Intercontinental Bali (Jimbaran)

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked the classic room. While arranging for airport pick up, was informed we’d be upgraded one level to the singaraja room which is basically the same. I was hoping for better so decided to use a suite upgrade, which could only get us a club duplex room (despite all suite types being available for booking when I called).
Interestingly upon check in I was told I had the highest room and they don’t upgrade beyond, which I don’t think is quite true (maybe they just didn’t have any basic suite available anymore). Anyway, there’s no guaranteed ambassador upgrade if you use a suite upgrade certificate, so it made no difference as I wasn’t expecting anything.

How are the rooms?
It’s a well known fact the duplex rooms are good for families. You get a bed, a sofa bed, 2 bathrooms, a dining table and a balcony… « room » is underselling it. The style isn’t very modern but it was in good condition and well equipped, nothing to complain about. Ceiling is low. The room and bathroom upstairs take maybe a third of the advertised ~80sqm, which leaves a nicely big living area downstairs.

How is the exec. lounge?
I made more comments about the club lounge in the IC Bali thread. Generally I think the club experience is still very nice and makes the stay more relaxing as the main pool and restaurants are quite busy. The fact you can have evening canapés either at the lounge (no children) or at the club pool (anyone) helps keep the crowd manageable. Drink selection was very good.


What was good and what was bad?
Good:

• Big room
• Club is relaxing and with good service. “Resort within a resort” works well here.
• The beach and the sunsets, and therefore the sunset beach bar
• Lots of space, nice gardens around
• Nice staff

Bad:

• Kids club needs a serious upgrade and expansion
• Outside the club area, the resort felt crowded. Walking around during the day, all or almost all lounge chairs around the pool and beach were either occupied, or not cleared (so difficult to know if someone was still using them, or staff just hadn’t cleared the towels - there wasn’t much staff around compared to the number of guests). They advertise it as a luxury resort, but it didn't feel like it.
• Outdoor areas are de facto smoking areas.
• Thinking about it, I don't think I was offered a Diamond welcome amenity. Unless they count the welcome drink at the lounge. Not a big deal as my rate had breakfast. Similarly, it's a small thing, but the 180k IDR Ambassador F&B credit translates to less than 12 USD, not 20.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
For us with a kid, being able to use a suite upgrade to get a duplex room made it good value. Apart from that, unless you have lounge access, I'd definitely compare with other places. It depends as well on whether the location works for what you want to do.
I booked a paid rate but I saw that redemptions were about 27k points / night, I think that's a pretty good use of points.