InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - European Hotel Recommendations

Im planning a vacation in late August, Sept and/or early October this year and, although I've been reading the RA and PC Elite reviews here and checking out Trip Advisor, etc, I'd be very grateful for some hotel recommendations.

At this point, I'm planning on traveling solo but may have my 16 year old niece with me (a reward for doing well in school and quitting smoking if she can do it...).

At this point I have no fixed dates or destinations in mind but will be traveling by car once in Europe.

I'm an IHG RA so I'd prefer to stay in ICs or HIs but am open to suggestion if there are significantly better properties out there.

The ideas going through my head so far are:

Fly into Frankfurt then to Amsterdam, Ijmuiden, Paris, Heidelberg or Hohenecken, Munich. Hohenschwangau, Berchtesgaden, Saltzburg, Bratislava, Prague, Berlin then back out of FRA.

This is totally flex, though and I was even toying with other ideas of maybe Normandy, Spain and the Rivera or Scandanavia and Eastern Europe.

I've been to central Europe many times before, to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc once and never to Spain or Portugal.

Any suggested properties, cities or even itineraries would be welcome!

Thanks in advance.

Vic

For trip next year to Paris, have decided on the Holiday Inn Notre Dame. There are IC's of course, but this seems like a great option for 50% less points than the IC.

You can read this review on the IC Berchtesgaden.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2011/11/09/beaches-and-mountains-intercontinental-berchtesgaden/

How long do you plan on staying/travelling ? Seems like a lot of potential cities.

Cheers.

For trip next year to Paris, have decided on the Holiday Inn Notre Dame. There are IC's of course, but this seems like a great option for 50% less points than the IC.

You can read this review on the IC Berchtesgaden.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2011/11/09/beaches-and-mountains-intercontinental-berchtesgaden/

How long do you plan on staying/travelling ? Seems like a lot of potential cities.

Cheers.

Did you write that review on the IC Berchtesgarden? I stayed there a couple years ago and also got upgraded to a Penthouse Suite (as a mere Gold Ambassador!) and I'd have to say I agree with the review 100%. That property is one of my favourites and is a priority to return to.

Did you choose the HI Notre Dame purely becuase you're using points? I'm probably going to use a couple of BOGOs on the trip but will otherwise be paying cash. I don't really have a budget and would like to show the young one the kind of life she could have (travel, luxury, etc) if she gets her act together but that doesn't mean I need to blow $40k either.

Not really sure about the duration of the trip yet. I'm taking 6 weeks off and will probably spend 4 or 5 weeks there. Depends on if I'm flying solo or not.

Thanks for the input!

So, after a bit of thought and talking with some people I think I've decided on extending my trip and staying at:

IC Amsterdam, HIX Bremen, IC Berlin, IC Prague, IC Vienna, CP Bratislava, IC Budapest, Hotel Cavaler (Sighisoara, Romania), IC Bucharest, HI Sofia, HI Thessaloniki, IC Athens, HI Skopje, HI Belgrade, IC Berchtesgaden, Hotel Muller (Hohenschwangau, Germany), and IC Frankfurt.

Out of these, I've only ever stayed at Berchtesgaden before. Is there any reason I should NOT stay at any of these? Are there better options out there?

Once again, any help/input would be greatly appreciated.

To be honest I think it's way too many places and hotels for one vacation!
Cut it down, you will be thankful.
I would drop Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and ex Yugoslavia
and stick to Holland, Belgium, Southern Germany and Austria/Prague
with a side trip to Slovenia maybe...
As far as the hotels, IC Amsterdam and Berchtesgaden are probably the best.

To be honest I think it's way too many places and hotels for one vacation!
Cut it down, you will be thankful.
I would drop Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and ex Yugoslavia
and stick to Holland, Belgium, Southern Germany and Austria/Prague
with a side trip to Slovenia maybe...
As far as the hotels, IC Amsterdam and Berchtesgaden are probably the best.

You're probably right about it being too many places but I have plenty of time so I think I it's doable. I don't mind living out of a suitcase, as I do that anyway (average of 3-5 nights per month at home).

Why would you drop the former Soviet Bloc places? Ironically, those are the places I want to go to most (other than back to Berchtesgaden, which I LOVE) because I haven't been there before and I figured Greece would be good value for money right now. I was thinking maybe 3-5 days in each place with a few "do nothing rest stops" along the way to recharge the batteries.

Why Belgium? It's never really been high on my list to explore but, in all fairness, I've never really given it a chance either.

Well, Belgium, that's Bruges, probably the most beautiful place
in Europe. Not to be missed. Very easy to organize around
Holland - Souther Germany - Austria path.
Romania, Bulgaria - nothing interesting except spending much more
time and going to the mountains. But that would require much more time.
Plus Alps will be better anyway.
Cities are horrible. Budapest is nice, but Prague is nicer.
Greece is great only if you can go to the islands and see some less
touristy places. Just imo of course...

