I like to track our expenses for various trips, be they the expensive (and longer kind), or the quick & less expensive. The Greece summary will be quite the splurge, but as with everything, tracking helps you know what you spent & ensure your spending matches your priorities.
M's birthday is coming up, but is sandwiched between a work trip (me) & my friends trip to Greece. I still wanted to celebrate him, but he wanted to keep it local. We decided on a very fancy hotel about 90 minutes away in Carmel.
Hotel cost:
- Free, with Hyatt points earned through our Hyatt credit card. This is a pricey hotel ($1237 without taxes, activity fees, etc), but we paid $0. Even the activity fees are waived when paying with points. We were also upgraded to a larger suite with an outdoor bath tub that was fabulous.
Transportation:
- We wanted to get to Point Lobos for hiking by 8, which the internet said would give us a good shot at parking inside the park. Unfortunately, we left about 15 minutes late, which meant parking along the road. On the plus side, that meant no parking fee inside Point Lobos, saving $10.
- We drove our electric car & charged at the hotel. Honestly, the charging fee was pretty outlandish, at $21.90. We should have paid more attention, as M can definitely charge for less at his work. Anyway, lesson learned & still cheaper than gas. - $21.90
Activities:
- We hiked at Point Lobos in Carmel ahead of checking in at the hotel, and the views were incredible. Neither of us had ever been there before, and really enjoyed it. (Photo below.) Cost = $0
- We also took advantage of a free spin class offered through the hotel on Sunday morning. Always nice to try a new free workout. Cost = $0
Food:
- Because I'm a Hyatt Globalist, we get all food charges before 11 am for free. This included a latte for me + an Americano & GF muffin for M. We also had a fantastic breakfast buffet after our spin class.
- Our room came with two free drinks, which we enjoyed by the pool during lunch. (Free drinks also thanks to Hyatt status.) There was a big snafu of the pool service, because the hotel was clearly overrun by an impromptu pool party happening after a wedding. They comped us two more drinks, which we told them was unnecessary, because they were working extremely hard to serve everyone. They insisted. We did have a hummus plate, which was $29.75.
- Lunch by the pool - $123.31
- Dinner in Carmel - $197.70. I thought this place was just pretty good, but I wouldn't go back for the price.
Total cost for the mini birthday trip = $372.26
Do you have any local(ish) trips you are considering?

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