I tried a new hotel chain, and I liked it

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I’m pretty predictable when it comes to hotels.

When I’m planning a trip, my first instinct is usually to look at the hotel chains I know best — usually Hyatt, followed by Marriott and Hilton. I know their loyalty programs, I know how to use their points, and I know I’ll receive some perks because of my status.

So when I was planning our trip to Slovenia, I found myself in unfamiliar territory.

There simply aren’t that many of the big U.S.-based hotel chains in the places we wanted to visit. Rather than trying to force our itinerary around the brands I was familiar with, I started looking at other options.

That’s how I discovered Minor Hotels.

And after staying at one of the group’s newest additions, Hotel Palace Portorož, I realized that it’s also okay to go outside of my comfort zone.

How an ordinary night out with the Bilt app earned 315 points

WITH OUR PARTNER AT BILT Yoga class, dinner with a friend, a comedy show, parking, and a Lyft home. Nothing unusual — except ​every one of those stops was booked through the Bilt app​, and each one kicked back points on top of the card we paid with. Total for the evening: 315 Bilt Points. The Bilt app's Neighborhood tab does the finding for you, and the Concierge can line up the whole night with one request. We broke down the math stop by stop. ​Learn how a single evening in Austin added up to 315 points​.

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The hotel is in Portorož, a seaside resort town in Slovenia near the Italian and Croatian borders, and an excellent location right across the street from the beach.

In fact, I thought it was probably the nicest hotel option in Portorož.

The property has a long history, dating back to 1910, and it has the grand feel you’d expect from a historic European resort. But it also has the amenities I was looking for during the beach portion of our Slovenia trip.

The hotel has its own beach club with lounge chairs and umbrellas for hotel guests, and there was no additional charge to use them. Best of all, chairs and umbrellas were readily available throughout the entire day, even though I was there during peak summer dates.

The property also boasts an indoor and outdoor saltwater pool, along with a spa and wellness area, giving it a true resort feel.

And even though I checked into the hotel without any status — unlike at my go-to hotel chains — all rates booked through the hotel included breakfast. This made me realize that while status is nice to have, there are so many other hotels out there which will give me some of the exact same perks.

There’s one important thing to know if you’re considering Hotel Palace Portorož: It’s in the middle of a transition from its previous operator to Minor Hotels, which took over in February 2026. The hotel is scheduled for an extensive renovation over the winter and is expected to reopen in 2027 as Hotel Palace Portorož, Minor Reserve Collection.

The hotel already has a lot going for it, and in a beautiful location, so any updates will make the property even more amazing.

As you might expect, as soon as I discovered Minor Hotels, I also started looking at how I could use my credit cards and points at its properties.

At the beginning of this year, Chase introduced a new benefit for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders: a $250 hotel credit that can be used at select hotel brands on a two-night stay booked through Chase Travel. Despite there only being a handful of hotel groups included in this benefit, Minor Hotels is one of them. Just note that this benefit currently ends at the end of 2026, but as long as your hotel is booked by December 31, it’ll still apply for future check-in dates.

Although I couldn’t personally use the credit for my stay, since it wasn’t live at the time, it’s currently eligible, so I’m hoping to use it for a future visit.

A $250 credit at this property or any Minor Hotel is a significant savings, and one that I wouldn’t have received if I had only stuck to my typical go-to chains (although this benefit does apply to IHG Hotels & Resorts, if that’s one of the U.S. brands you focus on).

Additionally, if there’s a Minor Hotel that you’re eyeing and it happens to also be part of The Edit by Chase Travel, you might be able to stack up to $250 from the separate Edit credit with the Minor Hotels credit, giving you $500 in credits toward your two-night stay.

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​The rewards math no booking site will do for you

I was set on visiting Slovenia this summer, and although my quick research showed me that my go-to chains didn’t have much of a presence there, I was able to discover a hotel company that was unfamiliar to me.

By branching out and simply looking for one of the nicest places I could find in Portorož, I ended up with a beautiful resort directly across from the Adriatic Sea, complete with its own beach club, indoor and outdoor saltwater pools, and an excellent location.

And while I wasn’t able to use my hotel points directly with Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton, this was also one of those instances when my flexible credit card points came in handy. By diversifying my points and miles, I was able to put the charge on my Capital One Venture Rewards credit card and wipe away most — although not all — of my cost.

In other words, discovering Minor Hotels in Slovenia has opened my eyes to other options.

In fact, I already have one on my radar: Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel on the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

That’s a pretty good outcome from simply being willing to look beyond my usual hotel chains.

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