While I generally agree with your assessment of the value of SPG points (I also weigh their use versus what I could get a comparable room for on priceline for), I think you're being very unfair in your assessment of Starwood's int'l properties. Many (probably most) of their overseas properties do NOT feel like American hotels. Rather, they tend to feel rather local (in a luxurious way, of course). Indeed, I think the managers of their new "Le Meridien" properties would gasp in horror if you told them their properties felt like Tulsa.