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The IHG Premier, IHG Business Premier and the IHG Select (no longer available to new applicants) cards all offer a 40K free night certificate each year upon renewal. IHG also often offers these certificates as rewards for various promotions.
This post contains a list of the best IHG hotels bookable with 40K certificates within the United States. The selections come from a combination of reader suggestions and our own research of hotels with a 4-star rating and above on Tripadvisor and/or Google Reviews. Currently the list focuses on U.S. properties, but we intend to either expand the post and republish it in the future with international options or write a companion post to this one.
Please send us additional hotels that you think should appear in this list, as well as short reviews of properties that already appear here. We’ll periodically update the post with those suggestions and comments, in order to share them with other readers.
IHG free night certificates explained
The IHG Premier, IHG Business Premier and the IHG Select (no longer available to new applicants) cards offer a free night certificate each year upon renewal. The certificate from the Select card is capped at 40,000 points which means that it can be used to book a single night at any IHG hotel that is priced at 40,000 points for the night, or less.
The certificates that are issued from the two Premier cards, on the other hand, can be “topped up” with additional points from your account in order to use them for a more expensive award. This makes them much easier to use, as they can be applied to almost any property. However, for the purposes of this post, we’re limiting the discussion to hotels that can be booked for UNDER 40K points per night, so are applicable for certs from all three cards. It’s worth noting that many of the hotels listed are only under 40K points per night during offseason and/or midweek period. However, they often have many nights of additional availability between 40-50K per night, making them useful for folks with certs from the Premier cards.
How to find nights when IHG hotels are less than 40K points per night
IHG dynamically prices awards at most of their hotels. As a result, there’s no way to know if rooms are available for 40K points or less other than by searching IHG’s website for dates of interest to see how those nights price. If your dates are flexible, it’s possible to figure out which dates are available for 40K or less with a single search.
Best Uses for IHG’s Free Night Certificates in the US
With dynamic pricing, almost any IHG property could theoretically be available for 40K points or less at some point during the year. That said, in practice, many very high end properties are never priced that low. We’ve restricted the following list to the properties that are likely to at least sometimes have 40K free nights available.
Links to each property’s page are embedded in the hotel name.
Arizona
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix
California
Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown
Hotel Indigo San Diego Del Mar
Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown
InterContinental San Francisco
InterContinental San Francisco Mark Hopkins
- “The stay was good and its position at the top of Nob Hill ensures you should have a great view from most rooms. However, the rooms aren’t particularly large, parking is extremely expensive and if you want to walk around the city, being at the top of the hill means walking back to the hotel can be strenuous.” – Read Stephen’s full Bottom Line Review here.
InterContinental The Clement Monterey
- “The rooms are spacious and well-appointed, many with balconies and (gas) fireplaces. The outdoor and indoor common spaces are plentiful and inviting, while the in-house restaurant combines excellent quality with even better views. My only knock is that they don’t honor the IHG program’s official rules for elite upgrades, but they certainly aren’t alone in doing so. All-in-all, one of the best points options in the area and a very good value.” Read my full Bottom Line Review here.
- Also recommended by Platini, who notes: “very very limited availability, no fees, possible free valet parking.”
Kimpton Alton Hotel San Francisco
Kimpton Alma San Diego
Kimpton Hotel Enso San Francisco
Colorado
Hotel Indigo Downtown Denver – Union Station
Hotel Indigo Silverthorne
Kimpton Claret Hotel Denver
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Denver
- “Pretty good use at a very nice hotel that is well positioned in downtown Denver.” – AC NYC
Florida
InterContinental Miami
InterContinental Miami at Doral
Kimpton Angler’s Miami South Beach
Kimpton EPIC Hotel Miami
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Miami South Beach
Kimpton Shorebreak Fort Lauderdale
Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel Miami South Beach
- “Overall I enjoyed my stay. I’d be happy to stay again if invited to another event there, but if I was on my own I’d prefer to try another hotel.” – Read Greg the Frequent Miler’s full Bottom Line Review here.
Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa
Georgia
InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta
- “The IC Buckhead is spectacular. Recently reno’d, its public areas are exciting & beautiful. Rooms are soothingly pastel with very nice furnishings & detail. The on-site Italian restaurant, Americano, is fantastic. Salt water pool adds the perfect touch.” – Pam
Kimpton Brice Hotel Savannah
- “Brice Hotel in Savannah was great and a couple of blocks outside the main tourist area meaning you can take advantage, but it’s quieter.” – DavidS
Kimpton Shane Hotel Atlanta
Kimpton Sylvan Hotel Atlanta
Illinois
Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile
Kimpton Gray Hotel Chicago
Louisiana
Intercontinental New Orleans
Kimpton Hotel Fontenot New Orleans
Massachusetts
Kimpton Marlowe Hotel Cambridge
Michigan
Hotel Indigo Traverse City
- “The bar was very nice and they did comp us 1 drink each. The room was okay, except that they should have triple glazed the windows. If you have a room on Front Street, the traffic is extremely loud all night long. But I do love Traverse City.” – Laura
Minnesota
Hotel Indigo Minneapolis Downtown
Intercontinental Saint Paul Riverfront
Missouri
Hotel Indigo Kansas City Downtown
Intercontinental Downtown Kansas City at the Plaza
Montana
Kimpton Armory Hotel Bozeman
New York
Crowne Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan
Hotel Indigo NYC Downtown
Hotel Indigo NYC Financial District
Intercontinental New York Barclay
Intercontinental New York Times Square
Kimpton Hotel Eventi NYC
Kimpton Hotel Theta NYC
North Carolina
Hotel Indigo Asheville Downtown
Kimpton Hotel Arras Asheville
“I stayed at the Kimpton Hotel Arras in Asheville, NC for my birthday and could not have been happier or more impressed with my stay. The hotel is incredibly nice and even the base rooms are lovely. It’s also positioned in a prime location in downtown, close walking distance to a ton of restaurants, bars, breweries, shops, and art. If you’re able to get an upgrade to one of the rooms on a high floor, the hotel has unobstructed views to the mountains surrounding Asheville. Would highly recommend. Only downside is that parking at the hotel is valet only, so be prepared to spend a good bit to park your car.” – ActualMichael
Kimpton Cardinal Hotel Winston-Salem
Ohio
Intercontinental Suites Hotel Cleveland
Kimpton Schofield Hotel Cleveland
Oregon
Kimpton Riverplace Hotel Portland
Kimpton Hotel Vintage Portland
Pennsylvania
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia
- “Monaco Philadelphia is right next to Independence Hall & Liberty Bell if American History is your thing.” –Davis S
Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh
Tennessee
Hotel Indigo Nashville The Countrypolitan
Kimpton Aertson Hotel Nashville
Texas
Intercontinental Houston
“I also recommend the IC Houston for use, post-summer. It is technically in the Medical Center complex (really fringe) but is also very near the museum district. There are parks & some of the leafiest & loveliest parts of Houston in the area. We used our own Ambassador/IHG new member certs here & were upgraded to an Executive Suite. Fresh fruit & bottled water were in our suite upon arrival. The new Cullen Sculpture Garden & Hockney-Van Gogh at the Museum of Fine Arts nearby is interesting to view as is a drive to the NASA Space Center for a tram tour.” – Pam
Kimpton Pittman Hotel Dallas
Utah
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City
Washington
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Seattle
Kimpton Hotel Vintage Seattle
Kimpton Palladian Hotel Seattle
Washington D.C.
Kimpton Banneker Hotel
Kimpton George Hotel
Reader Suggestions Wanted!
Most of the hotels listed in this post were recommended by readers. If your favorite IHG hotel is missing from the list, that’s only because we haven’t heard from you yet about it! Please let us know!
Additionally, if you been to any of the ones listed above we’d love to hear your impressions, good or bad. Please comment below and we’ll add it to the post!
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The Kimpton Alma San Diego has left IHG, it’s now a Tribute, so a Marriott Bonvoy property
Hotel Indigo Silverthorne:
It is difficult during ski season in Colorado to find a hotel near any ski area where you can use a free night certificate. We were very pleased with our free night stay at the Hotel Indigo Silverthorne, which allowed us to drive most of the way from Denver to Vail before stopping for the night (and is even closer to Keystone, Breck, and Copper Mountain). While checking in I asked if my free stay (annual award for having the IHG Premier credit card) came with a free breakfast. Upon checking something in the computer, the front desk clerk confirmed that it did and handed me a voucher for their restaurant, which got us quite a nice breakfast the next morning. (Definitely worth asking about breakfast if not offered up front!) The rooms in the hotel were very nice, and parking was free in the garage across the street. I highly recommend this hotel!
