Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked King Classic on points, used CSU 14 days out to upgrade to King Junior Suite via Veneto, upgraded at check in to One Bedroom Suite via Veneto with Balcony (second highest category).

How are the rooms?
The Suite was large for Rome but compact (40m2), living room was well appointed, bathroom was quite spacious with separate tub and shower, king bed was very comfortable. AC was efficient and patio doors opened in every room, suite was in the corner of the building.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?

Good

• Great location in Rome, minutes away from Trevi and Spanish Steps and loads of restaurants and cafes around. Close to metro line as well.
• Staff if on point, friendly and offers excellent customer service.
• All IHG One benefits were proactively offered and did not have to chase anything. F&B rewards cannot be redeemed through the app but can be applied at checkout, budget a bit of time for that if using.
• Had a chilled bottle of prosecco, cookies and chocolates waiting for us in the room. Two free bottles of mineral water were provided every day.
• Breakfast buffet was great as a Diamond benefit, standard choices (geared to UK breakfast) with hot and cold options. Can have eggs to order. omelettes and pancakes from the menu with no extra charge for Diamond.
• Rooftop bar was a great way to have before dinner drinks, staff once again there excellent and professional.
• Hotel restaurant (Scarpetta NYC) geared toward American tastes, food was of high quality if a little pricey (as hotel restaurants usually are)
• Felt quite appreciated and pampered as a Diamond Ambassador during our short stay.

Bad (these are nitpicks)

• Ambassador and F&B US$20 credits are treated as EUR15 which is a bit chintzy
• You may need earplugs if you are a light sleeper, the windows are not as soundproof as hotels in this price point should be
• F&B prices are high even for a European capital city hotel in a high season. Had 10 F&B rewards to burn through thankfully and happy I kept them for here (instead of purchasing low quality F&B like IC Toronto for example)

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

Prices are crazy high this summer (classic room was EUR1000/night for the period of our stay even months before, redeemed 100K/night), suite that we got goes for about 2.5 times that so I felt I got excellent value for my points reservation with the use of a CSU. Not sure I would have felt the same way with just the room but I will return (as a lowly plat amb) in the future given how well we were treated overall.

Pictures (excuse the size and lack of Nicolas75 artistic talent!)