Raynyan

Suddenly open on 25th Feb.2022.

This hotel opening date has been postponed again and again, but now suddenly will open today without any announcement in advance.

Moreover, recent disclosed photos of the rooms (now withdrawn) are far from original trailer rendering.

Let's talk about this hotel with turbulent beginning.

Raynyan

https://www.ihgplc.com/en/news-and-m...gion-of-tohoku

demue

Thanks for the heads up. Having read the article and hearing your "ominous" statements that renderings and recent pictures differ, I'm worried that the rotenburo didn't happen in room which was a highlight for sure (at least for me personally).

demue

Thank you for the Twitter link. The suite is much less open, not as attractive I can understand. I'm not in the market for one (paid, don't mind upgrade ) so a bit less of a turn off for me.

Would have loved the rotenburo in all rooms, but like Beppu they changed it to Premium category only, oh well. We shall see, maybe paying the difference here will be less of an issue as all rooms are Club even the Classic ones. Beppu is first on the list for a visit anyways.

Btw, I was looking at CP Appi rooms and saw the Japanese style Duplex suite also has a nice rotenburo and for next few weeks goes for 27++k JPY. Not bad though the hotel design is something from a different area.

Raynyan

Agree. I think it’s better to stay at CP Appi’s Japanese Duplex Suite. That’s much cheaper than Classic Rooms of IC’s one.

Raynyan

ANA InterContinental Appi Kogen Resort

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Inner Circle Royal Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes, but still many parts need to improve.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Premium Suite with Private Garden, received Presidential Suite.

How are the rooms?
309sqm huge suite with 5m high ceiling living room, kitchenette, study room, bathroom with hinoki wood bathtub, walk-in closet, 2 queen beds bedroom and private rooftop terrace. (But almost covered by snow this time.)

Video of the Presidential Suite

How is the exec. lounge?
This hotel is “All Club products”. All guests granted complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails. Therefore, no individual Club Lounge facilities. Just Lobby lounge and restaurant covered the Club products function. Be aware “All Club products” doesn’t mean “All Inclusive”. So lunch and dinner need to pay.

How was the mini-bar?
Crazy expensive, Champagne and wines are demi bottle but prices are full bottle class. Selection is not so attractive.

What was your welcome gift?
Chocolate and madeleine

Did you receive fruit in the room?
Yes.

What was good?
++++++++++ Guest recognition (every staff very kindly care to me)
++++++++++ View
++++++++++ Onsen bathhouse
++++++++++ Lot of restaurant outlets in resort complex connected with InterContinental and Crowne Plaza.

What was bad?
- - - - - Poor product offering of breakfast and evening cocktails
- - - - - Some part of the facilities are not finished the installation as of today.
- - - - - Mini-bar pricing
- - - - - Access is really inconvenient.
- - - Lack of snack/savory selections for welcome gift

Value for $ or Rewards Club Points?
As of today, could be better. Less “WOW” compared to Beppu and Ishigaki. However, managements committed they will definitely improve within few months. It will be get better.

Would you return?
Definitely. Coz I won the one night complimentary stay voucher by IHG and ANA Japan promotion. I must be back here to consume it. LOL

Venezuela-Miami

Wonderful review!
I just LOVE your country and its people, for me it's the best country in the world by a long shot.

nicolas75

Great review as usual. 👍👍

I first thought it was the lobby of the hotel, then realized it was indeed the room itself!

Venezuela-Miami

LOL exactly the same here, took me a while to notice.

Raynyan

🤣🤣🤣

Raynyan

Presidential Suite

Two Bedrooms Appi Suite

Premium Suite

Premium Room

Corner Classic Room Slope View (one room only on the ground floor)

Classic Room Mountain View

Classic Room Slope View

khabah

Perhaps I’m too critical, but this is a very lackluster final product; the renderings looked much more understated and elegant, whereas this just looks like a really nice Holiday Inn. Again, the recent Hotel Indigo openings in Japan are infinitely more creative and imaginative in their interiors than this purportedly luxury-level InterContinental.

khabah

demue

Thank you very much Raynyan for the videos of the various rooms and suites. While the overall look is decent enough I'd second khabah's view that some elements are a bit underwhelming. Space use, some materials and furnishings seem a bit lackluster IMHO.

To me, the best room would be the Premier one as I find the extra space of the Premier Suite nice, but what was done with it furniture wise not that enticing or exciting. The Presidential Suite Living room is enormous, but bedroom and bathroom entirely disappointing in contrast and barely more than what a Premier room offers (slightly bigger rotenburo). No cosy fireplace (can be gas or even electric or so), no much more generous bathroom etc. For the super premium price they'll charge and the huge space they had I'm really not impressed here especially this being Japan who produce outstanding architecture and interior designs. A wasted opportunity in my book.

I'm not saying I wouldn't go and stay there, but my ideal outcome would be to redeem and pay for an upgrade to a Premier room. Done. YMMV.

FLYGVA

Thank you for the videos Raynyan - As real life better than renderings, which however give you a impression of how a hotel look like, I have already split the posts of the time before opening the hotels to its own pre-opening thread. I also copied the Royal Ambassador Report from the dedicated thread to this thread and moved the replies to this post to this thread to have all information and discussion with the reference in this thread.

FLYGVA
co-moderator IHG Forum

CPH-Flyer

Stayed three nights at IC Appi Kogen. We flew into Aomori and drove down from there, the Google maps estimate is 1h 50m, actual driving is a bit quicker than that.




The lobby is quite nice, a glass of welcome champagne appeared quickly. Interestingly the welcome drink champagne is Ayala, while the cocktail hour champagne is Laurent-Perrier.





We had booked the classic most basic room, but we got a Premier Garden Room. The garden was a nice sunny spot, and I guess you can literally ski in ski out from the room when the snow is around.






The onsen is very nice





The cocktail hours offers some very good quality snacks, and a good champagne choice. It is not going to make a meal, but a great pre-dinner setting.


The daily afternoon tea is good, but a bit odd timing. It is served from 1pm to 3pm

Speaking of odd timings, the rooftop bar is open from 5pm to 8pm, meaning it overlaps with the cocktail hour from 5 to 7, and people tend to prefer the free champagne down stairs, rather than paying for drinks upstairs. But definitely worth a visit upstairs.







Breakfast is pretty solid, a buffet of the basic items and a menu of various hot items. You can order as many items you want from the menu. The one thing about breakfast, the speed of the items from the menu and coffee+tea does take too much time, particularly the hot beverages.

All in all a very nice stay. I'd rank the IC Beppu higher than here, but IC Appi is still a place I'd like to return to. Probably more likely to be in skiing season next time.