We at Grabamile have wanted to put up a comprehensive list of hotels with great views for a long time now. Am I the only one to hear the absurdity of the word “comprehensive” in that statement? There is no way we can stay at all the hotels in all the cities we’ve visited, let alone the ones we haven’t visited.
If you want a comprehensive report of which hotels have the best city views with stock images, this is site is the place to go. However if you want to see some of the best views we’ve witnessed on our trips around the world, read on. This is by no means even a big list, but here are the places we think are worth staying in to enjoy the views: (Oh hope you will note that all of them are available on points).
A heads up before I begin: I do not get any sort of commission for the credit card links in the descriptions, and all images are property of Grabamile and its authors. The images are not to be reproduced or used for commercial purposes, but please feel free to use them personally for say a wallpaper.
Park Hyatt Sydney – Opera House Deluxe Room
There is no hotel as exclusive as the Park Hyatt Sydney on this list. As I realized last Christmas, no other hotel in Sydney offers the direct view of the famed and acclaimed Opera House like the Park Hyatt. Set on a peninsula jutting into the Sydney Harbor, more than a third of the rooms offer a view of the Opera House. The hotel is available for 30,000 points per night or the Hyatt free night certificates available as a sign on bonus from the Hyatt Credit Card.
Intercontinental Hong Kong – Harbor View Room
There are very few unobstructed views of the Hong Kong skyline. And there are definitely no hotels offering the view of the entire skyline like the Intercontinental Hong Kong. In fact pretty soon, the view from Kowloon will get even more obstructed with the never ending rise of more skyscrapers along the harbor. The hotel is available for 60,000 IHG points or the annual free night certificate offered to Chase IHG Mastercard holders. Did I mention that there is no better seat for the famous Symphony of Lights?
Hyatt Regency Jersey City
Hyatt’s latest devaluation, was a bigger blow than most people thought. One of the hidden gems of Hyatt’s hotel network: the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson is, sadly, no longer redeemable on the Hyatt credit card annual free night certificates. The hotel is still available for a rather pricey 20,000 points per night or the sign on bonus for the Hyatt credit card.
The hotel, straddling the length of much of Exchange Place, offers unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline from many of the rooms. Sasidhar and I did a miniature photo workshop there recently, before the devaluation struck:
The Westin Paris – Vendome
A list is not a list without a view of the Eiffel Tower from a Paris hotel room. Though the “City of Lights” was experiencing an unprecedented smog problem while I visited, there was no doubt just how beautiful the views of the Louvre and Eiffel Tower were from my room at the Westin Paris. Rooms at the Westin Paris go for 20,000 star points per night. Though the room itself was tiny (before a certain incident occurred, which I’ll talk about soon), there was no denying the enchantment of looking at this after waking up everyday:
Conrad Hong Kong – Harbor View Room
There is very good reason Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the world. Almost all the hotels offer great views of what is arguably the greatest skyline in the world. The Conrad offers great views of both Kowloon and the Hong Kong Island from the comfort of your bed and teddy bear 🙂 It’s actually the only hotel on the list I’ve stayed in a couple of times. This hotel is rather pricey at 80,000 HHonors points, but cash and points can be a great value as I mentioned in an earlier post.
My recent trip to Spain was a pleasant surprise to say the least. Seville remains one of my top 10 cities partly because of the views at golden hour from the rooms at the Hotel Alfonso. Nothing beats starting off the day looking at Plaza de Espana and Giraldi Tower from the comfort of your room. Award night rates at the hotel go for 25,000 star points, which may or may not be a good deal based on the season and nightly rates.
Park Plaza County Hall London
Half of me wants this to be the first hotel on this list, but the other half recognizes the subjectivity of my thoughts when it comes to London. It quite frankly is my favorite city in the world even though I know that there is more to see in Paris, and that there is a better skyline in NYC and Hong Kong. But the charm of London never ceases to exist. Nothing beats going to bed at night after hearing the chime of Big Ben or waking up to the sights of Westminster and the London Eye. Though the view is a little obstructed, the Park Plaza County Hall offers great value at 70,000 Club Carlson points per night considering the sign on bonus for the Club Carlson credit cards, and the large anniversary points bonuses on those cards.
Hilton Quebec City
Sasidhar visited Quebec City last fall, and described it as the closest thing to a medieval French town in North America. The ramparts of the city, which are the only intact old city walls north of Mexico, are actually quite easily visible from many of Sasidhar’s pictures below. Though the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac is considered to be the happening place to stay, the view from the Hilton Quebec is perhaps the best in the city. It’s made better by the fact that it masks the ugly building in the backdrop of the city (aka the Hilton itself), and gives the guest an unhampered, top down view of the city with the Chateau Frontenac in it. At 40,000 HHonors points per night it can be a bargain depending on season and how far you book ahead of time.
Hyatt Regency HKG Tsim Sha Tsui
Another Hong Kong hotel makes our list of hotels with views. The Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui is the only Hong Kong hotel available for the Hyatt credit card‘s annual free night certificate. Though the view is a little obstructed by the residential buildings on the Kowloon side, the mesmerizing Hong Kong skyline is quite visible from most rooms. It was the first Hong Kong hotel anyone at Grabamile had stayed in so we thought it couldn’t get any better. So it would be an understatement to say that we were pleasantly surprised when it did 🙂
Have you ever stayed at one of these hotels? What are your thoughts?
I’ve stayed at the Westin Paris-Vendome, Hotel Alfonso XIII, and had lunch at the IC Hong Kong…and will be at the Park Hyatt Sydney in May. These are all great views, agreed…though there are many other hotels with great views that aren’t part of loyalty chains.
I completely agree, you will see more of those in later posts. I usually stay in those smaller boutique hotels in the small towns of Europe like Wengen, Hallstatt etc