camsean

Yeah that's unacceptable. You have a right to a one-category upgrade. Escalate the situation while you are in residence.

Valim

They don't have enough suite rooms. I think there are just around 15 for this big hotel.

I had problems with the normal staff as well last week. Stayed as RA and booked club room. Upgrade shown was ambassador suite (2-category). At arrival it took them 40 minutes to get me an executive suite (1-category). It was a smoking suite at the elevator! Avoid at all costs (room 3016 I think). I requested a non smoking room but they changed me to another smoking suite. Finally got an non smoking club room-again at the elevator. Had to change again. Asked for rate reduction but duty manager just offered one category less. As RA and for this check in experience I was not satisfied at all. Had to consult ihg care for the first time. They answered just 10 minutes later and the club manager showed up. He was really shocked what happened to me and basically I could choose what ever I want. I requested this night to be free and therefore I extended the stay for one more night. They sent a letter of apology, a bottle of red wine and a very large IC KUL teddy bear as well.

Personally I think the club manager is pretty good. He really tries hard but his team is not the best..

demue

Normally, I give the regular staff one chance to fix something if it went wrong and after that just tell them to have Club Manager (if booked in Club) or Duty Manager contact me and sort it out with them. There is only so much regular staff is permitted to do / offer and they are hesitant to escalate. Hence it becomes a waste of time.

tentseller

IME it is best to check-in at the Club IC and call the Club manager for any issues at IC KL.

chrisksc

Going to IC KUL this week and just found out the previous Club Manager left in late December. She was pretty good in taking care of RA.

So there is a new Club Manager. Oh boy, starting to build a new relationship again.

Will see how it goes.

IAMORGAN

Any updates on this? I have a stay coming up and am booked into a Club room. Had a 7 night stay last year and was looked after VERY well by Club team by e-mailing in advance - got the Exec Suite and Club service was great.

I've noticed from trip advisor that there is an interim GM responding to reviews so wondering if previous GM has moved on.

I'm staying for 7 nights and can switch my reservation to another property. The only reason i chose the IC is the suite upgrade opportunity. If I'm not going to get that I may as well stay elsewhere. Think I'll drop them an email now and see what they can offer me.

Shouldn't be this difficult.

db1234db1234

I'm staying at the IC Kuala Lumpur for the first time in 2 weeks. First time in the country. Staying in a basic deluxe room I think as I'm only a lowly Plat. But my rate does include breakfast. Pictures and reviews seem good at the Serena buffet breakfast but any first hand accounts? Eggs, bacon, sausage, fried rice, dim sum, fruits, etc will all be offered I'm assuming?

A poster above Ted the fitness room needs updating. Any news on this? This is a priority for me. I'm just looking for updated cardio equipment that don't feel like I'm gonna break it when using it. A view from the fitness room would be nice but not a deal breaker. Also, a water cooler in the fitness room is a plus when I visit other countries.

The surrounding area seems nice, close to KLCC. A shopping mall seems open across the street although I'm not sure how much longer as I read they're making room for a new subway/light rail stop. Is the mall and the transit stop still open as of this month? I hope there's a grocery store in the mall to pick up snacks and drinks as this is a personal vacation trip.

Finally, any other tips for the hotel or surrounding area? I'll take them all!

markis10

The area around the IC is OK, and yes there is a market/grocery store across the road, however I suggest you head over to the Double Tree opposite, it has a great store for groceries in the basement along with a great hawker eatery for cheap lunches the next floor up and a pharmacy. Despite being a RA I prefer the DT in KL, worth a thought given the HH status match.

IAMORGAN

Received an answer today from reservations - I have booked a Club room and asked whether they would guarantee me a 1 level upgrade to an Exec Suite. Answer was

"last but not least, regret to inform that we unable to confirm the room upgrade to suite room at this moment due to our suite room is limited in our hotel, however, we have placed a high priority for this request into your reservation."

I can see this both ways - ultimately if you have 13 Executive Suites, 9 of which are reserved and you have 4 RAs and 10 Ambs all paying for a Club room, you physically cannot upgrade everyone. On the other hand I don't really see the point of being a Spire Amb if they are going to say that upgrades are subject to availability. I forget what the wording in the ts and cs is and ultimately it's not worth a fight (as I'll end up losing as I'm a lowly Spire Amb) but ultimately I do find it a bit frustrating.

Do we think this is something worth escalating pre-stay or do I just resign myself to the fact that the hotel won't give me an upgrade if they sell all of their higher category rooms? I previously dealt with Club IC who were more helpful (i.e. the last time I stayed they did guarantee me the suite in advance) but I can see the Club manager has left and there is an interim GM.

scubaccr

I see this as clear cut, the RA/Ambassador upgrade is a guaranteed beneit, not space available. Hotel should really be ignoring lost revenue and reserving Suite upgrades internally within 48hours of RA/AMB booking a Club Room where Suites are still for sale.
Almost first booked, first served (suite reserved) scenario.

