Originally Posted by ldsant

Exactly the same - still waiting for a 20K points return since March of this year. Kimpton responds and takes care of everything within 24 hours and personally responds. I am so disappointed with this news. The staff at properties at the Alexis, Palomar Phoenix, Hotel Monaco in Seattle, and Chicago are just so above and beyond.

IHG doesn't "deserve" Kimpton imo.

Originally Posted by rgdave

From reading the posts, I'll clearly be in the minority. But I think this is a really interesting move on IHG's part. I don't think it was done purely for the investment potential, but rather for IHG to acquire some of the expertise that makes Kimpton so special. All the major players, with the possible exception of Starwood with W (which is getting tired) are struggling in the boutique/lifestyle space. But IHG has some really intersting Indigos - like Tianjin and Shanghai on the Bund in China - that aren't corporate cookie cutters. And in Asia, at least, my IC and Crowne Plaza experiences have been universally great.

I think IHG will be studying Kimpton very closely to pick up the DNA that makes Kimpton tick. It will be very interesting to see how they brand these hotels in the IHG portfolio, and expand the brand. This could form the nexus within IHG for a boutique brand of 'independent' hotels, which could be a really interesting development. My hope is that IHG doesn't screw it up. The biggest problem with IHG IMHO is brand consistency over its sprawling portfolio. But their 'new' brands, HI Express, Indigo, Staybridge and Candlewood, are much more consistent than their legacy brands, IC, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. Hopefully they'll be able to nurture the Kimpton buy into a boutique portfolio of maybe a hundred hotels. With a new brand and new franchise agreements, they might be able to actually require and enforce brand standards.

I agree that IHG is piss poor at consistent frequent traveler recognition. I'm IHG Platinum and IC Ambassador (not Royal). At some properties I'm treated like royalty, at others barely above a Priceline deals guest. I think they need to make Platinum more difficult to achieve, but at the same time make it actually worth something.

For Kimpton, a niche player in the U.S., this expands their global reach and recognition. IHG brands are well regarded in Asia, and this will greatly increase visibility for the brand in Asia.

Hopefully some of the key features of Kimpton hotels, like being pet friendly, will be part of the brand standard, and could be expanded to other IHG hotels/brands.

Overall, I think IHG is a very interesting company to watch. Because of the size of the company, the muddled brands and legacy franchise agreements, it can seem like change their is pushing a battleship with a row boat. But they seem willing to try things. True, Into the Nights was a bizarre promotion, but the Big Win promotion was interesting and generally well liked. Both, though, were different than anything any other hotel company has tried, and I give them points for that.

If IHG could get its act together with its legacy brands outside of Asia and leverage the Kimpton buy into something really special, it could give Starwood a run for its money, something Hilton and Marriott have been unable to do. And maybe, just maybe, some of that Kimpton stardust will make its way into the IHG DNA.

Originally Posted by dw

When the acquisition closed, I suspected that it would be quite some time before we heard anything on the fate of Karma Rewards... but I have to say I'm a little surprised that we are now past Labor Day and haven't heard anything aside from the CEO's e-mail a few months ago (that hinted that Karma Rewards would likely co-exist alongside IHG Rewards, but also be somewhat integrated into it).

With many of us already thinking of 2016 and where we are going to put our stays, I'm hoping we hear something before the end of the year.

Originally Posted by thegrailer

Last post for me on this topic (I can't stay away). A little more than 1 month until 2016 and no word on next year's plan. Can we assume that it will not change? Did I miss an announcement? Does IC transfer to Aspire or RA? Vice versa? Any tie in with IHG?

Originally Posted by dw

At this point no news is good news to me, and I'm happy they are taking their time. But we know from the CEO's e-mail from the summer that the future of Kimpton Karma is being somehow integrated with IHG Rewards.

Based on all the potential outcomes, I'm hoping that the best case scenario will be:

1) Kimpton properties move to IHG's reservations system, so that room rates will be displayed when reservations are made on any of the IHG sites. I mostly see an upside to this because the greater distribution reach can be sold to property owners. Also, more people making Kimpton reservations through IHG branded sites keeps property owners happy, since they don't have to pay the commissions they would have to for Expedia, Orbitz, etc. reservations.

One of the issues we've seen over the past few years was property owners leaving Kimpton and joining the bigger chains (San Francisco aside, as that was a completely different issue). IHG's distribution system will help keep properties in the fold.

2) Kimpton Karma ditches the current award system of 1 free night for every 7 stays/20 nights and instead everyone earns IHG points based on spend. I also think I'd be okay with this, because the upside is that the points could be used at a far greater number of properties, and would not expire after just one year like the current awards. Also, this would mean that award availability could be checked online. The flipside is that all IHG members would be able to redeem at Kimpton properties, so the capacity controlled awards might be harder to get.

3) Like Intercontinental Ambassador/Royal Ambassador, Inner Circle is kept as a separate recognition program with its own qualification criteria separate from IHG, where regular IHG elites don't receive any recognition at Kimpton properties. However, IC members might get IHG Gold status (like Intercontinental Ambassadors).

As for things like the IC new property free night and the Journey Rewards... who knows?

Originally Posted by dw

An article about the pace of integration in today's WSJ (subscription may be required, or alternately, if you google the headline of "InterContinental, Kimpton Face Growing Pains" you should be able to access the article):

http://www.wsj.com/articles/intercon...ins-1453223748

The article doesn't really say much, but some key takeaways:

"While the two companies have begun combining back-office systems, most other integration has been moving more slowly. That is in part because both sides want to ensure that Kimpton’s freewheeling ways aren’t subsumed by InterContinental’s multilayered corporate structure."

"InterContinental hasn’t decided whether to merge its traditional guest loyalty program with the Kimpton Karma rewards program."