One of the best perks of having the Chase IHG MasterCard is the annual free night certificate offered by the card. Well, “free” should be in quotes since the card has a $49 annual fee. But it is still a great deal since the certificate is valid at any IHG hotel. With all of IHG’s options at your fingertips, here are some best hotels to use your IHG free night certificate:
Remember, if you are looking to pick up the Chase IHG Mastercard, the signup bonus is currently up to 80,000 points (and some people have been able to match to a 100,000 point offer), you can read my review here, and find the signup bonus for the card on our top credit card offers page.
InterContinental Carlton Cannes
My wife and I stayed at the Carlton hotel in Cannes as part of an *amazing* multi-week trip to Europe last summer. It is located right on the Boulevard de la Croisette with an enviable view of the bay.
The hotel is iconic. It has been used in several movies, not to mention it is the premier hotel for hosting movie stars during the Cannes Film Festival. Quite a few suites are named for celebrities.
For our dates, the InterContinental Carlton Cannes was going for over €400 per night! Definitely one of the best hotels to use your IHG free night certificate at in terms of value.
InterContinental London Park Lane
Located at the corner of two very famous parks, the InterContinental London Park Lane is one of the premier hotels in The Old Smoke. The hotel often runs over $400 per night, giving you huge value for your free night certificate.
The hotel is utterly elegant, but like any luxury lodging, it comes with luxury prices. You’ll pay a pretty penny for everything beyond your free room. Luckily, the hotel is located just steps from the underground, leaving the rest of London at your fingertips.
If you’re going for luxury, location, and max value, the Intercontinental London Park Lane is one of the best hotels to use your IHG free night certificate.
(PWaC: Personally I “wasted” my free IHG certificate at the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall but I’m a bit of an odd bird. We also stayed at the London Hilton on Park Lane which is very near the Intercontinental London Park Lane)
InterContinental Hong Kong
There might be better places at which to use your certificate in terms of rate, but the InterContinental Hotels Group is still heavily in the running. Located right on Victoria Harbour in Kowloon, the hotel boasts fantastic views of Hong Kong island.
You can relax in the infinite pool and take in the city skyline. Then wander the streets of Kowloon and eat at one of the many great restaurants in the city.
Cash rates often top $250 at the InterContinental Hong Kong. It is also one of IHG’s top category properties, requiring 60,000 points per night. Your certificate is the way to go here, as I value my IHG points more highly than that.
InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam
Situated in an elegant and impressive 19th century building along the Amstel River, the InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam is another great choice at which to use your IHG certificate. Paid nights often start around €400, giving you great value for your $49 annual card fee.
Even though they aren’t promised on award stays, see if you can talk your way into a river view room. Gotta make that complimentary Platinum status count for something.
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa
Bora Bora is often viewed as one of those “paradise on earth” destinations. The island is utterly idyllic, and the views are amazing. It is the one IHG hotel where you can be booked into an overwater bungalow on a free night certificate (or points). This alone makes it one of the best hotels to use your IHG free night certificate.
With cash rates often starting at over $1,000 per night, this is almost certainly the most expensive IHG hotel at which you can use your certificate. Just be prepared to pay a lot for everything else at the property.
The issue with the InterContinental Bora Bora Thalasso is that award availability is scarce. You can typically only find a few nights in the entire calendar, and rarely more than a day or two at a time. You’ll have to obsessively search to piece together a multi-night stay here. But it can be done!
If the Bora Bora option is a bit too overwhelming, consider the nearby island of Moorea. The InterContinental there is a more reasonable option in terms of price, award space, and logistics. You just won’t be booked directly into an overwater bungalow.
Other best hotels to use your IHG free night certificate?
Don’t feel like you have to burn your certificate at a place just to get the max value. There are plenty of other wonderful options in the IHG portfolio. My wife and I have even burnt ours at airport hotels, which is a deal to us, given that the Staybridge Suites SFO often goes for more than $200 per night. Plenty of value there.
It all depends on your travel needs. If you can get $400+ out of your certificate, great. If not, that’s totally fine (SEE: Where I “wasted” my 2 IHG free night certificates). Travel how you want to.
Remember, if you are looking to pick up the Chase IHG Mastercard, the signup bonus is currently up to 80,000 points (and some people have been able to match to a 100,000 point offer), you can read my review here, and find the signup bonus for the card on our top credit card offers page.
