Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Booked Standard on points, received Standard High Floor (= pseudo-upgrade)

How are the rooms? My room was fairly small and in decent shape. Main gripe: Noise insulation vis-à-vis neighboring rooms non-existing. This was a one-night stay. As outlined below, I had a few drinks and slept well. But I imagine the noise would have been an issue had I been there for a longish business trip.

How is the exec. lounge? The Club Intercontinental is big, ever so slightly run down. Very poor lighting (I guess Americans like it that way). During my stay, it was open for breakfast only. Selection reasonably wide but the quality not great.

What was good and what was bad?

Bad: Amenity fee was due, a bit over $40 inclusive of tax. Noise (see above). Lounge food (see above).

Good: As the lounge (access via Milestone reward) was open for breakfast only, I received two drinks + snack vouchers for the bar/restaurant. This was on top of the one drink + snack voucher I selected as the welcome amenity. The snack was negligible, but I almost got drunk from the three huge glasses of wine they gave me for the vouchers. Nice wine, too.

Furthermore, from the resort fee, you got $25 F&B credit, which niceley complemented the $20 ambassador F&B credit. I had two small plates from the bar menu, the crudités and the mini grilled cheeses. Those were quite good (see pics below).

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return? NYC hotels are problematic on occasion... I might rebook this hotel for a short stay, being aware of the limitations. The value was okay. I did book during IHG's 20% off (or was it 15% off?) award nights promo.