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The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa — located just south of Fort Myers along Florida's southwestern coast — comes up frequently in our discussions in our Facebook community, Award Travel 101. My wife had been pining for some warmer weather and to touch the sands of the Gulf of Mexico. So, I surprised her with this special four-night trip. The total retail cost (including airfare, lodging, and car rental) would have been $6,401.38, but we paid only $423.98 out-of-pocket!
In this post, I'll share how I used a combination of rewards points, elite status benefits, and credit card perks to make this trip happen at a tiny fraction of the normal price. If you're interested in booking your own stay at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, check out the Award Travel 101 YouTube channel for a quick video review—and don't forget to subscribe for more great video content!
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How I Booked Our Stay at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point
Since my wife is a newly crowned 60+ night Globalist—thanks to the incredible Bonus Journeys Promotion early this year as well as from rollover nights from last year—I decided to utilize two of the perks provided by her new status.
The first perk was to contact her My Hyatt Concierge (MHC) to help us take care of applying the second perk, a Suite Upgrade Award (SUA) certificate.
Check out our complete guide to World of Hyatt to learn more about Hyatt Elite Status benefits.
Cash Pricing
At the time of booking, a standard room with two queen beds had a nightly rate of $404 ($450.46 after 11.5% tax). Hyatt also adds a daily resort fee of $41.26 (including tax) to cash bookings at this property, bringing the total cost to $1,967 for our four-night stay.
According to Hyatt, the resort fee covers on-site amenities including:
- Coffee maker with complimentary coffee and tea
- Unlimited local and 1-800 phone calls
- Incoming fax service
- 24-hour fitness center access
- Pool activities, lazy river, slides, and lawn games
- Ferry transportation to the resort’s secluded island * – I'll cover this in more detail below
- Beach chairs and umbrellas at the resort’s beach
- Rock climbing wall
- Resort transportation to marina and Raptor Bay Golf Course
- Golf bag storage
- Electric car charging stations
Of course, the fees don't end there. Whether you've driven your own vehicle or you've rented one, there are parking fees too.
Globalist members receive free valet or self-parking benefits. But, if you don't have status, expect to add roughly $20 for self-parking or $30 for the valet to your daily expenditures.
Award Night Pricing
The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa is a category 5 property, which means that standard room rates are 20,000 points per night. One of the benefits of an award booking from the World of Hyatt program is that resort fees are not passed on to consumers (yeah, I'm talking to you Marriott). They are included in your award booking!
We transferred 80,000 points from our Chase Sapphire Reserve® to book the stay.
After accounting for the nightly rate, the resort fee, and parking, the room we booked with Hyatt points would have cost $521.86 per night—or around $2,087 for the whole stay. To estimate our savings per point, we just need to divide by 80,000 points redeemed. That gives us a value of just over 2.6 cents per point on our Hyatt redemption.
That's a bit higher than the average World of Hyatt redemption rate. Based on over 18,000 tracked reservations, World of Hyatt points have saved AwardWallet users an average of 2.22 cents per point.
How I Booked Our Flights
With airports all over south Florida, the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa is located within roughly 2 hours of several airports:
- 15 miles southwest of Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
- 102 miles southeast of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ)
- 124 miles west of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
- 139 miles northwest of Miami International Airport (MIA)
- 152 miles southeast of Tampa International Airport (TPA)
We picked United’s nonstop service to RSW and decided to book the flights as an award ticket for 31,200 miles and $22.40 in taxes and fees.
The cash price for the flights we chose would have been only $393.60, which makes this one of my lower value redemptions so far. When you calculate the value per point redeemed (see this post for details), this award ticket comes in at only 1.19 cents per point. At that rate, I wouldn't recommend transferring valuable Ultimate Rewards to United MileagePlus. But I had a significant balance of United miles sitting unused. So, I decided to book an award and save my cash.
As a result of many enhanced offers Marriott provided members last year, I reached Titanium status with Marriott Bonvoy — which gets me United MileagePlus members Silver Premier status. This allowed me to move us into seats that would have otherwise cost an additional $95.
Since we had friends flying with us, I also used $49 of my Airline Fee Credit from The Platinum Card® from American Express to move my daughter into an Economy Plus seat to sit with her friend. I also utilized another $8.99 of the $200 Airline Fee Credit for Wi-Fi service on the flight.
