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

Advertiser Disclosure: We love living points life by using points and miles to elevate travel experiences. In the interest of being transparent with you, we may be compensated from an approved credit card's application, or from some of the products and services recommended on this site. This only happens when you click on our affiliate links. We also earn commissions from purchases made through Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Thank you for your support and especially for reading this blog! Please see our Advertiser Disclosure for more details!

Theย 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.ย 

Theย Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casinoย property currently requires 40,000 IHG points per night, which means that the IHG Anniversary Free Nightย 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. Thatโ€™s not all, the Chase IHG Premier Credit Cardย also gives you an automatic IHG Platinum Elite status which is beneficial to you when you stay at theย Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casinoย for a preferred room upgrade, complimentary beach lounge chair, and huts (Palapas) for an entire stay, welcome drinks, bonus points, late check-out, etc.

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

Table of Contentsย ย [show/hide]

    Room Upgrade

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

    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 barโ€™s noise and music at night. The layout of the rooms is pretty much the same โ€“ bed, couch, and balcony.

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

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


    It is worth mentioning that food and drinks at theย Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casinoย 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 poolโ€™s bar for Arubaโ€™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 roomโ€™s number on it.

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

    Review IHG Platinum and Spire Upgrade and Benefits at Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort and Casino
    Aruba Ariba Complimentary Welcome Drinks

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

    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.ย 

    Both IHG Platinum Elite and IHG Spire Elite members receive a 15% discount at all restaurants and bars at theย Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino. Itโ€™s not really much when the cost of the food at the resort is outrageous, but itโ€™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.

    Complimentaryย 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 dayโ€™s use (see picture below).ย 

    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 towelโ€™s hut and reserve a palapa site. That site belongs to you for your entire stay. However, if for whatever reason you donโ€™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.

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

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

    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.ย 

    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 keyโ€™s card during our stay. We keep them as souvenirs and plan to use them at other Holiday Inn resorts that weโ€™ll be staying at in the future.

    Review IHG Platinum and Spire Upgrade and Benefits at Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort and Casino
    Wristband Room Key

    Other IHG Spire Benefits:

    • 2 PM check-out based on availability.ย 
    • Complimentary standard Internet access.ย 
    • 10 points per $1 spent at the resort.ย 
    • 100% bonus points.ย 
    Review IHG Platinum and Spire Upgrade and Benefits at Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort and Casino

    Bottom Line

    Although IHG Hotels and Resorts program doesnโ€™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 theย Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casinoย 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.ย 

    In my opinion, IHG Spire Elite status doesnโ€™t mean a lot and it is very comparable to the IHG Platinum Elite status. Iโ€™ll lose Spire status later on, but I am happy to remain an IHG Platinum Elite.

    Phly Wright
    Follow Me

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    My Points Life