compbus

I have plenty of points but don't see the value of not getting club rooms when travelling outside the US. I have tried to book rooms in IHG using points but only the base rooms seem available. Has anyone found a way to use points to get the club floor level.
Thank you everyone.

Dave Noble

Points cannot be used for that. If you want club lounge access , perhaps ask the hotel the cost to add to the award booking ; many will accept a supplement to provide access

scubaccr

IHG award nights only book into an hotels entry level room. For some IC's like Amstel Amsterdam that entry level room is an Exec though 35m room, and not a small classic room like at Paris Le Grand or London Park Lane.

On checkin, you can always ask to "upsell for $$'s cash". eitrher/both of room upgrade, lounge access. The hotel doesn't have to allow either upsell to you, but often will . Remember as originally booked an award night, any monies spent on upgrading room/lounge-access will not earn any points

note - It is kinda possble to use points the way you wish but requires some forward planning
ie It is possible to use ones IHG points to buy one or more IHG credit card with loaded funds. You can now use this IHG loaded card to pay for your IHG hotel room, .. So
a)you are not limited to base room
b)stay counts as a night and earns points too that count towards keeping/earning elite status

Land-of-Miles

If you have appropriate IHG status you may get club access anyway in the better properties.

craigthemif

It is worth putting in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS the concept of MAYBE getting access. You quite likely won't...

336

Redeem your points for an IHG Prepaid MasterCard with a cash balance.
Book a paid stay at any hotel, truly without blackout dates.
Enjoy a stay in the room which you prefer, without being looked down for a peasant using his points.
You can even enjoy any status benefits, and optimise cashback or promotions.

IHG is about racking up points. I never understood why they treat people using their points as pariahs. Makes them very inconsistent, and renders points almost useless for people with specific requirements.

Land-of-Miles

Crofton138

The vast majority of CP hotels in the UK offer club lounge access for Spire members. There are also some CP hotels in Europe that also offer this too, even though it's not an official benefit in the T&Cs.

Do you have any data points outside CP or is your experience of always getting complimentary club lounge access just at CP hotels in the UK?

Land-of-Miles

The core point here was offering club access on reward stays. I have also had club on reward stays at IC's but that may owe more to RA

I know of only 1 non CP or IC property in Europe with a club lounge and that isn't one I would choose to stay in. I never stay at HIX (no lounges anyway), rarely stay at HI and Kimptons, Indigos and Staybridge don't have lounges.

I almost never stay in IHG properties (other than IC) beyond the UK so my datapoints will be quite limited in that respect.

craigthemif

I've had more "we've upgraded you to the Club floor but you can't use the lounge" than actual upgrades.

Obviously my perspective is made more negative by the fact that I have Hyatt and Marriott status where I don't have to mess around with this nonsense. So at the same price point as a CP I'm simply always going to stay at a Marriott or Hyatt...

Land-of-Miles

Throughout my almost 10 years now as a RA I have also had Hilton Diamond (now in my 15th year), SPG LT Plat (those were the days), Marriott old Plat (was worthwhile) and new Marriott LT Plat (a major downgrade which has caused me to only stay at Marriotts when no acceptable alternative is available).

Despite this I still stay at a lot of IHG properties because many of the places I need to stay have no Marriott or Hilton (or what is there is appallingly bad, not full service or hugely overpriced - and sometimes a combo of all of those). I don't stay at Hyatts but their footprint doesn't really suit my travel patterns either it is fair to say.

Despite the guaranteed benefits at both other chains I hold status, I still often prefer my non guaranteed but decent treatment at IHG. I have never been given a club room and no club at a CP or IC (even in the US). Your experience is not I would suggest a representative example of what can be expected. As my elite experience continues to get worse at Hilton and Marriott I am drawn to more IHG stays where my experience seems to be steadily good. I get club rooms and suites in most of the CP's I visit, great IC experiences and at the few decent new HI's I stay at I also seem to regularly get suite upgrades.

nacho

Same here.