IHG One Rewards is the booking and loyalty program app for InterContinental Hotels Group, which runs brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental. On Android it does what you would expect from a hotel chain's own app: search hotels by city or airport, compare member rates with flexible and non-refundable options, book a room, and manage the stay from check-in reminders to the bill. Where it differs from a travel booking site is the loyalty layer: points for every stay, Reward Nights, and member rates that are only shown when you are signed in.

I used it to plan two short trips, one city break and one airport stay before an early flight. Search is fast, the map view makes it easy to see which hotel is actually near the terminal, and the stay page keeps confirmation numbers, check-in time and the hotel's phone number in one place. Points and Reward Nights sit on the account tab, with the next membership tier in view. Some hotels offer digital check-in and checkout from the app; whether yours does depends on the property, so look for it on the stay page a day before you arrive.

What to check before relying on it: compare the member rate with the same room on a travel booking site, because hotel deals vary by date and cancellation terms. Read the cancellation line on each rate before you book. And if you travel with a car rental or vacation packages from another provider, keep those in their own apps; IHG One Rewards covers the hotel, not the whole trip planner.