For those of us with lots of Choice points (thanks, Discover America) but are a bit tired of Comfort Inns, seeing an Ascend hotel pop-up when you do a city search on the website can be a welcome relief. And it seems to me that the number of Ascend properties is increasing.

Like I just saw that a historic hotel in Princeton, NJ -- the Peacock Inn -- became an Ascend member. The room rates there are extremely high (some rooms go for $600!), so it's a good deal for points redemption. Sadly, it doesn't seem to be a great hotel: the tripadvisor score is only 3 1/2 stars. It's probably a situation where the experience, while fine, doesn't justify the high room rates, so they get mixed reviews.