jongesander

https://twitter.com/IHGService/status/827556189634428928

https://twitter.com/IHGService/status/827556132164079617

beachmouse

Is this going to be for award stays as well as paid stays?

moe8555

Is the CP Club benefit Spire only?

chrism20

Using my own experience almost every corporate rate I have used includes breakfast and if it doesn't there is no issue with charging breakfast to expense, therefore arriving a bit later in the evening when drinks have finished or are near to finishing the drinks voucher would be more appealing.

Not everyone wants to sit in a lounge either so again the drinks voucher is more appealing as they can use it at their own leisure rather than between 6pm & 8pm or whatever the times are.

Then there is the question of what will happen to these lounges once they start letting top tier in? There are plenty out there that are "Cosy" as it is. You only need to look at some of Hiltons lounges to see that they are overcrowded and resemble feeding time at the zoo. This can also put people off as the peaceful lounge is now anything but peaceful and you are having to share tables or better still - stand.

The voucher is also good for points according to the first post in the thread so there will also be some people who will take the points even if it is a small amount if they are building up their balance for a big trip etc.

Leisure stays are completely different of course and I would agree that drinks and breakfast make a considerable saving. There is many a time I have booked a Hilton instead of IHG hotel because it works out cheaper by the time the breakfast costs have been factored in.

I wouldn't write off the uptake level of the voucher, it's probably higher than some think it will be.

FFlash

I don't take this CP Club thing until they come out with official statement. Facebook or Twitter is not reliable IMO.

For Spires, most CP's gave club anyway and all possible pampering, so this is in fact kinda devaluation if they now give club as an "option" vs points. In the past I got all-in most of the times.
Not a big deal though.

UKDegsy

The "worry" is the OR bit - if it's up to the hotel then it's just the same as before.

submonte

Exactly the opposite on my side. I have not stayed at CPs since years in protest against IHG undefined policy in terms of top tier elite benefits and as a matter of principle.

Now if IHG commits to give club access to Spire members for me this is an admission of a mistake in the past and I do accept their corrective action as an apology to their most loyal guests.

I clearly would value Spire membership now higher and the brand status of CPs higher and I will give them a chance and stay CPs in the next time and it could become a regular part of my stay scheme, even if I do not use always their lounges. But something has changed now. IHG understood.

htb

Of course. To be consistent, they will allow only one person into the lounge

I wonder how that will work out in Japanese hotels. In the two hotels in Kanazawa I have visited over the last year, one would give a 0.25 l bottle of water on arrival, the other one 0.5 l bottle of water every day (if they didn't forget about it). No points, no choice.

I somehow doubt they will feel compelled to do anything else.

HTB.

submonte

The rules must be:

- the guests registered in the room get club access
- alternative vouchers for each registered guest
- paid stays / reward stays - no difference
- world wide same rules

Otherwise I delete it from my mind as quickly as it came into my mind.

dmp1991

Given I've read over in the IC Berlin thread that IHG is standardizing all IC clubs at a lower level of service then I've experienced at most IC's I've stayed at -- less food, less drink, less hours, less everything basically -- then I'm not exactly looking forward to what they're going to do when they provide club access as a Spire benefit at CPs.

Even more so when the implied benefit of access here is only equivalent to one free non-premium drink. They're not exactly setting a high bar of club expectations by saying those are equivalent!

FlyerTalker688786

Thanks! This resembles a trial in China last year. A F&B voucher of CNY60 (US$10) or Club access. If this is true and will be introduced worldwide we may have Holiday Inns participate the offer as well in forms of F&B vouchers.

Yokdoc

I made similar experience like Fflash (full range of benefits as plat/spire at CP), but was denied club lounge several times as RA at IC and subsequently avoided IC the last years.
While welcoming lounge access as a guaranteed choice benefit, I agree with voices fearing the service level will fall. And I will miss the time when I had to expect only a few occupants, making a peaceful lounge experience most of the time likely.

perthite

Not all CPs have lounges, so the or may be for that case.

markis10

Indeed, stayed at two last week sans lounge, however where there is a lounge option I would imagine it's a popular benefit, especially for the leisure traveller.

rumbataz

I got the offer of a drink from the bar when I was Plat at an Indigo that I stayed at for many months. It was a drinks voucher or 600 points. How is getting a drinks voucher for Spire a new and real benefit at a CP?