Kimpton Taconic Hotel
Prices will vary a lot, but Manchester is a decent base for Southern VT activities. May be hard to get cert pricing during fall foliage, but other times should be available, especially mid-week. Shopping in town, access to outdoor activities such a hikes or fishing, and within ~ 45 minutes of multiple ski resorts. Base rooms are not huge, but designed well. I got like 5 different ‘gifts’ as part of secret password and being platinum. The on-site restaurant had a good breakfast. if you don’t have a car or your party activities are split, there apparently is a shuttle available to town.
add the brand new Intercontinental downtown Indianapolis, IN to the list. Roof top bar, looks to be amazing. Opening fall 2024.
you can add Kimpton Everly in Hollywood, CA to the list.
I think something about the way this particular post was published is preventing it from showing up in my RSS feed (perhaps because it was done as an update to a very old post instead of a new post altogether)
“IHG also often offers these certificates as rewards for various promotions.” Such as?
I’d recommend the Crowne Plaza in Ventura, California! It’s in a great location right by the beach/promenade/pier and a short walk from downtown Ventura. I haven’t stayed there personally since I live in the area, but visiting friends and family have loved it.
Also, not sure if you noticed, there’s now a 200k bonus on the IHG business card.
Where do you see the 200k offer, James?
Here, but unfortunately it looks like they pulled the offer almost immediately.
doctorofcredit.com/chase-ihg-premier-business-card-200000-offer-new-all-time-high/
With the new 5 night 60k cert cc offer I was thinking more about international properties.
IC SF—hotel is fancy and service is good. Gym is small and enclosed, a bit claustrophobic. Location is not very good for tourists as most areas of interest are long walks away
IC Monterey— very nice hotel and location. Got complimentary drinks upon check in for being platinum member
IC LA—Great location right in the middle of downtown. Great views from rooms. Top floor is the lobby and bar with views of the city and surroundings. Expensive valet parking is the only option
Is there an international version of this?
The IC Buckhead is spectacular. Recently reno’d, its public areas are exciting & beautiful. Rooms are soothingly pastel with very nice furnishings & detail. The on-site Italian restaurant, Americano, is fantastic. Salt water pool adds the perfect touch.
I recently booked the IC San Antonio with my Ambassador FNC set to open next month. “Golden Age of Hollywood” is the theme & looks to be NICE! Kimpton Santo also opening on the Riverwalk in September, will be booking for the holidays.
Kimpton EPIC Miami cannot be booked using anniversary reward anymore. According to the Ambassador CS, this property is excluded but I can’t find such a list.
I was just able to apply an award to a night that was pricing at 39K. Were you not able to do that previously or does the booking error out when you try to finalize it?
Glad it worked for you. Things may have changed. When I checked, no availability across the entire calendar. The date I wanted was below 40K but shows no availability. Emailed CS and was told it was excluded. Another property I had issue recently is the IC at MSP. No inventory the entire calendar. The chase card award inventory is separate from the point inventory. Plenty of hotels shows availability with points but not so with the certificate. Perhaps since has changed recently, if so that would be a positive change.
I’ve had situations where award was pricing under 40k, but the cert wouldn’t work.
I recently tried to use my 2 certs on the website. After booking one night, it wouldn’t let me use the other cert, showing all nights as not available. But when I tried booking the second night on the app, it went through without issues. In between, I tried calling in and the agent spouted off a lot of nonsense why it wasn’t bookable, and that if I cancel my existing reservation, I’d lose my cert. Anyway, bottom line, try the app.
Not sure how often you update this, but the “Kimpton Hotel Monaco Portland” (OR) is no longer a Kimpton and is now the Royal Sonesta Portland.
FWIW, I stayed there last year when it was a Royal Sonesta as part of Amex’s Hotel Collection and found it to be an excellent use of my $200 Amex Platinum credit.
Thanks. Removed it.
Kimpton Sawyer looks to be above 40k now. Am I wrong?
Since IHG dynamically prices their hotels, I included the best properties that are sometimes priced at 40K or below. See this post for how to find those 40K and lower nights: https://frequentmiler.com/the-trick-to-finding-ihg-40k-free-nights/
Looks like the Sawyer used to be on the list. It is hard to find under 40k, but it is 39k on Sept 2 on maxmypoint.
Great modern hotel with nice rooms and right across from Golden 1 Center. Often offers a happy hour too with a great pool. Two nice bars as well.