As part of our summer Greece trip we stayed five wonderful nights at the Westin Costa Navarino in the Peloponnese region. We drove here from Stoupa, Greece and stopped at the Polylimnio Waterfalls on the way. Both Stoupa and the waterfalls are highly recommended and have a different feel than the Westin. The Westin is a more typical resort but there is still a huge lack of tourists in the Peloponnese. We were one of the few tourists in this part of Greece and we saw maybe one other American.

The Westin Costa Navarino is part of the Marriott chain and it is possible to redeem points here. We were very fortunate to be able to book five nights all on the points in peak summer time. At the time we booked the hotel it was 35,000 points a night and because we booked five nights we got the last night free. On all Marriott award redemptions the fifth night is free. This was a great value of using points as the rooms can go for over $400 a night in the summer.

What to Do

Even if you aren’t able to use points, the Westin Costa Navarino is a truly great resort. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and we were able to enjoy some of the activities at the resort and nearby areas. The Westin is a great base for exploring this part of the Peloponnese. Just a few of the activities nearby include:

• Enjoy the beautiful property at Costa Navarino with hundreds of private pools, a water park, a gorgeous beach, and a golf course.
• Try one of the many restaurants at the property or take a short drive to the small town of Gialova for even better and more affordable options.
• Take a dip and hike around one of the prettiest beaches in the world at Voidokilia Beach.
• Drive south to explore other beaches and towns including Pylos, Methoni, and Koroni.
• Stop by the actual site of Palace of Nestor which is described described in Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad.
• Explore the ruins of Ancient Messene which consists of a whole city from the 3rd century BC.
• Hike the Polylimnio Waterfalls while enjoying the crisp cool waters.

The Setup

Our first big trip for 2018 was off to Kauai! This was both Beth’s and I’s first time to anywhere in Hawaii and we had a great time. Now of course with us being frugal and into miles and points we were able to save a significant amount of cash by using miles and points for our flights, hotel, and even on the rental car. To summarize, these are all the options we used to get to Hawaii near free!

• 90,000 United miles for 2 nonstop economy flights from Denver to Lihue, Hawaii
• 360,000 Marriott points that gave us 7 nights at the Marriott Kauai plus 120,000 Southwest and the Southwest Companion Pass (more on this)
• 2,750 Hertz points for a 1 week rental car

Point Booking

Our last destination on our amazing 3 week honeymoon was to beautiful Croatia and we stayed at the equally amazing Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel. The Sheraton is a brand new hotel with the grand opening happening just last October. Despite it being it’s first summer we didn’t notice any issues at all!

We initially booked this hotel when it was a Starwood category 4 hotel, meaning it cost 10,000 points per night. It would have ran a total of 40,000 points for our 5 night stay but we lucked out! Starwood dropped the category back in February all the way down to a category 2 hotel! This meant it cost between 3,500 – 4,000 points per night for a total of 16,000 points! The first hotel we stayed at for our honeymoon, the Westin Punta Cana also dropped in points, saving us a total of 24,000 Starwood points. It was freaking awesome, because it meant enough points for another vacation!

Radisson Blu Rome

For the second part of our honeymoon Beth and I headed to Rome, Italy to stay at the Radisson Blu Rome! Our first part of honeymoon we relaxed in Punta Cana where we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Westin Punta Cana. From Punta Cana I was even able to secure business class seats to Italy thanks to airline miles making it nearly free. Our plan for Italy was to visit Rome, Cinque Terre, and Venice. Thankfully in Rome we were able to stay at the Radisson Blu for free! All four nights cost us only a total of 200,000 Club Carlson points (50k per night). In fact the majority of our honeymoon accommodations and flights were free thanks to airline miles and hotel points.

Regarding Rome the city I will dive into the details in a follow up post but overall we really enjoyed our time in Rome! As for the Radisson Blu, overall we liked the hotel but probably would not stay here again for a couple of reasons. The main reason being the awkward room arrange which is not as bad as many reviews make it out to be but it still made for difficulties.

Westin Punta Cana Hotel Review

For the first part of our nearly month long honeymoon we flew south from Indianapolis to the incredibly beautiful and peaceful Westin Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. We just wrapped up celebrating our wedding day a couple days before so we were looking for pure relaxation and the Westin did not disappoint. We nearly had the entire resort to ourselves! It was off-season in June but we had amazing weather the entire time. Also no car was required, further reducing stress thanks to the free shuttle that goes to the Punta Cana Village, Ecological Park, and some other restaurants. Remember we booked this resort on points, only 10,000 points per night plus the fifth night for free for a total of 40,000 Starwood points. This was our first stay on our nearly month long honeymoon thanks to airline miles and hotel points!

To start we arranged a shuttle pick up from the hotel from the airport. It was a steep $20 for the 10 minute ride but there is no way around it. Taxis are expensive in Punta Cana to begin with and I estimated that the taxi fare would be about the same anyway. The driver was there promptly within 5 minutes from when we landed and we scooted our way to the resort.

Upon checking in to the hotel they noted we had been upgraded to a room with a better view thanks to my Starwood gold status. No mention by the front desk worker of our honeymoon but not a big deal. Our room was on the highest floor (4^th) near the end of the southern wing. Nearly all the rooms have a balcony that face inward towards the pool but ours also was on jut in the building so it also faced the Caribbean sea. Absolutely beautiful.