7 options for hotels in Tuscany on points

Here is a list of Tuscany hotels that you can book with a few different types of award currencies. Keep scrolling for more details on each.

1. Use the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking portal to book your hotel

Cost: 1 point per 1.5 cents of the price listed on the Ultimate Rewards booking portal if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
For example, if a room is $150, it will cost 10,000 UR points.

2. La Bandita Townhouse, Pienza, a Member of Design Hotels™ (New marriott Category 7) Near Siena

Cost: 60,000 points per night
Value: 350 Euros per night (~$411 USD)

3. Eremito, Parrano, a Member of Design Hotels™ (New Marriott Category 4) Between Florence and rome

Cost: 25,000 points per night
Value: 178 Euros (~$209 USD)

4. AC Hotel Arezzo (New Marriott Category 2) Arezzo

Cost: 15,000 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 132 Euros (~$155 USD)

5. AC Hotel Pisa(New Marriott Category 2) PIsa

Cost: 12,500 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 80 Euros per night (~$94 USD)

6. Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Resort & Spa (Marriott Category 4) Lucca

Cost: 25,000 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 183 Euros (~$215 USD)

7. La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort Siena, Curio Collection by Hilton (Hilton) Near Siena

Cost: 50,000 max
Value: 249 Euros (~$292 USD)

Use the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking portal to book Tuscany hotels

Chase Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed for travel two different ways. First, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards to airline and hotel partners such as United and Hyatt. The other option is to book travel on the Chase Ultimate Rewards website and essentially use your points as cash*. Click here for more information about when I would and would not use each option.

*It is important to note that if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred rather than the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your value is going to be 1.25 cents per point when booking through the portal as opposed to 1.50 cents per point. This still may be a good option but you may get more value by transferring points to loyalty programs.

While booking through the portal is not the highest redemption value for your points, it definitely gives you more options than if you only have points such as Hilton or Marriott.

Our Hotel in Tuscany- Relais Vignale

The cost was ~43,000 Ultimate Rewards points total for2 nights including breakfast. The cash value for those two nights was ~$645. So that breaks down to a little under 22,000 points per night.

We all loved this hotel. It was charming, full of character, and in a great little spot in the village of Radda in Chianti. Honestly, I would have expected the cash price of this hotel to be higher. So to me, 22,000 points per night is a great value.

tuscany on points — Relais Vignale at sunset

In Tuscany, there aren’t many chain hotels. I’ll list the few that are available, but most are not a great value for your points. That’s why I was okay using Ultimate Rewards at a value of less than 2 cents per point. Air BNB is another great option for Tuscany, but it probably won’t be something you can book on points unless you have some sort of cash back card.

Starwood and Marriott were combined into one loyalty program in August of 2018

Any redemptions for SPG and Marriott properties are now bookable on Marriott.com. I’ll separate Starwood and Marriott properties in this post, but keep in mind that they are now the same program.

Remember that any SPG points earned prior to August were multiplied by 3. So if you had 20,000 SPG points, you should now have 60,000 Marriott/’new’ points. The values listed here are the ‘new points’.

The currencies are now equal for any points earned in August 2018 or after. 1 Marriott point=1 Starpoint and vice versa. SPG points are basically extinct. Any points earned from the SPG Amex cards in August 2018 or after are ‘new’ points/Marriott points.

Click here for more information on the Marriott/SPG merger.

It is important to distinguish between ‘old’ SPG points and ‘new’ points since the value is different.

How to earn (new) points

Points can be earned from welcome bonuses and everyday spending on the SPG credit card from American Express. This used to be one of my favorite credit cards for everyday spending, but the earn rate devalued in August. I no longer use this card for everyday spending. These are great cards to earn a welcome bonus, though. (Update June 2019: Amex SPG cards no longer exist. They are now Marriott-branded cards.)

Points earned from Chase Marriott Rewards credit cards are also redeemable for Starwood properties.

You also earn points on paid Marriott or SPG stays.

Starwood properties in Tuscany

Neither of these are a great value with the new currency, but if you had SPG points prior to August, Eremito, Parrano is a decent deal. The cost is 25,000 points, but ~8,333 ‘old’ SPG points have been converted to 25,000 new points. So if you think of it as just over 8,000 SPG points for a room that costs a little over $200, it’s a decent cents per point value.