While we could have returned for an identical amount of miles (or cash), I chose instead to utilize the Frontier Status I'd shared previously. With 100K Elite status, all of the expensive add-on fees are waived and you pay for nothing other than the base fare, so we decided to pay cash for our return ticket. All in, our round-trip airfare for four travelers came out to $175.92.
How I Booked Our Car Rental
Given our interest in freedom and flexibility, we opted to rent a car on-site. Our preferred provider is currently National. The reason is that I've managed to pick up Executive Elite status, which is a benefit of the Amex Platinum and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. If you have one of those cards, you can use this link to get upgraded to Executive Elite status too! This allows you to skip the counter and select the vehicle of your choice from the Executive Aisle. (Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.)
As many travelers can attest, auto rentals have skyrocketed. At the time of booking, a full-size rental was almost $120 per day!
However, you'll probably want to check out our guide to saving on car rentals with AutoSlash. If you use their service to monitor rental prices, you may be able to rebook at a better rate before arrival.
Sure enough, we were able to secure a much better price and lock in another $295.83 in savings! Despite other major markets being short on vehicles, that didn't appear to be an issue in Fort Myers.
Check-in Experience
We arrived to a friendly reception from the staff at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point.
While my wife and kids took off to explore, the staff helped me unload our vehicle and walked me to the check-in desk where the positive experience continued.
The front desk recognized my wife's Globalist status and thanked us for our loyalty. The agent offered us glasses of champagne and provided daily breakfast vouchers for our stay. He also made sure I was familiar with where I could find everything I needed.
Using a Globalist Suite Upgrade Award
The Hyatt Regency Coconut Resort & Spa has 454 guestrooms, including 221 kings, 205 queen/queens, 15 Bay suites, 8 Island suites, 3 Presidential suites, 1 Regency suite, and 1 Palm suite.
As mentioned earlier, Globalist status has some really nice perks and benefits. One of those is the ability to apply Suite Upgrade Awards (SUA) to reservations. Two things make those particularly valuable:
- SUAs can be applied to reservations immediately upon booking (if a Standard Suite is available)
- They are good for up to SEVEN nights at a time
Since a standard suite was available at the time we booked, we contacted our Hyatt Concierge to apply the certificate. Once that was taken care of, we had a confirmed reservation for a standard suite (a 1 King Bedroom Premium Bay View Suite with Sofabed). This room would normally cost $3,416 to book with cash—which is over $1,300 more than the standard room we'd have received without the Suite Upgrade Award.
Even better, Globalists who use a confirmed Suite Upgrade Award can still be upgraded further if the hotel has availability. At check-in, we were upgraded to a $965 per night Premium Suite (1 King Bedroom Island Suite), which would have brought the lodging total to $3,862 if we had paid cash instead of redeeming Hyatt points and a Suite Upgrade Award.
Pro Tip: If you want full balconies at every window, ask for an odd-numbered floor. The even-numbered floors “only” have one usable balcony.
Food & Beverage Service
There are several restaurants available at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Spa and Resort. We didn't dine in every one of them as we had just four days, but we managed to get around.
Corkscrew Poolside Bar & Grill
The first was an outdoor patio dining experience located right in the middle of all four pool areas. The staff here also served guests in the pool areas.
Service was friendly and efficient in the dining area. However, as this was a holiday weekend, it wasn't always as swift around the pool. Nonetheless, it was always friendly.
The food was a bit expensive, but the convenience of being able to dine on-site and spend more time enjoying the resort was a good tradeoff for us.
Tanglewood
Breakfast was served daily at Tanglewood. I think this restaurant is a bit pricey (for non-Globalist members) given that the only food available for breakfast was from their buffet.
Pricing for adults was $26.99, kids 4-12 was $13, and children 3 and under were free provided there was a paid adult too. With tax and tips, that's just shy of $124 for our family!
Tarpon Bay
On our last day, we decided to visit the Tarpon Bay restaurant to take advantage of a special Mother's Day offering. The view from this locale is a little nicer, but the service was a bit disappointing, and the food selection was nearly identical to Tanglewood.
Cool Beans Marketplace
If you need a few convenience items including bottled beverages, bagged snacks, and sunscreen, you can stock up at Cool Beans Marketplace.
