+1.

The best use is where you otherwise would spend cash or points. One free night is simply not enough to travel out of your way to use it.

Some people might not even want to change hotels in the same city. One night at the Park Hyatt New York and another night at the Thompson near Wall Street might excite a few of us Globalists with 2 free night certificates per year, but many others would rather just spend their time enjoying New York instead of switching hotels...