I did an ALUA in PMI once for the brand explorer badge. Never seen so much scummy white trash in my life. (I know we disagreed over this once before, craigthemif, and you suggested you had fun with family there. That is totally cool, I just wanted to give my perspective to the benefit of the OP.)

For Europe, my recommendations would be: HP category 1 hotels on 3.5k award nights. Krakow is decent enough, as is Frankfurt-Eschborn (not a central location, but for a mattress run...). me and all Ulm and Story Hotel Signalfabriken are decent options, too.

For decent cash rates, look at Tallinn, Krakow, and Leeds. (Personally, I had a poor experience at Leeds, though.) Hyatt will occasionally accept BRG claims on Tallinn and Krakow. me and all Dusseldorf Oberkassel can sometimes also be very cheap (when no trade fair or convention is happening in Dusseldorf) and actually treats globalists quite well.