All hotel photos (except Carlton hotel) courtesy of IHG.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
For our honeymoon we did Tahiti and Bora Bora w/ points, b1g1 and free night (card) for ourselves overwater bungalow. Awesome thing is we had grandpa and daughter come out mid trip and they were placed in an overwater bungalow as well. Next night will be used at Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown that just opened for NYE 🙂
We’ve been having trouble finding anything outside of the U.S. using these certificates that allow two adults and two kids in a room. Do you have any recommendations that allow this? I know the Carlton Cannes and London Park Lane don’t allow it.
Thanks for the great post
I think you’ll be hard pressed to find Intercontinental hotels that book you straight into a 4 person room. After 5 minutes of searching, just for kicks, I came up with Sydney (Double Bay) and Cairo.
Also, if the price jump from a 3 person room to a 4 person room isn’t much, consider booking with the certificate and then calling the hotel to upgrade for a cash co-pay.
Depending on what’s going on in Vegas at the time, the Venetian/Palazzo can be a good use of the certificate as well. I used mine for a night when the CES conference was going on and the rooms were over $700/nt. Popular weekends can hit $400+/nt as well. Not bad for that $49 certificate.
InterContinental Carlton Cannes is in really bad shape. A/C in many of their rooms barely works. The last renovation was probably done 20 years ago. There’s mold. The door knobs and shelves falling apart, etc.
Interesting. That wasn’t our experience at all last year. It is definitely a historic hotel (i.e. interior is a bit old), but I thought it also grand and elegant. Didn’t have any of those issues.
I agree with Mike L on Vegas however it can be hard to find award space there on the website. I usually have to call and make them give me dates as the award calendar will many times show no availability for the entire year.
I’ve gotten good use out of my certificate at the IC Tel Aviv. It runs $350+ most of the time and they have given me Ambassador upgrades to bigger nice rooms with welcome gifts, etc. In the past we used to like to use ours at the IC Rome at the top of the Spanish Steps but it’s no longer an IC I believe.
Nice! I didn’t even know there was an IC in Tel Aviv.
I stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco using a free night certificate and saved about $300.
Welp, I think I must have a knack for it…
Stayed at 2 of the 5 already using certs. Most of my certs have been used at $400-$800/night hotels.
We will never again stay in a IHG property the one in Lees Summit MO is filled with racist employees GM on down for the first time in my 41 yrs I experienced this on a family vacation. So far more than 5 days after reporting the incident to their customer relations I haven’t received any calls from this company
Just used mine earlier this week at IC Le Grand in Paris. Had a really great stay, would love to come back at some point.
Thanks for the article. What is transportation like from the airport to the IC in Kowloon-time & cost? And how does that compare to hotels in Hong Kong?
There is an airport shuttle goes around the Kowloon area. I don’t know if it stops at the IC Kowloon. Shuttle is not expensive, neither is taxi in my view. Kowloon is probably the most convenient area for tourist. I prefer this area over Central (which is across the water). IC Kowloon sits right on the tip of TsimShaTsui Kowloon, overlooking the beautiful Victoria Harbor. The lobby piano bar with floor-to-ceiling windows has one of the most striking view. As for rooms, I can’t comment as I have never stayed here (usually ended up staying at Hyatt). But this hotel is one of the top rated hotel in HK.
@Sharon. Thanks for your reply!
Don’t forget Intercontinental Tokyo Bay! Great value if used during cherry blossom season.
Good point. There are a huge number out there that make for awesome redemptions during peak season.
I actually liked staying at the InterContinental on Moorea vs.Bora Bora. The bungalows, while not over the water are immediately next to the water, the sea life is more interesting in the lagoon and there is much more to do on the island. At the InterContinental Bora Bora Thalasso, you are isolated on a barrier reef, you have to take a very expensive local plane ride to get there (with a 1 suitcase limit) vs a cheap and quick ferry to Moorea. I have stayed at both, and I am definity going back to Moorea.
This is super encouraging! If we ever go, we are going to Moorea. The logistics have always seemed *way* easier to me, plus you are confirming my similar assessment of the island (i.e. more to do).
I never like the one night stays so I usually go to a lesser hotel and use one free night and one or two additional nights on points.
I don’t either. But my wife and I each have the card, and so far we have always used our nights back to back. Got them the same month, so it works out well.