What a Lame-Ass Joke You’ve Become!
I’ve been covering IHG PointBreaks extensively for the last couple of years, working my ass off to research participating hotels to find those proverbial diamonds in a rough—and don’t make any mistakes, there’ve always been lots and lots of rough—but their latest reincarnation of the deal, OMG! It’s not even worth of a separate post, but I did it anyway. Don’t blame me that it’s so short. Blame them!
Here is the hint, IHG: if you can’t sell your hotels for 5,000 points per night, maybe there is something wrong with your pricing model.
There is nothing on this list that’s worth considering. Even properties in cool places like Bangkok and Hanoi don’t make sense, because of how cheap these cities are. Hey, I don’t mind Holiday Inns, but what I do mind is how I browse Europe, and there is only one relatively cool city, which is Belfast with a central location. Everywhere else, they have these dreadful “south” or “north” or “east”, when will we start seeing south-west or north-east, huh?
The IHG PointBreaks lists have been going downhill for quite some time, but at least there have always been at list 2-3 interesting locations that would make sense. This list is pure greed. There is not a single international property on it, which should cost more than 5,000 points to begin with. Crown Plaza in Ankara? Sure, until you realize that the JW Marriott goes there for 7,500-10,000 a night!
Holiday Inn Panama Canal sounds like a cool place to stay, right? Wrong! There is nothing to do in the vicinity of the Panama Canal. You want to visit the Canal once, and run away, back to the lights of Panama City. Besides, well, here we go again, Panama City is so cheap, that you can have a Hampton Inn, which is yours for 5,000 Hilton points. The Holiday Inn in Sao Paulo is located in the Financial District, which is not where you want to be. OK, let’s be fair, it’s alright for a few days (although, I’m not staying there during my upcoming trip to Brazil).
OK, so Crown Plaza in West Hanoi is really a good hotel. But it’s way out, and there is a super-duper fabulous JW Marriott in Hanoi for 10-15K a night (which is also a long ride to the center, though).
Oh, and this:
Due to the limited availability, each member may only book two PointBreaks® Reward Nights reservations per hotel during the special offer time period.
Seriously, when not a single desirable property makes it into your list, this tough talk sounds kind of funny. Good luck on filling them up!
P.S. Amazingly, I’ve checked the latest IHG PointBreaks list offerings just a few minutes ago, and some of these ridiculous “deals” are gone.
Gone is HIE in Bangkok (really?) and Crown Plaza in Hanoi, gone are two Crown Plazas in Japan, gone is Batam—Batam that, while a decent hotel, costs around $55 per night! I have three plausible explanations why.
- Some were traveling there anyway.
- Some are nuts.
- Some did so because they can and have no intention of traveling. Yeah, very mature!
Oh, and if you booked Batam to explore Singapore, good luck with that. The travel time that the hotel website lists as 15 minutes needs to be multiplied by 3 or 4, and that’s for the ferry crossing only.
Anyway… Pass.
Wow, “pure greed”? I understand this point breaks list is not as good as previous ones, and I guess the hotels on it aren’t located in desirable locations when the city itself is desirable, but your pronouncement seems ridiculous for this IHG promotion. You could describe IHG with respect to its promotions as incompetent; the promotions themselves as poorly executed and not automated. Recommend you replace the word “greed” with “disappointment.”
Hi Kim. Sorry, can’t call it just a “disappointment”. Disappointments were the last few lists. This one has ZERO good offers. That’s OK, though, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. Thank you for your comment.
Hi, Andy,
Your humor-tinged outrage and indignation, as usual, have delighted me. Moreover, this post has been valuable for me . . . . because it prompted me to research the JW Marriott in Ankara. Wow! Thanks to you, Ankara is now on my unofficial list of Places To Visit! Time will tell when I can manage that, however. Because of two already-booked trips plus one in development, Ankara is likely going to have to wait till 2017 or 2018!
Cheers,
Peter
Peter, thanks for your kind words!
Andy, I think the ones in DUS and HEL might be fine as far as location, not sure for quality though. DUS is gone already from the list
Boris, what I’ve read about Dusseldorf doesn’t suggest that it’s a touristy city. Helsinki is cool, so if the hotel is in the nice place, I stand corrected. Still it’s completely insane that some of these locations have already been snatched. I think it sends the wrong message to IHG that believes people will eat everything they can throw at us. In reality, I’m pretty sure 90% of these bookings will get canceled.
Hello, Andy: Actually, Düsseldorf is a lovely city and well worth visiting. If you ever want to consider it, ask me for details. A friend and I thoroughly enjoyed our 4-day stay there, last year, at the InterContinental. Cheers, Peter
Thanks Peter. Live and learn. 🙂
The list has gotten progressively worse for a few years now, so I suppose you have to give IHG props for consistency, anyway. When was the last time you saw a desirable IC on it, even in low season? It’s like the Flying Blue deals all over again. Remember the last time you saw Business Class at 50% off for 2 or more US cities? Me neither.
Oh, I give them a lot of props in that category, believe me! 🙂