HadesNL

Thank you both,
Adaptations have been done to the wiki to include your contributed datapoints.

TheWiseOne

I can confirm Stratford Upon Avon and Solihull have lounges that are operating. Both offer really awful wine, a beer tap that is pretty much on all day. Food at SUA on my evening there was quite good, calamari, arancini, salads, cold cuts. Solihull was more restricted with just spring rolls, salads, cold cut and olives etc.

oxfordjames

The Stratford Upon Avon CP is currently closed after a major fire on the 29th April. Hopefully the hotel will reopen later this year.

Dramatic scenes in the night as Stratford�s Crowne Plaza is evacuated as fire breaks out (stratford-herald.com)

HadesNL

What a difference a daynight makes, fate does work in mysterious ways.
Thanks for letting us know and with the update, i'll update the wiki.

Smythmeister

I had a booking there on 22nd June. The hotel rang yesterday to say they were having to cancel due to a fire they've had. Looks like they'll be closed for a while.

simcity4000

Crowne Plaza Porto has dedicated club lounge, the entry is located at the right hand size of reception, i.e.:It is behind reception.

yurtripper

Added verification (V) for CP WAW.

maverikbc

I've been busy, you beat me!

This CP had been on sale for more or less 11k pts per night in Feb and March. I wish I could stay longer at such a price (cash rates were in mid �100s), but stayed only for a night. I was downgraded to platinum this year, so I was counting on the lounge (I still have the pass) that also opens in the morning or that gives me a free breakfast in the restaurant like most hotels. I was told that the lounge didn't offer breakfast, and no free breakfast for the pass holders. However, as a 'goodwill' gesture, I was given a free buffet breakfast, which was good.

The lounge attendant was lovely, she was from Myanmar, I was told she was sent to Istanbul by IHG. While I haven't seen such international exchange employees with IHG for years, it isn't uncommon with other chains. I looked for IHG properties in Myanmar, but I didn't find any, hmmm.

The spread all day was impressive: as you posted, basically what other hotels may offer as 'afternoon tea', this CP offers them all day. If they opened earlier for breakfast hours, it may well be acceptable as continental breakfast.

The happy hour was good, booze free flowing even during Ramadan, which I was concerned about before my arrival. I liked the mezze, but the hot foods were forgettable.

While I liked the lounge, I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a lounge pass. There are many inexpensive and good eateries near by. Overall, I had a good stay, including a free upgrade to a junior suite right next to Laleli Mosque. The building itself is a historic building.

One pet peeve was that there was a $50 deposit required, or it takes several days to reimburse if I used my card as a guarantee. I opted for a cash deposit, and they had this old school minibar. At check out, it took forever for them to check that I didn't steal anything: at least 10 minutes. I'm disappointed they didn't simply trust a platinum member with a decade membership wouldn't steal anything from the room.

HadesNL

Thank you everyone for taking time to share your datapoints,

I am a bit offline,
still busy having to lose 5KG ....
otherwise i have to buy 2 seats extra for the helicopter ride in Hawa� � $575 extra


I do like the photos of IC Istanbul old city ... but ..... temptations....

Modo

I found the wine was generic UK CP Tempranillo and a SB white. The beer tap was a shambles that nobody knew how to fix before Half way through service.

Food offer was better than most UK CP Club Lounges. But replenishment was slow without some regular guests contacting management on a busy night.

UK CP lounges seem to be filled with travelling engineers on Lounge Passes looking for food and alcohol whilst still claiming Per Diems. And of course the PD reclaim could not validly include alcohol for company tax reclaim.

Result - UK CP club lounges are unlikely to be remotely worthwhile paying for.

The worst UK CP lounge is surely Ealing. How they managed to find a red wine at 10.5 alcohol and call canap�s an occasionally refilled bag of low grade crisps (potato chips) defies imagination