navatwal

HI there,

Thanks for the reply.

It was actually a female memeber of staff who put the tasting plate down for me.

I was definetely not on a telephone call, maybe playing around with my Iphone.

Either way, the service on all my visits was excellent, with prompt friendly service, also a special mentio to the Tallish Guy with Glasses and dark long hair working in the Club Lounge, he made an excellent effort, was very firendly and offerred great tips and suggestions.

Thanks again for a great stay

InterContinental Sydney

Thank you so much for this added feedback, shall certainly pass on. Glad that you enjoyed your stay and will definitely pass on the great comments.

Look forward to having you back again.

Kim

yucci18

I stayed in IC Sydney for about 2 months (November 2011 - Dec 2011). It was a lovely hotel with great views. Comparing with other hotels i am currently staying at (2 SPG properties), the view and service of IC Sydney is definitely better. The staff is very friendly. The front desk agents are very polite and efficient, i don't recall i have to wait for the check-in or check-out every time i stayed. A true 5-star hotel indeed.

However, I don't understand why they are so tough on rewards night. Behinds a 4pm-check out and welcome gift (I am not sure if i can count those 2 either, as I have got 4 paid nights - and only got the gift once) , I got offered nothing as a AMB member, not even a free movie (they offered one free movie during the paid night which i have to work the next day). Since it was a reward night (2 nights) + paid nights (1 night), i have to switch rooms. Given the hotel was not full at the time, i was quite disappointed. In a period of 3 months, i spent 55 nights at ICs, at least half for IC Sydney. As a corporate traveler, i don't use much what the hotel has to offer - not that it is the hotel's fault, it is just facts

When I booked for my personal stays, one thing i was looking forward to is the AMB benefits. It is a huge disappointment that IC Sydney is very strict for rewards night. Even when asked for a movie from a paid stay to a reward stay, they won't let me (reward night and paid night are within the same stay).

I understand that the hotel may get less from the headquarter when the guest is staying on points. However, no consideration was given for all past stays in the same property and spending; not even allowing a guest to transfer a benefit (a free movie at the reward night instead of paid night) is just... It is not like one movie on a Wednesday night is going to cost more than a movie on a Friday night. In addition, an unsold room is an unsold room - the hotel has nothing to lose by upgrading, especially the room size is the same (if you are thinking about house keeping cost)

It is such a shame that I truly enjoy the hotel when i was there for corporate travel, a huge disappointment for personal travel. Originally, i was planning on staying in IC and booked my reservation until January. After the reward night experience, I cancelled all my reservation with IC sydney and switch to another program. Yes, IC Sydney has better view and better services, however, those factors are not important at all when i decide which hotel to stay for corporate travel. Would a room with bridge view make a difference to a room with city view? No. Not even a suite.

While other hotels offer full benefits on reward stays, that's a decision fact for me. While AMB is a great program and RA offers one of the best benefits, achieving the status means nothing for reward stay is just pure disappointment.

'Reward stay should be rewarding, thus all platinum benefits will be offered.' This is what the manager on duty told me when i inquired the benefits on reward night at another property.

aussielori

very well said Yucci

can you please tell us which hotel was so warm and inviting!^
I would think SPG^

right???

yucci18

It's Westin Sydney.

To be honest, I would rather give up all my benefits when traveling for business and get the benefits when I am on personal trips.

Kim - yes, I agree that all the staffs at IC Sydney are doing best they can. I would even say that they go begin and beyond to help you. Every stay I had with IC Sydney, I always submit a best employee of the month card.

However, it's not the staffs lots of people have problems here. It's the hotel. They are separate. While the check in agents can allocate the room as fast as possible. And trying to fun the best they can. The hotel policy says no upgrade then thy won't be able to do it. Therefore the change we are hoping to see is the hotel, not the staffs.

Just reading other threads, why would other IC hotels offer more? Well, as I mentioned, an unsold room is an unsold room. Would you be better of to keep Some of your top customers happy or would you prefer to lose them?

If the room is free, why not upgrade them? If it is sold out, then I am sure a lot of us would understand. When the room is free, I don't see what the hotel has to lose. Comparing the additional room keeping charge with the revenue your top members are going to bring, it's a pretty clear cut for me.

And yes, IC Sydney is in demand. However, in the past 2 months, I have been checking IC Sydney each day for room availability - only 1 or 2 days are fully booked. other days, hotel reduced approximately $100 on the day of the check in.

Dave Noble

From what I see , what you want is a change to the T&Cs of the Ambassador Scheme rather than complaining about the hotel . If a hotel isn't meeting its obligations that's another thing


If a passenger on a flight has a cheap economy ticket , why not upgrade them to 1st for no reason other than a seat is empty?

