Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Act soon: Holiday Inn Kensington has suites with club access for reward nights

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

This is possibly an IT glitch, but the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum in London is offering one bedroom suites for reward redemption.

They seem to be available EVERY NIGHT for the next year where reward nights are still available.  Refurbished Executive Rooms are also available.

Suites and Executive Rooms come with access to the business lounge – take a look here – which offers free breakfast and free evening drinks and canapes.

Holiday Inn Kensington lounge

The hotel is well located, within a few seconds of Gloucester Road tube station.  It is walkable to the South Kensington museums and you can get a direct Piccadilly Line train to Heathrow or the West End.

The hotel is already one of the better IHG Rewards Club redemption deals in London at just 35,000 points per night.

A typical cash rate for a suite here is £350+.

But note before you book …

The Holiday Inn Kensington Forum is one of the ugliest hotels in London.  Once you’re inside, of course, it doesn’t matter. It is also big, with over 900 rooms and therefore well over 1,000 guests milling around on an average night.

Most of the rooms have also not been refurbished for a long time – the exceptions are the Executive Rooms and the business lounge itself.  If this is an issue, of course, you could book a smarter Executive Room instead – they are the same 35,000 points per night and also come with lounge access.

Holiday Inn Kensington suite

The photo above still shows an old-style TV in the suite although I am pretty sure they have got rid of those ….

There is a limit of two people per suite.  They clearly have space for extra mattresses but this may be a fire regulation issue.  You cannot use this as a way of housing your family for a few days.

Despite all that, this is a great deal and potentially worth switching any paid or reward nights you have elsewhere.  The hotel home page is here if you want to find out more.   The business lounge is profiled here.

If you’re interested, book sooner rather than later.  Remember that reward nights can be cancelled without penalty at any time so there is no risk if you can’t make the date.  I would hold back from cancelling any other plans, however, just in case IHG decides to claim this was an error.

You can book at ihg.com here.


IHG One Rewards update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: IHG One Rewards is offering 2,000 bonus points for every two cash nights you stay (not necessarily consecutive) between 1st April and 31st May 2024. You can read our full article here and you can register here.

New to IHG One Rewards?  Read our overview of IHG One Rewards here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on ‘What are IHG One Rewards points worth?’ is here.

Buy points: If you need additional IHG One Rewards points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from IHG and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Comments (37)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Nick says:

    Brilliant timing was looking for somewhere in town at end October so I could attend a dinner at the Dorchester….. Just booked have received confirmation so fingers crossed….

  • CV3V says:

    Booked. However I’m keeping my original rewards booking just in case IHG decide to cancel, although i don’t think this is an error, there are one or two examples where they let this happen on rewards bookings e.g. Hotel Indigo Edinburgh.

  • PantsFlyer says:

    I booked a suite at the HI Norwich City previously. I believe it was a glitch as the day after I booked it, they disappeared. There was no problem at the hotel when I checked in, but reception commented they had never seen suites available on rewards before.

  • USATB says:

    Just booked a stay next Thursday 8th as was in town overnight elsewhere on points, so a no-brainer.

  • Waribai says:

    Someone has just asked me if it’s any good for
    New Yearr’s Eve

    • Kipto says:

      Have a look and find out ?

    • James67 says:

      Personally I have always hated Christmas or New Year in Lond9n, city feels like it dies or goes into hibernation. However, it is now eight years since I left so things may have changed, new year at least seems a little more fun with fireworks. Edinburgh is by far the best city to spend Bew Year in the UK.

  • DJ says:

    Great tip, helps the current Accelerate. 1st night holiday inn
    2nd night Indigo Earls Ct
    3rd night holiday inn
    Thanks to you and Craig

    • Rob says:

      Reward stays do not count for Accelerate

      • DJ says:

        booked with points and cash, need three nights like that, hope that is right

      • DJ says:

        I have checked with the call centre and they have confirmed that points and cash count towards the Accelerate program.

        • Rob says:

          They are wrong.

          • Globetrotter7 says:

            They do count if they’re part of your targets/offers. One of mine is book three stays using points and cash and receive 3600 points. I suspect DJ has a similar offer/target….

          • DJ says:

            Exactly the same

          • Brian says:

            I think Raffles means that the nights won’t count for the other targets, like ‘Stay x nights’ – those will have to be paid nights. So people should be careful – you might think you’ve done enough nights, but haven’t. It’s a bit sneaky of IHG, really, to make reward nights part of one target, but not be valid for the others.

          • Rob says:

            Correct.

            To be honest, I didn’t know people had got ‘points and cash’ targets as well. That is a bit sneaky as it won’t trigger any of the other targets such as booking via the app.

  • ankomonkey says:

    Do the suites definitely get Lounge access? The Lounge page only mentions Executive rooms having access…

    • Rob says:

      In the booking process it says it clearly.

      The general hotel industry rule is that every room above an Executive Room in the pricing structure also gets lounge access. Admittedly there are exceptions but most hotels work this way.

  • Danno says:

    Managed to get 3 nights.
    1 at the end of Oct for the wifes birthday
    New years eve and 1st Jan!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.