Hotel Hopping Is Worth the Hassle

Hotel hopping is the one thing I swear I will stop doing, and yet I find myself changing hotels night after night. It always feels like the benefits outweigh the inconvenience just enough, and I resign myself to schlepping to a different property in the same city almost every trip.

Taking Advantage of Promotions

This is the biggest one for me and the main reason to hotel hop, period. Earlier this year, Marriott launched a promotion that offers 2,500 bonus points per stay plus 1 bonus elite night for every new brand you stay at. Marriott’s Q1 promo tends to be the most generous of the year. This is likely the only chance to pick up bonus elite nights.

Marriott Q1 2026 promotion

With this promotion, spending 4 nights at the same hotel would earn 5 elite nights (4 + 1 promotion) + 2,500 bonus points. Spending 4 nights at 4 different hotels would earn 8 elite nights (4 + 4 promotion) + 10,000 bonus points.

As another example, Hilton launched a targeted promo to earn up to 15,000 points, where each subsequent stay is more rewarding than the last. The first stay earns 1,000 bonus points, with bonuses increasing from 1,000 points on the first stay up to 5,000 points on the fifth.

By staying at 1 hotel over 5 nights, you’ll pick up 1,000 bonus points, while staying at 5 hotels over 5 nights will earn 15,000 bonus points.

Not exactly a promotion, but Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) stays will include a $100+ credit per stay, so you can effectively turn the credit into a per-night benefit.

Checking Out a New Property/Neighbourhood

One of the other reasons I hotel hop is to visit a different neighbourhood. I visited both Disneyland and Universal Studios in Los Angeles, so changing hotels made sense since the two parks are so far apart.

More often than I like to admit, I also just want to check out a different property or the property I wish to stay at is too expensive for multiple nights. Two months ago, I split my stay between the Regent Taipei and the W Taipei because the W was charging an exorbitant rate for the first night. I still wanted to earn Marriott elite night credits, so I booked one night at each property — plus, I got another Amex FHR credit.

You can’t tell in this photo, but breakfast at the Regent Taipei was unreal

In Kyoto a few years back, I had a few nights booked at the Ritz-Carlton, but my friends raved about how much they loved Hotel the Mitsui, so I changed one night to it. My significant other was not sold on the reasoning, but at least Japan makes it easy through luggage forwarding services, so there was minimal disruption in our travel itinerary.

Another benefit of switching hotels is you’re more likely to score a suite upgrade on shorter stays and/or you don’t need to use as many Nightly Upgrade Awards, either.

Minimizing Costs With a Hodgepodge of Free Night Awards

This is more niche, but what if you had a few 35K Marriott Free Night Awards and also a few Hilton free night awards and were looking to minimize your out-of-pocket costs?

I encountered this in Tokyo, where I moved from the Conrad Tokyo to the Courtyard by Marriott Ginza halfway through my stay. Sure, I could’ve saved one set of certificates for a different stay, but Tokyo hotel prices on either points or cash were through the roof during cherry blossom season.

Courtyard Tokyo Ginza is my go-to spot, thanks to being able to redeem Marriott 35K Free Night Awards

Takeaway

Hotel hopping is rarely the most relaxing way to travel, but it can be surprisingly rewarding. Between maximizing hotel promotions, taking advantage of credits and free night awards, and experiencing different neighbourhoods or properties, the benefits often outweigh the inconvenience.

While I always tell myself I’ll stop changing hotels every trip, the combination of extra points, elite nights, cost savings, and curiosity about new properties usually pulls me right back in.

I’m curious if everyone else does this as well — are you for or against hotel hopping and why?