IHG PointBreaks hotel redemptions are back on Monday – now pricier but much improved

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• Sandra says:

  27 Jan27 January 12:21

  Mainly due to their availability in most major cities worldwide in some shape or form, for business travel we use IHG hotels plus the premium credit card all the time in order to fund our family travel – this year we already have 2 rooms x 5 nights booked for free with points in Vancouver in August, the annual Ambassador free night still to book and the credit card free night voucher is due at the end of the statement year. For us anything on IHG is always useful but there is lots of stuff not relevant to our family on the site so it’s a case of skim through the headings, click on what is useful and ignore anything that isn’t – good job Rob, keep it up!

  • mark2 says:

    27 Jan27 January 13:21

    Are you staying at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Howe St. We stayed there for a night in June 17 and got upgraded to an enormous suite on the top floor as Spire Elite (to my amazement). Breakfast is poor and expensive but there are many places nearby although I only found them when leaving.
    But Delta Suites in centre is much better.

    • Sandra says:

      27 Jan27 January 15:30

      Thanks for the info. Yes Holiday Inn and Suites, Howe Street, and we are Spire Elite so fingers crossed…! We usually look around the area for other places to eat rather than the hotel so will make sure we do that on arrival ready for breakfast. To get 2 rooms in the city centre without adding cash we only had enough for this one. It was also on Rob’s list at the start of January increasing in price from 35000 to 40000 points/night so we booked before the increase and without Rob’s IHG info. we would have lost out. At August prices we’ve saved about $3000 CAD plus taxes on accommodation for these 5 nights and when you are taking older teenagers on holiday with you that’s a significant saving!

• Dwadda says:

  27 Jan27 January 12:50

  OT..Quality of IHG properties? Where do people rank Holiday Inn? When I was growing up, Holiday Inn was a cheap and cheerful family motel brand in North America (hence the Holiday in the name). There is a stigma to that name I cannot let go of, and that is reinforced by the one time I stayed at one (near regents park) tiny rooms. I make no distinction between Holiday Inn and HI Express.

  Which Hilton or Marriot or Hyatt or Accot brand does Holiday Inn compare to in your experience? I get the feeling that IHG is pitching Holiday Inn at a higher level than whence it came outside North America or perhaps even in North America now.

  Tiny rooms and exposed pipes in the bathrooms don’t do it for me.. Is that your experience in Holiday Inns?

  • Doug M says:

    27 Jan27 January 13:02

    A reply based entirely on North America. HIE seem to be newer, the ones I’ve stayed at have all been very good, similar I’d say to Hampton. Clean, but not luxurious in any way. HI on the other hand would never be my first, second or third choice, based on only about half a dozen stays in different hotels, but went right off them. Clean was never the first thing that came to mind when staying there. I suspect I may have just been unfortunate.

    • Dwadda says:

      27 Jan27 January 13:48

      I agree, I think HIE is a good, well understood brand. I stayed in one at Berlin airport and it was honest to my expectations – just what a brand should be. Holiday Inns are priced (averaged over many hotel search experiences) at the same level as a Novotel or a Doubletree but I remain dubious whether HI will deliver the same experience. So if anyone has anything nice to say about them, we’re listening…

      Hotel branding really matters. I’ve excluded Holiday Inns from consideration because of what that brand meant in my childhood (vending machines by the swimming pool where you could purchase swimmers). I suspect that IHG stuck to “Holiday Inn” because they probably paid a lot of money for the chain and wanted to get value from it. However, if you are expecting business folk to stay in a downtown hotel called the “Holiday Inn” – well, I for one could not tell business associates that that was were I was staying; I’m not on holiday. 40% of all travel is for business. Using Holiday in the brand name is same as buying a new car and choosing pink as the colour.

      Sure, IHG probably thought that Intercontinental is the business brand so no problem. But the reality is that most business folk will stay at a Novotel or Doubletree level or a Hilton or Marriot… What actually is the IHG brand that matches with Hilton or Marriot? It is not Intercontinental, which tends to be fancier than a HIlton/Marriot. Enquiring minds want to know…

      • Michael Jennings says:

        27 Jan27 January 14:21

        I’d think it is Crowne Plaza – a brand that used to be “Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza”, but they dropped the “Holiday Inn” for more or less the reasons you say, I suspect.

