Last week, I shared the details of a stay I had at the Holiday Inn Express in Grove City, Ohio (just Southwest of Columbus, Ohio) where I wrote a complaint letter due to the service. Â 
You can read the original post for the full letter I sent off to IHG, but it basically boiled down to 4 areas:
- No welcome amenity (500 points) nor recognition
- Loud guests at night (not a big deal and if that was the only thing I wouldn’t have mentioned it)
- No breakfast items at all in the morning for 30 minutes
- Housekeeping just walked into our room in the morning despite the Do not Disturb sign being up
I was actually expecting the comments on the post to excoriate me but they were actually rather civil!  Most helpfully, there were a couple of ex-hoteliers that provided some useful perspective
Holiday Inn Express’s response
Here is the full text of the response we got from the IHG Case Manager:
Thank you for your recent contact to Guest Relations and I appreciate the opportunity to assist following your recent stay with our Holiday Inn Express and Suites Columbus SW-Grove City. As one our valued Platinum IHG Reward Club members since 2013, I thank you for your continued loyalty.
I was extremely sorry to learn of the issues encountered during your recent stay at our property in Grove City and I wish to sincerely apologize from the outset for the experience you had. I was disappointed to hear that inconsiderate and disruptive fellow guests were creating excessive noise at the property and that you were disturbed by housekeeping checking for any early departures. I was also particularly disappointed by the details of your breakfast experience and the slow replenishment of food and utensils. The service you describe is certainly not to a level we would expect from one of our Holiday Inn Express locations and I wish to reiterate my sincere apologies.
Please allow me to offer my assurance that your detailed comments and feedback have been fully documented and passed to the necessary management for internal review. Thereafter any corrective action will be taken accordingly. We thoroughly value all feedback from our guests, in particular our most loyal members and we once again regret your disappointment and would like to extend our sincere apologies for the disappointment encountered during your stay.
In recognition of your Platinum IHG Reward Club status and to demonstrate our concern with the issues you encountered, I have arranged for 7,500 points to be issued to your account. This has already being processed and should arrive with you within 7 business days.
Finally, for future clarity for you, welcome and bonus points do not apply on reservations that are ‘non-qualifying’ (for example, Reward Night stays). This will be why these points were not credited by the hotel on this occasion.
I once again appreciate you taking the time again to get in touch and I do hope we can welcome you back to another of our IHG properties shortly.
(emphasis mine)
I had asked for a full refund of the 15,000 points that we spent on the hotel, and they countered with 7500 points. Â I feel that is a reasonable compromise, since it wasn’t like our ENTIRE stay was ruined (we still had a full night’s sleep, and did EVENTUALLY get breakfast.
Where IHG is wrong
Where I think IHG is wrong is the last point, which I bolded. Â IHG says that people don’t get welcome amenities on award stays, which has not been my experience. Â I actually looked for quite awhile on IHG’s site for the full details without success. Â I know that I have received welcome amenities / bonus points on award stays before, and when I reached out on Twitter, many of you also agreed.
@PointsWithACrew I've received it on award stays. As recent as last weekend in Philly.
— IndulgeTheWanderlust (@JeffTheWanderer) June 20, 2016
@PointsWithACrew just had 2 rooms using points, got 500 for each room. platinum.
— Kelly S (@sargenet) June 20, 2016
@PointsWithACrew depends where you stay; I consistently get 300 at HIE and 600 at CP.
— James Airmiles (@misterairmiles) June 20, 2016
I don’t plan to contest this and push for the extra 500 points, though it would be nice to get a confirmation of whether that was the actual policy or not.
Do you feel like this was an adequate resolution? Â Have you received a welcome amenity and/or bonus points on an award stay? Â Let us know in the comments
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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 
Recently I got 10000 points from a CP because I didnt get a welcome drink (it was part of a package) and there was no cold cuta and salmon at breakfast. They had on previous stays.
Didnt ask for any number of point i asked the hotel to propose. For me this was OK. It was a paid stay.
I would have accepted less points too actually. Must say their first excuses made the problem worse.
Ten THOUSAND points?!? dang they lowballed me 🙂
All you hotels are crooked . I will not ever stay with any of you . Oh you reached the top level . Oh we are taking that away to a lower level . Gth i take my $$$$$ away , my rules supercede your rules . All of it .
Lie in someone elses scabes anyway .
Honestly I think this is all rather dramatic. The breakfast was late, get over it. House keeping pounds on my door at every single hotel I stay at from Intercontinental to Holiday Inn. That is life no matter how much you hate it.
And people are loud. Honestly I would never ask for my entire stay back on these grounds.
Sean
Just because you have the experience and (I guess sucked it up and dealt with it) does not mean anyone else should have to do the same.
You are paying for a service (even with an award stay you paid for something to get the points). You should the service period. Else why should they expect payment.
It is terrible that we as customers have been beaten down to the point that we would excuse bad customer service and tear into each other over having a reaction to it. Business wins!
I’m actually surprised to hear that anyone’s ever gotten extra points on an award stay. I assumed it was like the airlines’ policy — i.e., you don’t earn miles on award travel.
Just to be clear (you may already know this), I wasn’t asking for the actual points you get for staying, I was talking about the Welcome Amenity for IHG Platinum guests (which is either a small snack / drink or 500 bonus points). Just like you get an amenity kit when you’re flying even on an award ticket, I would expect this amenity gift even on an award stay. I agree that you would not get the regular points on an award stay.
