AMEX Hotel Collection vs. Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection: Which is Better?

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If you’re planning to stay at a luxury hotel, you have several options to reserve a room. You can book directly through the hotel or use a travel agent who has access to programs like Virtuoso that offer additional benefits during your stay. Alternatively, you can book through a credit card luxury travel portal, which also provides extra perks to cardholders. While these options offer similar benefits, there may be differences in pricing.

When comparing hotel prices and benefits for our stay at the Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach, I looked at the hotel website, Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, and American Express Hotel Collection. Here are the results.

Hotel Website

I used the price from booking through the hotel website as my baseline. The best discount available was for a Florida Resident Rate.

The price for 2 nights in a room with a king bed was $1060, and we’d receive a $50 resort credit.

AMEX Hotel Collection

It’s important to note that despite the price, the Don CeSar is not a part of AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts but is included in the Hotel Collection. This means the benefits you receive are limited.

For a room with 2 double beds, which was all that was available on the AMEX website, the price was $1278 for 2 nights plus $85 in resort fees. The hotel’s website folded the resort fee into the taxes when quoting a price.

For stays of 2 nights or more, the Hotel Collection provides a $100 resort credit and a room upgrade if available.

I’d also be able to use my $200 credit from the AMEX Platinum Card for a Hotel Collection stay of 2 nights or more.

I worked this out to be $1278 + $85 – $100 – $200 = $1063.

This was $50 more than if I booked directly from the hotel, with only the chance of an upgrade on arrival. If we didn’t get an upgrade, we’d be in a room with 2 double beds.

Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

According to recent updates, Chase is planning to introduce a new and improved luxury hotel program in 2024. However, until then, the current program is still in place. As a Sapphire Reserve cardholder, I was able to access the benefits offered by the current program by logging in.

The price for a king room for 2 nights was $1169 plus the $85 resort fee.

I’d also get a $100 property credit and a full breakfast for 2 at Society Table each morning. There was also the chance of an upgrade and early check-in and late check-out.

I broke down the price and came up with $1169 + $85 – $100 = $1154. This is $150 more than the hotel website. However, I’d be getting free breakfast for two, and according to the hotel website, the breakfast buffet costs $35. $35 x 2 x 2 = $140.

With the chance of an upgrade and late check-out, I booked the hotel through the Chase portal.

Was This The Right Decision?

Now that we stayed at the hotel, I have second thoughts. My reasoning for paying more to book through the Chase portal was for the free breakfast and a possible upgrade.

First off, we didn’t get an upgrade.

More importantly, I overestimated the breakfast option.

The buffet, while adequate, wasn’t worth $35. We did much better ordering off the menu, where the prices were lower. And while $20 for Avocado Toast is expensive, it was a better option. However, this meant we didn’t get as much value from the free breakfast benefit.

Final Thought

While i might have paid more than I should, I’m OK with my choice. Given the options, I went for the one that included the things that were important for this trip. If we weren’t already planning on eating at the hotel, it would’ve been better to pick the first option and get the cheapest rate available.

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