Well, Belgium, that's Bruges, probably the most beautiful place in Europe. Not to be missed. Very easy to organize around Holland - Souther Germany - Austria path.
Romania, Bulgaria - nothing interesting except spending much more time and going to the mountains. But that would require much more time. Plus Alps will be better anyway.
Cities are horrible. Budapest is nice, but Prague is nicer.
Greece is great only if you can go to the islands and see some less touristy places. Just imo of course...

I very much disagree with your opinion on the "don't"s - but it's opinions only.

I very much disagree with your opinion on the "don't"s - but it's opinions only.

Please explain. I'd love to hear your thoughts, as I thought I had my mind made up... until Bigfoot suggested otherwise.

You're probably right about it being too many places but I have plenty of time so I think I it's doable. I don't mind living out of a suitcase, as I do that anyway (average of 3-5 nights per month at home).

Why would you drop the former Soviet Bloc places? Ironically, those are the places I want to go to most (other than back to Berchtesgaden, which I LOVE) because I haven't been there before and I figured Greece would be good value for money right now. I was thinking maybe 3-5 days in each place with a few "do nothing rest stops" along the way to recharge the batteries.

Why Belgium? It's never really been high on my list to explore but, in all fairness, I've never really given it a chance either.

Belgium is often overlooked. That´s really a pity. For me it is one of the most interesting and lovely countries in Europe. Brugges, Gent, Leuven and Mechelen are wonderful mediavel Cities. Also Antwerp and Brussels are great.

Food is to die for in Belgium. Even better is the beer. They have more than 1000 different beers and every one has a unique taste. All of Belgium is about food and beer. You can visit nice breweries. And then there is also Belgian chocolate.

Belgian are very individual people and very friendly. The country is full of culture and You can visit a lot of stunning museums. Belgian is even a very modern country with a lot of modern design for cloth. Some Belgian designer even made the look for MADONNA.

Im planning a vacation in late August, Sept and/or early October this year and, although I've been reading the RA and PC Elite reviews here and checking out Trip Advisor, etc, I'd be very grateful for some hotel recommendations.

At this point, I'm planning on traveling solo but may have my 16 year old niece with me (a reward for doing well in school and quitting smoking if she can do it...).

At this point I have no fixed dates or destinations in mind but will be traveling by car once in Europe.

I'm an IHG RA so I'd prefer to stay in ICs or HIs but am open to suggestion if there are significantly better properties out there.

The ideas going through my head so far are:

Fly into Frankfurt then to Amsterdam, Ijmuiden, Paris, Heidelberg or Hohenecken, Munich. Hohenschwangau, Berchtesgaden, Saltzburg, Bratislava, Prague, Berlin then back out of FRA.

This is totally flex, though and I was even toying with other ideas of maybe Normandy, Spain and the Rivera or Scandanavia and Eastern Europe.

I've been to central Europe many times before, to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc once and never to Spain or Portugal.

Any suggested properties, cities or even itineraries would be welcome!

Thanks in advance.

Vic

We did a 6 week driving trip of Europe last year. We landed in Paris and drove off right away. We could not rent a car since we were going to Slovakia(I have relatives there) so ended up doing a lease with Renault(through CAA) and they basically buy the car back. It really was the same as renting. We did as many Holiday Inns as we could. We drove to Limoges,Lourdes,Balboa, Fatima, Lisbon, Madrid,Barcelona,Andorra(waste of time), Nice (wonderful and saw Cannes and Monaco from there)Florence, Venice, Budapest(just drove through)ending at my cousin's in Bratislava. From there he took us around Slovakia and we went to Poland to Auschwitz(horrible but worth the trip)and Krakow.
Then we drove to Prague(what a city!), Berlin, Luxembourgh(waste when the high point is the American Cemetry) and then back to Paris. We both love history and particularily enjoyed Venice and Florence as well as Nice. I have been to Bruges and it is a beautiful medieval town and they have chocolate to die for. We ended the trip in Paris and sat on one of the bridges watching the fireworks on Bastille Day. We are in our early sixties and found no issues driving except our GPS had a tough time in Spain and Portugal. We brought our own with maps of Western and Eastern Europe loaded.
We had a wonderful trip!

Please explain. I'd love to hear your thoughts, as I thought I had my mind made up... until Bigfoot suggested otherwise.

Well, first telling that "Romania, Bulgaria - nothing interesting except spending much more time and going to the mountains." is rather ignorant IMO. It totally misses the beaches (if you are into it), it totally misses the ancient cities in Transsylvania (no, no Dracula type of stuff :)) Also if you have never been to the region, simply strolling around in Bucharest or Sofia would give you a glimpse of another country or two.

Then "Cities are horrible" is again a rather questionable statement. Poorer than Paris, Amsterdam or Munich, yes. (but if this was a choice factor, you could rule out all but max. 20 cities in the world) Horrible? No.

Finally "Greece is great only if you can go to the islands" needs no comment I think. If the poster can find nothing of great interest in "continental" Greece, it's his loss, but shouldn't deter anyone visiting Greece without the islands. (Yes, the islands are very good, too)


Of course your proposed itinerary includes a great many destiantions, but if you have enough time, do it!

