How I Booked a $6,000 Valentine’s Weekend with Hyatt Points

I booked a Valentine’s Day weekend at Alila Ventana Big Sur, where cash rates were about $3,000 per night.

Main pool at the Alila - Photo credit: RGS

Alila Ventana Big Sur is one of those hotels that feels fake when you first look it up. It is tucked into the redwoods along the Big Sur coast, adults-only, extremely expensive, and unusually inclusive for a U.S. luxury resort.

This is not the kind of place where I would casually pay cash.

But points? That is where things get interesting.

The points math

Here was the basic redemption:

• Cash rate: about $3,000 per night
• Points rate: 45,000 Hyatt points per night
• Stay length: 2 nights
• Total points used: 90,000 Hyatt points
• Approximate cash cost avoided: $6,000
• Redemption value: about 6.7 cents per point

That is the kind of points value that makes you remember why you started playing this game in the first place.

Hyatt points are already among the most valuable hotel points, but getting nearly 7 cents per point is not normal. This is not “I saved $80 on an airport hotel.” This is “we are grad students staying next to millionaires in Big Sur.”

Our wooden room in the redwoods. Photo credit: RGS

How I got the 90,000 Hyatt points

The 90,000 Hyatt points came from a few different places.

I had about 10,000 Hyatt points from a conference last year. Then I transferred about 20,000 points from my Bilt card. Finally, I transferred about 60,000 points from my Chase Sapphire Preferred.

That is one of the reasons Hyatt has been so powerful. You could earn flexible points through rent, dining, reimbursable travel, or normal credit card spending, and then move them to Hyatt when the redemption made sense.

And in this case, it really made sense.

Why this redemption was so valuable

Alila Ventana Big Sur is not just an expensive hotel room.

Dining is included. Non-alcoholic drinks are included. Many activities are included. Access to the pools, Japanese baths, and wellness amenities is included. Valet is included. Even gratuity is included for meals, housekeeping, and porterage.

That matters because at many luxury hotels, the room rate is only the beginning.

At Ventana, the math kept getting more ridiculous.

One evening, the restaurant accidentally brought us the bill. It was over $400.

That was for one dinner.

It was included.

Steak dinner at the Sur House - Photo credit: RGS

We later calculated that if we had paid cash for the food and activities we actually enjoyed, it would have been over $1,000, without even considering the room.

So the real value of the stay was not just “we avoided a $6,000 hotel bill.” It was more like:

• $6,000 in room rates
• $1,000+ in meals, activities, and amenities
• access to a luxury property in one of the most beautiful places in California
• zero stress about tipping for included meals
• a suite upgrade with a fireplace

That is how a 90,000-point stay starts feeling like a $7,000+ experience.

The suite upgrade

Thanks to my Hyatt status from the World of Hyatt card, we were upgraded to a suite with a fireplace.

Big Sur is already romantic, but being in the redwoods, in a beautiful suite, with a fireplace, during Valentine’s Day weekend, while knowing we did not pay $6,000 cash, was next level.

The hotel also gave us complimentary champagne, so of course we celebrated in front of the fireplace. Make sure to tell them you are there for a special occasion.

The room: records, redwoods, and total peace

One of my favorite touches was that you can pick records at reception and play them in your room.

It is such a small detail, but it fits the property perfectly. You are in the middle of the redwoods, surrounded by nature, with music playing, a fireplace going, and no real reason to leave your room except to eat another included meal.

The spa and Japanese baths

The spa amenities were another highlight.

We went to the Japanese baths early in the morning before they opened to day guests. We had the place completely to ourselves.

Hot tub with a view - Photo credit: RGS

That was one of the best moments of the stay.

Steam, silence, redwoods, and nobody around.

People can pay hundreds of dollars just to access these amenities as day guests, but as hotel guests, access was included. That is exactly the kind of hidden value that makes this property so special on points.

Japanese baths - Photo credit: RGS

The food

The food was genuinely good.

This is important because “all-inclusive” can sometimes mean unlimited mediocre food. That was not the feeling here. The meals felt high quality, and the setting at The Sur House makes the whole thing feel even more special.

Breakfast - Photo credit: RGS

The one catch: alcoholic drinks are not included.

So, other than the complimentary champagne, we did the responsible Rich Grad Student thing and did not order cocktails.

Because yes, we were staying at a $3,000-a-night resort.

No, we were not about to start casually adding $25 drinks to the bill.

Exploring Big Sur

Ventana is also close to some of the most famous sights in Big Sur, so we made sure to go see McWay Falls.

If you are staying here, do not spend the entire time only inside the resort. The property is stunning, but Big Sur itself is the reason the location is so magical.

The coastline, cliffs, redwoods, and waterfalls make the whole area feel unreal.

McWay Falls - Photo credit: RGS

The buggy service: luxury, but make it useful

The resort also has a complimentary buggy service to move around the property.

This sounds silly until you realize that at night, getting back to your room can feel like hiking through the redwoods.

Romantic? Yes.

Convenient after dinner? Not always.

The buggy service is one of those small luxuries that makes the stay feel effortless.

Do not miss the complimentary activities

One thing I would recommend: pay attention to the included activities.

At a property like this, it is easy to focus only on the room, food, and spa. But a big part of the value comes from the programming and experiences included with the stay.

Before you arrive, look through the schedule and plan at least one or two activities. When the cash rate is this high, you want to squeeze the full value out of the experience. Also, make sure to make your restaurant reservations as soon as you book the getaway.

The sad part: this deal is getting harder

Hyatt has since announced major award chart changes, and top-tier hotels like this can now cost significantly more points on the most expensive award nights.

On top of that, Chase announced that Sapphire Preferred transfers to Hyatt are changing from 1:1 to 4:3. That means the same Hyatt redemption will require more Chase points than before. Saphire Reserve transfer rates are unchanged.

Bilt, thankfully, still transfers to Hyatt at 1:1.

The lesson is simple: when a great redemption exists, do not assume it will stay around forever.

Programs devalue. Transfer ratios change. Award charts get “enhanced.” The best opportunities are usually temporary.

When you find a truly exceptional redemption, and it fits your life, take it seriously.

Final thoughts

Alila Ventana Big Sur was one of the best redemptions I have ever made.

We used 90,000 Hyatt points for a Valentine’s Day weekend that would have cost around $6,000 in cash, before even counting the included meals, spa access, activities, and gratuities.

We stayed in a suite with a fireplace, drank complimentary champagne, played records in the redwoods, soaked in the Japanese baths alone in the morning, ate meals that would have cost hundreds of dollars, and explored one of the most beautiful coastlines in the United States.

This is exactly why The Rich Grad Student exists. Because sometimes, if you understand the points game, you can experience things that cash would make completely unreasonable.

And yes, for one weekend in Big Sur, we were grad students among millionaires.