There’s a somewhat obscure hotel rewards program you may not be familiar with (I barely recalled seeing it in the Loyalty Traveler blog) that just introduced a new credit card. The program is Stash Hotel Rewards, and it positions itself as a program for boutique hotels. (I’ve stayed at one of them somewhat recently, the Park South in Manhattan, which was very nice.) You earn five points per dollar spent in the rewards program.

The new credit card is the Stash Hotel Rewards Visa, issued by Synchrony. The essential details:

• 10,000-point sign-up bonus after $1,500 in purchases
• 10% point refund when redeeming
• 3 points per dollar at Stash hotels
• 2 points per dollar at non-Stash hotels
• 2 points per dollar for dining and gas
• $85 annual fee (waived the first year)

So how much are Stash points worth, you ask? Good question. Stash’s website describes it thus: “No annoying blackout dates and no expiration dates. Unlike the chains, our redemption rates are dynamic so you can score great deals.” That sounds promising, so let’s take a look at a few properties. We’ll start with the aforementioned Park South for Saturday, October 10. I get a rate of 31,192 points (plus 3,000 additional points per person) vs. a rate of  $382 if I’m paying the regular way.

Let’s try the Restoration on King, a Charleston hotel I carefully selected at random from Stash’s website. Looking at rates for Monday, October 19, we see rates starting at 29,238 points vs. rates starting at $459 using cash.

So it’s certainly possible to get more than one cent per point of value from Stash points, and with the 10% refund bonus the value goes that much higher. Is this credit card worth a try?

Unless you’re a Stash loyalist, I don’t see much value here. 2-3% back on dining, gas, and hotels plus 1 -1.5% back on everything else isn’t bad, but it doesn’t justify an $85 annual fee. And 10,000 points doesn’t motivate me to try this one out. One notable feature lacking on this card is status, which is understandable given that Stash doesn’t offer Gold, Platinum, etc. as do the big chains. But an $85 annual fee is a lot easier to swallow if there’s a prospect of the occasional room upgrade.

So I won’t be signing up for the Stash card. Would any of you bite on this one?