loyaltypointschaser

Club deluxe is very big and nice, you have nothing to worry about.
The standard club room is only a superior room.

Flying Lawyer

What would you have expected? Superior to Deluxe. A one category upgrade and the Club Deluxe Rooms are huge.

DCFFlyer

I agree it's a nice lounge with wonderful staff. I also agree the food quality has gotten noticeably worse. Many of the items can be also found on the breakfast buffet. On a recent stay the pastrami was blue and rancid. The dishes in the large pot were cold and the meats were rubbery.

As for lounges, after several recent stays, I much prefer the RC Berlin.

KMPete

We're at the IC Berlin right now for five days and I think you can tell a definite difference since the new GM took over. The food and service in the club are far below what we've experienced here on previous Christmastime stays. The breakfast this morning was really rubbish, for instance with mostly what seemed like yesterday's leftovers. They've also rearranged the furniture and made it feel cramped by adding some of those annoying bar tables in the area that used to have the casual seating groups. And to top it off I have gotten the worst upgrade I've ever had in my six years of staying here. We are literally in the smallest room on the club floor and it is neither large nor "deluxe". They told me there weren't suites left but then I was able to go online and find that there are (more than one even) if I made a new reservation and they are even cheaper than my advanced saver rate. Feels like I've gotten a raw deal as a Spire Ambassador. Not sure I'll be coming back here again. And definitely won't be touting this as my favourite IC property or the best club lounge anymore. Extremely disappointing!

loyaltypointschaser

Sad to hear this. I am staying there soon and will report back.

dmp1991

Yeah, I agree that's the rules, but if you read back through the recent posts you'll see a number of people were upgraded to suites. Including some of the larger suites. I've been upgraded to a suite here in the past when I wasn't Spire, so now that I am and don't have a suite, I feel let down.

I disagree. I've stayed at ALOT of ICs and never had one (besides the terrible, terrible Malta IC) call a booking without actual multiple rooms a junior suite. I don't consider non-ICs relevant to this discussion because you could be cherry picking the crappiest hotels in the world as "most". There are certainly more in the world at that end than the 5* end.

We have different standards because I've been here a couple days now and I'm rather disappointed in the changes from previous year's stays. The club is way over-crowded (suspect they upgraded half the people staying to "club") resulting in lack of food and drink being kept available not to mention over-worked staff rushing around trying to deal with it all, thus resulting in a number of luxury touches (greeting by name, asking if you want tea or coffee when sitting at a table, general cleanliness efforts, etc.) going wanting. The club food doesn't seem as high-quality as on previous visits, but it's subtle in that the choices just seem cheaper. For example, they used to take orders and prepare hot items for you individually. Now they put out a big bucket of stew or other things that dry out the longer they sit. And there's just too many people in the club lounge. It's now more like a noisy bar than a relaxing place to be.

My room wasn't properly setup when I arrived -- no water, fruit, or even a welcome letter in the room (letter wasn't handed to me during check-in either.) Parts of the room were, and still are days later, coated with dust to the point I can draw in the dust and leave visible marks. The cleaners seem to fixate on closing my open window (the room is too hot and you have no A/C control) rather than getting a full clean in. This is probably a side effect of the large number of people on the club levels, assuming they didn't bump up the number of people servicing the club levels.

I already talked to the Guest Services Manager about my disappointments, and he sent a bottle of wine my way as a good will gesture, but when I reminded him I didn't drink (it had come up in the initial discussion), the wine was reclaimed but nothing further has been forthcoming (it's been over 36 hours. I'm guessing he couldn't be bothered to see an issue to completion, or he's over-worked.

There's a general theme here of many more people around the "club" items then previous year's at this same time period. Either Berlin has suddenly become "it" for Xmas, or (and I'm theorizing here) the hotel has done something to draw people in or promote regular guests to club, but they're not making sure they can maintain standards with that kind of demand on resources.

All in all, IMO this is a step down from the way things were under the previous general manager. It's still a nice hotel, just having lost a lot of the little details that made it an exceptional hotel previously.

dmp1991

They website says Club Deluxe is 45 sqm, which is 50% larger than a superior.

But I wouldn't call the setup for my room anything that feels "huge". Especially having just stayed in suites due to upgrades at IC Singapore, IC Hong Kong, IC Kuala Lumpur, and a non-IC in Zurich in the last 45 days. Those were all properly huge rooms -- most had multiple bathrooms as an example.

And I strongly doubt the room I'm in is 45 sqm any way. It's got a king bed in it, a loveseat couch against the foot of the bed, a small gap, a coffee table in front of that, another footpath gap, and then the minibar/TV unit against the wall. To the side of the coffee table there's a footpath and then a small-ish desk and side chair against the wall. But there's no open space anywhere beyond narrow walkways between the furniture. I wish they didn't have the coffee table as it just gets in the way. The side tables to the bed touch the bed and wall on both sides of the bed.

For the record, my "deluxe" is one of those with the corner taken out for a connection to suite 800.

IAN-UK

I'm confused. I thought you were Spire (AKA Platinum+), so any sort of upgrade at an IC should be seen as a bonus.

I try to trade down from "true" suites to comfortable rooms. Multiple rooms are often badly set out and give me more opportunity to leave things behind



Something seems to have gone wrong with your visit, as it sounds as though you might be fault-picking.

I wouldn't obsess about the room size and set-up. If it doesn't suit you, change to one that does. Hotel staff usually show great patience in these situations.

Complaining about a gift and expecting a replacement is unlikely to have a satisfactory outcome for either party. If you don't enjoy the wine, you could pass it on to someone who does: gain kudos .

