Please post your Royal Ambassador experiences (Archive Thread 2011)
Jan 5, 2011, 1:16 pm
#31
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
ok, I see it now. Isn't very noticeable
Jan 6, 2011, 2:47 pm
#32
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: Royal Platinum Ambassador
Posts: 135
Any RA experiences on award stays IC London? Club and which upgrade? Mininbar?
Jan 6, 2011, 2:56 pm
#33
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,759
I just returned from a stay. It's not a perfect example, as I was one of those who was able to book a suite in the opening hours that bookings were available for Sweet Dilemna. Thus, I was confirmed in a suite with club access. I was told that I would not have received club access otherwise. I was told that I could have free minibar.
Jan 6, 2011, 3:21 pm
#34
Join Date: May 2008
Location: All around
Programs: M&M, AVIS, HH, GP ...
Posts: 325
Few stay on award I got RA upgrade (2 levels), no club access (you can pay 90 GBP for it), got welcome gift fruit and water, the minibar was free for beverages. Last visit (award night) the internet was for free as well just check on check in.
Jan 6, 2011, 10:22 pm
#35
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: Priority Clubs RA
Posts: 2
RA Status
I am a Platinum RA with Priority Clubs. I stay at ICH all over the world and I always get at least a two room suite, free gift on arrival, free bottles of water refreshed every day, free movies/minibar/internet etc. The list goes on and on here. This is one of the best programs I belong to. I have not used my points to stay anywhere yet so I have no comments about blackout dates.
MM
MM
Jan 6, 2011, 10:43 pm
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
Jan 7, 2011, 8:12 am
#37
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: AS 100K, AA Gold, IC Diamond AMB, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,840
IC Paris Le Grand
IC Paris Le Grand
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
On balance, yes. However, I had built this hotel up to mythic proportions in my head (I am going to sound silly here, but reading about the club lounge and free flowing champagne and etc. was one of the reasons I first became an RA -- I wanted to come to this hotel and have that experience!) and so any little hiccup sort of spoiled my fantasy here. I didn't end up having the "le Grand" experience I hoped for; but still, the hotel was fantastic.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
I booked first 2 nights on points, then 2 nights at the Virtuoso rate, over New Years. Initially, we were upgraded to Executive for both rooms, then a couple days before arrival, the Virtuoso res showed Junior Suite. On arrival, we were given a Junior Suite for the whole stay. Additionally, club access was granted for our entire stay. **
How are the rooms?
The Junior Suite was really spacious and lovely, with a large entry way with large closets for storing clothing, a large king sized bed, desk, couch and two comfy chairs, flat screen TV, floor to ceiling windows, and the bath area that was almost half as big again as the room -- hallway with a shower room off to the right, then a toilet room, and to the left, a huge room with another floor to ceiling window, with tub, sink, etc.
How is the exec. lounge?
I liked the lounge. However, this was one of the things I had built up in my head to be somewhat more than it ended up being. When I read about it being two stories, I pictured the upstairs overlooking the downstairs, a grand staircase, etc. It's not quite that grand! We loved being able to hide away upstairs during cocktail hour, and keep the couch in the back corner to ourselves. I was a little disappointed that the food spread didn't vary much at all during our stay; same items were out for breakfast, lunch, tea, and cocktail hour each day pretty much throughout our stay. But, I was loving the Nicolas Feuillatte champagne on offer, and the fact that they had caviar out for both lunch and cocktail hour. The sweets on offer during tea time etc. were delicious. Staff in the lounge were very lovely. My husband found it irritating that the ice bucket they had held approximately 10 cubes and was constantly empty.
What was good and what was bad?
Good:
The upgrade to Junior Suite for the whole stay was really fantastic, and I was not expecting that -- I was going to be quite happy with the executive room for the duration. The minibar offerings (more little Nicolas Feuillatte bottles!) were great. Can't go wrong with L'occitane toiletries in my mind. Club lounge was really quite good.
Bad:
So, here's where the fantasy I was hoping for and the reality of being in the real world clash.
When we arrived to check in, their computer system was down (and apparently was down from 10PM the night before). Front desk couldn't check anyone in "or out" they said -- couldn't make keys for rooms, etc. They had print outs and handwritten notes strewn about with data about incoming guests. Indeed, they couldn't even find our reservation initially, and only did find it because I gave them my husband's passport by accident instead of my own -- they realized they had the reservation listed under his (different) name, not mine. They proceeded to basically just shoo us away, saying to come back later when "hopefully" they could check us in. The lobby was a bit of a chaotic mess. We went out for a bit wandering around the shops; back a couple hours later, still no computers, so still we could not be checked in. I asked for a waiting room in the interim, which, after some phone calls to others in French, we were granted, but had to be escorted there because a master key had to be used to let us in. And, now I see why people say the classic rooms here are so small -- good god, they really are!
