IC Dubai Festival City (Master Thread)
 

Stayed at the IC Dubai Festival Center recently on a 2 Night award stay. As an Ambassador I received upgrade to the club level rooms.

Due to miscommunication I was not clear that the access to the club was actually not included. It was a bit unpleasant when they informed me about the fact. We bought it for 360 AED per day which we booked against our planned breakfast expense.

The property is very nice and we enjoyed staying there. The weather was very (surprisingly) pleasant.


The only disadvantage was that it is located a bit away from our target locations (Dubai Mall and Burj al Arab) - we spend a bit of time in taxis.


I posted a few pictures on my

Heavy discounts for July/ August
 

Just saw that the IC Festival City is heavily discounted in July/ August (50 % to 70 %), e.g.

only 475 AED/night on advance purchase IDAVR (=points)
or even just 380 AED/night on IVFF1 (= no points)

Best flex is 950 AED!

It's actually cheaper than the CP next door and a couple of HIs. I don't know if this is a current promo for UAE. Fantastic deal when travel plans have already been sorted out.

Guess I am just not that comfortable when the temp gets up into the 50Cs range...

It seems the discount also extends to my proposed dates in September. The discount is now approaching F&F rates:

F&F rate = AED 427.51
Adv. Pur. = AED 475.00

For the difference of 47.5AED (about $13 AUD), I think I'd be getting more value paying the extra and collecting the points.

As an FYI, I was looking at using my BOGO here and asked IC FC about their upgrade policy for AMB's. From the horse's mouth:

"Regarding the upgrade, if you have the Ambassador Membership you will have an upgrade to the next room category which is:
A - Superior upgraded to Deluxe room
B - Deluxe upgraded to Executive room.
C - Executive room upgraded to one bedroom suite without club access.

Please note that only Club InterContinental Room will have an access to the Club lunge and the upgrade for this one will be to one bed room suite."

Here's hoping the Club will serve all usual amenities and drinkies during Ramadan.

Just to add to above, I have also booked this hotel for later in the year and they have confirmed by e mail, I can use a free weekend voucher on a 1 bedroom deluxe suite suite on F&F rate and as an ambassador they wont upgrade to a 2 bedroom suite but will give me free club access.^^^

REALLY!!!??? I emailed them to ask whether I could use F&F rate on BOGO usage and they said no! Was there anything peculiar about your booking?

Before I booked I emailed them as I was not going to commit to an F&F as you cannot cancel, they said yes they would honour the F&F and BOGOF, but after I booked I emailed them to ask about upgrades and they said you cant use a bogof and F&F I then said I have a email that says I can and have already booked, they then said OK send us proof (which I did) and they then said they will honour it but as stated before as an ambassador they will offer free club use.

I have also booked 3 nights on points after the weekend stay and they have already given me the 1 room upgrade.

1st time to Dubai
 

Hi All,

I'm planning to go to dubai next year! Thou i know it's still a long time but i be planning to stay at Intercon. DFC. Basically i have a few questions :

1. When are their High and Low Season?
2. Being a Gold Amb. , if i book an Exec. Room what room would i be upgraded to?
3. Is it abvisable to take a city cab to the hotel or use the hotel's service?

Thanks!
Jonathan

My teenage niece is 6' 3" and it infuriates her when people ask her if she plays basketball.
She feels like asking them if they play mini golf :rolleyes:

High season in Dubai is from November - March and low season April - October (temperatures can reach 45 easily and you cannot walk anywhere outside)

I have always gone in either November or March and the weather is really really pleasant especially coming from the UK.

For my stay coming up in November as an Ambassador they will always give a one room upgrade they have upgraded my room type on points and I have a suite booking that they have upgraded to club rather than upgrade to a 2 room suite, all emails I have sent have been replied to very promptly.

If you have booked an exec w/o club they will either upgrade you to an club room creek view w/o club access or you could ask them to keep you in the same room but ask for club access, I know they are very good to RA's my brother booked with points and received a 1 bedroom suite for the first part of his stay and a 2 bedroom suite for the second part both with club access.

If you are coming from DXB I would just jump a cab from the airport expect to pay no more than 50dhm (£10) maximum as it is not that far.

I think this promo is over. :( I try to book for my travel in July, but the minimum prices are around 665 AED for advance purchase. Bestflex 950 AED.

Just booked Club Package for IC Dubai. The hotel have confirmed via email that the airport transfers are no longer included in the Club Package.....

"Unfortunately, the club room don’t include airport transfers anymore. The airport transfers now are going for a rate of AED 170 per way per car and a maximum of three adults from Dubai international airport".

Just take a taxi then, as it is not worth praying that price. A taxi is a lot cheaper, they are easily available and the hotel is less than ten minutes from the airport.

Thanks, i thought the price seemed on the high side!

Policy change on f&f rate.....

If you book f&f rate they now do not provide room upgrade or free minibar. You get exactly what you have booked. I had an email before I made my reservation confirming I would get all benefits on f&f rate with my RA status. I therefore was upgraded to a 2 bed suite and free minibar included;) Be careful when booking this rate now with the policy change!