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Given the recent devaluation and (possible) removal of the generous best rate guarantee, it’s nice to be able to report some good news from IHG – you can now redeem IHG Points at all Kimpton Hotels!
If you’re not sure what Kimpton Hotels are like, that’s understandable as there’s currently only one outside of North America (in Amsterdam), but IHG is intending to grow the brand internationally over the next few years.
Kimpton has always been the ‘slightly quirky darling’ of the hotel world, with a big focus on guest satisfaction. Offering things like complimentary wine hours each evening for all guests, yoga mats, free bikes and pets stay free, as standard.
Add in a ‘Raid the Minibar’ credit and extra perks for using a secret password at check in and you can understand why Kimpton succeeded in winning over a legion of devoted loyalists. As Kimpton put it themselves,
“You deserve a hotel as unique as you are. At Kimpton, customizing experiences is our passion and your requests are an invitation for us to excel. Add our bold, playful design, award-winning dining and perk-y amenities and you have the ultimate boutique hotel stay.”
You can perhaps also understand then why Kimpton fans were extremely sceptical when the brand was bought by IHG a few years ago. IHG is one of the largest hotel companies in the world, known more for Holiday Inn Expresses, than authentic boutique experiences.
That said, the integration has been gradual and if IHG has any sense they will continue to let Kimpton be Kimpton.
Anyway, enough of the history – the news is that you can now redeem IHG Points to stay at Kimpton Hotels, which is a very nice option to have. As you can see below, the award prices aren’t amazing, but they’re not too bad compared to IHG’s other options in major cities these days (thanks to US blog PointMeToThePlane for compiling the list!):
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 40,000 IHG Points per Night
- Baltimore (Inner Harbor) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Baltimore
- Cleveland (Downtown) – Kimpton Schofield Hotel
- Salt Lake City (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City
- Winston-Salem (Downtown) – Kimpton Cardinal Hotel
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 45,000 IHG Points per Night
- Chicago (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Allegro
- Milwaukee (Third Ward District) – Kimpton Journeyman
- Minneapolis (Downtown) – Kimpton Grand Hotel Minneapolis
- Pittsburgh (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 50,000 IHG Points per Night
- Alexandria (Old Town) – Kimpton Lorien Hotel and Spa
- Amsterdam – Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam Hotel
- Charlotte (Uptown) – Kimpton Tryon Park Hotel
- Chicago (Downtown) – Kimpton Gray Hotel
- Chicago (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago
- Chicago (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar Chicago
- Denver (Union Station) – Kimpton Born Hotel
- Denver (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Denver
- Manchester (Manchester Village) – Kimpton Taconic Hotel
- Phoenix (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix
- Portland (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Portland
- Portland (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Vintage Portland
- Portland (Waterfront) – Kimpton RiverPlace Hotel
- Sacramento (Downtown) – Kimpton Sawyer Hotel
- San Diego (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar San Diego
- San Diego (Gaslamp Quarter) – Kimpton Solamar Hotel
- Santa Barbara (Goleta) – Kimpton Goodland Hotel
- Savannah (Historic District) – Kimpton Brice Hotel
- Seattle (Downtown) – Kimpton Palladian Hotel
- Seattle (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Vintage Seattle
- Seattle (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Seattle
- St. Petersburg (St Pete’s Beach) – Kimpton Hotel Zamora
- Washington DC (Dupont Circle) – Kimpton Carlyle Hotel
- Washington DC (Dupont Circle) – Kimpton Hotel Madera
- Washington DC (Dupont Circle)- Kimpton Rouge Hotel
- Washington DC (Dupont Circle) – Kimpton Topaz Hotel
- Washington DC (Glover Park) – Kimpton Glover Park Hotel
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 55,000 IHG Points per Night
- Boston (Cambridge) – Kimpton Marlowe Hotel
- Boston (Downtown) – Kimpton Onyx Hotel
- Huntington Beach (Oceanfront) – Kimpton Shorebreak Hotel
- Miami (Downtown Waterfront) – Kimpton EPIC Hotel
- Miami (Oceanfront) – Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel
- Philadelphia (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia
- Philadelphia (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia
- San Francisco (Japantown) – Kimpton Buchanan Hotel
- San Francisco (Union Square) – Kimpton Sir Francis Drake Hotel
- Washington DC (Downtown) – Kimpton Donovan Hotel
- Washington DC (Downtown) – Kimpton Mason and Rook Hotel
- Washington DC (Dupont Circle) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar Washington DC
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 60,000 IHG Points per Night
- Austin (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt
- Boston (Downtown) – Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel
- Miami (Southbeach) – Kimpton Angler’s Hotel
- Nashville (Midtown) – Kimpton Aertson Hotel
- Los Angeles (Beverly Hills) – Kimpton Hotel Palomar Beverly Hills
- Los Angeles (Hollywood)- Kimpton Everly Hotel
- Los Angeles (Miracle Mile) – Kimpton Hotel Wilshire
- Palm Springs (Downtown) – Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel
- Seattle (Waterfront) – Kimpton Alexis Hotel
- Washington DC (Capitol Hill) – Kimpton George Hotel
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 65,000 IHG Points per Night
- New York (Hell’s Kitchen) – Kimpton Ink48 Hotel
- Sedona (Uptown) – Kimpton Amara Resort and Spa
- Vero Beach (Oceanfront Location) – Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel and Spa
- Washington DC (Downtown) – Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC
Kimpton Hotels Requiring 70,000 IHG Points per Night
- Grand Cayman (Seven Mile Beach) – Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa
- Los Angeles (West Hollywood) – Kimpton La Peer Hotel
- New York (Chelsea) – Kimpton Hotel Eventi
- New York (Theater District) – Kimpton Muse Hotel
- Santa Barbara (Downtown) – Kimpton Canary Hotel
Bottom line
Being able to earn and redeem IHG Points at Kimpton Hotels is a very welcome option and something I can certainly see myself taking advantage of. Hopefully we’ll see lots more Kimptons in Europe and in other parts of the world over the next few years too!
Amsterdam at 50k seems like a fairly reasonable deal, but would people really pay 70k for a Kimpton when there’s an IC in the same city (probably at the same price)? I don’t know much about the brands but my gut feeling was that IC would be a tier above Kimpton in most places.
Good question. Personally, I think I’d struggle to justify 70k Points on either, unless I had A LOT of Points saved up or really wanted to stay somewhere specific like Bora Bora. That said, I tend to find ICs a bit underwhelming in general for what is supposed to be a luxury brand and think I would generally opt for the perks you get with Kimpton. Part of that could be that I’ve stayed at quite a lot of ICs already though, so might just be more interested in something different.
Look what you’ve made me do… Just cancelled a stay at the Indigo in Chicago to switch over to a 50K per night Kimpton. I hope an hour of knocking back wine is worth it! 🙂
Haha!- Good man. What was the difference in Points?
15K. But much better Tripadvisor ranking and location.
But I’ll probably end up changing my mind a dozen times and just staying at a Hyatt… 🙂
Standard. 🙂
Just have to figure out the psychology behind why I am completely unable to spend $250 cash on a hotel room, when I can get rid of 50K IHG points. Yet, I am completely indifferent to spending $100 cash on a hotel room or 20K IHG points.
Interesting – particularly given how frequently you stay at hotels. Rationally, the calculation from your perspective (given that all Points will be used at some point and you’ll be paying cash for lots of stays anyway) should be entirely neutral. Actually, maybe not quite once you factor promos – paying cash for cheap stays is preferable to using Points, if you’re earning a good haul.