IHG Partners With Mr & Mrs Smith, Bringing 500 New Points Hotels…

Points used to be for nerds, but now they’re everywhere – and you’d be completely foolish to miss out. A perfect example? The boutique hotels on Mr & Mrs Smith that you’d never think of earning or redeeming points from, will soon be a part of IHG Rewards, bringing the Intercontinental Hotel Group into the boutique and unique fold. Here’s why this is big news for IHG Rewards Club members going forward…

Major Meets Boutique

One could argue that it all started with Hyatt’s partnership with SLH, the collection of Small Luxury Hotels, but however it started, the major chain meets boutique trend is hitting new heights. Today, IHG announced a new partnership with Mr & Mrs Smith, a premier online booking platform for luxury and boutique hotel stays, where you can earn and redeem points at over 500 hotels on the platform. Elite IHG members will also enjoy special booking perks, like welcome champagne, upgrades and so forth when staying at these boutique hotels.

14 New Countries For IHG

This new partnership will make 500 Mr & Mrs Smith properties bookable with points, or eligible to earn points and night credits via IHG Rewards, but that’s only part of the equation. Mr & Mrs Smith has access to properties in 14 countries where IHG does not presently operate, meaning there are great new destinations to earn and redeem. Mr & Mrs Smith doesn’t own any of these hotels, but it’s one of the more well known websites for curated hotels with special agreements to provide better rates or benefits at each one.

How It Will Work

Unfortunately, an exact date is not yet set for the partnership to kick in, but the “how” part is pretty clear. These Mr & Mrs Smith properties will be listed on IHG.com and also on the IHG mobile app, so when you search for a destination, they’ll pop up alongside any of the IHG properties you presently see. To earn your points or redeem your points, you’ll need to book these Mr & Mrs Smith boutique hotels via IHG, and not the other way around.

It’s great to see increased partnerships where having loyalty status or points with chain hotels allows you to explore further and enjoy more unique and boutique gems, in more remote destinations too. I value boutique hotels over chains, and this actually gives me greater reason to pay more attention to IHG, so that I can benefit when staying at smaller hotels.