I was poking around the other day and just discovered that Choice Hotels, a bit of a hidden gem among hotel groups, has quietly devalued again. Here are a few properties I’ve been keeping an eye on:
- Oslo The Thief: 20,000 → 30,000
- Oslo Amerikalinjen: 20,000 → 30,000
- Stockholm At Six (review here): 20,000 → 25,000
- Stockholm Clarion Hotel Sign (review here): 16,000 → 20,000
The hardest hit is clearly the Nordic Strawberry brand. Hotels elsewhere seem untouched for now; for example, properties in Japan and much of Europe remain the same (Hotel Aquarius Venice is still 20,000 points).
It’s sad to see some hotels finally break the 30,000-point barrier, though honestly, given their cash rates, even 30k can still be decent value. Plus, there are still plenty of four- and five-star hotels in the Ascend Collection priced between 12,000 and 20,000 points, which are excellent redemptions in my opinion.
When the new rules were rolled out earlier this year, I actually locked in a booking at The Thief, but later cancelled since I wasn’t in the mood to travel. I still have a good stash of points left, and I’m considering picking up their US co-branded credit card. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to head to Scandinavia before long.
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