IHG Anniversary Free Night: $49 For A $415 Hotel Room

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One perk which makes the IHG credit card a keeper is the IHG Anniversary Free night.

With the benefit you get one free night each year at any IHG property around the world. This makes paying the $49 annual fee a relative bargain. In the past I’ve used my free night at hotels at some very nice properties.

In 2012 we stayed at the Intercontinental Singapore. Last year I wrote about a crazy expensive IHG Anniversary Free Night that we weren’t booking. I then wrote about an expensive IHG Anniversary night that we did bookWe also used two certificates over the summer at the Intercontinental Muscat during our trip to the Mid-East Gulf States.

So how could I get good value this year using my free night?

We were going back and forth about what to do for my birthday. Since we’re going away the following weekend, Kim and I felt it was a good idea to not go too far.

After really enjoying our stay at IHG’s EVEN Hotels in Norwalk, CT (check out my review), I was  happy to see that the brand was expanding with three NYC locations.

I was hoping to check out one of the new EVEN properties at some point and the Times Square South location seemed like a good option if we wanted to spend a night in NYC. It also happened to open within the past month or so…

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I did a search online and saw that I could in fact book a room with my free night certificate for the Even Hotels Times Square South but was it a good value?

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A night at the Even Hotels Times Square South was going for $359 per night. With tax that came to $415.54! Talk about a ridiculous amount of money just for a night in NYC!

While Kim, Lucas and I didn’t need to spend a night in the city with our place in Brooklyn not being too far away, we still decided to book the free night for a couple of reasons.

  1. I was curious to see how the Even Hotels property in NYC would compare to our stay in CT.
  2. It seemed like a good idea to use the free night since it was my birthday and the room was something we’d NEVER pay to stay at.

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So what do you think? Is a stay at the new IHG EVEN Hotels Times Square South a good option for using an anniversary free night? On a strict value based decision, I’d say it definitely is.

What properties have you used your IHG Anniversary Free Nights at?

7 thoughts on “IHG Anniversary Free Night: $49 For A $415 Hotel Room

  1. Rich A- We used an anniversary certificate there last year for my birthday! Really nice plus we could see Shake Shack when we looked down from the window! lol

  2. The “Better Half” and I use our anniversary nights at the Intercontinental Times Square in the Spring for my birthday. ALWAYS a great room and stay.

  3. sagsal- That should be awesome! Enjoy!

    Brad- I’d call IHG up and try to have her added to the reservation.

    Cogswell- Not sure why it’s silly? $415 was the cost including tax to book if we were paying. And do you really consider points a true rebate? Unless you are getting cash back, you’d still be paying that amount. I hear you and agree about not staying in fancy hotels. We stay in hostels and other budget option if we aren’t using points or free night certs. Thanks for the kind offer. I’ll pass!

    caveman- Getting breakfast can be a big savings but at many hotels I don’t touch it. Check out this Million Miles Secrets post about hotels offering free breakfast.

  4. I hate hotels without breakfast specially when you are a party of 3-4 people so despite the best value at Intercontinental hotels, I go for Holiday Inn Express. Is there any list of such top value hotels?

  5. It’s a little silly to claim it’s a $415 room – no one actually pays that rate, and for whatever you do pay, you will earn points and credit card spending which further reduces the cost

    For most of the time spent in a hotel you are asleep, so does it really matter how big your room is, or how luxurious the hotel is?! You can get perfectly decent hotels around there for $150/night and you won’t pay through the roof for amenities

    Also, most hotel stays are for multiple nights, so what do you do for the additional nights – waste an absurdly high number of points or pay way too much cash?

    I’d say the free night is worth around $150 in NYC.. or if you really think it’s $415 do you want to buy my free night for $315 and make a quick $100? 🙂

  6. Funny, I just booked a 2 night stay in January at this property, using points from the sign-up bonus of the card! I haven’t had it open a year yet, so don’t have the anniversary cert… It is currently the top rated hotel in NYC, being that it is so new, but all the reviews make it seem like the perfect place for wife and I – we will be visiting a friend in town for a conference, and wife has never been to the city so lots of sight seeing to do!

    I am trying to figure something out though… the stay is booked in my name with my points, and I am platinum with the card, but my wife is Spire Elite – Is it worth switching the reservation to her name for any added benefits, or will they not allow it? I will call the hotel most likely, since they will be the ones to do it.

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