Update: The bonuses mentioned below are no longer available. See Best Hotel Points Sign-up Bonuses for the most current offers.
As many of you probably know, the increased sign-up bonuses on the American Express Hilton cards expire tomorrow, May 31. You could get up to 180,000 bonus points per person from the bonuses if you were approved for both cards. The great thing about the Amex Hilton Surpass card is that it comes with perks like free breakfast and a weekend certificate to use on your card anniversary. See this post from Leana for more information about this deal.
One thing that has kept me from going after hotel points in this miles and points hobby is the fact that my family of five can’t fit in most standard hotel rooms. The travel industry is built for families of four, and we have one odd man (well, kid) out. I hate spending double the amount of points for an extra room or an expensive suite for just one extra person. It really makes it so much harder to accumulate points for a trip.
As I shared a few weeks ago, my husband applied for and was approved for both Hilton cards. With the sign-up bonus and some spending, we will have over 200,000 Hilton Honors points at our disposal soon.
The good news is, I’ve found many more options within Hilton’s portfolio that will accommodate my family in one standard room. Even if you don’t have an “extra” family member, you may still want to consider these options for your family so that fewer people have to share a bed. (Any time my kids share a bed, it’s bad news).
So, if you have a larger family and you are thinking about applying for one or more of the Hilton cards from Amex, here are some fun Hilton hotels for families of five or more. Point values will fluctuate based on the date, but these examples are based on a weekday in June.
Hotels Near Theme Parks
Orlando, FL area:
Hampton Inn Orlando Near Universal—Rooms accommodate five people with queen beds for just 20,000 points per night. The hotel gets 4 out of 5 stars on TripAdvisor. It was renovated in January 2017, and it has a free shuttle to Universal and Disney and a free breakfast!
Embassy Suites Orlando International Drive Convention Center—Standard rooms are two-room suites and accommodate up to six people with two double beds and a sofabed for 29,000 – 50,000 points, depending on the date. The hotel has free breakfast and evening reception, plus free transportation to Universal and Disney.
Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld—I found suites for 23,000 points per night in June. This hotel has free transportation to SeaWorld, Universal and Disney.
Hampton Inn Winter Haven—It’s only three miles from Legoland Florida! Rates run 30,000 points per night with a free breakfast.
Anaheim, CA area:
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Anaheim Resort Convention Center—The hotel is only 1 mile from Disneyland! It costs 31,000 points per night for a two-room suite with queen beds and queen sofabed. It has a heated rooftop pool and whirlpool.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Anaheim Main Gate Area—This hotel has 600 square-foot suites with queen beds and sofabed for 32,000 points. Suites have kitchens, and the hotel has a free hot breakfast and evening receptions on weeknights.
San Diego, CA area:
Hampton Inn Carlsbad North San Diego County—Just four miles from Legoland, California, standard rooms at this hotel fit five from 36,000 points per night.
Hershey, PA area:
Homewood Suites by Hilton Harrisburg East Hershey Area—Standard rooms are suites with two queen beds, kitchen, living area with sofabed from 36,000 points per night. Hotel has free breakfast and evening weeknight social, and is close to Hershey Park and Amish country.
Hotels Near National Parks
Grand Canyon National Park:
Embassy Suites by Hilton Flagstaff—Two-room suites run 50,000 points per night during the summer. Hotel has free breakfast and complimentary evening reception.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park:
Home2 Suites by Hilton Pigeon Forge—Standard rooms are suites with queen beds and a sofabed for ~40,000 points per night. Rooms have a kitchen, hotel has free breakfast. It’s located close to Dollywood.
Acadia National Park:
Hampton Inn Ellsworth/Bar Harbor—Standard rooms sleep five from 29,000 points per night in June. Hotel has a free breakfast, indoor pool and hot tub.
Bryce Canyon/Zion National Park:
Hampton Inn St. George—Standard rooms for five cost 30,000 points per night. Hotel is convenient to both Bryce Canyon and Zion. Hotel has free breakfast and both indoor and heated outdoor pools.
Yosemite National Park:
Hampton Inn and Suites Merced—Located at the “Gateway to Yosemite”, standard rooms for five start at 23,000 points per night. Hotel has free breakfast and outdoor pool.
Hotels on/near the Beach
Florida:
DoubleTree by Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront—Standard two-room suites that sleep up to six people run 40,000 points per night in June. Hotel features direct ocean access, heated outdoor pool and hot tub.
DoubleTree by Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront—This hotel is located only about an hour from Disney. Standard rooms that sleep up to five run 40,000 points per night. The hotel is close to Port Canaveral cruise port and Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Center.
Hampton Inn and Suites Destin—Located across the street from the beach, standard rooms sleep up to five for 60,000 points per night. This one is driveable from Texas!
Embassy Suites by Hilton Deerfield Beach and Resort—Standard rooms sleep up to six people for 32,000 points per night. Every room has two full bathrooms! Hotel has a walkway to the beach and an onsite spa!
Virginia:
Hampton Inn Virginia Beach Oceanfront North—Standard rooms sleep up to five for 45,000 points per night. The hotel has free breakfast and a pool with waterfall grotto feature.
South Carolina:
Hampton Inn Hilton Head—Standard rooms sleep up to six for 30,000 points per night. The hotel features free breakfast, outdoor pool and nearby bike paths.
So Many Choices for Large Families
When I started researching Hilton hotels that would fit my family of five, I was honestly pleasantly surprised at the number of choices available at the standard room points rate. We are going to have such a hard time deciding where to use our Hilton Honors points next summer.
Families of five or six—are you considering either of the Amex Hilton cards to plan for your next vacation?
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
What a great list. We recently became a family of 5, so this will come in handy for us!
@Elizabethcolette thanks, glad you found it useful!
Those are some great options…we’re a family of 4 but we love having extra room, larger beds, and free breakfast. Thanks for the write up Nancy…we had to skip on the Hilton cards this time because of having to meet the spending for some other cards…but I hope it comes around again.
@Stephanie I hope the cards have the increased bonus again later this year as well. My husband got both, but I was working on the Capital One card’s bonus.
Nancy I really appreciate that you speak from the perspective of a family of five! It makes it so much harder to use points! We will occasionally squeeze the fifth one in but generally only for one night stays since I’m never sure how strict hotels are. These are great ideas and I would love it if you ever did the same for other chains (in your spare time haha!).
@Kelly–I’m glad you found it useful. Good idea about doing this for the other hotel chains. I’m leaving for Alaska next week, so I’ll tackle it when I get back. 🙂
we are your typical family of four, but we just got the Hilton card (at your suggestion) hoping for some free nights this summer with all our bonus points. I love Hamptons and forgot they are part of the Hilton brand! they always have the best breakfasts and amenities! We will look for them when we head out west this summer.
I’m glad you got the card! I hope you get lots of good use out of those points. So many options!
You’ve done a great job making this list! I’m glad their are options in this chain for larger families. I really like staying at Hampton Inns. Their breakfasts are some of the best, and the rooms we’ve had are clean and comfortable.
Thank you, Stacey! I haven’t stayed at a Hampton Inn in a while, but I have a feeling we will be using some of our points at one of those locations.