I'd recommend looking into the Chase IHG card. It has a low minimum spend (only $1k in 3 months) and the 70k points is 3 nights in a holiday inn (mid tier hotel). Note - this card also will charge you an annual fee - but also give you another free night in a hotel for that. So between the points and the free night for the annual fee, 4 nights in a hotel for $49.
You can also look at the free night in a nicer hotel (if you don't mind moving hotels mid vacation) since it's just a free night, not a certain number of points.
I heartily second this suggestion. I have an IHG Platinum MC with almost 500k points and it is worth every penny of the annual fee.
1. You get a free night every year, but there is some overlap, so by saving the first year's night until the end of the year, you can combine it with the next year's night and get a free weekend around Christmas/New Year's every other year. Better still, get a card for each of you and get a free weekend every year.
2. Platinum privileges. Late check out, guaranteed rooms with advance reservations, extra points, point rebates, room upgrades, I can't remember it all.
3. Points + cash program lets you buy additional points, combined with cash for a very reasonable room rate that circumvents all the bullshit hotel taxes, an awesome hack!
4. Points (and even your annual free night) can be used at fabulous Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts around the globe.
5. Occasional promotions offer even better introductory offers. A quick google search turned up this:
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2015/07/15/how-to-find-the-best-ihg-signup-offer-80k-points-plus-50/That said, do plan something special together. Related personal story(tl;dr) - My parents honeymooned in Ensenada, Mexico and celebrated their 25th on Catalina Island (in SoCal, where we lived, so not a huge splurge, but still a getaway destination.) For their 50th Anniversary, the whole family took a cruise that stopped at both ports of call. We had a blast, and revisiting those places from their past made it even more special.