The lounge is probably busy because of the season: people are treating themselves. It was near empty some weeks' back when I stayed: got to say I prefer a buzz. It's a nice enough place for breakfast and a drink before going out in the evening, but i find it a tad soulless: but not a facility I rate as highly as some others do.

Flying Lawyer

To my humble and certainly very limited experience based on something like close to 80 IC properties and probably 500 hotels all over this wonderful globe, a junior suite is per definition not suite with multiple rooms. A suite with multiple rooms would be - correct me if I am wrong - a one-bedroom-suite.

KMPete

I've been in a number of rooms referred to as a Junior Suite that had multiple rooms. And that's at some IC properties as well as a host of other hotels. Sometimes, it's not a full on room but divided with a wall and has a small walk through between the areas. I guess I consider that two rooms but you might classify it as a single room.

KMPete

My original comment, was just simply to provide another data point in what, if anything, has changed since the new GM took over at the IC Berlin. I didn't expect so much snottiness in the responses here, honestly. If you love it here and think nothing has changed, that is great for you. However, that has certainly not been my experience. And I'm really saddened by it because I loved the IC Berlin previously. Having always had exceptional experiences here was what made me start staying at ICs around the world and this is where I originally signed up for the Ambassador program too. Since we have been here every year for the last six at Christmas I think we are more than qualified to make a comparison of this year's experience versus previous ones. The room upgrade not being as good as every year prior is just one little piece of my comment. I'm more concerned by what seems to be a change in the standard of service because that is far more likely to make a hotel unpleasant.

I know I'm just a lowly Spire Ambassador but there are certain things that come with that, or are supposed to at least, and I do expect that at this point after several years of being no less than a Platinum Ambassador. I'm not a DYKWIA but I do expect at least acknowledgment as a loyal customer. And I don't feel acknowledged right now and think this is close to the worst service I have encountered at an IC and definitely the worst in Berlin. But, hey, that's just my humble opinion based on staying at hotels all over the world (sorry I don't have an exact count like some do).

dmp1991

Actually, Spire Ambassador. The room upgrade is supposed to be guaranteed then at the time of booking, right? For the record, that was back in August.

I'm just trying to convey that I feel the hotel has changed. It's subtle, so the things may seem small, but it adds up IMHO to no longer being a top-notch hotel. YMMV.

I'm not obsessed about it, I'm just responding to comments claiming the deluxe is "huge" and "like a jr suite anywhere else". FWIW, even by the comments over at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...ior-suite.html I don't feel this qualifies except in the strictest, literal sense. The "seating area" is crammed within 3 ft of the foot of the bed. I have to move it every night because my feet hang over the edge of the bed.

We did talk to the staff. They told us no other rooms were available to switch to. However, when we went online, you could book rooms (jr club suites ftw) at lower than our pre-pay rate.

It's like you are purposefully missing the point. Are you trolling?

Pointing out someone gave a gift you can't use, even after previously being informed you couldn't use it, seems a good way to point out they are pretty bad at the basics of hospitality. I even gave it back to them politely and said I couldn't use it so they might as well have it back. I could have just poured it out, but that seems spiteful, or given it away to someone randomly, which would have been great for that person I guess but doesn't make me appreciate the "gift" more. I guess you think it's always wrong to turn down alcohol when you don't drink?

I've been here a number of consecutive years at Xmas. This is NOT standard with those past years is all I'm saying. Given the past consistency in calmness at the holidays, I don't think it's wrong to start questioning the difference. And this is way more than a "buzz" -- this is out and out like a family restaurant or bar atmosphere at times of breakfast or dinner/drinks.

Doing a web search shows that there doesn't seem to be an accepted, definite definition. But I'll agree that the most common one people work under is one of a room with a separated bed and seating area. The differentiator from "jr suite" to "suite" appears to be that the separation is by an actual door. But I maintain that in a jr suite there should still be differentiation of some kind. Here the seating (aka love seat) is literally abutted to the foot of the bed. I therefore don't consider this room "like a jr suite". But I do acknowledge your definition may vary.

I'm not sure what I've said that has gotten everyone so riled up. Are you all relatives of the new GM or something? I'm just trying to convey a personal opinion about how things have changed between past stays and this, my first after the new GM. I guess my opinion is different than yours, but I'm not wrong or sorry about having an opinion.

loyaltypointschaser

Stayed at IC Berlin for 2 nights and have also experienced some issues that has been mentioned by "KMpete and "dmp1991". I will write a bit more when I have a chance.

I commented that deluxe room is nice and big earlier, but I have now realised that some of the deluxe rooms are actually not as nice as the others! ( we provide more details later)

For the record the lounge staff are still wonderful and I am happy with my stay. But there are just some small little things that I certainly noticed the difference.

It did not bother me, but just for the data point I did not receive a welcome letter either and neither have I received the AMB fruit plate.

My parents who stayed for the first time did receive a welcome letter, so maybe just for the new guest? However, neither have them received a fruit plate.
We did moved to different rooms afterwards, so "perhaps" fruits were sent to the wrong rooms? (but I checked in at 6pm)

The lounge was very busy during certain time of the day and at some point they were running out of tea pots etc. But after my experience at IC FRA this Easter (1 person serving a packed lounge) I wasn't too bother by that.

I noticed the room price kept dropping 2 weeks before my stay, so I changed my booking to an AP rate as the price is lower than usual. Perhaps the low price might explain the reason why club lounge was busier than usual?

nicolas75

What suspense
We burn to learn more

nicolas75

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26128179-post40.html