2manyredeyes

Hello All - I have opted to Book a Balinese Club Suite for a prepaid raid of $386 a night and have already seen a confirmed upgrade to Uluwatu Suite in my "IHG reservations" tab based of ambassador status. Does anyone have any experience staying in this room? In particular I've read a few people mention that the higher floors face the pool while the ground floor is beach facing?

Thanks in Advance

demue

Well, they are both right. Because first you have the Club pool in front of the wing where the Uluwatu Suites are and beyond the pool is the beach and ocean. So you get both. One of the Uluwatu suites on higher floor allows a better view of the beach, the ground floor one gives quick acces to Club pool area. The price you paid is pretty good for Balinese suite, just keep im mind that there is an additional 21% on top of that.

quitecontrary

I've just stayed in the Uluwatu suite on the ground floor - I love it as you can just walk out through the windows to the club pool and pool bar. There is a better view from the suites on the floors above - depends on what's available on your checkin which you will get.

djjaguar64

I forget now, the hotel has a Club Advance rate of $630 for 3 nights, is this the main lounge or the small lounge on the second floor?

Coathanger

The screenshot shows a Resort Classic room, which I imagine would give you access to neither. Unless I'm missing something it looks like the 'Club Advance' is the 'Your Rate by IHG Rewards Club Advance Purchase'.

IIRC the Singaraja rooms have access to the small lounge.

Bowgie

Wife and I are flying to Bali in late Aug for a two week stay. We are also doing a side trip and rt flight to Borobudur.

As I would imagine, a room at the Bali Intercontinental is about double the price in August from what it costs now. If I want to use points or a free night cert, when should I book? I'm basically asking if the Intercontinental sells out in August.

greenfrog2015

Chinatrvl

I won't predict, but for August we've always booked early, because the hotel is usually sold out.
Reward night res can be cancelled anyway, so you remain flexible.

Jaimito Cartero

August looks pricey. Checked a weeks booking, and cheapest was $220 a night.

CanuckFlyHigh

I think it's just too far out. There were good sales for August/September of this year, but they didn't start advertising them until June.

demue

Well I was there last Aug during 2nd week of the month and Classic rooms were going for close to 300US$ a night inclusive of the 21% tax ans service charges. Our Club room ran close to 600US$ a night.

while we didn't pay those rates I would secure a refundable rate first and then monitor and switch when things drop. YMMV

Jaimito Cartero

Who in their right mind would spend $600 a night for a club room here?

demue

Fully agree, but I'm just reporting what rates I observed last Aug. Keep in mind I'm quoting all in, but still crazy amounts. I had booked a Singaraja Duplex on a flex corp rate for around 280$ probably 5-6 months earlier and gotten the upgrade to Club as AMB. I always monitor rates, so seeing 300$ even for a Classic room that week in Aug felt crazy. Lots of tourists from Russia and so at that time (non Club).

demue

Well, another interesting exchange with our friends from the IC Bali reservations team. The one consistent things here is that answers are inconsistent.

Now this seems to be more relevant for AMB than RA, but FYI first while I clarify some further.

I have a bookings for later this year (amb cert + separate paid booking) and based on past policy usually book a Singaraja Duplex to receive upgrade to Club room with club benefits. Mind you that for my dates the actual rate difference between Singaraja Duplex and Club room is about 60$++.

Well, that seems to be a thing of the past if the latest info I got holds. I saw my room type change online to Club Duplex and thought, oh very generous to give a two category upgrade. Haha, so I thought at first.

However, having had plenty of issues on that front (with reservations team) in the past, I thought better safe than sorry and inquired on latest AMB upgrade policy. What I got is below:

Booked Room >> Upgraded Room
Resort Classic >> Singaraja Room
Singaraja Room >> Duplex Suite
Duplex Suite >> Singaraja Suite
Singaraja Suite >> Club Duplex Suite (no club benefits)
Club Room >> Club Duplex Suite
Club Duplex Suite >> Balinese Suite
Balinese Suite >> Uluwatu Suite
Uluwatu Suite >> Jimbaran Suite
Jimbaran Suite >> Bukit Suite
Bukit Suite >> Not available

Now it appears that someone thought to be smart and introduced a "new" room category called Singaraja Suite (this is not a Singaraja Duplex) that is non-bookable and nowhere mentioned even on the IC Bali website under Accommodation section. This reminds me of the old Classic Suites topic which was also non-bookable and purely used for AMB upgrades. Though that one was an actual, different room type, which I can't confirm for a Singaraja Suite yet. I asked for layout and location of rooms though - of course.

Now the real fun part is that I'm also being asked now to pay a 50$++ supplement to get Club access as otherwise the Club Duplex room will be just that, a Duplex room without Club benefits. What a joke. Keep in mind this is not a pay up type request like when booking a points night, no, this is for a paid night booked into a Singaraja Duplex that used to go to Club room with benefits for an AMB. By "inventing" (tbc) a non-bookable category like a Singaraja Suite, they are basically preventing the need to upgrade and AMB to a room with Club benefits.

I'm not quite sure what genius thought this to be a good idea, could be related to the new global RA policies that guarantee club access for them, but I'm certainly not having it and am escalating it already. If they would spend as much time on polishing the overall guest experience like they do thinking of new ways to scr*w their status members while staying within Ambassador program policy / T&Cs then they could be truly exceptional.

To be seen ...

Chinatrvl

T&Cs now explicitly state that club access is not an AMB benefit and will not be given. So Bali's change may be in light of this global change.

Singaraja rooms have recently been renovated, so there may indeed be a Singaraja Suite now.