Wrong comparison – hotels vs. Airlines. The correct comparison is hotels vs. Other hotels.
Starwood and Hyatt both provide point “amenities” on award stays.
Having housekeeping banging on the door is not something that should be overlooked neither is the bad breakfast service. I think half a nights stay is reasonable compensation. My guess is that the “As one our valued Platinum IHG Reward Club members since 2013” is a sarcastic way of saying you think that just because you have paid $49 a year for a couple of years, you have everything coming to you. I have always gotten the welcome bonus even on reward stays but I imagine the rule is that you don’t. Most reception staff probably don’t notice the stay is an award so just give away the points. You only get refused if you have to ask.
I think you’re right – the rule is probably that you don’t get them but normally you just do because it’s a habit from the front desk.
This seems like a fair assessment. At the start of June we visited a Hotel Indigo in Berlin and a Crowne Plaza in Copenhagen, both Reward Nights booking. 600 welcome points at the Hotel Indigo and nothing at the CP.
That said, the CP did let us check in at 9am, which was very much appreciated as we were only in Copenhagen for 24 hours.
Hi Greg, Letting IHG know about the disappointment you encountered seems in good form to me. Good hotel chains monitor such feedback closely — and make decisions accordingly. Think you are correct re. the 500 points for amenity credit, even on award stays. Stayed last Saturday, amid family bereavement, at a staybridge suites in the Poconos…. That was the first question they asked me after kindly noting my Platinum status — did I want the amenity or the points? (hasn’t yet posted)
T’was a really nice property, fantastic room, friendly desk personnel, etc., as per Staybridge “usual” (though didn’t have whirlpool others have)–
Yet I too am tempted to send a note to management re. two uncharacteristic issues involving the included breakfast. Instead of the standard meat choice options, that Staybridge property was merely offering that awful sausage gravy slop…. probably the same industrial strength pre-mix stuff (w/ sausage specs) that we had endured the previous weekend at a Howard Johnson’s. We’d expect such fare from low-end Wyndham properties, but from mid-high end IHG?
Even more disconcerting was the coffee cups….. yes, the coffee cups. The Wolfang so and so coffee itself was great, but the cups provided to hold it were paper thin, and no sleeves available. (You didn’t realize how thin the cups were til you picked up the cup) First time I filled my cup, I barely got the cup back to the table — as my finger were quite ablaze. On the way back up to the room, I got a re-fill, and forgot about the paper-thin coffee cups — and made it as far as the elevator — where I quite literally had to drop to my knees and put cup on the floor…. (My fingers were all beat red from being burned – sic – by the hot coffee in the dixie cup)
I was embarrassed — yet turns out the understanding/concerned folks sharing the elevator ride were veterans of that property — and they told me management there recently was cutting too many corners, esp. at breakfast…. and going to the dixie cups (metaphor) for coffee was literally risking catastrophe…. (not to mention you know what should someone get really hurt)
In such cases, a polite letter of concern to management, not seeking compensation, but out of concern as an otherwise “loyal” IHG traveler just might get some attention. 😉
Ooops, sorry, meant “Dan!” 🙂
Frankly, I think the cleaning crew walking in on you would be the thing I would take issue with the most as it constitutes a security concern. I always hang out the Do Not Disturb sign because I don’t want anything stolen out of my room and often travel with cameras laptop computers, etc., that are high theft items.
Not trying to rub it in or anything like that since my compensation is from an airline. Last month, I got 5,000 bonus miles from Delta after I complained the purser in domestic first class refused to give me a cookie. I already got a banana and another snack but when the cookie my wife got looked so nice, I asked for a cookie too, it was flatly declined – even when I saw his basket had quite a few cookies left in it! No, I did not make a fuss whatsoever on the plane, didn’t want to get arrested on arrival. Anyway, the ‘Monsanto’ cookie sucked – my wife shared hers with me.
Did you receive a 10% rebate in points because you have an IHG MasterCard. I still can’t understand how they track that since no charge is applied on a reward night. When you have problems not receiving them, neither IHG or MasterCard know what you are talking about. You have to walk them through the terms and conditions on the credit card application.
I have not gotten that 10% rebate yet.
Can one of you explain the 10% rebate you mentioned?
If you have the IHG credit card, you get 10% of your points back with every reservation
Ah, so rewards at 90%….didn’t realize. Thanks! Their cash plus points needs a little work though, still…
Last year I stayed one night at the HIE in Grove City as well and used points for my stay. My stay was uneventful! I was awarded 500 points. Prior to my stay at this hotel, I stayed at a different HIE in Columbus and used points but did not receive the 500 points. I called the hotel and they deposited 500 points into my account.
I always get 500 welcome points at the holiday inn express. Today, just got 600 from a Crown Plaza. All stays were on points.
I’m having a discussion about these Welcome points twice a year as 2/3 of the hotels post them fine, but the rest don’t. Every hotel front desk always ask whether I want some water bottles or whatever or the points, every. No matter if it is reward night or not. I have even asked a couple of front desk persons about this when they have asked me if I want the points and I’ve been surprised when they have answered that they did notice it was a reward night but you still get the welcome points.
I’m currently discussing this with IHG Rewards club as some of the hotels won’t even bother to answer my direct emails. They claim the same this time but on previous occasions they’ve just posted the points.
In my opinion if the basis for the welcome bonus points or some other amenity is your customer level, it would be weird not to recognize that when you reserve a reward night.
With the amount of nights the missing welcome bonus points amount to 3000-4000 points, so I do bother to ask them and it is also a matter of principle.