InterContinental Perth City Centre

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
1st Stay: 1 King Classic, received 1 King Classic City View
2nd Stay: 1 King Premium Corner, received 1 King Premium Corner Cityscape View
(one-category upgrade in both instances, visible the night before in the IHG app)

How are the rooms?
Nice. This was my first time staying in one of the corner rooms and they are much larger which is great, as the standard rooms are on the smaller side. The views from the "Cityscape View" corner room were fantastic. I have visited a number of times since they first opened in late 2017, design-wise I still think they are some of the most beautiful city hotel rooms in Australia but as I discovered on my second stay, there are some rooms that could do with a bit of maintenance work. More on that later.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A, didn't have access.

What was good and what was bad?
The Good

• Arrived early and on both occasions the room was ready, can't understate how appreciated this is especially after an early morning transcon flight!
• Great location with easy access to the free bus stops, Perth Station (great for the airport line!) and Elizabeth Quay. Very easy to get around and the city was certainly busier than it was on my last visit in early 2023.
• Welcome amenity of a premium bar of local Bahen & Co chocolate.
• Good breakfast buffet at Ascua, although I miss the old days though when this hotel first opened and they had grilled meats available on the buffet!
• Variety of dining/drinking options including Heno & Rey, Ascua and the Loft Bar in addition to room service and a fully-stocked minibar. Used my welcome drink vouchers (received 1 voucher on the first stay, 2 on the second) at both bars and each has their pluses and minuses but overall I would say the drink selection at Heno & Rey is better, the complimentary tempranillo was actually very good!
• Could use your Ambassador F&B credit on basically anything, which was nice after running into restrictions during my stay at the InterContinental Singapore earlier in the month.
• Friendly, warm and engaging staff with special mention to Sarah, Dushan and Kavishi at the front desk.

The Bad

• Some maintenance issues on my second stay, namely a strange odour in the entryway and a dodgy flush button on the toilet, the cistern would not refill on flushing and the only way I found it would work was to keep hammering the button until eventually it would start to refill at a snail's pace. Given the odour only affected the entryway, the flush buttom had a workaround of sorts and it was a one-night weekend stay I decided to live with it instead of go through the trouble of a room switch.
• Not sure if it is related to wiring or what but some of the switches in the second room seemed to have a mind of their own, working sometimes and not working at other times. Also when I turned off the TV you could still hear it for a minute or so via the speakers in the bathroom.

Value for $ or IHG One Rewards Points? Would you return?
Both were one-night stays (with two nights inbetween spent down south in the famous Margaret River wine region staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Busselton), I paid AUD $300 for the first night and $319 for the second. Still one of my favourite hotels in Australia and I will be back, but it would be nice if they could get a bit of maintenance work done on the rooms prior to my next visit.

Detailed review with pictures