Cheapest way to stay at Holiday Inns - save up to 50%

Tony Bainbridge doesn't work at any hotel so you'd have a problem, filling in the booking voucher.

The 'Friends & Family' promotion -- where MSE is concerned -- is dead anyway.

That's fair enough because it was an excellent opportunity provided in good faith by an excellent MSEr: I just hope the wording on the now defunct F&F link -- "the page you are trying to access has been disabled due to excessive abuse" -- isn't intended as a slap on the wrist (or worse) for Kit.

Fact is, in raising awareness of the IHG brand, Kit achieved as much and more as any corporate marketing department, especially as an acquisition cost always attaches to the 'capture' of any new customer.

No acquisition cost was incurred here by IHG.

Nor was this one of those catchpenny Travelodge promotions: the average spend-per-booking by MSErs who have used the F&F link far exceeds the level of spend captured by Travelodge. And each booking by each MSEr (thanks to Kit) has given IHG an opportunity to set out its stall, as it were, and so convert the first-time guest into a regular patron.

In such a win-win situation as that, use of the word "abuse" in connection with the website link does seem ill-advised: far from being abused, it was actually much appreciated, and has brought to IHG's constituent establishments income that may well have gone to a different accommodation provider.

Were I running IHG's marketing operation, I'd not be looking to "abuse" -- excessive or otherwise -- but to a dependable yet hitherto unaccessed market that had kindly been identified by one of IHG's very own employees: this forum.

And having looked at MSE, I'd be thinking of how a special IHG promotion, tailored to MSE, might be worked up, because for the next 12 to 18 months in the UK, business-class hotels really are going to have to reach out to markets beyond their traditional target audience if they're to keep bar and restaurant revenues flowing (which is where the profit ultimately is: forget the rooms.)

For now though, sincere thanks again to Kit: Mrs Rabbit and I are certainly looking forward to our summer at various IHG hotels here and abroad, none of which we would've been patronising had it not been for this particular "friend" of the MSE "family".

The link that MSE Jenny posted is still up and running and the name on it is Anthony Bainbridge, seeing as this company contacted MSE with this offer I don't see why there is a problem now.


Still says valid for bookings made before end May 2009.

Triker wrote: »

Here's the post. Click on the link in BLUE.

Triker you're doing a brilliant job but I think the link is dead?

I was just checking out another IHG link on the MSE hotel deals thread and that's gone too.

I'm wondering if their IT people are doing some revamping.

Either that, or me poor ol' computer ain't connecting to anything. . .

Triker wrote: »

Strange I'm getting the page as it was....sorry you can't connect.

Triker: the link you mentioned is definitely working so I've no idea why I had connection problems -- can't have been a cache / history problem because I re-checked after full clearance.

Anyway! You deserve the thanks of many for your persistence with this, especially as the live link contradicts IHG's stated position to MSE.

Note for those who may be a bit baffled about the F&F booking system now that Kit's link is no longer available to MSErs:

1) The F&F link cited by Triker is live and valid, and IHG-authorised.

2) The link was first cited by MSE Jenny and has been helpfully re-quoted by Triker at post #127. If you can't immediately recognise the hyperlink in that quoted text, mouse over the words "friends and family".

3) The F&F facility is available until the end of May, during which time F&F bookings may be made for up to 12 months' hence.

4) It's a contractual condition of every F&F booking that the associated F&F identifying voucher is presented at the time of checking-in.

5) The voucher is downloadable on the link site and requires you to fill in the following details:


IHG Employee*

IHG Employee’s* Office / Hotel Location
Destination Hotel Arrival Date

Number of Nights Number of Rooms
Confirmation Number



(6) If you are able to convert .pdf files to Rich Text and MS Word, you'll be able to introduce an extra space between the lines to accommodate the information you're required to input. If you can't convert pdf to Word (most people can't) then it's still manageable though a tight fit:

IHG Employee: Anthony Bainbridge, Senior Vice President, Human Resources

IHG Employee’s* Office / Hotel Location: IHG InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Broadwater Park, Denham, Buckinghamshire UK.

(7) Obviously, all the other details can only be filled in after you have made your F&F booking and have the IHG booking confirmation number.

By way of a general guide where IHG UK is concerned: remember that Holiday Inn hotels do not generally include breakfast in the room price, whereas Express By Holiday Inn does.

Breakfast cost should therefore be factored in to any HI booking -- albeit that said, the F&F offer is so good, even after factoring in the breakfast costs a HI deal represents exceptional value for money.

Note, too, that although there might appear to be a 'status' ranking which distinguishes Holiday Inns from Express by Holiday Inn, the ranking is not necessarily what it seems: we know from experience of Express-branded establishments that, because of their relative newness, are actually more spacious and more attractive than a higher-priced Holiday Inn within the same region.

Use of bookings.com's guest reviews is as ever indispensable for any hotel booking with whatever hotel group.

That said, IHG establishments have acquired a justified reputation for calibre of accommodation and quality of service.

Hope this helps -- and, again, many thanks, Triker!

3 nights for the price of 2

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/6c/1/en/c/1/content/dec/teaser/6c/1/en/lp/emea/3for2.html?rateCode=IDEX2&cm_mmc=DCE-_-HI041609-_-EMEN-_-COPY