thefilipinotraveler

Just had a wonderful stay at the IC, thanks to all who convinced me I actually ended up spending 2 nights in Bahrain (because of my Saudia flight cancellation) so I was also able to stay at the Garden Inn the following night.

IAN-UK

I seem to remember the HGI was extravagantly expensive, compared to the IC. How did this play out in your assessment of the two properties as "value propositions"?

thefilipinotraveler

Luckily, I had (almost) enough Hilton points when I booked my stay so I only paid 5USD + 41K Hilton points for one night. Had I paid cash, it would have been another story since as you said, HGI is really expensive. On the other hand, I booked the IC from Zen Hotels (most OTAS were charging the usual rate as the IC website which was double) and only paid 108USD with breakfast so it was definitely great value. But had I not found such deal, I would have not booked IC.

If I had to pay the normal rates for both hotels, I would choose the HGI for better value since the rooms are really spacious and modern (plus I have Hilton diamond status which gives room upgrade).

lamphs

Any recent updates? Choosing between this and the LM. I have Platinum with IHG (doesn't mean much). With choosing a club/lounge floor, it works out to be the same price as the LM (Marriott LTP). And the LM does not guarantee a non-smoking room. Leaning towards this property unless someone can advise otherwise.

Gentleman Adventurer

Any recent visits to InterContinental Manama Bahrain? I'm headed there on Sunday... Looking for tips

VaBeachGirl

I stay here 20 to 50 nights every year! Been twice already this year (first stay 20 nights, 2nd stay 10 nights) and will be back again in December. Get Club Lounge access, Siyam and Didar are the best lounge guys ever!
The pool at the spa is better than the Elements pool only because they cut off half the space down there by building a structure for catering.
Great location next to the souq and across from Bahrain harbor for sunsets.
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khabah

Stayed here for two nights in August - quick observations below:

• As a Diamond Ambassador, I was upgraded to a full suite with separate living room and bedroom at the end of the hall. Comfortable with fantastic IC-level bedding, but beware the sloping ramp into the main bathroom - I kept tripping on that thinking it's a step.
• The hotel claims to have put me in a renovated room, but you can't get away from the age of this building and its design; the ceilings are low, the interiors are dark and the exterior windows are tiny. I really wish the owners would have shut the building down and completely gutted it/torn it down and started over rather than slap lipstick on this old, concrete pig.
• Service was generally quite good; lounge staff in particular are excellent as VaBeachGirl mentioned above.
• The breakfast buffet was decent; nothing special in terms of offerings, but an extensive enough buffet with staff milling around to ask if you need anything.

All in all, this was a good enough hotel - just a shame it's dark and dingy. I'd stay here again for IHG runs, but the bright, shiny new Conrad just across the road will certainly be an intriguing prospect when it opens that January.

khabah

nicolas75

The hotel is a solid business hotel with pleasant club lounge, 2 outdoor pools and great service.





As said by khabah, although the hotel has recently been refurbished, the fact that it dates back to the 1970s means that the possibilities for conversion are limited.

Its location is central, but less pleasant than the Four Seasons, facing the bay, as it is situated in a mineral (and partly noisy) urban environment.

stargold

Given that the IC rates range between 1/3 and 1/2 of the FS, they should be considered in that context. I'd imagine Conrad will also be substantially more expensive than the IC?

escape4

Out of curiosity, what room type did you book in order to be upgraded to a suite? I am also Diamond Ambassador, I booked the standard room and I was told at check-in that they only upgrade +1 but that they were so generous and upgraded me +2 to a club room, without club access. So from that conversation my takeaway was that suite upgrades were simply out of bounds. For people who have status with multiple hotel chains I am not sure why I would stay here again.

The upgrade situation is not the biggest issue. As you mentioned, the window in the room must be less than 20% of the wall area in my estimation. But what you did not mention above is that the window is not flat on the outer wall of the building, it's within a "box" such that the room gets even less direct sunlight than it would otherwise which is compounding a problem which was already severe to begin with and one of the worst I have ever seen, in any chain hotel of the world. This kind of design was exclusively an air conditioning saving measure at the detriment of guests having a bright room; personally I found the room quite horrible.

In terms of location, I am guessing different people are in Manama for different reasons, but personally I find IC's location very poor and upon returning I would not want to be there.

I found almost no redeeming features for this hotel except for the breakfast which was adequate and service in the restaurant was good.

janvdr

Currently at this hotel. Booked a classic high floor room and my upgrade as (Diamond) Ambassador is... a classic club room, without club access. Basically I received the same room as the one I booked...
My colleague, not an IHG member, booked the cheapest room option through a third party website and received the exact same room as I did.
Pretty lousy treatment of Ambassadors I would say...

Added: I contacted the Ambassador desk which promptly contacted the property and compensated by adding points to my account for the lack of upgrade

MeltingAlf

This isn't like, a really stellar property hardware-wise (the quirks of the building like the half-windows does betray its age) but I quite enjoyed my stay here. I'd say the cleaning is impeccable, and the service staff a lot more enthusiastic that the ones in Muscat. Was even asked if I needed a check-out time beyond 4 (4 sufficed — I had a flight to Doha at 5:50), and I arrived at the weirdest of hours (3am) exhausted and whoever checked me in really did it in no time.

Given the rates this was asking, and the location it is, I'd say I'd definitely do a repeat stay next time in Bahrain. It's no waterfront location but count me a fan.

Didn't get a suite (am Diamond Amb) but definitely not bothered by that.

escape4

Similar experience for me, and I took the liberty to fix your statement above for completeness

Poor hotel for elite recognition. Breakfast and nothing else