As a new Chase IHG Credit Card holder, and having had success in being matched to the better offer of 100,000 points, I’m excited because now the real fun begins. How do I spend all those points I’ll acquire?! As a Hyatt and SPG loyalist, I had some research to do about the IHG brand, so I’ve been studying up on IHG. There are 10 hotel brands within IHG, with more than 5,000 hotels in over 100 countries. That’s a lot of choices #colormeconfused, I need your help!
Some of the brands seems interesting. There are only 6 EVEN Hotels, and they are all within the US. IHG says this brand is designed for health-conscious travelers and for breakfast and dinner they serve healthy and organic foods. Then there’s the Hotel Indigo brand. These are boutique hotels, so each location has a unique design, which is meant to reflect the character and history of the locale it is in. The InterContinental Hotels and Resorts are their luxury hotel brand. Could be fun to experience these hotels.
Then I began looking at locations for some IHG hotels. Wow, they really do have a large footprint. In Europe, I found Indigo properties in Barcelona and Rome, and InterContinental hotels in a few cities, such as London, Amsterdam, and Paris. In Asia, IHG has hotels in Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. And in South and Central America, I saw some good choices in Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Quito, Panama, and Brazil.
I still have a bunch of travel plans to make for next year, so that’s why I need your input. I want to use my IHG points and some of the places I’m thinking about traveling to have IHG properties. And maybe based on some of the IHG hotel availabilities, I might add a few destinations to my travels. It’s good to be flexible in travel choices.
So please chip in and let me know which IHG properties you’d recommend! Or not recommend. That’s useful for me to know, too. Which IHG hotels have you heard about that are on your must-try list? Any IHG hotel you’d like to see a hotel review of? I noticed here at TWG we’re lacking in IHG hotel reviews :(
I’d like to go from #colormeconfused to #bookedsomeIHGhotels, so thanks for your help, everyone. I’m looking forward to your advice!
Shelli, i just got an email from IHG that says, “Book from August 6th through August 12th and receive 50% off Reward Nights at participating resort properties in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. Valid for stays between August 7th – October 27th, 2017.
Participating Hotels in Mexico:
Presidente InterContinental® Cancun
Presidente InterContinental® Cozumel
Hotel Indigo® Veracruz Boca del Rio
Holiday Inn Resort® Ixtapa All-Inclusive
Holiday Inn Resort® Los Cabos All Inclusive
Holiday Inn Resort® Acapulco
Holiday Inn® Veracruz Boca del Rio
Holiday Inn® Veracruz Centro Historico
Holiday Inn® Campeche
Holiday Inn® Cancun Arenas
Holiday Inn® Ciudad del Carmen
Holiday Inn Express® Cabo San Lucas
Holiday Inn Express® Ciudad del Carmen
Holiday Inn Express® Manzanillo
Holiday Inn Express® Puerto Vallarta
Holiday Inn Express® Veracruz Boca del Rio
Participating Hotels in Latin America & the Caribbean:
InterContinental® San Juan Puerto Rico
InterContinental® Real Santo Domingo
InterContinental® Cartagena de Indias
Crowne Plaza® Panama
Crowne Plaza® Santo Domingo
Holiday Inn® Cartagena Morros
Holiday Inn® Panama Canal
Holiday Inn Resort® Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino
Holiday Inn® Santo Domingo
In exchange for my tip, let me know what looks good and how they price out!
HI Brandon. Wow, thanks so much for sending this list along. I’m definitely going to have to watch for emails from IHG. My IHG points haven’t posted yet, so I won’t be able to use this promo. Hopefully someone reading can use this promo. If anyone has stayed at any of these properties, maybe they can let us know which ones are best. I’d be curious about the Panama properties.
I’ve been loyal to IHG for years and generally save my points for Intercontinentals. Point-for-point, the best redemption I ever made was at the Intercontinental in Marseilles for 40k per night. 100k is only enough for 2 nights, but you can either save the leftover 20k for someplace else or use cash-and-points to stretch a 3rd night out of it.
Ah, Marseilles. I’ve never been to that area of France, so that’s great to know. Merci, Pat!
Each quarter, look at the price break hotels. 5,000 points per night. You should get more than 100,000 points for your spending and 5,000 from a secondary card. Look for ones that include breakfast. Make a list of where you really have wanted to go and use only the hotels with lowest points per night. Are you amassing credit card bonuses for air tickets?
Great points, Jerry. Thank you! I have to get used to looking at those price break hotels. Up to now I haven’t been paying attention to them. Breakfast included makes sense, too. Yes, my air ticket miles and points stash is healthy. I’ll start looking to coordinate where I want to go and which are the lowest points per night IHG choices in those locations. Have a great day!
It’s hard to go wrong with any of the Intercontinental properties, but personally I really love the boutique feel of Indigo line. We’ve stayed at the property in San Diego in or very near the gas lamp quarter. Also stayed in the Hotel Indigo in Edinburgh Scotland; great property in a great location right across from the train station.
It would be rare for me to stay in any place without breakfast included. “Boutique ambiance” won’t warm your tummy.
True enough, Jerry. I’ll probably chose as many IHG properties as I can from their various brands. Will be fun to compare them.
HI Theresa, Thanks for the tips. I’ve never stayed at an Intercontinental property. And I’ve been meaning to stop by the Indigo in San Diego and see what it’s like, so thanks for the reminder! I would like to get back to Scotland, so that suggestion goes on my list, for sure. Have a great evening!
I was wondering the exact same thing about IHG hotels!
My fiance and I are going abroad next year (woo! digital nomad life!) – we’re going to take advantage of the pointbreaks hotels and randomly choose an area to explore. The pointbreaks list never reeeeally seem to include popular destinations so it will be a good opportunity to indulge in some spontaneity.
Sounds like you have some time to take a look at the different brands within the IHG family, and then mix the pointbreak hotels in with your travel plans. Have fun, and happy travels!!
IC Osaka is one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at, for it’s standard room redeemable by points. It is a great value as well since cash rates are exorbitant.
Thanks, Jack. Japan is definitely a place I’d like to get back to, so I appreciate the recommendation. Have a great weekend!
I’ve used many, usually low point redemptions or point breaks. Great for road trips, especially if you need a kitchen, which you can get with Candlewood Suites. A couple properties I’ve liked are Berlin & outside of Taipei.
Thanks for the tips, Timmy. I definitely need to learn more about the point breaks. I’m ready to go back to Berlin, so with the IHG points, it’s on my list now. Have a great day!
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