We cleaned up, changed, and went out wandering again. At about 5PM we went back down to the desk and were told that their system was partially up -- they could make keys again -- and so, we were given our room. We were not told about any benefits or anything, and I just happened to ask whether we had club access -- she had to check her paperwork, but determined that yes, we did. I did not ask why, just thanked her and went to our room.
We did not get a welcome letter explaining benefits or our Ambassador amenity for 2 days. We did not get a newspaper for three days. We got bottled water on our first and third days only.
I contacted my Virtuoso agent on the second morning of our Virtuoso booking to ask him who to contact about getting our Virtuoso amenities, or letter explaining benefits, etc.; his contact was actually out at that time, so he had to get in touch with someone else. They delivered some more chocolates, some madeleines, and an "exclusive offer for personal shopping" at one of the shops attached to the hotel -- but I never got the 20% off voucher for the spa that I was really looking forward to using.
When I called Instant Service to ask about whether snacks in the minibar were free (as I had read they were here, but I really didn't want to be charged 8 euro for a half pack of Pringles if I was wrong!), I was passed over to room service (???), who said we could only have water out of the minibar (I knew that was wrong, just politely thanked them and hung up). It took an email to the Guest Relations Manager to get the question answered -- and of course, we didn't get that answer until our last day there.
Because of all the above, I found the experience that we had really uneven. No doubt it was all precipitated by their system being down; it was unfortunate timing for us, I guess. Still as I said, on the whole, we had a nice stay. I guess all the bumps just proves that this hotel is just a hotel, in the end and not the mythic place of RA dreams I had built it up to be.
Value for $/Priority Club Points?
The Virtuoso rate was excellent, most especially for the room we ended up getting.
Would you return?
Probably, if the rate was good enough.
** -- note on the club access: The Guest Relations Manager at one of the ICs I stay at very frequently was going to get in touch with her counterpart at the Le Grand to let them know we were coming, and to "treat us well" as she said. Getting club access even on our points nights, then, could very well have been due to that relationship; or, it could have been to the confusion over their computer system being down. I did not ask, I was just grateful for it
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
On balance, yes. However, I had built this hotel up to mythic proportions in my head (I am going to sound silly here, but reading about the club lounge and free flowing champagne and etc. was one of the reasons I first became an RA -- I wanted to come to this hotel and have that experience!) and so any little hiccup sort of spoiled my fantasy here. I didn't end up having the "le Grand" experience I hoped for; but still, the hotel was fantastic.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
I booked first 2 nights on points, then 2 nights at the Virtuoso rate, over New Years. Initially, we were upgraded to Executive for both rooms, then a couple days before arrival, the Virtuoso res showed Junior Suite. On arrival, we were given a Junior Suite for the whole stay. Additionally, club access was granted for our entire stay. **
How are the rooms?
The Junior Suite was really spacious and lovely, with a large entry way with large closets for storing clothing, a large king sized bed, desk, couch and two comfy chairs, flat screen TV, floor to ceiling windows, and the bath area that was almost half as big again as the room -- hallway with a shower room off to the right, then a toilet room, and to the left, a huge room with another floor to ceiling window, with tub, sink, etc.
How is the exec. lounge?
I liked the lounge. However, this was one of the things I had built up in my head to be somewhat more than it ended up being. When I read about it being two stories, I pictured the upstairs overlooking the downstairs, a grand staircase, etc. It's not quite that grand! We loved being able to hide away upstairs during cocktail hour, and keep the couch in the back corner to ourselves. I was a little disappointed that the food spread didn't vary much at all during our stay; same items were out for breakfast, lunch, tea, and cocktail hour each day pretty much throughout our stay. But, I was loving the Nicolas Feuillatte champagne on offer, and the fact that they had caviar out for both lunch and cocktail hour. The sweets on offer during tea time etc. were delicious. Staff in the lounge were very lovely. My husband found it irritating that the ice bucket they had held approximately 10 cubes and was constantly empty.
What was good and what was bad?
Good:
The upgrade to Junior Suite for the whole stay was really fantastic, and I was not expecting that -- I was going to be quite happy with the executive room for the duration. The minibar offerings (more little Nicolas Feuillatte bottles!) were great. Can't go wrong with L'occitane toiletries in my mind. Club lounge was really quite good.
Bad:
So, here's where the fantasy I was hoping for and the reality of being in the real world clash.
