Review: IHG Platinum and Spire Upgrade and Benefits at Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort and Casino

The Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino is one of the oldest hotels in Aruba. It is located in Palm Beach along with other high rises hotels and resorts. The property is a beachfront property so when you step out of the resort, the white sandy beach and ocean are right there. 

The Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino property currently requires 40,000 IHG points per night, which means that the IHG Anniversary Free Night that you earn from holding the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card can be used for a free night stay at this property. If you hold the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card or the Chase IHG Traveler Credit Card, when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights, your 4th night is free. That's not all, the Chase IHG Premier Credit Card also gives you an automatic IHG Platinum Elite status which is beneficial to you when you stay at the Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino for a preferred room upgrade, complimentary beach lounge chair, and huts (Palapas) for an entire stay, welcome drinks, bonus points, late check-out, etc.

Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino

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Room Upgrade

The cheapest room at the Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino is the standard room. The property is strategically built so that the majority of the rooms have a balcony with an ocean view partially. 

As an IHG Spire Elite member, our room was upgraded to the next available category with a partial ocean view and a garden view. We had to lean over from the balcony to really see the ocean. Although we wanted an oceanfront, the check-in girl told us that they were sold out. The upgrade is nothing to write home about but we appreciated that at least they put us in one of their towers that is away from the nearby bar's noise and music at night. The layout of the rooms is pretty much the same - bed, couch, and balcony.

View from our balcony

Welcome Drinks OR 250 IHG Points

At the time of check-in, you are given the choices of welcome drink vouchers for two and a salty snack or 250 IHG Rewards Club Points. 

It is worth mentioning that food and drinks at the Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino are very expensive, so to get the best value out of your membership, go for the welcome drink vouchers and snack. We opted for the drink vouchers and headed over to the pool's bar for Aruba's well-known drinks called Aruba Ariba. The bill came to a shocking $21.50 plus a 15% service charge for two small drinks. However, because we had the complimentary drink vouchers, all we had to do was just sign the bill and put our room's number on it.

Aruba Ariba Complimentary Welcome Drinks

15% Discount Restaurants and Bars

IHG Hotels and Resorts program is not as good as other hotel programs such as Marriott, Hilton which offer complimentary breakfast for their high tier status members. IHG Spire Elite is the highest tier in the IHG Rewards program and yet they still do not offer complimentary breakfast. 

Both IHG Platinum Elite and IHG Spire Elite members receive a 15% discount at all restaurants and bars at the Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino. It's not really much when the cost of the food at the resort is outrageous, but it's something. Thanks to the great location of Palm Beach, we ended up eating outside all the time. The Beach Bar is an excellent place to go to and it is located on the boardwalk and within walking distance from the Holiday Inn. They have the longest Happy Hours on the island from 12-7 PM and you can get two alcoholic drinks there for only $8.

Complimentary Beach Lounge Chair and Hut (Palapa)

Palpa refers to the beach hut. Both IHG Platinum Elite and IHG Spire Elite members receive free use of the beach lounge chair and palapa for the entire stay. Other non and regular IHG members have to pay to rent those. It costs $30 to rent starting at noon or $15 to rent at 3PM for the next day's use (see picture below). 

For IHG Platinum Elite and IHG Spire Elite members, upon check-in, you are given the beach towel card that also gives you the privilege to reserve the palapa for your entire stay. You have to go to the beach towel's hut and reserve a palapa site. That site belongs to you for your entire stay. However, if for whatever reason you don't like the site, you can go back and exchange for a new one. All these palapa sites are subject to availability and on a first comes first-served basis.

Wristband Room Key

I am unsure on this one whether the wristband room key is only available to IHG Elite status members such as Platinum and Spire or regular IHG members as well. Non-members are not being offered. 

The wristband room key is offered free of charge and you can keep it to use at any worldwide Holiday Inn resort property. It is super useful as it eliminates the need to carry the room key's card during our stay. We keep them as souvenirs and plan to use them at other Holiday Inn resorts that we'll be staying at in the future.

Wristband Room Key

Other IHG Spire Benefits:

• 2 PM check-out based on availability. 
• Complimentary standard Internet access. 
• 10 points per $1 spent at the resort. 
• 100% bonus points. 

Bottom Line

Although IHG Hotels and Resorts program doesn't reward their top elite status members like other hotel chains do, having IHG Platinum Elite or IHG Spire Elite status can give you a few good benefits when staying at the Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino such as free room upgrade to the next available category. The complimentary reservation for the use of lounge chairs and huts (palapas) during the entire stay is very nice as they are not free for non and regular IHG members. The welcome drink vouchers are also good given how expensive the drinks are at the resort.

Living the points life, I did not go out of my way to spend several hundreds of dollars to stay at IHG Hotels and Resorts each year in order to obtain their high elite status. The Chase IHG Premier Credit Card offers me an automated IHG Platinum Elite status and there was an offer for a quick straight to IHG Spire Elite status that I signed up for before our trip to Aruba, so that came in handy. 

In my opinion, IHG Spire Elite status doesn't mean a lot and it is very comparable to the IHG Platinum Elite status. I'll lose Spire status later on, but I am happy to remain an IHG Platinum Elite.

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