Having just booked at full flex paid rate a King Club for 2night Sat-Mon stay, having first deliberately checked higher Sute rooms are still being sold (standard Suite and Amb Suite are still available) my personal view is the IC hotel should reserve my upgrade immediately in their own hotel booking system.

This IC hotel if regularly occupied by Ambassadors and RAs numbers booking Club rooms that mandate suite upgrade numbers approaching or exceeding hotels actual suite numbers, will find that view financially hard to swallow as rooms upto and including Club are relatively cheap, with Suites 1-cat-up a big rate jump. eg Flex Club Rate = 700++ myr = Ł125++

Hotel may simply wait to nearer the time and upgrade to unsold suites those elites it can based on RA first v Ambassador, regular RA/Ambassador guest, and offer compensation to remainder in lieu of impossible upgrade scenario, either rate difference from -1 Cat to booked room or other makeup.

This IC does upgrade RAs/Ambassadors to suites, it just does not seem to pre-reserve suite upgrades at reservation time when Amb/RA books a Club Room.

My personal concern is my booking is Sat-Mon, so I am at mercy of Amb/RA checking in on the Friday for the weekend occupying remaing suites for my Sat+Sun nights.

Some IC hotels approaching full occupancy Suite number wise do upgrade me online weeks/months out though, eg IC Amstel, IC Paris LG.

Dave Noble

But that is not what the Member Terms and Conditions state. Clause 9 states

InterContinental® Ambassador Benefits: A room one category higher than purchased will be assigned upon check-in to InterContinental Ambassadors.

scubaccr

Exactly what is the difference here? Only means hotel does not not need update online your room type prior to your arrival and checkin. In fact elsewhere on IHG website the word phrase "Guaranteed Room Upgrade is provided upon checkin"

"one cat higher will be assigned" has zero optionality built into the Ambassador Programs t+c's text, about such 1-cat higher room type assignment, and thus the IC hotel needs to manage their room inventory accordingly to ensure that the "one cat higher will be assigned"

The faq says similar to Ambassador section %9
http://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/..._ambassador_ic
qu)Is my guaranteed room upgrade provided upon booking the reservation?
ans)Guaranteed room upgrade is provided upon check in.

Other Intercontinental IHG Intercontinetal web page text states (quoting)
"Guaranteed room upgrade: enjoy an immediate upgrade to a superior room* (one category higher than purchased) each time you stay."

IAMORGAN

Yes I agree they don't have to 'pre-upgrade' but I don't read the use of the mandatory 'will' as being optional or subject to availability. It's quite clear to me that the terms require a one category upgrade to be assigned when I check in.

I do recognise that there is an implied terms argument here that, by stating 'at check in', if there is no availability in a room 1 category higher then one can't be assigned (I.e. It is space available) but assuming these are governed by the law of E&W, there is recent Supreme Court authority which basically means it's an uphill struggle to get terms implied.

Practically though hotels will do what they like and I'm not sure that IHG would be particularly helpful given it's a status that can be purchased for not a huge amount.

markis10

At checkin means the room availability at checkin, not when you are booking, it's as simple as that. If there isn't a room available, they downgrade your reservation in order to give you the room upgrade, thus still meeting the terms of the offer. There is no compulsion whatsoever for a hotel to forgo revenue by blocking an upgraded room before checkin, luckily hotels that go beyond the norm do. My experience is the IC KUL is not one of those, and offers poor value in an area rich with better alternatives.

scubaccr

In my initial few months as Ambassador pre-RA some years ago, and continuous years as RA since, I have never not had such 'guaranteed' minimum upgrade at all my booked IC's, probably 25+ different ICs by now, most as a repeating guest.

Funnily enough I have 2x IC KL reservations for JUL2016, my first overnight stays in KL for 5years, so I made backup res's elsewhere just in case I lose my upgrades at IC KL.
If IC KL is one such IC being suite light based on demand, maybe IC KL simply needs to convert a few connecting rooms to suites?

Benefit is listed by IHG as "Guaranteed at Checkin"
not stated as "At checkin we'll try to upgrade 1-cat on a space available basis"
Since programs benefit is a guaranteed upgrade, IC hotels need to manage their inventoryto fulfill program terms, ie reviewing new reservations each day for Ambs/RAs 'paid' bookings, which many hotels do is a must for ICs .

I appreciate IC's with too small number of suites for hotel size and location, and high footfall of Ambs/RAs regularly staying and booking 1cat below a suite (eg Exec/Club category), hotel could struggle to give all the required JS/Suite upgrades.
Obviously it is far easier for hotels to upgrade 1-cat from base level room category for Ambassadors or from base to Exec/Club/J-Suite for RAs than from higher category rooms.

If an individual IC tried to avoid guaranteed upgrade at checkin and instead drop my rate by something as small as us$30 or offer dining credit, I believe I'd initially ask for refund of difference in rate to guaranteed higher category room I should have been given, or simply walk myself, purely out of principal, to another hotel and cross hotel of my future list.