Sometimes the best points redemption isn’t the fanciest hotel or the one you’ve been dreaming about for years. Sometimes it’s simply the hotel that makes your trip easier. That was definitely the case with the last night my sister and I spent in Switzerland.

After our time in Grindelwald, we took the train back to Zurich Airport because we had a morning flight home the next day. I didn’t want to spend our final night worrying about getting to the airport early, so I booked the Hyatt Place Zurich Airport The Circle for just 18,000 World of Hyatt points.

It may have been the best 18,000 Hyatt points I’ve ever spent.

 

 

This Is Not Your Typical Airport Hotel

When I think of an airport hotel, I usually think of someplace functional. You stay there because you have an early flight, not because you particularly want to be there. The Hyatt Place Zurich Airport surprised me.

The hotel is modern and cute, located in The Circle right at Zurich Airport. Shops and several restaurant options are nearby, so we didn’t feel stuck, like we might have at a more typical airport hotel, on our final night.

 

 

Even better, we were upgraded to a 2 Twin Beds High Floor View room on the top floor. Our upgraded high-floor room was selling for around $400 that night. I used 18,000 World of Hyatt points, which came out to a redemption value of about 2.2 cents per point. But what made this redemption so good wasn’t just the math. It was the convenience of being right at the airport before our morning flight home.

 

 

 

 

Exactly What We Needed After Grindelwald

After several days of trains, gondolas, cable cars, and hiking in the Swiss Alps, this was exactly what we needed. We took the train from Grindelwald directly back to Zurich Airport, checked into our hotel, and were essentially done traveling for the day.

We could have stayed in downtown Zurich again, but why? That would have meant getting ourselves and our luggage back into the city and then turning around the next morning to get back to the airport.

Instead, we could check in, find something to eat, walk around The Circle, and relax. The next morning, we were already exactly where we needed to be.

 

 

 

 

Why I Loved This Redemption So Much

I think we sometimes get so focused on aspirational redemptions that we forget how valuable convenience can be.

I’ve used Hyatt points at some spectacular hotels around the world, including Park Hyatts where the rooms can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars a night. Those redemptions get all the attention.

But this little 18,000-point Hyatt Place redemption deserves some attention, too. We got a room selling for more than $400, an upgrade to the top floor, a modern hotel, and a location that made our morning flight incredibly easy. No early morning train from Zurich, no taxi, no Uber, and no worrying about traffic or how much time we needed to allow. The complimentary breakfast was a huge plus, too!

 

 

Sometimes Convenience Is the Luxury

This stay also reminded me to not judge every redemption by how luxurious the hotel is. The Park Hyatt Zurich was a luxury experience. Bergwelt Grindelwald put us right in the Swiss Alps. But the Hyatt Place Zurich Airport did something just as important: it made the end of our trip easy.

For 18,000 Hyatt points instead of $400+, I got more than 2.2 cents per point in value and a stress-free final night before flying home.

I’ve made a lot of Hyatt redemptions over the years, but given the price, the upgrade, and how perfectly this hotel fit our plans, this might be the best use of 18,000 Hyatt points I’ve had in a long time.

 

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