Originally Posted by
#1son
I was never aware of any rules about upgrades
I note you are located in Dubai. I'm sure any of the emirate's CPs will set you right on that
Sadly, they are among the most intransigent of IHG hotels when it comes to the lounge business, and will cite brand standards as the reason for this
and the threat of of audits by HQ. A bit OTP, but they are very serious about not letting you in. There's a little more to it, but it gets boring. The HI al Barsha lounge-equipped, but they too are sticky about admitting you to the (rather nice) place on the basis of status.
As for Abu Dhabi I'm still totally committed to the IC, even post-RA, so don't know about the CP's policy: but I'd hazard it's carbon-copy Dubai
ditto Muscat, where it's the IC or nothing. The CP at the other end of Shatti has a lounge, I doubt it's a free-for-all simply on the reputation of the place. I know nothing about the new CP in the back of beyond. In the rest of Oman, the Salala CP has no lounge, but they found other ways to be very kind.
Doha matches Dubai in terms of lounge access, the HI has no lounge, and the CPs have a policy of no upgrade to their lounges. I've a feeling that stamping your feet at reception might work in the "city park" property, but the new one by the City Centre mall is a far grander affair (it was intended to be the city's third IC) and a much more difficult nut to crack.
And that exhausts my knowledge of IHG in GCC and the middle east. But if you want to include Egypt, all i can say is its a mixed bag. CityStars HI can be generous, but it depends who you are dealing with, and the IC next door is so much nicer. The Ma'adi HI is somewhere you just wouldn't want to stay.
For me it boils down to this: there are regulations/rules/requirements/standards regarding status-driven upgrades at CP and HI hotels. Some hotels flout/ignore them: others uphold them with varying degrees of rigour. Insisting/begging/sulking might get you somewhere if you are first refused.