(and for the hotels - I can recommend the ICs in the region - IC Bucharest is an ugly building from the outside, but very good inside. IC Budapest is excellent, IC Vienna, too.)

Fly into Frankfurt then to Amsterdam, Ijmuiden, Paris, Heidelberg or Hohenecken, Munich. Hohenschwangau, Berchtesgaden, Saltzburg, Bratislava, Prague, Berlin then back out of FRA.


Here my recommondations (so far I know the hotels):

Frankfurt: Think about Rocco Forte Villa Kennedy. Avoid the IC, it´s a worn down hotel.

Amsterdam: The IC Amstel is a nice hotel with good RA-upgrades. It´s a little dated, but over all a good hotel.

Paris: The IC Le Grand is OK, but not the newest property.

Heidelberg: I can recommend the "Europäischer Hof". Nice Hotel with great service

Berchtesgaden: The IC ist great. Make sure you get a Penthouse-Suite

Salzburg: It´s a 20 Minute-drive from IC Berchtesgaden, so no need for a second hotel. My parents liked the "Sacher-Hotel".

Prague: My parents wasn´t too happy with the IC, but the location is great. Have a look at the Mandarin Oriental.

Berlin: I can recommend the Rocco Forte De Rome, the Adlon (litte too much tourists around) and the Ritz Carlton. I don´t like the IC.

Munich: I normally stay at the Charles Hotel, it´s a very nice hotel. The most classy hotel ist the Mandarin, but it´s not every ones taste. The Sofitel Bayerpost is also nice.

Thanks for all the input so far everyone.

Well, first telling that "Romania, Bulgaria - nothing interesting except spending much more time and going to the mountains." is rather ignorant IMO. It totally misses the beaches (if you are into it), it totally misses the ancient cities in Transsylvania (no, no Dracula type of stuff :)) Also if you have never been to the region, simply strolling around in Bucharest or Sofia would give you a glimpse of another country or two.

Then "Cities are horrible" is again a rather questionable statement. Poorer than Paris, Amsterdam or Munich, yes. (but if this was a choice factor, you could rule out all but max. 20 cities in the world) Horrible? No.

Finally "Greece is great only if you can go to the islands" needs no comment I think. If the poster can find nothing of great interest in "continental" Greece, it's his loss, but shouldn't deter anyone visiting Greece without the islands. (Yes, the islands are very good, too)


Of course your proposed itinerary includes a great many destiantions, but if you have enough time, do it!

(and for the hotels - I can recommend the ICs in the region - IC Bucharest is an ugly building from the outside, but very good inside. IC Budapest is excellent, IC Vienna, too.)


Thanks WR. My main reason for traveling to those places is quite simple. I haven't been there before. Beaches are great but we have many world class beaches here in Oz. Nice, but not worth flying around the world for. Ancient cities (even the touristy Dracula stuff) and walking around seeing other cultures, etc is what it's all about for me.

Same same for Greece. A) I've never been there B) Ancient ruins C) Value for money right now.

The only reason I was sticking to ICs and IHG properties where possible is to take advantage of (and hopefully maintain) my RA status. Well, that and I've had much better experiences with IHG properties than, say, the Accor group.

Time and money, while always an issue, are not priorities for me on this trip. I've actually been told I have too much leave and "time off in lieu" on the books and MUST take some of it. I also have no real budget for this trip. If it costs $20k, it costs $20k.... It's only money.

I've been to most of the traditional European destinations many times so I thought something different might be good for a change.

Again, thanks everyone for your input and please keep it coming. I'm still leaning heavily toward Eastern Europe/former Soviet Bloc destinations but am keeping an open mind.

Frankfurt IC is a dump. Stay somewhere, anywhere, else in town. It is also a very dull place in general - Berlin is the only German city I ever return to, although Hamburg is also very nice. (My wife is German so I am allowed to say these things!). In Hamburg, though, take the Park Hyatt which is one of the 10 best city hotels in the whole of Europe. The IC there is also a dump.

Paris - definitely DO stay at LeGrand, it is a real experience. And make sure you see the ballroom (most guests don't) which is a listed historical monument.

Athens IC is fine, and the location away from the main square is actually a plus at present given the nightly riots in the square. Berchtesgaden is also lovely. It is an easy bus ride into Salzburg (we did it last year) so don't bother changing hotels, Salzburg is also very small so do-able in a day, 2 days max if you really take it easy.

My experience at the IC Bucharest was ok, they have a nice lounge with good food and a good view. However I prefered my stay at the Radisson there (although more pricey).

Raffles, I think Munich is a nice German city as well.

We absolutely loved the IC Berchtesgaden. It wasn't just the property...but the fact that we were just 15 minutes away from Salzburg Austria, below Hitler's Eagles Nest, the short trip to the Koenig See, a cable car ride up another mountain, etc.

We found some fun things in Bertesgaden...a wine shop that had some nice Italian wines, some other shops and food places.

Very enjoyable stay.