Personally, I find Radisson hotels to be a mixed bag. While there are some really nice Radisson hotels there are other ones that cost a lot of points but aren’t that nice. Since I’ve stayed in a lot of Radisson’s, and finding the best Radisson is harder than you think, I decided to do a post just on the best Radisson hotels.
I talk a lot about Club Carlson because we spend weeks of our life in their hotels each year. Partly because of the Club Carlson credit card giving a free night per redemption. And while I’ve written about best Club Carlson category 1 & 2 hotels, as well as best use of Club Carlson hotels, I haven’t done a post just about the high end redemptions.
Radisson Blu Vienna, Austria – 50,000 points
If you haven’t heard, I love Vienna, and I love this hotel. Our last time staying here they gave us an amazing suite. But what I love about this hotel is not just that it’s super stylish, it’s the location. It is seriously a block away from my favorite spot in Vienna.
Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney, Australia – 50,000 points
This is my second favorite Radisson we’ve stayed at. Downtown and in a building you swore you saw in Paris, it’s a super cool hotel. Also… with a doorman that has way too much white makeup on his face.
Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia – 50,000 points
Believe it or not, this is one of the only Radissons I’ve been to that’s given me breakfast (now apparently lounge access) as a gold member. But this part of Philly really has a cool old timey feel, and the hotel fits that. It’s an impressive but small hotel.
Plaza on the River London, UK – 70,000 points
This is the perfect hotel for families. I booked this when traveling with my mom because it’s all suites, but they gave us the perfect two-bedroom suite. Unfortunately, the price has gone up to 70,000 points recently. A bummer but the other hotels are 50k and for only 2 people.
The May Fair London, UK – 70,000 points
If I could choose another hotel in London, I hear the May Fair is a true 5 star hotel. But realistically I’d probably opt to pay 50,000 points instead and go with the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire. Both of these are much closer to my favorite part of London, which is the Westminister area. Better locations, period.
Radisson Blu Berlin, Germany – 44,000 points
I personally couldn’t justify staying here when we were in Berlin because at the time there was a 9,000 point hotel (now 15,000). But this is a much better location, and in fact, we stepped inside while touring around the amazing museums in Berlin. A great location, but the most interesting feature is the giant fishtank that tunnels down to the lobby. Cool, eh?
Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel Paris Trocadero, France – 70,000 points
Unfortunately, a lot of the hotels here got hit bad in the otherwise small devaluation. Most moved from 50,000 to 70,000. This is the highest rated Radisson on TripAdvisor and the location is probably the most appealing over the other options. I didn’t get the appeal of Champs Elysees though, as I don’t like shopping or traffic. Love the IC’s location next to the Opera House.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago, Illinois – 50,000 points
This is one of the most distinctly looking Radisson hotels and it has great reviews. But mainly, it’s a nice hotel in the center of Chicago. I personally haven’t stayed here but I know many points collectors say good things.
Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront Cape Town, South Africa – 50,000 points
We didn’t make it to Cape Town on our trip to South Africa, so this will be the one city in this post that I haven’t been to. And while I can’t vouch for the location at all, it has great reviews and goes for $300+ a night.
Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World, China – 44,000 points
While there are so many cool hotels in Shanghai (like my favorite Park Hyatt Shanghai), this is a pretty cool hotel. I’ll let the picture do the telling.
Radisson Blu Hotel Altstadt Salzburg, Austria – 44,000 points
This hotel is such a great location. If there is a perfect location in the beautiful city of Salzburg, I think this is it. On the river, but on the old side. Beautiful.
Honorable Mentions:
- Radisson Blu Amsterdam – Loved the location.
- Radisson Blu Media Harbour Hotel Dusseldorf – Cool area in a beautiful city.
- Country Inn & Suites, New Orleans French Quarter, LA – Great reviews, great location.
- G&V Royal Mile Hotel Edinburgh – Amazing city and highly rated hotel, but it’s 70,000 points. But I found the Radisson Blu Edinburgh to be an awesome location, and it’s 50,000 points. But if this is about nice hotels, the G&V would win.
- Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa
Hotels NOT on the list:
I really like the location of Radisson New York, and I’ll likely stay again. But I wouldn’t say it is the nicest hotel.
The Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island is often listed as one of the nicest Radisson hotels… but… it’s a man-made island/beach in a country with some of the most beautiful islands ever! It is at best Cancun and it doesn’t have the scenery that is Fiji.
Conclusion
I’m sure there are other Radisson hotels out there that are really nice. If there are any true 5 star Radisson hotels that should be on the “best club carlson hotels” list, please comment below.
