Here’s a handy tool for planning hotel mattress runs

As the end of the calendar year approaches, you may have realised that you are a few nights short of retaining your hotel elite status.

You may have decided to try a hotel mattress run. This is where you book a hotel room for no real reason (usually in the town you live or work in) except to check-in and clock up the elite night credits.

(You MUST check-in, in person, for a mattress run to work. You will otherwise be marked as a ‘no show’ and won’t receive any credit.)

Finding the best hotel and the best date for a mattress run isn’t easy. Even in small cities, some hotel website don’t allow you to do month-long searches to find the cheapest night. In a city like London it is a thankless task.

I came across hotelmattressrun.com which has automated much of this. For Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt (but not IHG), you can input a city and a date range and you will be shown the cheapest hotel night available from that chain.

Let’s take Marriott for a one night stay on a midweek date in London in the week starting Monday 11th December. It takes a fraction of a second to show me that Moxy Heathrow (image above) on Friday 15th December is my best option at £75.

For Hilton, the cheapest option that week is the DoubleTree at Heathrow, which is directly opposite the Moxy. If your idea of London is somewhere inside Zone 2, the cheapest option is the Hampton near ExCeL.

You can also use this tool to maximise an American Express statement credit. For example, I have an offer for £100 cashback on a £250 Marriott spend on my Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. hotelmattressrun.com can help me find a hotel for a specific date range which gets me very close to £250 to maximise the value I get.

Note that the site only shows pricing in US$ and without taxes / VAT, but apart from that it seems very simple.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

Hotel offers update – July 2025:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th August 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Hilton Honors Plus debit card is TRIPLED to 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You will also receive Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

Want to buy hotel points?

• Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 24th July 2025. Click here to buy.

• IHG One Rewards is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 17th July 2025. Click here to buy.

• Marriott Bonvoy is offering a 30% to 50% bonus (varies by individual) when you buy points by 16th July 2025. Click here to buy.

• World of Hyatt is offering a 20% bonus when you buy points by 21st July 2025. Click here to buy.