I disagree that the top members are necessarily bringing great revenue. Taking the example of someone taking 2 reward nights plus 1 paid night as an example, the revenue doesn't seem that good to me especially if that person is not a frequent non-reward visitor to that specific hotel

If not liking the Ambassador scheme, then I don't see how it is the hotel's fault

yucci18

It's always easier and cheaper to keep existing customers than new customers.

And for corporate travellers, you lose one and you lose all. When one of us found a better deal at another property, the whole group switches. At the end of the day, everyone is trying to get the best deal they can - mostly a return on personal and reward stays. If paid nights at different properties offer similar benefits, it comes down to reward stay. Most of them don't come to flyertalk but they do listen to the person who does.


IC also has a 2000 points per stay and not linked to $ spent. One week bill at IC, my average bill is above $1,000 USD. That's already a disappointment from PC earning structure. I stayed for 55 nights and only have enough points for 3 nights at IC Sydney. Comparing with another one I switched to, I got 2 free nights from their promotion and enough points for another 2 nights, after 20 days. Given the benefits are fully offered at reward nights, the choice is pretty clear.

Customer loyalty should not be expected by the hotel - they need to earn it. Training the best staffs you can certainly helps, the individual hotel model also needs to be aligned. A good comparing system is not PC states this and we are going to follow 100%.

yucci18

Okay - the AMB program rule is grey and it is up to the individual hotels - evidence - thread about IC hotels that recognise RA benefits on rewards stays. Use the upgrade for example, RA rule states that room upgrade at least to a club room. They means everything above club. While other IC gives our suite and club access, IC Sydney is only choosing between club access and suite. It's up to the individual hotel to make up the rest.
There are general guild lines and there are policies.

And airline does upgrade - ask at check in and wait. Not that it works for everyone. If you are a frequent flyer and reached certain status, the agents may be able to do it for you. Of course, be nice and explain your situation.

For rewards nights, can someone gets a free night by not staying at the hotels? If so, how many? Are they the majority or minority? If you were thinking credit cards, then the first thing to look at is the group revenue coming from the credits.

In addition, I am not saying they should upgrade everyone - if you ate there for the first time as a AMB, they shouldn't. However, the hotel is able to see your status and level. Why not reward their most loyal customers?

It's on an individual basis, not as a group.

Also, you need to look around what your competition is doing. If the competition is also giving out nothing, I personally won't give out benefits either. Benchmarking what they do and compare.

The fact is they are giving out benefits.

Dave Noble

There is nothing grey at all about it. It clearly states in the T&Cs

When staying on Reward Nights, all Ambassador and Royal Ambassador privileges apply with the exception of upgrades, free Pay TV film per stay, 24 hour guaranteed room availability, 8:00am early check-in and complimentary mini bar beverages

What part of that is at all ambiguous?

Very few decent airlines upgrade people just because they ask; that US airlines like to give away premium products like candy doesn't really apply elsewhere. On most (ime) decent carriers they will only upgrade for free if there is an operational need to

How many of the 80,000 points needed to redeem for 2 nights at the IC in Sydney were actually earned from staying at the IC in Sydney?

Being an ambassador does not make someone one of the most loyal customer at that specific hotel. someone who is a v frequent customer at a specific hotel may well get v well treated above an beyond what is required to give.

What seems to be a problem is that with some hotels giving extra , that expectations are failing to be properly managed.

blankman

That's a fair call.. Out of interest though, have any FTalkers ever received anything from IC Sydney over and above the official benefits on either a points or reward stay?

In my 30 or so stays at the hotel as an Ambassador and RA I'd have to say not once- though the stated benefits have almost always been consistently delivered. It is definately the only IC property I've stayed at that has never "surprised and delighted" on any occasion. Not saying the hotel is under any obligation to do so, just find it interesting to compare.

cutnana

This is the reason why I will spend my points at HIs which are cheaper. Which one is a better choice, Potts Point or Old Sydney?

yucci18

So if the rule is not grey, are all ICs not complying? If it is a policy, then everybody should comply. If no ICs are delivering benefits, fine. But is that the case?

Also, PC or AMB, whoever made the rules, they did not make the rules for individual hotels.

Question here is - what does airline or hotel has to lose by upgrading their MOST loyal customers? I believe i mentioned that the hotel is able to see the status and level of AMB. Yes, i agreed with you that being an AMB does not make someone the most loyal customers. However, add some judgments to it - look at past activities. It is not that difficult.

In relation to how many 80,000 earned at IC Sydney? In my case, all 80,000 are earned at IC Sydney (55 nights, 25 nights at IC sydney, 28 nights at IC adelaide and 2 nights at IC Melbourne). So if i go and spend my 80,000 somewhere else, IC Sydney made all the revenue stays and no cost to them.

Also as i mentioned, for airlines, it does not work for everyone - if you are just a oneworld ruby for example, forget it. Reach their highest status and then you have a chance and you wait for everyone to get on board. Ask at the first class lounge, you have better chance there.

