 s trolley that goes practically straight up the hillside to a couple of quaint little restaurants at the top. Greg didn t mention that I saved us $16 of parking by convincing him to use the free parking a half mile down the bike path! That almost made up for the champagne I drank at the restaurant.
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