        The Holiday Inn hotel at Berlin Schoenefeld is a regular Holiday Inn rather than an Express. I’ve stayed there a couple of times and it’s a decent hotel that I like. (Only 10,000 points, too).

  • mark2 says:

    27 Jan27 January 13:25

    In any comparison of this sort you have to remember that almost all of the chain hotels are franchises so vary widely. I have stayed in uninspiring Hiltons in Seattle and Quebec City but superb in Venice and quite good in Toronto. Holiday Inns poor in Hamilton ON but very good in Vancouver BC.
    And even the same hotel can vary according to which receptionist handles your arrival, how full the hotel is etc.

    • Dwadda says:

      27 Jan27 January 14:04

      Yes, this may be true but IHG would need to decide/agree what brand a franchisee fell into. I do not understand the Holiday Inn brand so I stay away from it. I know what the difference is between a Hilton and a Garden Inn. I choose hotels primarily for location. The brand tells me what to expect so I can either look forward to it or brace myself when I get to my room. I’m actually hoping that the IHG Ambassadors out there will stand up for Holiday Inn and encourage me to reconsider my prejudice based on limited experience and childhood memories.

      Of may it is not worth it. “Holiday Inn” is just not a good name, they should have used the founder’s name.. ..or make something up, like Accenture. God, IHG really needs better brand management.

  • Concerto says:

    27 Jan27 January 13:30

    I always find Holiday Inns in the United States are slightly more luxurious and upmarket than those in Europe, especially Britain.

    • Anna says:

      27 Jan27 January 16:08

      Indeed, I love the way it’s normal to get 2 double beds in your room in the US whereas here in the UK they want to virtually double the room price to give you a tatty old roll out bed for your child (and charge them full breakfast price for a piece of toast and juice!).

  • Graham Walsh says:

    27 Jan27 January 13:31

    I was at a HIX in Birmingham this week. Big room. Comfy bed and great shower. Stayed the HI Birmingham Airport and again nice big room (upgraded) but the shower was poor in comparison to HIX. Just depends. Also breakfast was great. The HI compares to the Hilton NEC which I’ve stayed at before too a few times.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    27 Jan27 January 14:12

    Dwadda: “Crowne Plaza” used to be “Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza”, but they dropped the “Holiday Inn” because I think they realised it had a downmarket ring to it, whereas they were aiming for a “nice but not quite our nicest” branding like Novotel or Doubletree or similar.

    I find Holiday Inns variable. They can be very good. They can be old and tired. HIX properties are usually newer, even if they are in theory a budget brand.

    • Dwadda says:

      27 Jan27 January 14:34

      That is interesting. I did not know that. “Holiday Inn Crown Plaza,” ha, really? There are hardly any Crowne Plaza’s and I would not stay at one out of choice. The name is too pretentious, I’d be embarrassed to say I was staying at the Crowne Plaze. That, to me, would be like admitting I was wearing elevator shoes (internal heals that make you taller, and no I’ve never had a pair I’m just old enough to remember them). It would only be bearable if there were casinos in the hotels (which there aren’t).

      Please IHG fix your branding. It is truly the worse of all the major hotel chains. It’s not just that I do not understand your branding, which means I cannot stay at your hotels. It is also truly bad.

      • reds says:

        28 Jan28 January 10:49

        Just back from a 6 night stay at the Crowne Plaza in Santiago, Chile. Had a wonderful stay. Upgraded to top floor with superb views of the mountains and access to the lounge as a Platinum. Room was clean and spacious and staff was helpful. The hotel was a down town location and had a buzz about it. Recommended!!

    • Alan says:

      28 Jan28 January 19:55

      I must say I find both Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza to be of variable (usually not great!) quality. By far and away my favourite IHG brand is Hotel Indigo – generally modern and decent properties. HIX also tend to be newer and better appointed, had a great stay in the one in San Francisco.

  • Cate says:

    27 Jan27 January 14:59

    We have a glut of IHG points which we use to book cheap, close to airport properties when we arrive at some stupid time in the morning. We then move on to our real hotel later in the day. Saves losing a night at an expensive hotel.

  • Rob says:

    27 Jan27 January 15:11

    Truth is there are no brand standards. New HI hotels are impressive, old ones can be untouched for 20 years. There is NO brand where you can be 100% certain it will be good – you always need to check reviews. Even Four Seasons has some dogs.

