I admit it, I love Holiday Inn.

I love the ability to earn points with Priority Club through Holiday Inn and then redeem them at Intercontinental Hotels. I was able to take my first dream trip to Bora Bora (staying in an over the water bungalow as a Royal Ambassador) for 10 days by using the points I accumulated through Priority Club. When you mix in the occasional promotion as well, it’s a great program.

There’s also the economic side of it as well. During my trips to Russia, I stayed at the Marriotts like every good American businessman should. Paying $700 a night at the Marriott Aurora and Grand and $500 a night at the Marriott Renaissance seemed perfectly normal.

Then I discovered the Holiday Inn Lesnaya just down the street from the Marriott Grand. At $250-$300 a night, by Moscow standards it’s a steal. It’s the perfect business hotel, close to the Belarusskaya subway station.

Not only do you get the benefit of accumulating Priority Club points by staying at Holiday Inn, there’s a financial benefit as well. I trumpeted the fact that I was saving the company money by staying at the Holiday Inn over the Marriott. I talked it up so much that I convinced others to switch over, while collecting 5000 Priority Club bonuses for the referral.

In summary, it’s good for the company and good for my Priority Club account balance. Everyone’s a winner!