When we arrived to check in, their computer system was down (and apparently was down from 10PM the night before). Front desk couldn't check anyone in "or out" they said -- couldn't make keys for rooms, etc. They had print outs and handwritten notes strewn about with data about incoming guests. Indeed, they couldn't even find our reservation initially, and only did find it because I gave them my husband's passport by accident instead of my own -- they realized they had the reservation listed under his (different) name, not mine. They proceeded to basically just shoo us away, saying to come back later when "hopefully" they could check us in. The lobby was a bit of a chaotic mess. We went out for a bit wandering around the shops; back a couple hours later, still no computers, so still we could not be checked in. I asked for a waiting room in the interim, which, after some phone calls to others in French, we were granted, but had to be escorted there because a master key had to be used to let us in. And, now I see why people say the classic rooms here are so small -- good god, they really are!
We cleaned up, changed, and went out wandering again. At about 5PM we went back down to the desk and were told that their system was partially up -- they could make keys again -- and so, we were given our room. We were not told about any benefits or anything, and I just happened to ask whether we had club access -- she had to check her paperwork, but determined that yes, we did. I did not ask why, just thanked her and went to our room.
We did not get a welcome letter explaining benefits or our Ambassador amenity for 2 days. We did not get a newspaper for three days. We got bottled water on our first and third days only.
I contacted my Virtuoso agent on the second morning of our Virtuoso booking to ask him who to contact about getting our Virtuoso amenities, or letter explaining benefits, etc.; his contact was actually out at that time, so he had to get in touch with someone else. They delivered some more chocolates, some madeleines, and an "exclusive offer for personal shopping" at one of the shops attached to the hotel -- but I never got the 20% off voucher for the spa that I was really looking forward to using.
When I called Instant Service to ask about whether snacks in the minibar were free (as I had read they were here, but I really didn't want to be charged 8 euro for a half pack of Pringles if I was wrong!), I was passed over to room service (???), who said we could only have water out of the minibar (I knew that was wrong, just politely thanked them and hung up). It took an email to the Guest Relations Manager to get the question answered -- and of course, we didn't get that answer until our last day there.
Because of all the above, I found the experience that we had really uneven. No doubt it was all precipitated by their system being down; it was unfortunate timing for us, I guess. Still as I said, on the whole, we had a nice stay. I guess all the bumps just proves that this hotel is just a hotel, in the end and not the mythic place of RA dreams I had built it up to be.
Value for $/Priority Club Points?
The Virtuoso rate was excellent, most especially for the room we ended up getting.
Would you return?
Probably, if the rate was good enough.
** -- note on the club access: The Guest Relations Manager at one of the ICs I stay at very frequently was going to get in touch with her counterpart at the Le Grand to let them know we were coming, and to "treat us well" as she said. Getting club access even on our points nights, then, could very well have been due to that relationship; or, it could have been to the confusion over their computer system being down. I did not ask, I was just grateful for it
Jan 7, 2011, 8:22 am
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
As for the food offerings, I've been staying at this hotel for over a decade and the club food seems to change as often as the seasons.
Jan 7, 2011, 8:30 am
#39
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: AS 100K, AA Gold, IC Diamond AMB, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,840
And, actually, while we were there, I heard the club staff tell several people that they could not check them out in the club because their printer was down. This was over the course of several days.
Jan 7, 2011, 9:00 am
#40
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: London
Posts: 3,440
And what was the reply you received regarding the mini-bar snacks? We're planning a trip there soon and I'd like to go with as much information as possible. Thanks.
Jan 8, 2011, 4:31 am
#41
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
IC Park Lane
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes, very much so.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheap pre-paid rate for a Superior, received 7th floor Club Suite with balcony.
How are the rooms?
Very nice, except for one detail. You can't read in bed as there are no reading lamps. There is only the cheap fluorescent table lamp next to the bed. The weather was nice this morning so I went out on the balcony and had a nice view of Green Park and the new Four Seasons.
The full 100ml size Elemis bottles in the shower were well appreciated. And the mini-bar is quite good as usual.
How is the exec. lounge?
The hard product is very nice and the service excellent. But the evening F&B was relatively poor I thought. Mumm's Champagne and some not very good wine options, and nothing resembling hearty fare. Just some tiny canapés, cookies, and the same potato chips as they have in the mini-bar.
What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Quality hotel, excellent upgrade
Bad:
Lobby renovation going on
Poor bedroom lighting. The living room was fine though.
The fitness center isn't really what you expect for a top luxury hotel. No changing rooms, sauna or steam. I think they have a steam room over in the spa, but not at the fitness center.
