Hotel Breakdown of my Trip to Spain
Nov 16, 2025
Last month I visited Mallorca and Madrid and wanted to highlight the hotels I stayed in and the value I got by using points. Most people focus on earning miles for flights, but hotel redemptions and card benefits can be just as powerful. On most of my trips, points cover my flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities, leaving meals as my only real expense.
📸 The photo above is from Es Moli Hotel in Deià, overlooking the Mediterranean on Mallorca’s northern coast. We spent three nights there and used it as our base to explore nearby villages via rental car..
After Deià, we moved to Palma for three nights at the AC Hotel Ciutat de Palma. It was a great stay, and because we still had our rental car, staying outside the Old Town made more sense. Everything we wanted to see was still within a reasonable walk.
We then flew to Madrid for three nights and chose the Thompson Madrid Hyatt to stay central. It’s steps from Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor which is perfect for perfect for people-watching. For this stay, I used three Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts credits, which gave me a $300-per-night rebate, a $100 daily food credit, free breakfast, a room upgrade, plus a 4 p.m. checkout. The total benefit was worth $1,200, making this a far better deal than redeeming my Hyatt points. My out-of-pocket cost for all three nights: $168.
💰 Points vs. Cash Breakdown - Here’s what I saved on my hotels:
|
Hotel |
Points Used |
Cash Value |
|
Es Moli Hotel (Cap One) |
146,071 |
$1,460 |
|
Ciutat de Palma (Marriott) |
134,000 |
$824 |
|
Thompson Madrid (Amex FH&R) |
--- |
$1,368 (Paid $168) |
|
|
TOTAL: |
$3,652 |
Total Savings just on hotels on a 9-day trip was over $3,500!
Bottom Line
- Using points for hotels can deliver major value.
- Sometimes card benefits can beat using mileage points outright.
- With a smart points strategy, you can travel more often - and spend far less - than you ever thought possible.
🚨 BIG Signal Boost to possibly earn over 700k Points: Capital One just announce an expanded offer for both their Personal and Business card of the Capital One Venture X card with an expanded offer for 100k points. But if you or your business is a big spender there is a welcome bonus of 400k points for $150k spend, this would total over 700k points!
Best Card Offers: