The IHG credit card from Chase bank is a keeper in most miles & points enthusiast’s credit card collection. The big draw for keeping the card is paying the $49 annual fee each year which comes with one free night at any IHG property in the world.
The perk will be changing soon and the free night will not be quite as generous. I wanted to make sure that one of my last IHG Anniversary free nights was at a great property.
I initially looked into using the night for one of our upcoming trips. Kim and I didn’t really want to create a trip around the free night but we had little choice.
I waited until the night was almost expired to make the booking. None of the destinations we’ll be heading to had rooms worthy of using the free night for. (That’s unless we wanted to pay over $70 on resort and parking fees at a property in Miami where we’d be arriving pretty late.)
The next plan was to book a stay in NYC. This is totally unnecessary since we don’t live very far but it’s still enjoyable from time to time. On every date that I checked, the properties which I was interested in had no award availability!
My last choice and a very solid one was to use my IHG free night for a one- night stay in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is appealing since it is a two hour ride from home, there’s great dining options and lots of things for kids to do. (BTW- Lucas really loves going on short trips to Philly.)
With a bunch of IHG properties located in Philadelphia, another criteria I set was to finally stay at a Kimpton hotel. I’ve heard great things about the brand and wanted to see it for myself.
There are two Kimpton hotels in Philadelphia. Both seemed to be going for a similar price and also seemed more or less, equally nice. The final decision maker was location- did we want to stay in Rittenhouse Square or in Old City, near the Liberty Bell?
Tough decisions…
In the end, Kim and I decided that since we’ve stayed in Philly by Rittenhouse Square many times so we’d give a hotel in Old City a try.
We’ll be staying at Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco, located at 433 Chestnut Street. The area is quite historical and is close to America’s Oldest Residential Street.
The retail price for the date we booked was $411.43, with tax the total would come to $478.74. No, we’d NEVER consider paying close to that for a hotel night but for one IHG anniversary free night, why not?
How do you decide where to use you IHG anniversary free night? Do you go for a pricey room or try to use the night towards a trip which you were already planning?
I’ve stayed at the other Kimpton in Philly, Hotel Monaco, and it’s also in a great, walkable neighborhood, but Old City is lovely too.
Rachel- Rittenhouse Square is an awesome area.
Karen- Funny! How did you decide between the two Kimpton properties? Philly is a great city- lots to do, awesome food, walkable (to an extent). Make sure to have a cheesesteak!
Burrston- We stayed at the Intercontinental Seoul Coex in April 2017. Definitely a nice property, great staff etc.. Glad you enjoyed the IC Seoul Parnas!
We just stayed at the Intercontinental Seoul Parnas with our IHG Anniversary free night. Five stars of luxury in the heart of the upscale Gangham neighborhood in the exciting Korean capital city. Now we know how the 1% sleep well when they travel!
Haha – that’s exactly where I’m using mine, too (next month)! We’re in NYC and it’s a quick train ride down to Philly, which we’ve never really explored. It looks like there’s plenty to see right around the hotel and we have a reservation at a tapas place where we’re really looking forward to eating.