Stayed at the IC for three nights last week.
I'm an IC Ambassador and booked an '3-Day Asia on Sale' rate of 598 CNY + 15% Tax/Service Charge rate per night (no breakfast included).
At the time of writing this there are specials available - use the search function on FT. Saw some for 511 CNY incl. Breakfast & Tax. Terrific value for money.
Pre-Stay:
A few days before arrival I checked the reservation on PC. It showed 3 pax which resulted in additional person fee. My original booking confirmation clearly indicated 2 pax. I was not able to change this online and had to call the PC service number. Not a good start.
We had a flight delay and arrived late in PEK. While waiting for the bus I received a call from the IC asking if I would arrive or not. It was 8pm. Although I would not mind I never experienced this before...
The taxi driver at PEK did not know the place so I just called the hotel and they explained the location to the driver. Generally this is a huge problem as the hotel has only opened shortly before the BJ Olympics in August 2008.
With a bit of patience (and limited Chinese) we were able to manage approx 5 taxi drivers to find the property. If you are in a big hurry you might want to keep that in mind...
Upon arrival all went fairly well. Friendly check-in staff. Some confusion on a 5CNY increase in the daily rate was quickly clarified as an optional donation (would be more clever not to include this into the 'check-in' paper you sign upon check-in).
We were escorted to the room on the 14th floor. Perfect view to the Water Cube and Birds Nest (ie the Olympic park) which has very impressive lighting until 10pm or so.
Room is approx 50 sqm and feels nicely huge. AMB arrival amenity all there (some nuts/fruits/peach/apple plus chocolate and 2 330ml bottles Voss water). Local gift is a collection of IC BJ post it's. I will probably use it.
There is a window between bath and actual room - you can use a shutter to avoid peeking
Shower is a 'walk-in'-model and huge (approx. double the size of an ordinary one). Bath tub is available.
We used the swimming pool (indoor) twice. Very nice. There seems to be some jacuzzi jets in a separated part of the pool but we did not find out how to turn it on. All very new/clean/well prepared.
We ordered in-room breakfast two times. Continental Breakfast (incl good choice of fruit) is about 150 CNY plus 15%. American is 188 CNY plus 15%. Both were well for China standards.
We ate the buffet breakfast downstairs once - 188 CNY plus 15% per person. Very good selection and nice decor plus attentive staff. Interestingly enough they forgot to charge it to our room...
Unfortunately I have to report one negative point: the minibar did not contain any beer. Although it was listed on the minibar price list. When asked for it I was informed that this would only be available via in-room dining service at higher charge?!? I don't think this is a fair practice...
The property has a fancy Chinese restaurant and the 'western' breakfast/buffet style restaurant plus the lobby bar. I understand they will also open a 'sports bar' soon. The key holder also speaks about an Italian restaurant which we were not able to find.
The Chinese restaurant is fairly good and we enjoyed the food/good service.
The concierge service was very forthcoming and helpful. Probably one of the best I ever had.
Also noteworthy that the IC is probably one of the best BJ hotels I experienced when it comes to good level of English throughout the client-facing functions.
Checkout was quick and friendly. We failed to mention the missing breakfast. Oops...
The property is pretty much in the middle of the Olympic Park. There is little around. To get a taxi was never a problem. To get home was (see above).
We had a very pleasant walk over to the birds nest and the water cube during an evening. Quite a few people strolling around there. Good picture opportunity. You can also access the birds nest/Olympic stadium - not sure about the cost though.
The location is beyond the 4th ring road. It took us approx 30 mins by taxi to tiananmen/forbidden city. There is an express way to the 2nd ring road so the connectivity is quite good considering. Having said that: BJ traffic jam during rush hour is really bad. There is a online real time traffic information available via your in-room TV. It appeared to be pretty accurate.
We used the location to get out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu (used Avis for a 9h rental w driver - negotiate if you don't have a corporate rate. Reduce the class down to Buick Regal if you are only 2 or 3 persons - it's quite OK/spacious. They will always first quote a bigger car like A6 or Passat). The location on 4th ring road is making things much easier even around 9am/rush hour.
I can only repeat my local dining tip: Made in China in the Grand Hyatt Beijing is great. Must make reservation 2-3 days in advance. Must make reservation for the Beijing duck. Very fast and friendly service, great food, good tourist/picture destination as it follows a 'show kitchen' concept.
All in all the whole thing was a very enjoyable stay in the IC Beijing. The service will need a bit of a finetuning in the coming months/years but considering the hotel was full over the weekend (big 'workshop' of a pharmaceutical giant) the team did pretty well.
At the currently available rates the property is a steal!
Ham