La Bandita Townhouse, Pienza, a Member of Design Hotels™ (Category 7)

Location: Siena
Cost: 60,000 points per night
Value: 350 Euros per night (~$411 USD)

Eremito, Parrano, a Member of Design Hotels™ (Category 4)

Location: Between Florence and Rome
Cost: 25,000 points per night
Value: 178 Euros (~$209 USD)

Marriott options in Tuscany:

You can earn Marriott points from credit card welcome bonuses and everyday spending on the Marriott co-branded credit card from Chase. Remember that points earned from SPG credit cards are also redeemable for Marriott properties.

If you have a Chase Sapphire credit card, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. I do not recommend this because I feel that Ultimate Rewards points are more valuable than Marriott points, therefore, a 1:1 ratio is not ideal.*

*If you want to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book Marriott or SPG hotels, you are probably better off using the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking portal than transferring to Marriott. Click here for more information about using Ultimate Rewards points to book Marriott properties.

You can also earn Marriott Rewards points for paid stays at Marriott and SPG properties

AC Hotel Arezzo (Marriott Category 2)

Location: Arezzo
Cost: 12,500 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 132 Euros (~$155 USD)

AC Hotel Pisa(Marriott Category 2)

Location: Pisa
Cost: 12,500 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 80 Euros per night (~$94 USD)

Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Resort & Spa (Marriott Category 4)

Location: Lucca
Cost: 25,000 Marriott Rewards points per night
Value: 183 Euros (~$215 USD)

Like the Starwood properties, all of the Marriott properties are a decent value IF your points were earned as ‘old’ Starpoints. I still would rather save the points and check out the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, though.

Note that the points cost in this screenshot is from the old SPG program. This is for cash price information only:

Hilton in Tuscany

Hilton points can be transferred from American Express Membership Rewards at a ratio of 1,000 MR: 2,000 Hilton Honors points. Even at a 1:2 ratio, I don’t think this is a great value. Amex MR are too valuable to me to consider a transfer to Hilton.

Points can also be earned with welcome bonuses and everyday spending on Hilton co-branded credit cards from American Express.

Hilton points are very easy to earn. For example, even on their no-annual fee card from American Express, you will earn at least 3 points per dollar on any purchase. Earnings are higher on category bonuses. As a result, their costs for award nights are higher than other chains such as Hyatt. You can pretty much guarantee that you’re not going to get my general goal of 2 cents per point if you book at a Hilton. I take into account how easy or difficult it is to earn a particular type of points/miles when calculating a redemption value. So just because you’re not going to get 2 cents per point does not necessarily mean it’s a terrible idea to use Hilton points if you have them. I do not collect Hilton points at this time, but I know many people do!

Hilton no longer publishes an award chart. In fact, they even did away with categories. Now, there are ranges for the amount of points a property requires for a free night. Different properties may have different rates depending on what they consider their peak dates. It’s similar to the dynamic pricing that Delta uses. This is frustrating as it makes it difficult to plan your earning strategies if you are looking to stay at a Hilton property. The good news is that you can check Hilton’s website to find out what the maximum cost would be for a standard room.

Besides Florence, Hilton has one property in Tuscany and it is near Siena.

La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort Siena, Curio Collection by Hilton (Hilton)

Cost: 50,000 max
Value: 249 Euros (~$292 USD)
As I stated above, the 2 cents per point kind of goes out the window with Hilton. But since Hilton points are so easy to earn, those who collect Hilton points may consider this a decent value.

Conclusion

Tuscany on Ultimate Rewards points — View from the terrace restaurant at our hotel in Tuscany

If you’re wanting to book a hotel in Tuscany on points, using the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking portal will give you the most options. If you have points you’re looking to use in programs such as SPG, Marriott, or Hilton, you still have a few options. Unfortunately, none of these options are a great value for your points no matter which points you’re trying to use, so it may be best to save your points and pay cash!

Chase Sapphire Preferred

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Hotels in Tuscany on points (Updated September 2018)

Hotels in Tuscany on points

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