At checkout they tried (unwittingly really) to charge me extra for the new UK VAT. But since I had pre-paid I had them remove the extra charge.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes, a very, very good value if you count the upgrade.
Yes, very much so.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheap pre-paid rate for a Superior, received 7th floor Club Suite with balcony.
How are the rooms?
Very nice, except for one detail. You can't read in bed as there are no reading lamps. There is only the cheap fluorescent table lamp next to the bed. The weather was nice this morning so I went out on the balcony and had a nice view of Green Park and the new Four Seasons.
The full 100ml size Elemis bottles in the shower were well appreciated. And the mini-bar is quite good as usual.
How is the exec. lounge?
The hard product is very nice and the service excellent. But the evening F&B was relatively poor I thought. Mumm's Champagne and some not very good wine options, and nothing resembling hearty fare. Just some tiny canapés, cookies, and the same potato chips as they have in the mini-bar.
What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Quality hotel, excellent upgrade
Bad:
Lobby renovation going on
Poor bedroom lighting. The living room was fine though.
The fitness center isn't really what you expect for a top luxury hotel. No changing rooms, sauna or steam. I think they have a steam room over in the spa, but not at the fitness center.
At checkout they tried (unwittingly really) to charge me extra for the new UK VAT. But since I had pre-paid I had them remove the extra charge.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes, a very, very good value if you count the upgrade.
Jan 8, 2011, 6:29 am
#42
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: Royal Platinum Ambassador
Posts: 135
Do you know if you get also that upgrade on award stays?
Jan 8, 2011, 6:45 am
#43
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
Jan 8, 2011, 1:05 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: Virtuoso, Marriott Stars/Luminous, Hilton Impresario, IHG Luxury & Lifestyle, Hyatt Prive etc
Posts: 2,005
Moet not Mumm champagne in club lounge.
Huh. I booked executive for birthday stay - got studio suite. When complained, got balcony 7th floor suite. Should have just booked superior room anyway. Much as I love the hotel and lounge, the Hyatt has better customer service and status recognition.
Huh. I booked executive for birthday stay - got studio suite. When complained, got balcony 7th floor suite. Should have just booked superior room anyway. Much as I love the hotel and lounge, the Hyatt has better customer service and status recognition.
Jan 8, 2011, 1:55 pm
#45
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Bergen, Norway
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, Flying Blue Gold, PC Platinum Ambassador, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 521
Ic Park Lane, London
What room did you book and what did you receive?
Booked cheapest room at industry discount rate. Upgraded to exec. Room weeks in advance, got a 1 bedroom suite at clubfloor, without access to the lounge. Payed 60£ for lounge access the second day as we didn't need it the day we arrived.
How are the rooms?
See Stimpys report.
What was your welcome gift?
When I was ambassador I normally got a pack of chocolate cookies, now I didn't get anything else than 4 mandarines and a bottle of wather. I didn't complain as it's no big deal.
How was the club lounge?
Nice, as always. Love that you can order hot breakfast and love the afternoon tea. However wished there were a better selection of food at cocktail hour.
What was good?
Excellent upgrade. I can only imagine how nice the balcony would be in the summertime...
What was bad?
Our bathroom was flooded due to the shower-cabinet not being tight. After two persons had showered the whole bathroom, except for an island in the middle, were full of wather. The wather also went out the door and made the carpet in the bedroom wet. Not a very big deal as we cleaned with the towels. BUT I would not expect it. We told about it in the reception, they sent somebody to fix it, but don't think they managed to fix it. Let's see tomorrow. :-)
Value for money?
Yes, with the industry discount.
Booked cheapest room at industry discount rate. Upgraded to exec. Room weeks in advance, got a 1 bedroom suite at clubfloor, without access to the lounge. Payed 60£ for lounge access the second day as we didn't need it the day we arrived.
How are the rooms?
See Stimpys report.
What was your welcome gift?
When I was ambassador I normally got a pack of chocolate cookies, now I didn't get anything else than 4 mandarines and a bottle of wather. I didn't complain as it's no big deal.
How was the club lounge?
Nice, as always. Love that you can order hot breakfast and love the afternoon tea. However wished there were a better selection of food at cocktail hour.
What was good?
Excellent upgrade. I can only imagine how nice the balcony would be in the summertime...
What was bad?
Our bathroom was flooded due to the shower-cabinet not being tight. After two persons had showered the whole bathroom, except for an island in the middle, were full of wather. The wather also went out the door and made the carpet in the bedroom wet. Not a very big deal as we cleaned with the towels. BUT I would not expect it. We told about it in the reception, they sent somebody to fix it, but don't think they managed to fix it. Let's see tomorrow. :-)
Value for money?
Yes, with the industry discount.