IC Baku

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a government rate King Classic Seaview and was upgraded to a King Junior Suite (two beds pushed together).

How are the rooms?
I was not super impressed…it was fine. The suite is just larger, lots of empty floor space with furniture around the edges of the room. Bathroom was decent. Was on north side of building which is maybe the worst for views.

How is the club lounge?
On the top floor and not particularly large but decently appointed. Has access to some outdoor terrace areas which don’t really have tables/chairs. Breakfast is not served in the lounge but rather in the ground floor restaurant. There are views of the Caspian Sea from the east facing windows and old town from the south facing windows. TV area with sofas. I seem
to recall it closed rather early, maybe 8pm?

Staff were very friendly, and half of the time I was the only guest in the lounge. The buffet offering was quite limited for teatime, and there is a small a la carte menu. But the menu held by the attendant differed from the ones on the tables which resulted in confusion and me getting something different from what I ordered (although it definitely would pass for what I actually said…). Mentioned this and the somewhere on here aforementioned misspelling of cheddar cheese to reception at checkout.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
-I inquired about the cost of lounge access at checkin and was immediately comp’ed lounge access and breakfast before I could finish my question, which was nice.
-The hotel was quite empty.
-Fresh and dried fruit were waiting in the room.
-Location is one block from the waterfront.

Bad:
-When I arrived by taxi, I asked the front desk what it should cost before paying the driver, and they sort of declined to give me a ballpark estimate/help me ask why the driver was ripping me off.

Other:
-TV in room wasn’t working, but they sent someone who promptly got it working.
-The pool is quite small and in a windowless basement. Didn’t use the gym which is located in the same area.
-The Ambassador food and bev discount is 34 Azeri manat. I took a bottle of red wine from minibar expecting there was no way it could be more than that (roughly 20USD), and it was slightly more than that (39)!! Was quite good, but there is no price list for mini bar that I could find anywhere.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?

Didn’t really pay attention as was for work and was within per diem. I would return.