How We Stayed in Dubrovnik for $0 Using Hilton Free Night Rewards
For my 40th birthday, I decided Croatia sounded like a perfectly reasonable place to celebrate. 😂
And not just anywhere in Croatia.
Dubrovnik.
AKA crystal-clear Adriatic water, ridiculously beautiful Old Town, Game of Thrones filming locations basically everywhere you look...and one VERY conveniently located Hilton.
We stayed at the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, right outside the walls of Old Town.
And the best part?
Our hotel stay cost us $0.
Not “basically free.”
Not “we saved a little money.”
ZERO DOLLARS for the room.
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The Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Was PERFECT
If you're going to Dubrovnik, location matters.
And this one was SO good.
The Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik sits right outside Pile Gate, one of the main entrances into Dubrovnik's Old Town.
Meaning we could walk out of the hotel and basically be in the middle of everything.
No figuring out transportation every morning.
No staying 30 minutes outside the city because the hotel was cheaper.
We were RIGHT THERE.
And if you're a Game of Thrones person like me, Dubrovnik is even more fun because so much of the city was used as King's Landing.
You can walk around Old Town and casually stumble across places you've seen a million times on the show.
We also did a Game of Thrones tour while we were there, which made it even more fun because you actually get the stories behind the filming locations instead of just walking past them. If you book through my link, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Plus, members of the cast reportedly stayed at the Hilton Imperial during filming.
So naturally I spent part of my birthday pretending this made me Game of Thrones adjacent. 😂
I'll take it.
But Let's Talk About the $0 Part
Because THIS is why I love having hotel Free Night Rewards in our points & miles strategy.
We didn't use Hilton Honors points for this stay.
We used Hilton Free Night Rewards.
And instead of paying almost $900 per night for our room...
We paid $0.
THIS is why I don't judge a credit card solely by the number of points in the welcome offer.
Sometimes there's more to the story.
And Hilton Free Night Rewards can be REALLY valuable when you're strategic about where you use them.
Instead of using one somewhere I'd happily pay $150 for the night, I would much rather save mine for somewhere I look at the cash price and immediately say...
Absolutely not. 😂
Almost $900 a night for a hotel in Dubrovnik on my 40th birthday?
Now we're talking.
So...How Do You Get Hilton Free Night Rewards?
Here's the fun part.
Depending on the Hilton card and the current offer, you may be able to earn Hilton Honors Bonus Points AND a Free Night Reward from one welcome offer.
And right now, there are two Hilton cards I can link for you that include a Free Night Reward in their limited-time offers.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
The current limited-time welcome offer is:
Earn a Free Night Reward + 70,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Annual fee: $0
Offer ends January 13, 2027.
Rates & Fees Terms Apply.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
The current limited-time welcome offer is:
Earn a Free Night Reward + 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Annual Fee: $150
Offer ends January 13, 2027.
You can also earn a Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 in eligible purchases on the Card in a calendar year.
Rates & Fees Terms Apply.
One More Hilton Thing You Need to Know 👀
You can get your fifth night free when you book with points.
Hilton Honors members with eligible elite status can get every fifth night free on qualifying Standard Room Reward stays of five or more consecutive nights when the stay is booked using 100% Hilton Honors points.
So let's say a hotel costs 70,000 Hilton Honors points per night.
Five nights would normally cost:
70,000 x 5 = 350,000 points
But with the fifth night free, you'd pay:
280,000 points for all five nights.
Basically, one whole night for zero additional points.
BUT...
You can't mix Free Night Rewards and points to make this work.
And this is where I think people can get confused.
You can't do:
3 nights with points + 1 Free Night Reward + get night #5 free.
I WISH. 😂
For the fifth-night-free benefit, the qualifying stay needs to be an all-points Standard Room Reward stay.
So if you have both Hilton Honors points AND Free Night Rewards, do the math before you book.
Maybe using your Free Night Rewards gives you the better value.
Maybe booking five nights entirely with points and getting the fifth night free makes more sense.
Price it both ways.
My Strategy With Hilton Free Night Rewards
Personally, I don't want to use a Free Night Reward just because I have one sitting in my account.
I want it to HURT a little when I look at what the hotel would've cost in cash. 😂
That's the sweet spot.
Think expensive European cities, beach resorts, luxury properties, birthday trips, anniversary trips...
Basically somewhere you really want to stay but would look at the cash price and say:
Yeahhhh, I'm not paying that.
That's exactly what Dubrovnik was for us.
I wanted this hotel.
I wanted this location.
I wanted my 40th birthday trip to feel a little extra.
I just didn't want the almost-$900-a-night hotel bill that came with it.
And thanks to our Hilton Free Night Rewards...
I didn't have to pay it.
Would I Stay at the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Again?
Absolutely.
The location was incredible, Old Town was basically right outside our door, and getting to spend my 40th birthday in Dubrovnik made the whole trip feel extra special.
But the part I still love the most?
Knowing this hotel would've cost us almost $900 per night...and we paid $0 for the room using Hilton Free Night Rewards.
THIS is why I love points & miles.
Not because every trip has to be luxury.
Not because every single thing has to be free.
But because sometimes they let us take the trip we already wanted to take and make one of the most expensive parts of it disappear.
And for my 40th birthday in Dubrovnik?
I was veryyyy happy to let that almost-$900-a-night hotel bill disappear. 😂
If you want to see the current Hilton offers that can help you earn Hilton Honors points and Free Night Rewards, I've linked them below.
→ Hilton Honors American Express Card
Terms Apply.
→ Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Terms Apply.
Just remember: points & miles only make sense if you're paying your cards off in full and avoiding interest.
Because the goal is to spend less on travel...
not turn a $0 hotel stay into an interest payment. 😂
I also keep a running list of the best current card offers I’m watching right now, so if you want to compare what’s out there before deciding on your next card, start there.
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Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
