Originally Posted by Unterwegs

IC Asiana Saigon

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Royal Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
this time not really. It was one of my favored hotels in the past.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
booked cheapest as usually. In the past got upgrade to suite+club
Not any more.
Around 2 weeks before the stay I got an email from them telling me about the upgrade policy with an offer for a suite upgrade for USD65++ instead of normally USD115++.
I replied back and asked about their new policy. It seems that you need to book a superior which usually is about USD25++ more than the basic room.
I did not change my booking and declined the suite offer.

I got a room which looked very much like a normal room with Club Access. In my view the room type was not an upgrade. In their viewpoint it was a two level upgrade.

They explained that if you book a normal room or a corner room you will end up in a club room. If you book a superior you get club + suite.

How are the rooms?
Nice, well kept, reasonable size. Only issue is the translucent wall between the bathroom and the main room. Light in the bathroom lights up the bedroom.

How is the exec. lounge?
It has changed. High tea was as nice as normal. But for happy hour it has changed. The amount of dishes is only around half of what they had before. They did constantly run out of everything. Often there was none of the hot dishes, they brought out a few and people scrambled to get one. They even did run out of cheese, deserts. At that time it also was understaffed. Most tables where occupied, but there was not an unusual number of guests this time.
It was one of the best lounges in the past, now calling it mediocre is too nice.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
the usual lacquer thing
small fruit basket first, good size fruit basked later
6 macrons
bottle of red
more water than anybody can ever drink

How was the minibar?
below average, not as nice as before

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Location
High Tea in the lounge

-Bad
Happy hour in the lounge
No room upgrade other than club
Breakfast in main restaurant had very slow service, coffee was cold when it finally arrived

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
without the room upgrade you can do better in Saigon

Would you return?
I have one more visit already booked. After that one most likely no more.