I think pgary gave us a bit of an extreme example with the No-Tell Motel example, but I agree with his general point: I value Starpoints based on what I'd otherwise pay for lodging in a world without points. I always look around (brand-agnostically, to some extent) at a given hotel market before I burn points.

The fact that a particular Starwood wants $300/nt. for a room doesn't mean much to me if that's out of line with the rest of the comparable market.

In some cases, if it's a rather known and predictable Priceline market, I consider that as my baseline, adding in a little bit of a kicker to account for (a) the fact that I have the right to cancel an award stay - usually up until 6PM on arrival date, and (b) an SPG Gold on an award is probably going to get a little bit better treatment than a Priceliner.

In Europe, I simply never use points because I don't want an American business hotel when I'm there. When I'm in Paris, the last thing I want is a hotel that makes me feel like I'm in Tulsa.

Even so, I value my Starpoints at about 3 cents each. I'm doing a 3,000 point stay at the Westin Kansas City this Saturday night. Pricelining it for one night would yield about $65 all in, booking a points-earning rate would be about $130 all in. I probably wouldn't realistically spend more than a Benjamin to stay there, so calling it a $90 value - 3 cents a point - seems fair.