Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

You can now book the new ‘all suite’ Conrad New York Midtown hotel on Hilton Honors points

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

If you are flush with Hilton Honors points, a very interesting new redemption option in New York is now available – Conrad New York Midtown.

Back in 2017, Hilton quietly look over management of The London NYC hotel.  This is a property with a troubled history which opened as an unbranded ‘virtually all suite’ hotel at entirely the wrong point in the economic cycle. 

Readers with long memories may remember that Gordon Ramsay ran the restaurant and it gained two Michelin stars within a year of its 2006 launch.  There was also a branch of Maze at one point as well as a high profile bar.

Conrad New York Midtown on points

A substantial refurbishment programme was launched by Hilton and is nearing completion.  You do NOT want to book into this hotel today because, looking at reports, the building works are disruptive and running late with many guests being decanted to other Hilton properties nearby.

However …. in a couple of months the hotel should finally switch over to being the Conrad New York Midtown.

The Conrad New York Midtown website is here if you want to find out more.  It is located on West 54th – for comparison, the southern boundary of Central Park is West 59th.

This is the 2nd Conrad hotel in New York

There is already a Conrad in New York in Battery Park – see here.  I like this hotel a lot – see my Conrad New York review here – because it is ‘all suite’ and I have stayed there 3-4 times.

In a city where hotel rooms are not exactly spacious, being guaranteed a suite, often with a view of the Hudson river, was always a good result.  The location has also got a lot more attractive in recent years as the World Trade Centre redevelopment concluded and new attractions such as the Oculus transport hub and the revamped Brookfield Place shopping centre took shape.

For those of you who insist on being in Midtown, you now have a good points alternative.

Conrad New York Midtown on points

The Conrad New York Midtown on points

Let’s get one thing out of the way first.  Conrad New York Midtown is not a bargain, coming in at 95,000 Hilton Honors points.  This is as expensive as it gets.  However, you are getting a lot for your money.

Let’s take a look at the Conrad New York Midtown website for a stay in September.

There are THREE room categories available for redemption at 95,000 points.  You are NOT confined to the base room category.

For 10th September, for example, I can book:

City View Deluxe (325 sq ft) – 95,000 points or $635 inc tax Advance Purchase

City View Junior Suite (425 sq ft) – 95,000 points or $670 inc tax Advance Purchase

City View One Bedroom Suite (525-550 sq ft) – 95,000 points or $704 inc tax Advance Purchase

If you have Hilton Honors status, you should note that there are another eight room categories available for cash (Park View One Bedroom Suite, Park View Executive One Bedroom Suite, City View Two Bedroom Suite, Sky Suite, Atrium Suite, Apartment, Park View Apartment, The Penthouse).  This means that your potential upgrade could be very good if you book into a City View One Bedroom Suite originally.

All of the photographs in this article are of the One Bedroom Suite.

Conrad New York Midtown on points

You can still buy Hilton Honors points with a 100% bonus

It this deal looks interesting, remember that Hilton Honors is running a promotion offering a 100% bonus when you purchase 5,000+ points.

The Hilton ‘buy points’ page is here.

Regular readers of Head for Points will know that I tend to value Hilton points at 0.33p each.  You are paying 0.38p ($800 / £612 for 160,000 at the top end) here if you buy the maximum so the maths in general doesn’t work.

However, the maths DOES work at Conrad New York Midtown.

A five-night stay from 9th to 14th September in a One Bedroom Suite would cost $3,205 including taxes, and this is for the cheapest non-refundable rate.

Hilton does ‘five nights for the points of four’ if you have Hilton Honors status.  As Hilton will status match you from any other hotel scheme where you may have status – see this article – most HFP readers should qualify for this.  Five nights would cost you (95,000 x 4) 380,000 points which would cost $1,900 with this deal. 

The snag is that you are capped at buying 160,000 points per year.  However, remember that you can pool points between Hilton members for free so it is now easier for different people to buy points and merge them together.  New members of Hilton Honors cannot buy points immediately so you cannot open additional accounts just to take advantage of this offer.

You can buy points via this link.  The offer ends on 28th May.


How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points and they come with generous sign-up bonuses. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (23)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Thomas says:

    If booking this with points, are there likely to be taxes or resort fees being added in NYC?

  • Nate says:

    OT. Signed up for Platinum 1 month ago and have hit sign up bonus. Usually I would keep card until I could refer my wife for another card, but with new Amex rules, my wife cannot sign up for bonus for another 18 months.

    My plan was to cancel my Platinum card so I would get a pro-rata refund for 11 months of the card membership fee (approx £412.50). When I called today, amex agent offered double points for the next 3 months (i.e. 2 points for every pound). In the past I would have declined as this would delay the churning cycle but obviously things have changed now. Do you think it is worth taking this offer – it means I will pay another £112.50 in membership fees but will be getting 2 points for every £1? I guess it ultimately depends how much I spend in the next 3 months

    • Crafty says:

      Answered your own question there.

    • Rob says:

      It also depends where you would spend if you didn’t cancel.

      If you work on 1p per Amex point then you’re getting 2p per £1 for, basically, £37.50 per month. If your 2nd best card is a Mastercard earning, say, 0.75p of rewards per £1 then you’re better off only if you are spending £3000+ per month.

      • Shoestring says:

        Also getting a load of Priority Pass lounge entries over the next few months would figure highly with me. 1 month = £37.50, 1 pass = £20-£25. It’s peak holiday coming up & keeping the Plat insurances going must be worth having.

        • Nate says:

          Just had newborn so not looking to travel until September now.

          Wife spoke to Amex now regarding her gold card, to see if they could offer anything to stop her from cancelling the card. They offered 20k MR points if we spend 4k in the next 3 months.

          So looks like I will be cancelling my platinum and taking up the gold card offer. This will coincide with 1 year anniversary of the card and we are also eligible for 10K MR points for spend over the year.

  • B says:

    Hi
    Do u think first week of july room renov will all be done?

    Thanks!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.