Originally Posted by
eccentricfusion
I didn't get a suite at the IC, but upgraded (but not suite) room. Yes, IHG perks really aren't worth much. As someone who doesn't drink alcohol, drink/lounge benefits are rarely utilized for me. For a longer stay though, having a good gym starts to matter a lot more to me especially if I'm in a long stay mindset and not in a vacation mindset. I can easily and often do spend over 1.5 hours in a gym each day in a hotel.
W and IC are fairly similar in price right now for standard rooms, with IC currently only about $10 a night cheaper. The price gap is normally much more significant and upgrades at the W not as common (I got studio suites sometimes before but never got marvelous suites)
I think in times of high occupancy, IC being stingy with suite upgrades becomes less of an issue because at W we would not get a suite upgrade if full anyway. But as of now, especially if we look at the cash value of suites, the $10 price difference between IC and W is quite modest and will be washed away by the suite upgrade at W and not at IC. At the moment it's hard for me to book at a hotel where I think I might not get a suite because I could book somewhere else and have 99% chance of a suite upgrade. W is a good choice now because they upgrade not only to standard suites, but premium suites as well.
Regarding the gym I am a regular user although not as long as 1.5 hour like you, too bad I did not check out the gym at IC to compare. Generally speaking I find that gyms I like the most are those which are quiet with almost nobody... perhaps not surprisingly, they tend to be at the most expensive hotels for example at Park Hyatt, Four Seasons, The Siam, or Waldorf Astoria where I was alone every time I went. W's gym was not very crowded so I liked it, but not completely alone; at some cheaper hotels the gym was more busy which was a turn off.