At the very beginning of 2020, I facetiously wrote an article titled “Someone Stop Me Before I Stay At A Marriott Hotel Again!” It was an attempt to explain why, despite my claim of being a free agent, Marriott had roped me into staying at their hotels more than any other brand.
I wanted to break away from Marriott and get back to staying at independent hotels or whichever property served the best purpose for our trips.
Little did I know in those first few weeks of 2020 that I’d soon end up using our timeshare points for getaways to the beach and looking for Airbnb cabins in the woods for the next 2 years. In 2021 we spent the year trying to use up our free nights, which were stockpiled during the pandemic times.
2022 was a strange year in its own right. While things were getting back to normal, things weren’t normal. And while airlines couldn’t fly their scheduled flights and rental car companies were still short of cars, hotels were the one part of travel that seemed to be the most “normal.” Sure housekeeping services weren’t back to their pre-pandemic levels and many hotels still had closed lounges due to “COVID restrictions” but most of all, hotels felt the most normal part of travel in 2022.
Now that we’re done with 2022, I can look back at our stays and say that things looked more like 2019 than 2021. And we finally started to break away from Marriott Bonvoy properties, but not altogether, for one main reason.
And much like our flights, Sharon spent more nights in hotels than I did in 2022.
Marriott Bonvoy
- Courtyard By Marriott
- Sharon – 10 nights
- Joe – 9 nights
- Residence Inn
- Sharon – 5 nights
- Joe – 3 nights
- Element by Westin
- Joe – 2 nights
The majority of our Marriott stays were at the Courtyard by Marriott in New Braunfels, TX, which might be one of the best Courtyard hotels in the US.
Hyatt Hotels
I’m happy to say that Hyatt claimed the #2 spot on our list for 2022
- Unbound Collection – 4 nights
- Grand Hyatt
- Sharon – 4 nights
- Joe – 3 nights
- Hyatt Regency – 1 night
We spent time at the Eliza Jane in New Orleans and the Grand Hyatt Kauai. Sharon’s one night at the Grand Hyatt SFO put her ahead of me.
IHG Hotels
We spent enough time at IHG hotels to use our free nights from having co-brand credit cards.
- Holiday Inn Express
- Sharon -2 nights
- Holiday Inn
- Sharon – 2 nights
- Joe – 1 night
Hilton Hotels
Hilton is our final backup hotel chain. We keep points in the Hilton Honors program in case of emergencies, when there aren’t any rooms available with the other programs.
- Hampton Inn
- Sharon – 3 nights
- Home2 Suites
- Sharon – 1 night
Wyndham
If Hilton is our backup plan. Wyndham is our last resort. This year Wyndham Rewards came in clutch when every other hotel was charging an arm and a leg for a weekend night.
- La Quinta
- Joe – 1 night
Disney Vacation Club
We were fortunate enough for space to open up at Aulani during our trip to Hawaii. Considering the cash prices to stay on Oahu, this was a huge break for our vacation budget.
- Aulani – 3 nights
Couch Surfing
I’m not sure what else to call this one. For my quick weekend trip to Atlanta, our friends offered to let me stay in their guest bedroom. In addition, they also fed me and drove me around the entire weekend. All I had to do was agree to watch a Georgia football game on Saturday afternoon. GO DAWGS!
- Guest room
- Joe – 2 nights
Final Thoughts
In all, I spent 29 nights in hotels in 2022 and Sharon was away for 35 nights. In addition, I went on a 5-night cruise and Sharon went on 2 cruises for a total of 9 nights.
That’s nothing near how much we traveled in 2019 but it’s also less than we traveled in 2021, when we were making up for the lost time the year before. For 2022, I have to consider the time that we spent quarantining at home after we both caught the Omicron strain of COVID at different times.
While I’d like to think we’re back to our normal travel patterns, we’re not there just yet. Maybe in 2023, if all of our plans work out.
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