Originally Posted by
jaytw
I struggle with giving this hotel an appropriate rating, because on the one hand, it is an undeniably beautiful and elegant property, but on the other, I departed feeling unwelcome and somewhat offended by some of the interactions I had with certain staff members. Allow me to elaborate. This will be long, so bear with me.
Let’s start off with the good parts. We stayed in a King Suite with Living Area, and the room was such a pleasure to stay in. It felt a bit on the smaller side for being the largest bookable room type in the hotel, but it was very comfortably appointed. The suite has a fully separate living room, with its own TV, sofa, and writing desk, as well as a guest bathroom. There is an Alexa-like voice activated assistant, in both the living area and the bedroom, which can control the lights, the TV, and even the curtains, as well as play music. It was quite the darling, and a very nice addition to give the room that extra high-tech touch. Even normally mundane things like the coffee machine and kettle were specially chosen to feel extra luxurious, and the tea was of amazing quality.
Moving on to the bedroom, our harbour view room had floor-to-ceiling windows that were just magnificent in the sunset. The sight of the bathtub against the backdrop of the sun setting over the ocean, and the rays of sunlight spilling across the soft white linens of the bed was simply magical. The bed itself was super comfy, which is something no InterContinental has ever let me down on. In fact, it was so comfy that I was fine with realising that I’d missed breakfast hours, because it meant I could just continue to sleep in this comfy comfy bed.
Continuing on to the bathroom, we have Japanese style bidet toilets, with wireless controls that can remember settings for two individuals. How much more luxurious does it get than that?! We also have Dyson hairdryers, which totally live up to the hype. And let’s not forget the oh so luxurious towels, that are so huge, thick and fluffy that you just want to stay wrapped in them forever after your hot bath.
Seriously, the room and everything in it blew us away. We loved every second we spent inside it.
Outside the room, not so consistent. Let’s start with the issues pre-check-in.
In order to secure the one category upgrade to a King Suite with Living Area as per our Spire Ambassador benefits, we contacted the hotel in advance to ask what room type we should be booking to be assigned that particular room, and were told to book a King Club with Harbour View, which is what we did. However, on the morning of the day of our stay, I noticed that we had been assigned a Twin Suite instead. I checked to see if the King Suites were still available on the IHG site, and after confirming so, I tried calling the hotel to see if they could reassign me back to a king bed room, as I had originally booked.
The first issue was that it took forever to get a hold of anyone. It took about 20 minutes of redialing and listening to hold music to get through. Their phone lines are clearly overloaded or they are severely understaffed at the moment. That is understandable, as there is so much interest in the hotel at the moment, seeing as they are the hottest new thing in town. Once we got through to someone, we asked about the bed situation, and the agent said they would get in touch with the front desk and call us back. By the time we walked into the lobby hours later, no one had called us, and since there were no customers at any of the four desks at the lobby, I doubt it was because the front desks were busy either.
When we approached one of the desks to check-in, we mentioned calling in earlier, and repeated our inquiry regarding getting a king bed instead of twins. We were told in no uncertain terms that the king suites were “sold out” that night, so we could only have the twin suites. I asked incredulously how that was possible if the app was still showing those rooms available for sale. The agent went back into the office for a while and came back out telling me matter-of-factly that in that case I would have to wait “until very very late.” That was fine by me, as I could have afternoon tea and happy hour in the lounge while I waited, but I was annoyed that they straight up resorted to telling convenient lies instead of just being upfront with their customers. This turned out to be a common thread in interactions with staff at this hotel when it came to member benefits.
When our room was ready, we were asked our preferred check-out time. I replied that we would be fine with the regular 4pm check-out, and was told that regular check-out time was 12pm, and a 4pm check-out would be “subject to room availability.” At first I was confused, and thought maybe she hadn’t realised we were paid Ambassador members, but after clarifying so, we were told, again in no uncertain terms, that late check-out for Ambassadors was still “subject to room availability.” I asked why that was the case, and was told it was because the rooms were full during 假日, which means holidays or weekends. Another very disingenuous and convenient lie, since, as I interjected, today was a Monday, and tomorrow was Tuesday, neither of which were a holiday. The agent quickly said that it didn’t matter because they just checked and they could “allow” me to check out at 4pm. Oh gee, thanks for “allowing” me to get what I’m paying for.
What offended me the most was what happened later during Happy Hour. I heard this particular staff member and their colleague grumbling about the late check out situation. I heard the keywords, “subject to room availability,” “4pm checkout,” “if any guests come to argue with you or make any trouble over this,” etc... Oh, wow, I had no idea we were troublemakers now, simply for requesting benefits we paid for. What a slap in the face for members.
All this was communicated to their customer service that same night through their official facebook page, and by morning I had received a thin response of platitudes that can be briefly summed up as “so sorry you were disappointed, we have communicated your feedback to the relevant departments.”
At check-out, it was clear that nothing had been communicated though, as there was no acknowledgments of these grievances whatsoever. I ended up confronting said staff member directly about it, telling them that I had overheard their conversation bad-mouthing their guests, and asked for clarification of the hotel’s official policy regarding Ambassador late check-out benefits. The staff member apologised but again tried to make an excuse, saying that the hotel was very full, and a lot of people were checking-in early so that’s why late check-out might be unavailable. However, I reminded them that early check-ins aren’t a guaranteed benefit (unless you are a Royal Ambassador, which there are not that many of) while late check-out IS a guaranteed benefit. If anything should be “upon availability” it would be early check-in. Labelling us troublemakers for standing firm on 4pm check-out privileges was uncalled for, and all the groundless excuses they just made up on the go just made the situation worse. (I later pushed their customer support on their facebook page for an official position on this, and they did later confirm to me, after 26 hours of checking, that indeed 4pm check-out is a guaranteed benefit, not subject to their whims.)
Before our departure, in a final disappointing sendoff, we were informed at the lobby bar that our welcome drink voucher was good for one singular drink, and not for the two of us staying in the room. The server asked the front desk for us, and they replied in no uncertain terms again that the welcome drink was for the member only. I don’t recall ever yet visiting an InterContinental that didn’t provide welcome drinks to both guests staying in one room. The Holiday Inn Express I stayed at the previous night and the Indigo I stayed at the next night both gave two by default. Sure the IHG program terms don’t technically say how many welcome drinks are to be given, so they are technically in conformity with the rules. But hey, just another sign that says: Members not welcome. We’re pretty fully booked without you.
Which is a pity. All of my complaints are somehow related to being a member. The hotel itself and its facilities are actually quite top notch! Staff in general were also helpful, friendly, and cheerful. It was only when it came to benefits that they became rigid and onerous, borderline confrontational. It almost feels like they're arming themselves with their terms and conditions in anticipation of a battle with their members. I do wonder if that is due to directives from management, or just a misreading of policy. Member benefits could and should have added to the experience, as is mostly the case at other ICs around the world, but at this IC, all they did was take away from what could have otherwise been a great experience. The saddest part is how they have made virtually no proactive effort to make amends.
On the whole, I wouldn't say it was a bad hotel. I ended up giving it a rating of 4 on Tripadvisor after a bit of an internal struggle. Not because my own experience on the whole during this stay merits a 4, but because I feel that member benefits are ancillary to the hotel experience, and this hotel experience would have been decent without them. Had I not been entitled to these measly benefits in the first place, I would no doubt be happily fawning over the room and the facilities, and probably would have given it a 5. I have no doubt other non-members who visit will have rather more positive stays. Just sucks that I was a member. A troublemaking member.