So.... I spent an hour on the phone with IHG, and it took 5 people to get to one who understood what was happening, actually understood the program rules, and could try to do something about it.
Upshot was:
- Hotel property unilaterally changed the reservation on April 3 to a paid rate, made no comments in the reservation, and did not make any contact to me.
- The hotel did not release the certificate back into my account, which is why I didn't see it when i'd log in. Clearly they were hoping I'd show up off of a redeand they'd bulldoze me into paying 364 GBP on the spot.
- The supervisor said that the hotel had no availability for any room type with either points or Kimpton nights.
- When the supervisor called the hotel, they claimed that nobody had authority on overriding availability. In essence, go **** yourself.
- The certificate still expires April 30, but IHG was able to make a one time exception and apply it to a points reservation i have elsewhere on July 2. They could not exchange it for the award stay I had on March 29 and just give me those points. But I cannot change the new reservation after April 30 and keep the certificate. Thankfully I'm about 90% sure I'm going to keep the July 2 reservation.
- The supervisor was able to award me 15k for being on the phone for an hour and now having to go find a different hotel in London.
So, I'm willing to write this off as a Kimpton transition IT issue (making rooms available under a new reward category and the hotel property forgetting to go in and make them unavailable), combined with bad attitude from the property (it's 2018, the least they could have done was send me an email) and general IHG incompetence (Agent
#4 kept on saying that my Everly free night was the certificate that had been put back in my account, and that it was only good at Kimpton properties). If IHG had somehow gotten the property to force availability, I'm sure it would have been for the lousiest room in the place, even as a Spire.
Instead, I'm at Marriott County Hall, where as a Gold I should get some lounge access. Not my first choice, I walked around that area between Westminster and Waterloo when I was in London last April and wasn't overly impressed. But it's a wash logistically (more challenging from LGW, easier to LCY because I avoid Bank Station), and it's only one night.
But I will write off the CP for future visits, and encourage others to do so as well.