IHG complaint - help with next steps

Apollo14

Could do with some thoughts on next steps with a complaint that I've got on the go with IHG.

As a long term IHG rewards club member, I booked a Holiday Inn Express at LaGuardia, NYC, last August for a 2 night stay in July 22. One night was to be paid by use of reward points and 2nd night coming to circa $208, for a 2*double bed room to accommodate 3 adults. It was an advance booking, to be paid at hotel at time of stay.

All seemed fine in the subsequent months after booking. I was using app regularly at my Holiday Inn stays in the UK and could see the booking in my upcoming bookings. Reviews were largely pre-covid, but I felt this was understandable and as booking directly with IHG, I didn't anticipate any problems.

Imagine our surprise, when we turned up in the hotel car park on a Saturday evening, all looking good until 3 men came out of the front door, prevented me from entering and advising that it was no longer a hotel !! Having only just arrived in the US, we hadn't set up mobiles for US use, so had no internet use or access to phone. We decided that safest bet was to go to the nearest IHG hotel and sort from there. This was at the HIX at the Airtrain, JFK. On arrival there, the reception were reluctant to help, advising us to contact IHG and confirming their knowledge of the LaGuardia hotel being closed, apparently since the previous year.

They allowed me to use their phone and I could access their guest wifi, so spent the next 2 hours, speaking to 3 different people on the IHG 'care' line, who all claimed no knowledge of the LaGuardia HIX being closed, putting me on hold until they tried ringing them and going around in circles. I was insistent, that this was clearly a problem that needed to be owned by them and from a safety perspective, they needed to find me alternative accommodation, at least for that night, at their cost. They wouldn't acknowledge this, instead organising a refund of the reward points that had been used to book the first night's stay and offering to help with making a new booking. Ultimately, as it was after 11pm and my wife & son extremely distressed, that I had to go ahead with this. They had great difficulty in finding a vacancy at such late notice, but after a few attempts, managed to secure a booking at a Hotel Indigo, about 10 miles away. I agreed to this, made our way there, getting there at midnight, but at least safe & secure. The cost of the Saturday night was approx $300 (instead of my 'free' night) which I paid with credit card. We decided to keep the 2nd night there as well, rather than lose a day of our holiday, finding a new room elsewhere and cost was not dissimilar to what I had been due to pay on the Sunday night anyway.

Trying to sort a complaint on my return, both the LaGuardia booking was still showing on my IHG account and they were still advertising it. I got as far as being able to press reserve, despite them knowing that it was no long operating. I simply can't believe that I had been the only person to have made an advance booking at the hotel, given it's location etc. Unfortunately, I keep hitting brick walls, with them trying to refer my request for compensation (minimum of covering costs of that first night, including costs incurred getting to and from the various hotels). They just want to refer me to the franchise operators of the closed hotel and whom have never responded to my email to them. IHG just simply keep on offering their reward points, effectively giving me the equivalent of the points cost of the first night. Doesn't pay my credit card bill though. As a UK based plc, I even tried sending a registered letter to their UK base, marked FAO of the CEO, but this simply got referred back to the US based customer care centre.

Any ideas on next steps or am I just going to be hitting a brick wall due to UK based co, but most hotels operated by 3rd parties and potentially website being operated by US subsidiary? Seems shocking that they can take bookings for a hotel that effectively doesn't exist. They have not provided any kind of explanation of how the situation had occurred.

Appreciate any thoughts on possible next steps.