Travelzoo Hotel Deal – InterContinental Montreal $139 (Refundable Voucher Valid Until Dec. 30, 2021)

[UPDATE: this has sold out and the rate is now $129 but in a classic room with no breakfast or late checkout] There are a few decent hotel offers on Travelzoo for stays all the way into December 2021. I’ll highlight one in Montreal that looks particularly interesting. Even if you’re not contemplating a trip to Montreal, it’s good to be aware of various deal websites you can monitor in case something comes along that suits your travel plans.

Travelzoo

Travelzoo offers a variety of deals including vacation packages, activities, dining and hotel stays. Although I’ve received their Canada/US/UK Top 20 emails for years, I’ve never personally bought anything from Travelzoo. It appears to work similar to Groupon in that they partner with companies and sell vouchers that are redeemed directly with the travel provider, hotel, restaurant etc.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Travelzoo has emphasized the refundable nature of many of its vouchers. For those comfortable booking speculative travel, there is little downside to locking in a bargain (as long as you can easily get that money back, of course).

Canadian Hotel Deals

There is a section of the website dedicated to Fully Refundable Canadian Hotel Deals. Some have expiry dates in spring but others are valid until late in the year.

It’s important to verify for yourself whether the discount or perks package in the voucher is actually a good deal compared to what you’d pay booking direct.

The Travelzoo deal for the InterContinental Montreal includes the following for $139 per night:

• accommodation in a premium room
• daily breakfast served in the room ($50 value)
• guaranteed late checkout at 4 pm ($80 value)

Not available May 22-23, June 10-13, July 31

Terms and Conditions:

Occupancy Rules: Based on double occupancy.
Additional Hotel Specific Charges: Tax per night is not included and will be paid directly to the hotel. Self parking available for $25 plus tax per day.
How to Book: Purchase this deal from Travelzoo then follow the instructions on the voucher to make a reservation for your desired travel dates. To check availability or for general questions, please email reservations-yulhb@ihg.com. Guests can combine multiple vouchers for longer stays, subject to restrictions. Reservations are subject to availability and early booking is encouraged.
Cancellation and Other Hotel Policies: Until the voucher’s expiry date, Travelzoo will give you a full refund of your purchase if you can’t find dates that suit you or you can’t travel. If you already booked your dates, simply cancel with the hotel at least 24 hours prior to arrival and contact Travelzoo for a refund. If you cancel or change your booking after that time you may be subject to additional hotel fees. Any unused promotional value credit will be forfeited upon checkout. This deal cannot be combined with other offers. Guests must adhere to hotel rules and policies. This hotel is pet-friendly. Review hotel’s pet policy on its website or call to inquire. Voucher(s) must be used in 1 visit. (Must be of legal drinking age to consume alcohol.)

Good Deal?

Before looking at rates on the IHG website, there are a couple of things to consider.

To book using this voucher you need to contact the hotel for availability. Presumably, one can redeem the voucher for any date when there’s a premium room available but I’d be hesitant to purchase one without checking with the hotel first in case there are any unexpected limitations on redemption.

Although you’re redeeming the voucher at the hotel as opposed to reserving through a third party booking service, I’d assume the stay would be non-qualifying for purposes of earning IHG Rewards points.

Unfortunately, IHG does not offer a flexible date calendar but it’s still possible to scan rates by date by searching a long duration stay. Just watch out for any extended stay rates that wouldn’t be available to you.

I’m going to limit the search to rates with the same cancellation policy (24 hours in advance) as the Travelzoo deal, but instead of checking rates for the premium room, I’m going to focus on the cheapest room type – the classic room. In my opinion, if it’s truly a bargain, the rate should be lower than the best available rate at the hotel without the added perks.

Looking at August 14 to October 17, 2021, the Member Exclusive rate for the classic room with free cancellation ranges from $189 in August to a high of $303 in early October.

The premier room is around $20 more per night.

Other Montreal Hotels

Even if it’s a terrific bargain compared to regular rates, there might still be cheaper rooms elsewhere in the city at acceptable hotels. If you’re a budget traveller, the goal is to save money so if there’s another hotel with a rate under $139, that might be a better option depending on how much you value breakfast and late check-out. (We also don’t know what if any loyalty promotions will be in play at the time of your trip, but those would certainly be a factor in one’s choice to redeem or refund the voucher as well.)

After scanning rates for a few different dates, I didn’t really find anything comparable to this $139 Travelzoo rate in the same general location in the city. There’s a low rate (under $100) at the Candlewood Suites but it requires a 7 night stay.

Conclusion

Unless I’m missing something, this $139 including breakfast looks like an excellent deal. I’m a little surprised that the voucher price doesn’t vary by date or season. I’m not all that familiar with the hotel scene in Montreal and I’ve never stayed at this particular InterContinental but it gets good reviews. While I don’t put too much stock in Travelzoo’s billing it as a “5-Star” hotel, I would definitely be quite happy to stay there.