Good list. I agree about the Philly hotel. I stayed there right after they completed the renovation.
An fyi — the Radisson in New York isn’t technically a Radisson Blu. Though, I think with a little bit of reno that would be a great one for Club Carlson to rebrand.
Oops. Your right. Didn’t know about the renovation but… it kind of needs it.
Any opinion on the Radisson Blu hotels in Istanbul? There’s one in Pera and one on the Bosphorus and both have good reviews on Tripadvisor. I think I read you didn’t like a different Radisson in Istanbul?
I’ve heard great things about the properties in Istanbul but haven’t been to either. Maybe soon actually. But the Pera has better reviews and might be a better location. But the Bosphorus is generally more expensive. I looked into em recently as they had great rates this winter with the 2-4-1 for gold members. But otherwise IDK.
RB Bosphorous is awesome in views and breakfast. Def upgrade to make sure you get breakfast. Watch out for cab scams though.
Stayed at Radisson Blu Prague recently. Staff and service were amazing.
I almost stayed there, but then the Orbitz $100 off a $100 stay happened! But I was curious to stay.
We stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal in Bergen, Norway last year and loved it! Room was large with high ceilings, perfect location and breakfast was included.
It looks awesome. We MAY get to Norway this summer and man, looks like Club Carlson is the way to go (if you don’t have choice points). But the hotel does look nice. Thanks for recommending it, and hopefully we’ll check it out soon.
I have a slightly different take. The Europe hotels are often nice but seldom provide elites any special treatment. I much more enjoy a hotel in Central America or Asia where they give Club Carlson Golds huge suites, amenities and breakfasts just for showing up.
I’d totally agree if there were more properties in Asia.
Of the few Asian countries, I’ve tried multiple.
In China. WOW. Even the cheapos are awesome. But that’s true across the board. But in 2011 they had a Rad Blu in Shanghai for 15k and we just rotated nights on the 9k refund promo. Kinda like the card now.
Stayed at the Radisson and Park Inn in Muscat. No upgrades, no breakfasts, no nothing. Barely got internet working. The hotels, rooms, staff and locations were bazar. Really just… not recommended.
In Bangkok, they gave us the biggest suite at the Radisson. Incredible upgrade but the hotel wasn’t that nice. No breakfast.
But they opened one in Phuket and are expanding. So I’m hoping!
Drew – are you referring to Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit or Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok ?
Actually considering my stay at one of them.
We really enjoyed the Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel in Antwerp this past December – directly across the square from the beautiful train station, the upper floor rooms had great views.
We almost went there after Brussels but opted for more time in Amsterdam. Would love to make it to Antwerp and Ghent on the next trip.
I had some good experiences with Club Carlson last year.
Radisson Tahiti – upgrade to suite with sea view
Park Plaza Orchid, Tel Aviv – got nice room with view of the sea.
Radisson Blu Nice – basic room, food very expensive but supermarket a few blocks away.
Radisson Blu Port Elizabeth – nice room with sea view.
I never asked for any special treatment at any of these hotels, just took what they gave us. I have the lesser card which only gives silver status and only $50 annual fee but still gets one award night free. All of the above were BOGO award nights.
So bad news I discovered this week. No Radisson in Tahiti anymore. Now the Tahiti Pearl. Over night it seems.
Good recommendations on the others.
My luck on upgrades has been pretty bad, except the last time in Vienna and the weird hotel in Budapest.
Wow, that really sucks! In an expensive place like Tahiti we can’t afford to lose any good points hotels. Based on your comment I checked FT, look at how rude they were about cancelling this poor guy’s reservation! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/carlson-club-carlson/529800-radisson-tahiti-resort.html
“Here’s your points back, now go pay for a room with cash!” If they had done that to us last year we would have been out of pocket $400.
I’m trying so hard to like Club Carlson because of their awesome credit card but they sure don’t make it easy!
One more goodie – Radisson Summit in Panama. Ask for a rainforest view, then sit on your balcony sipping your drink of choice and watch the birds fly by!
I heard Radisson Aruba will be soon to leave as well…
You know how soon?
Had a trip planned there end of next month.
I saw it on flyertalk. I don’t know the timeline. Google: flyertalk Radisson Aruba to become Hilton
Very sad it has changed to a Hilton . I was lucky enough to stay at that amazing hotel 7 times in 4 years ! I’m still heartbroken !
I stayed in Sydney Radisson last year for NYE. They upgraded me to that semi-circular suite room, but only let me book two nights as an award. For the 3 days around NYE itself they swore they can’t give me the exact same room again even though it was available for cash booking. What’s up with that.