The expectation here is to look at what your immediate competition is doing and look at what other ICs are doing.
We all know some other ICs are able to offer benefits. And your competition across the road is also offering benefits.

Dave Noble

With the complaining that occurs about properties that meet their obligations perfectly , I might indeed think so. Seems that those that go beyond cause the problem that , rather than be pleased and happy about that, start viewing it as an expectation

Do it 10 times at QF's Sydney Airport 1st class lounge and please report back how many times Qantas agrees to just upgrade from economy to business or 1st without there being any operational need not any payment of any form. I suspect that the result will be close to zero plus or minus about zero

I disagree. The expectation should be that the hotel will provide that which the Ambassador/Royal Ambassador programme specifies are the benefits of the scheme. Anything beyond that , which I agree does happen and is good when it does, should be accepted graciously as a nice bonus rather than complaining when extras are not given

yucci18

No, it's market driven - when one is not offering enough benefits and the other ones do, it is easy choice to swap to another property. Loyalty program exists to maintain customers, not to lose them. And here, we are discussing some members disappointment about IC Sydney.

Sure - I am a gold and I asked every time flying domestic. Results - when 5 times business class in empty, I got upgraded 5 times. You may want to try that. As I mentioned, you need to wait until the last minute and if and only if the business class is not fully sold out.

At the end of the day, my point is the hotel has NOTHING to lose by offer an upgrade when the room is unsold. They gain more loyalty from the customers instead. Return business and retention rate. It's just pure bad business sense to follow the rules 100%. For those ICs who does, no, they are not the program. If you look at your market and try to retain your customer as much as you can, I don't see that as a problem.

For someone who spends more time in a hotel than home, why would I choose a hotel doesn't offer anything on reward stay? Just because of loyalty? Won't you go somewhere else where there are better benefits? What still keeps you there? Those are the questions need to be answered first by the hotel.

Most people come here to find the best deal - is the best deal the same as loyalty to one chain?

Re: IC Sydney movie: yes there is no movie on reward stay for example - note that I did not ask for an extra movie to be given to me, I asked to switch my night movie to reward night and they are within the same stay. And they won't do that. I don't see how that is go above and beyond. I view that as inflexibility and no judgment,. Is that too much to ask? Especially I spent 25 paid nights there already before the reward night.

And yes, as I mentioned before, if IC Sydney is sold out and no room is available for upgrade and you ate on a reward night, then it's understandable. Not that when they have the room available. What do they have to lose, besides making the customer happy? Maybe it's the tiny probability of walk ins. The way they do it by lowering the rate seems more like a desperate move to get customers. A better way to do it is to offer an upgrade to your loyal customers ( look at status and make judgement) and they still have a room to sell. Eg, a RA with 65 nights checked in at 8pm on one day reward night when a suite is available. Given the chance of that suite being sold is small at 8 pm, the customer may have a better experience and more impressed by the hotel and then lead to higher likelihood of return business, then offer the upgrade. Even throw in the club access for example, all that RA is going to get is free breakfast as the club function for that day is over. However, this will make that RA happy and it costs hotel not that much by offering. Would you rather have a RA who is extremely satisfied and impressed and spread the word about this hotel or would you rather have that RA to look around next time?

Also, consider this as an example. One RA uses points to stay in IC Sydney got no / little RA benefits out of it; his best friend with SPG platinum got everything as usual on reward night at Westin by using points. When they get together, what do you think happens? Is that RA going to be happy about it and stay loyal to IC? (I am using this as an example as this happened, me vs. my colleague)

Result is that they will look at way to switch - when this happens, that Customer is no longer loyal to your chain, when they find a better deal, the hotel loses their business. As simple as that. Especially for corporate travellers who go to the same location - its not 1 or 2 days the hotel is losing. In my case, I cancelled about 20 says reservation with IC Sydney and a further 10 months with them that could have booked with them. And also, I don't think my colleague is going back either. Well, that's 2. From a revenue perspective, that's a guarantee profit that lost. Given the IC Sydney is hardly sold out at 100%, they could have earned 2 more room revenue each night for another 10 months. I am not a travel agent or airline employee and our corporate rate is around 250-300 USD per night.

Now, what's the cause of the lost revenue? Not matching with the competition - look it this way. If Westin does not offer anything either, then IC Sydney would have been on par. And then it's up to the impression from both hotels.

Dave Noble

If you really think that this is the case, then put the case to IHG to change the terms of the scheme rather than expect hotels to give you something for nothing when there is no reason for them to do so and , in fact, the membership says that you are not entitled to it

I find complaining that you are getting exactly what you should get is a bizarre complaint

If another hotel better meets the needs on a particular stay, then it makes perfect sense to go to another hotel