They suggest you can, “Find everything you need from Starbucks coffee and fresh bakery treats to garden salads and sandwiches for a quick bite on the go. Cool Beans coffee bar offers a variety of items to make your visit more comfortable including cooler rentals for a day on the beach, games for the kids, and souvenirs to bring home.”
If you're into making smores, they also sell complete kits for $25 that can be used at one of the three outdoor fire pits.
The Pools & Activities
There are four separate pool areas so that people of all ages can enjoy the experience:
- Adult Pool/Adult Hot Tub
- Adventure Pool
- Waterfall Pool
- Lazy River
Adult Pool/Adult Hot Tub
With two kids (early teen & preteen), we avoided the adult pool area, but it looked relaxing.
The majority of our time was split amongst the remaining three pools. The waterfall pool was front and center as you exited the property's doors. The water in this pool was much cooler than in the other swimming areas.
Waterfall Pool
Adventure Pool
This was the area where families gathered, especially those with younger kids. The pool was the warmest of the three we visited, and it has slides for all ages as well as a gradual slope entrance to allow toddlers easy access too.
Lazy River
Our favorite feature was the Lazy River. Whether you chose to walk or float, this is where most people wanted to be. The sounds of Hawaii and the Caribbean were pushed through their rock garden speakers. If you wanted a little more excitement, you could catch a thrilling ride through the three waterslides including a pair of dueling speed waterslides and an inner tube waterslide (must be 48″ tall to ride).
Other Activities
If you tire of the pools, the property also has other outdoor activities including cornhole, Giant Jenga, Giant Connect Four, and a rock-climbing wall. Plus, there's a putting green and a floating 19th Hole on the lake where you can test out your chip shots.
I was told by the front desk staff that guests of the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point were also permitted to use the pool and (larger) Lazy River at the Hyatt Residence Club next door. But, I didn't have time to check that out. Normally, guests of either property can access pools at the other property. But the staff let me know that those staying at the Residence Club do not currently have reciprocal access to pools at the Regency.
Private Island
One of the most interesting and appealing parts of visiting the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point is access to an island available to Hyatt guests (that also includes the Hyatt Residence Club next door). It's not open to the public. After walking down the property's nature trail (a five-minute walk), you'll arrive at the marina where you can catch the Nautilus II across the bay over to Big Hickory Island (Nature Preserve). Again, this is only available to Hyatt guests, and chairs and umbrellas are provided as part of the resort fee.
The ferry departs every hour from 9:45am to the last crossing at 2:45pm. The walk from the dock to the first beach chairs takes 5-10 minutes, depending on how fast you're able to move. Even with our kids being a bit older, it was a bit of a haul in the 90-degree heat.
While the island does have restroom and picnic facilities, you are responsible for bringing your own food, beverage, and towels. The towels can be picked up from the Towel Hut on the property. If you or your kids enjoy searching for shells, you won't be disappointed. However, our beach experience was hampered somewhat by the Red Tide. This can result in breathing issues producing unwanted coughing, and it's a hazard to wildlife. It's not uncommon to see dead fish washed ashore.
To return from the island, no scheduling is necessary. The ferry leaves every hour from 10:15 am to the last call at 4:15 pm.
Booking the Excursion
This part was a little frustrating. I don't know if it's a result of the times, or if it's always been this way, but to visit the beach, you can't just hop on the ferry over. You need to book the crossing ahead of time. This can only be done up to one day in advance. So, busy holidays may prove troublesome. For example on the Saturday before Mother's Day, the only crossing available was at 2:45 pm. That doesn't allow you much beach time if you decide to visit last minute.
You can book the crossing at All Water Excursions by providing your name, room number, and how many guests. If your party is bigger than four, you'll need to make more than one reservation, since four is the maximum number accepted for each crossing reservation.
Final Thoughts
Using all of the benefits of loyalty programs, travel awards, and credit card perks at my disposal, I parted ways with just 6.6% of the cash this trip would have otherwise required. Below is my final tally of savings including breakfast before departure and lunch upon return courtesy of the Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass Lounge/Restaurant benefit.
These are the kind of wins I enjoy finding and talking about in Award Travel 101! If you haven't yet connected with us, click “Join Group” to submit your request. We're here to help you unlock the power of credit card, hotel, and airline points/miles to travel the world on any budget!
Have you been to the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa? If so, how was your experience?
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