Wow. That’s amazing, especially considering it’s NYE.
I’m so used to hotels giving that excuse that I just consider it part of the game now.
They were right in theory, that only premium rooms were left, and those aren’t available with awards. But the irony was they upgraded me to the premium room from the standard award and now were willing to let the room go vacant instead of letting me extend it.
Anyway, I moved to the Holiday Inn for 3 more days, which was really good and had a coin laundry.
I stayed at the Radisson Sydney at NYE as well. I had to book a 3 night stay and a 2 night stay for 5 nights back to back. It was tough to part with 100k points instead of the usual 50k for the 3 night chunk, but paid nights were $650 so it wasn’t so bad.
The hotel was nice, but the area was super super dead because of the holiday week.
I envy you that they gave you the circular suite. We just got a normal (non courtyard facing) room.
Also, the internet at that hotel was the worst I have ever seen. We were there for five days and it was bad around the clock. Unbelievable for a 5 star hotel.
I stayed at Radisson Sydney on NYE as well. They had a 3 night minimum for any day that included NYE, so we had to book a 3 night stay and then a 2 night stay for 5 nights total. It was a little hard to stomach 100k for the 3 night stay when I am used to 50k max. Paid rates were $650+ so it was okay.
I envy you that you got a corner suite. We only got “upgraded” to a non-courtyard facing room. I thought the hotel was nice, but the area was completely dead during the holiday week. We barely spent any time near the hotel.
One other note, the internet was absolutely terrible during our entire 5 day stay. I’ve never seen such a bad connection all the time at a supposedly 4.5 star business hotel. Did you experience the same?
I was there for NYE this year as well! Agree that it was an amazing hotel, and in a great location for getting to the lines for fireworks early in the day. It looks like there were quite a few of us there on points. It took nearly all of my CC points (200k for 2 rooms for 3 nights), but this was a dream trip for our family!
Country Inn & Suites, New Orleans French Quarter, LA is a dump.
+1 Blue in Berlin
really? it has such high ratings on TA
I wouldn’t call it a dump. It is showing its age, particularly in the rooms. The (included) breakfast is decent and the rooms are spacious. But remember, this is a Country I&S, not a Blu. This is not luxury. But it’s a great location in a great city that you can still get BOGO with points.
Radisson Blu in Cape Town might be my favorite Radisson I’ve stayed at. Impeccable service and excellent rooms, plus unbeatable views of the cape. We showed up early without notice, and they gave us cappuccinos whiles we waited for them to prepare a business suite. Only time at a Radisson where an employee has guided me around the room.
Radisson Blu Metropolitan Hotel Paris Eiffel had terrific views of the Eiffel Tower. Room was small, but nice.
Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel in Stockholm was surprisingly nice given the location next to the train station. We had a great view of city hall, the room was great, and our points stay included a breakfast buffet by default.
I wasn’t super impressed with the Radisson Aruba. Had a series of minor issues there. We stayed at the Hyatt and found it much nicer.
Although we had service at the New Orleans Country Inn & Suites was great, and the location is excellent, a lot of the rooms don’t have exterior windows,. I like sunlight when I wake up but others might not mind as much.
Thanks for the great additions.
Glad to hear the Cape Town hotel was a good pick. Did you book the premium award in Stockholm then?
Must say, I didn’t consider Aruba to be my favorite island in the Caribbean yet. And that I ALWAYS prefer the Hyatt to Radisson. 10/10 times really. Can’t think of an exception off the top of my head.
Yea… windows is a must for me to feel like I’m in a dungeon.
I stayed at the Berlin Blu last year and it was nice, but I don’t think it is worth it when it is 3x the points of the cheaper place nearby. We were basically just at the hotel to sleep as well, because the city was so much fun. I’m going back this year and will stay at the 15k park plaza. Berlin is so big and has such good transit that I wouldn’t consider the park plaza location to be appreciably worse.
We recently had a stay in Cape Town, and can vouch for the location of the Radisson Blu. Side note, we were at the Westin, which was great with the exception of the scammy Europcar franchise hosted in their lobby, which refused to honor our prepaid reservation until we agreed add insurance, doubling the rate. Are all Cape Town car rentals that sleazy?
An even better BLU location will be the Radisson Blu Le Vendome Cape Town, opening in Sea Point mid-2015. We loved Sea Point, and that Radisson is on the short list for our next Cape Town trip.
We are staying at the Radisson Blu Dublin next month for four nights, after having heard some really positive things about it on FlyerTalk and Tripadvisor. It’s 44K/night. It seems like they give small upgrades to gold guests that include a free breakfast, but we’ll see if that holds true (I hope so; the reviews say the breakfast is really good!), and the location looks to be a couple blocks off of absolutely ideal, but still very near the main areas.
