TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published. For more details please see the advertising disclosure found at the bottom of every page.
If you’re a Hilton loyalist who has been awaiting the opening of the new Conrad in Washington DC your patience will soon be rewarded.
Hilton has announced that the Conrad Washington DC is now accepting reservations for guests, meetings and events “in anticipation of its opening in February 2019”
The “February” part of the announcement may be a little ambitious as the Hilton website is currently showing no availability for the Conrad Washington DC before mid-March….
…and I highly doubt that the 360-room property has already sold out all the preceding dates. Perhaps there will be a very soft opening in February?
Still…
This new property should be good news for fans of Hilton and Hilton Honors as it’s the first Conrad in the city and, if the artist sketches are to be believed, it looks pretty good.
The property is located on the corner of New York Avenue and 10th Street NW….
…and so is just a 15 minute walk from the White House and a 30 minute walk from the Capitol.
The building has an all-glass exterior, 10 floors and 360 rooms. Three outdoor terraces, a rooftop bar and a “dedicated event terrace featuring panoramic views of the U.S. Capitol” should prove popular with guests and the Sakura Club on the 10th (top) floor should round things off nicely for those who book club-level rooms or who have status which gives them access.
Rates & Awards
A quick look at the availability calendar shows room rates starting from as low as $216 and award nights from as little as 57,000 Hilton Honors points.
At the other end of the spectrum I’ve seen rates over $450/night and costing 80,000 Hilton Honors points so the variations in cost can be noticeable.
A Good Place To Use Points
Unsurprisingly (for a city that empties out on a Friday) it’s the weekends when you’ll generally find the best cash rates while the best value you’ll get out of your Hilton points will be midweek (when cash rates are high and standard awards cost 80,000).
On certain dates the Conrad Washington DC will be a good example of where you can get outsized value for your Hilton Honors balances and use points to save some serious cash.
Here’s a date in May when the cheapest cash rate going is $480/night while the cost of an award night is 80,000 points:
The $480 cash rate will actually end up costing over $550 once taxes and fees have been added in….
…..so if you use points on a night like this you’ll be getting almost 0.7 cents/point of value.
Also, considering Hilton frequently will sell you points for 0.5 cents each (like in the current promotion that’s running through 14 December), using those points at the Conrad Washington DC when rates are as high as this would be a very good deal.
You can buy 80,000 points in the current Hilton points promotion for $400….
….so you could essentially book a $552 night for $400 AND book yourself a flexible rate which you can cancel should your plans change (the cheapest cash rate is a pre-paid rate).
Bottom Line
I’m more of a Marriott/IHG traveler than I am a Hilton traveler but I’m starting to take a closer look at the Hilton portfolio. I recently stayed at the Conrad Singapore (which I must remember to review) and I was happy with what I booked.
The new Conrad Washington DC looks like somewhere I’d like to try out and the Sakura Club looks like it’s nice enough to tempt me into booking a club-level room rather than relying on an upgrade from my Honors Gold status that I get with my Platinum Card from American Express.
It looks like I’m going to be trying out the new United 787-10 out of Newark at some point next year so I may head to the east coast a day or two ahead of that flight to try out the new Conrad.
Anyone else planning a visit?
Featured image courtesy of Hilton
