Actually, I find it really hard to get any value for my IHG points at the moment. Whenever I look at a hotel, I find the points rate far too high relative to the cost of the night, which is often far too cheap in cash to justify using points.
In one recent example in Verona, Italy, the CP would have cost €97 and the points rate was 20,000. I neither wanted to pay €97 nor 20,000 points!! Which is inexplicable, I know, I ended up in an impasse of my own making. But instead of trudging out to some industrial estate in the outskirts where the CP is, I opted to stay in a classy Lonely Planet recommended B&B in the middle of the town for €92. I didn't get points or cashback (it's not on any sites), I booked directly with the owner. And it was excellent, right in the middle of things, so you could wandering in the middle of the night and hit a couple of bars before crashing out (I also spent quite a bit of evening time in the B&B because it was so nice and was made for opera singers). It's an outlandish example, I know, but I am finding it very hard to feel I am getting any real value out of these IHG points.