We stayed at the Park Inn Beijing and enjoyed the breakfast and evening appetizers. Room was nice and close to shopping.
I’ll also vouch for the Radisson Blu Cape Town. But it’s only a good hotel; not necessarily a great one. As “credit card gold members,” we had to talk our way into an ocean view. Very nice! Without that, just nice. An older property in a good location. That said, I’d never pay for it; South Africa is so cheap these days that $300 should get you a luxury villa. 🙂
Hands down, though, the best ClubCarlson hotel I’ve stayed at is the new Art’otel in Amsterdam. A really fun, stylish hotel — it might be worth a few thousand extra points for the deluxe rooms. Everyone gets a good free buffet breakfast. The Art’otel in Budapest is also nice, but not as good as Amsterdam, and no free breakfast.
Stayed at the Radisson Blue Style Hotel Vienna a couple of weeks ago. Great location and friendly and very helpful staff. Right next to Cafe Central and down the street from Cafe Stadt (which we really liked). Only complaint is the room was too hot. Can’t adjust the thermostat and calling maintenance up to fix it did nothing. Had to keep the windows open just to cool down and then heard all of the street noise. Drew, what’s your favorite place in Vienna?
Great post as usual Drew! I have been reading for a while but finally had to give compliments as I finally started feeling bad about not giving you the praise you deserve for such useful information. I was just looking at London hotels for a stay later this year with my wife and 4 yr old daughter, so your mention of the Plaza on the River as good for families was really helpful! Thank you.
Not sure if someone has mentioned it but Radisson blu resort and spa in Dubrovnik was excellent value (both in $$ and on points, a bit expensive on point side but I used Stay1Get1 promo, cost was around $50 in a cheapo Jersey motel or hotel)
http://www.radissonblu.com/resort-dubrovnik
Breakfast was included and We used it as our base for driving to Mostar and Bay of Kotor for a day trip. This is out of town hotel but very convenient for driving in the area.
+1 for Radisson Vienna location
also stayed at Radisson blu in Madrid and Champs-Elysées Pairs, both were fine as a location but didn’t get any breakfast. I have stayed in few other Radisson properties in Asia and Middle East and was quite happy with them.
Now planning to go to Budapest this Winter and deciding to either stay at Marriot or Art’otel (free breakfast is very important for my family of 3 🙂 )
Have you stayed at PH SYD? I know that hotel is completely different from Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney and they are not in the same league. My first two nights I am staying at PH SYD (birthday gift) and I have two more nights in SYD. I am considering another 2 nights (using P+C) at PH SYD or using points for Radisson Blu with the 2nd night free.
What do you suggest? I have enough Club Carlson/Hyatt/UR points so that’s not an issue. I guess the $300 “cash” part is a lot, but that’s not as much of an issue since it’s my birthday and I don’t mind splurging. What would you choose? I want to be in a good location in a nice hotel + nice room/great service.
Thanks! Would love to pick your brain! Also, I’d love it if you do some Australia/New Zealand/Singapore trip reports! Do you plan to?
@Ang We stayed at both Sydney hotels. The Radisson hotel was nice, though in a business area, very quiet at night. We did receive breakfast — not sure if that’s standard or not. No complaints at all. We are Hyatt Diamond. If you are, I’d do the splurge and stay at the PH. It’s really spectacular. Amazing location, close to everything, great Concierge tour on Saturdays, great breakfast. As Diamond, we felt this was our best Hyatt stay worldwide, and we’ve stayed at PH Paris Vendôme, Shanghai, Zurich, Chicago, Tokyo, Beaver Creek and Washington DC.
Thanks Jennifer for the response! I am diamond and I went ahead and am going to do 3 nights at PH SYD along with 6 nights at PH Mel! Can’t wait!
Is it possible to book a hotel with my points for my spouse or someone else?
Just wanted to mention the Radisson Blu in Krakow, Poland. Huge rooms, classy and very friendly service. The location is perfect. Higly recommended and a city worth visiting. Curiously there was a lot of hardcore German porn on the telly which seemed rather strange.
The Blu in Cape Town, right on the seaboard is in a really good location but would I pay to stay there? If someone else pays sure. Cape Town is beautiful if somewhat touristy.
Cape Town Radisson Blu Waterfront is now 70,000 points 🙁
Love both of the Radissons in Kiev – the downtown one is in a great location right by the Opera house. The one in Podil is in the hipster part of town. Kiev is like Paris on a dime!