    Hilton even has DoubleTree which is a brand which has NO ‘brand standards’ at all. There is nothing a hotel needs to have or do to be a DoubleTree – that is why a lot of existing hotels convert into a DT because they don’t need to spend anything. The only reason they give out free cookies at reception is that its the only way you could ever guess a hotel was a DT. I’m not saying DTs are bad – the Chelsea one is very pleasant, apart from the fact that it isn’t in Chelsea ….

    • Dan says:

      27 Jan27 January 18:05

      Agree with this.

      I stay at doubletree hotels in London for work most weeks (usually within work travel budgets whereas Hilton are usually just over), quality varies widely. Best are Chelsea and Westminster in my view, worst probably Kensington, although they are undergoing major refurb at the moment.

      • Crafty says:

        1 Feb1 February 20:07

        Islington is pretty decent – better than the Hilton round the corner.

    • Jonty says:

      28 Jan28 January 00:00

      Our kids rate hotels based on: 1. Having a pool, 2. Room service, 3. Places to hide. HI and Doubletree both often do well based on these criteria. In the budget category, Hampton breakfasts are better than HIX in UK. Sorry to lower the tone.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      28 Jan28 January 13:57

      My rule is generally to (largely) ignore the brand and to compare the cash price with other hotels nearby. This is normally a much better indicator of the quality of the hotel than the particular brand.

    • Crafty says:

      1 Feb1 February 20:06

      Odd isn’t it. In any given town you need to try both the Doubletree and Hilton to see which you’ll prefer. Conclusions from previous town entirely irrelevant.

  • Mr Dee says:

    27 Jan27 January 19:13

    Can’t really recommend the HIX in my experience over several different stays from poor housekeeping, the cleanliness of the breakfast area, the noise level of adjacent rooms and broken in room heating left on full heat in the summer. However IHG usually do compensate in points if there are any issues and you follow it up but now I tend to avoid them and would look for Crowne Plaza alternatives.

• barry cutters says:

  27 Jan27 January 14:23

  i can easily complete 5/7 of my accelerate goals.
  but need 6/7 to get the final 34k bonus.
  the final two are the credit card (which i dont want), and use a corporate code for 3000bonus points.

  I dont have a corporate account or code.
  Any ideas? can i get one on google?
  can someone share one?

• Sandra says:

  27 Jan27 January 15:40

  You have to look at the reviews, as several people have said IHG hotels can be good or not so good and sometimes a newer HIEX is better than a Holiday Inn. Crowne Plaza are few and far between, London City CP is normally good if you can get it at a reasonable price and at the top end there is Intercontinental. Kimpton, which has just joined I can’t comment on as never used them.

• Harry says:

  27 Jan27 January 19:33

  IC Kiev was on the list quite a few times at 5,000 points and is a great hotel. Still good value at 15,000 but not the steal it was!

• milgom says:

  28 Jan28 January 13:29

  > Remember that if you attempt to amend your booking later by dropping a night or two the whole booking will reprice at the full rate.

  That’s not necessarily the case, if you stay and shorten your stay (so leave before the end of your booking), then one thing that can happen is that you have to pay one night at the rack rate and the rest of the points are refunded. The hotel sometimes waves that one night fee. It happened to be in CP Okayama, I got the points back for the remaining 5 days and didn’t have to pay anything. As an aside, CP Okayama is a really great hotel, best CP I’ve stayed in.

• Alison says:

  28 Jan28 January 17:02

  Slightly off topic, I want to book the Intercontinental in Hong Kong for a night next January, anyone any tips on when is the best time to book and how to make the most of any points I could earn? We often use IHG hotels though I don’t think we have many points yet.

  • Alison says:

    28 Jan28 January 18:53

    Ah, that puts paid to my plans to sit in the bar and look at the view! Thank you.

• Cquahil says:

  28 Jan28 January 18:42

  Bit OT but could be relevant if you have already booked a PB hotel. I booked an IHG property in SF some time ago. At the time the hotel was 40k points per night. It’s just gone up to 50k per night. I need to change the dates does anyone know what points I will get back if I cancel and then rebook the original 40k or the value now, 50k.

  • sufyan says:

    28 Jan28 January 21:38

    The original 40k.

  • Rob says:

    28 Jan28 January 22:04

    40k

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