Zemi Beach House Anguilla: 3 Nights vs. 5 Nights

3 Nights vs. 5 Nights is part of the Birthday Bash Trip Report.

I signed up for the Hilton Business Amex, met the minimum spend of 4k to receive the free night and met the minimum spend of 15k in a year to receive another free night. The aspirational redemption to maximize these certificates was at the Zemi Beach House Anguilla. What better way to spend my birthday than on a tropical paradise (see Intro: Birthday Bash Trip Report)? After reading the introduction to OMAAT’s review, I was persuaded that I should increase my stay from three nights to five nights to take advantage of the fifth free night which Hilton offers for points redemptions of that length. I went to the app and saw there was availability. I booked it.

After reading the entire review, I went back and canceled the extra two nights and contemplated saving an additional 110,000 Hilton points by staying for two nights total. Ultimately, I went back to three. While the hotel looks nice, I don’t know what I would do for five nights. Lucky mentions walking on the beach. I can do this in my backyard in Rio Mar on one of the nicest beaches in the world, Las Picuas. Lucky also describes the restaurants in the hotel and says how expensive they are. What is worse than night after night of racking up a huge restaurant tab? Lucky also mentions renting a car. This is supposed to be a lazy trip, not one for exploration. Unfortunately, my ability to remain lazy lasts for a few hours, making a car rental compulsory. Finally, in my Travel Lessons, I write, “TPOL’s rule is to stay a maximum of three nights but preferably two nights in any city. Four nights in Tenerife is an eternity (Guns & Butter: Tenerife Travel Guide (Disappointed Edition).” Why write the rule if I’m not going to stick to it?

Thank you Lucky for saving me 220,000 Hilton points.