InterContinental Stephen F. Austin (Austin, Texas)
What is your status?
Platinum Ambassador
Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
Not especially.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
We booked a "One Bedroom Suite" and received a corner "Executive Suite" (with Club access). It was on the top floor, slightly smaller than the room we booked, and was open plan rather than having french doors between the sleeping and 'living' areas.
How are the rooms?
The room we were in had been renovated (some others still haven't) and its location meant it was quiet. Three out of four internal doors (to bathroom, toilet and closets) didn't close properly. The "wet bar" is a sink and countertop with empty cupboards underneath.
What was your welcome gift?
A bottle of water (imported from Italy
), a jar of nuts and raisins (labelled "spa mix") and an extremely large apple (but no knife).
What was good and what was bad?
Our room wasn't ready when we arrived at 2:00 pm, which is fine, but it wasn't ready the promised 45 minutes later either. We got a room just after 3:30 pm. We mentioned this and a couple of other small issues (including the non-closing doors) in the post-stay survey and a manager responded with an offer of IHG Rewards points, but so far they haven't posted.
Having a coffee maker (Keurig) in the room is nice. Only having one coffee pod is silly. The bath towels were neither soft nor large.
How is the exec. lounge?
Weird. We didn't visit in the afternoons or evenings, but in the mornings the 'Club InterContinental' becomes the hotel's breakfast room. This means that some guests are ordering and paying for breakfast, others are eating the breakfast included in their room rates, while others are there because they have lounge access. Staff didn't seem very interested in guests. The floor was left unswept. A request for bread resulted in toast arriving several minutes later.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Using a BOGO meant we paid under $300 a night (plus parking at $38). We'll probably return, as we have in the past, because the location's great and the hotel bar is a pleasant place to finish the evening. But this property wouldn't pass as an IC anywhere else.