There are over a half dozen Carlson Rezidor properties in Paris, but two in particular caught my eye. The Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan and the Radisson Blu Hotel Champs-Élysées. These are the best Carlson Rezidor properties in Paris and two of the nicest hotels in the city. Both are within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and numerous other popular tourist attractions.

A quick search revealed the following prices for my travel dates:

As you can see, these hotels go for €420 to €500 a night, which is roughly $588 to $700. That is pretty pricey, even for Paris, and well beyond my budget.

Looking again however, you can see that they can also be booked for 50,000 points per night. While that is still "expensive" in terms of points, it is a great value given the cost of booking the hotel with cash.

So with my 92,500 Club Carlson points, it seems that I can book one night in one of these hotels.

But wait! Let's not forget about one of the best features of the Club Carlson card!

When you book a stay of two or more consecutive nights, the last night is free. This is called a Bonus Award Night, and it essentially gives you the opportunity to get a "buy one get one free" deal on hotel nights at Club Carlson properties. So rather than only being able to book one night, my 92,500 points can book two nights at either-one of these properties!

I used this benefit to book a two-night stay that the Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan. As you can see below, there was no charge to book the hotel with points

This leaves me with 42,500 Club Carlson points, which are just a few points short of being able to book another stay of two nights at the Radisson Blu Hotel Champs-Élysées.

This is one of those rare situations where I recommend buying points with cash. As I mentioned in my book, the only time you should do this is when you are just a few points short of booking a trip you have been planning for a while.

Luckily, Club Carlson was offering a bonus on any points that you purchase. Here are the details of the promotion:

• Buy 5,000 - 10,000 points and receive a 20% bonus
• Buy 11,000 - 30,000 points and receive a 30% bonus
• Buy 31,000 - 50,000 points and receive a 50% bonus

Every 1,000 points costs $7 (not taking into account the bonus miles).

As I mentioned in the book, I am generally not a fan of purchasing miles when I don't have an immediate use for them. For that reason, I decide to buy only the miles that I need to book this hotel stay. I purchase 7,000 miles for $49 and receive a bonus of 1,400 miles.

Now with 50,900 points, I book a two night stay at the Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan for 50,000 points. Again, there are no additional charges for completing the reservation.

So for a total of $124, I am able to book four nights at two of the best hotels in Paris. Like we did with the flights, let's take a look at what that would have cost if I paid cash.

As you can see below, booking my same itinerary with cash would have cost€1,882, which is roughly $2,634.80.