How to spend a $100 hotel credit

abhilaksh · MARCH 2026 · 5 MIN READ

The $100 hotel credit arrives on almost every booking we make through our preferred programs. It is, on the surface, the simplest benefit in the set: a fixed amount subtracted from your bill. In practice, the difference between spending it well and spending it poorly can be the difference between a nice trip feature and a meaningful one.

What it applies to — and what it doesn’t

Almost universally, the property credit applies to room charges posted to your account during your stay: restaurant bills, spa treatments, in-room dining, resort activities, minibar charges in some cases. What it almost never applies to: room rate, hotel taxes, or resort fees where those exist. Read the confirmation. The scope is spelled out.

At city hotels, “dining or spa” usually means either the hotel restaurant or the spa — or a split across both. At resorts, particularly in the Maldives and Southeast Asia, “resort credit” can be broader: excursions, water sports, sunset cruises, guided activities are often eligible. The resort credit at Six Senses is wider still, covering wellness consultations and specialist treatments.

The strategy

The advice we give almost every client: don’t spend the credit on the first night. The first evening is for arrival, for settling in, for a quiet drink if the flight was long. Spend it on the second night, when you’ve had time to look at the restaurant properly, when you know what you actually want rather than what’s nearest. The dinner feels like a gift at that point. On night one it feels like a formality.

“Spend it on the second night, when you know what you actually want.”

At spa-focused properties — Six Senses, Chiva-Som, Amangiri — the credit goes furthest on a single treatment rather than split across two shorter ones. A 90-minute massage with the credit applied is a fundamentally better experience than two 45-minute sessions at full price. The spa at these properties is often the reason to be there; the credit should serve that logic.

When $100 isn’t enough

It isn’t always. At a Four Seasons or Aman property in a major city, a dinner for two with wine will exceed the credit. That’s fine — the credit reduces a large bill, which is still meaningful, particularly across four or five nights where the savings accumulate. The benefit is per stay, not per night, so its value scales with the room rate: a $1,200-a-night property with a $100 credit is proportionally less impactful than the same credit at a $300-a-night hotel.

One thing we track: whether the credit covers service charges and taxes, or whether those are added on top. Most programs specify “net of taxes and service,” meaning your $100 covers $100 of food, spa, or activities before the tax calculation. A few add the surcharges on top of the credit; fewer still net the taxes in. It matters at high-rate properties. We check this on every booking.

The credit expires at checkout. Unused credit disappears. This sounds obvious, and yet we regularly hear from travellers who forgot it was there, or who left it for the last morning and ran out of time. Set a reminder for day two. Spend it intentionally. It exists because the hotel wants you to experience its restaurant or spa — take the invitation.

Treat the credit as the invitation it is — to the restaurant or the spa the hotel wants you to discover — and spend it on the second night, on purpose, before it expires unused. It’s free money with a deadline. Don’t leave it on the table.

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