Originally Posted by
escape4
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.
The W gym was almost completely empty almost every morning I went for a few weeks, besides people walking through mostly to take morning selfies at the pool. The IC gym was consistently busy in the morning, but the layout and having more equipment helped. Just having multiple bench options is uncommon, but having two cable machines is something I don't see in hotel gyms at all. Enough free weight options to never feel like you have to wait for someone to finish their set, you could always get something done. It never felt crowded and the view when doing cardio was excellent since the gym is at the top of the hotel. In the evening the IC gym had more people doing cardio but the weights tended to be completely free. If I were to compare it to the W, it would feel crowded if only two people were working weights since all the weights and cable machines are both in the same corner.