Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Weekend staycation break? Two interesting IHG hotel deals in York and Oxford

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

Two totally unconnected – but good value – deals at IHG Rewards Club properties have come up, so I thought I’d put them together in this article.

First up ….

Half price redemptions at voco Oxford Thames

The newly upgraded and rebranded voco Oxford Thames is, as you can see in the picture below, not your usual IHG property:

voco Oxford Thames half price redemptions

To quote:

“Close to the heart of Oxford, on the banks of the River Thames, lies voco Oxford Thames hotel. With a history dating back to the Middle Ages, the hotel’s surroundings have an intriguing story to tell. Originally headquarters of the Knights Templar, the house and its lands have been owned by notable religious figures, lords, and even kings throughout the centuries.

voco Oxford Thames combines its medieval character with 21st-century style to create a unique setting for memorable meetings, conferences, and weddings alike.”

voco Oxford Thames is usually 40,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night.

However, for stays until 7th November, it has halved the redemption rate to just 20,000 points per night.

I tend to value an IHG Rewards Club point at 0.4p which means 20,000 points would normally get you a room worth around £80.  voco Oxford Thames sells for noticeably more than this – £130 seems to be the minimum and it can go over £200 – so this is a good deal.

The hotel website is here if you want to learn more or book.

Meanwhile, over in York …..

Exceptional rates at Principal York

Principal York is the hotel next to the railway station.  A LOT of money was spent on it by the former owners, and I had a pleasant lunch there last year.

IHG is taking its time deciding which brand it slots into, and it is remaining a Principal for now.

This may be an error, but the hotel is offering some exceptionally cheap ‘Special Dinner Packages’ at the moment.

Take a look at Sunday 1st September for example.

A standard room costs £144, room only.

The ‘special dinner package’ gets you:

  • dinner for two people (a three course set menu or £25 per person towards the a la carte menu)
  • breakfast for two people
  • a King Superior room

and is selling for just £100.

It is available on other Sunday nights at £100, and on certain other nights this package is the same price as a standard room.


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 (41)

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

  • Cal says:

    Just booked this for September, thanks Rob!

    There was an option for pay with fewer points and cash:
    20,000 points
    15,000 points and £25
    10,000 points and £50.

    I stuck with 20,000 points with my quick maths. Was that correct?

    Additionally I saw a day or so ago, someone saying that Creation are declining anyone who held the IHG credit card before? I applied a few months ago for the Premium card and was declined. I had held the free card but cancelled it about a month before I applied for the Premium card.

    Rob have you heard what the current situation is around the card?

    • Rob says:

      No, nothing. I have an odd relationship with Creation,who are happy to buy me lunch at every opportunity but refuse to actually discuss their products or partner with us.

      • Andrew says:

        So what do you talk about? It’s not as if their products or service quality sell themselves.

        • Rob says:

          The market, who is doing what, usual stuff! I have better insight than most because we deal with most issuers.

          • Alex Sm says:

            They are doing their job very well while you could have done yours better in this case Rob 🙂 there is no such thing as free lunch

          • Rob says:

            Totally untrue 🙂 For a start, at Christmas we can legally blow £150 per head on lunch and charge it to the business!

          • Shoestring says:

            I get your point Alex Sm – but also see the other side. I used to take the country manager of my main competitor out to lunch when I was running [a European country] as MD myself. TBH I never really got any particularly useful information out of him nor he out of me. I eventually got given the heave ho after a few years & thought it might help I had a contact there, but no.

            At the end of the day, they were very good lunches paid for by a FTSE100 co. And that’s about it.

      • Brasov says:

        It’s a pretty good card so we might have you to thank for influencing them

  • Clive says:

    OT – New Hilton promo for 7500 points. Seems open to all

    https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/7500-points-media/landing/

  • @mkcol says:

    Hope The Principal appreciate me pointing out their typo 😉

  • BJ says:

    OT: New amex offers I have spotted on my cards today are £10 for £30 supermarket spend, £5 for £20 Deliveroo, and £10 for £40 spend at Bella Italia.

    • Harry T says:

      I have the Bella Italia and Deliveroo offers. Sadly don’t have the supermarket one, which would be more useful.

  • Caro says:

    Do bonus points earned from the accelerate promo post after each stay or at the end of the promotion? Thanks

  • Andy says:

    Be aware that not many of the Principal York Rooms have air conditioning. They can get very, very warm even in winter. Some bathrooms are very small, as are some of the rooms.

    The public areas of the hotel have been done beautifully, but when my mum stayed there for 2 nights she had an awful mattress the first night which reception staff said would be replaced…but it never was. Eventually she was moved rooms on the 2nd day. After much wrangling the manager agreed to provide a free future stay, which was generous, although this was only offered after a 10%..later upped to 20% refund was refused by my mum.

    It isn’t a hotel I would rush back to, but at £100 for half board it’s good value provided you get a good mattress and a cool room.

  • Daz says:

    I go to York every month and normally stay in the Hilton across from the tower. As if by magic the Principal came up on my Capita website! As I business stay in room 216 it was crap, no aircon, no IHG points, according to them I had a 30% discount at £269.00???

    So decided to take it as a bad stay and not worry about it to much. However I booked a private weekend stay a few weeks later as a romantic getaway……….oh……. my god!!!!! How shite that started! I was pur in the dog house with the missus, I headed for a quick win at the Indigo in the centre. Turned out great! Central, cheaper and better service.

    As a person who loves older buildings and history, I’d have loved the Principal to be there. But it wasn’t, it was lacking in service, unfortunately it wasn’t befitting of the building. I do hope it does get better for the sake of this historical hotel.

    • John says:

      I find “historical” hotels to be nice to look at but usually not worth staying in.

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.