Mr. LAU

Be careful at IC Berchtesgaden! They will probably not upgrade you on the F&F rate.

Booked three nights last September - first two on an old Bogo and the third with F&F - and were able to keep the upgraded suite for the whole stay, but were told that they normally do not upgrade on F&F and that they would normally charge you extra to keep the same room / suite with a F&F booking or you will have the option to move.

Tried booking the F&F rate again for a stay this upcoming weekend. Received an email from the reservations manager a few days later that they will not provide an upgrade with that rate - but they offered to change the booking to an advance purchase rate (which is about 65 Euros more per night) which we finally did to receive a penthouse suite.

Regarding the extra person charge: you won´t get charged as an Ambassador.

Beecherman

Thanks to all who replied!!! I really appreciate it.

And to those who are worried about whether or not the F&F discount is okay to use, I e-mailed Ana Lowe via FB. She e-mailed me back and said that 'yes', it is okay for all to use, and she encouraged me to use it, and to report back to her on where I stayed, and what I thought.

I don't want to inundate her with e-mails, but she said to use it, and put her name on it. She works in the ICHG corporate office in Derby, England. She said no one should have a problem using it, and if they do, that the hotel should contact her about it.

And regarding the Berchtesgaden Resort in Germany, we'll be staying there during the week. So we cannot use my BOGO certificate. There's a difference of about 42 euros between the F&F rate and the lowest advanced stay rate. Since we're only paying for 1 night (the other 2 are free from last year's promotion) I might just pay the higher rate to be sure to get the upgrade. We're celebrating my partner's 50th birthday and I'd like to get a nice room.

Also, I figure staying there during the week might increase our chances of getting a really nice upgrade (maybe a couple of levels).

Any thoughts? Thanks again.....

Beecherman

This is standard for Germany.

You get around it by having Ambassador - one of the benefits is no extra person charge at IC's.

You shouldn't get points for F&F rate, but its an IC so you're only missing out on 2,000! The F&F discount is so huge at Berchtesgaden that it outweighs it.

(One option for poi ntsis to use the 2-4-1 AMB voucher to cover 2 nights over a weekend. 50% off 2 Best Flex weekend nights is cheaper than the F&F rate. Book the other nights on F&F rate. You'll get your 2,000 points and 2 nights credit as the BOGO nights should qualify.)

Thanks for the reply, but what is the '2 Best Flex' weekend nights?

CokeandTaco

Email or call the hotel in advance to let them know about the special occasion. Ask them about any upgrade opportunites when you make contact. Hopefully, this will eliminate the chance of being disappointed when you arrive.
Have a good stay.

AMF in NJ

F&F doesn't seem to be bookable for any Paris hotels, except for the ICs, and I don't want to spend that much. It's been like this for a while, are they pulled from the F&F rate or is this a bug?

sweets61250

Booked for the next 21 days.

AMF in NJ

I see, thank you.

Beecherman

The feedback I have read is that I will most likely NOT get upgraded at IC Berchtesgaden on a F&F rate. So I'm wondering if I'll have a better shot at using 40k points and just booking a room instead.

What have others experienced? Is it better to use points over F&F? Or is there no difference?

For the second night I am using my 'Free Nights Promotion' night earned in 2010.

We're traveling a long distance to visit this property (from Los Angeles) and will go onto Salzburg & Munich for 4 additional nights, but our stay at the IC Berchtesgaden is for 'relaxation' and I want it to be as luxurious as possible (and as much as I can afford!!!).

Much thanks again to all who have provided feedback, and to those who will!!

Chinatrvl

I have stayed in Berchtesgaden probably 20 times. Always on "full rates", and a couple of times on reward nights. We use the latter when we book the hotel in the morning and arrive there at noon on the same day and best flex rate is hideously expensive. A reward night usually gets us an upgrade to a panorama studio. This is a "regular room" with the view you would like to have to experience this hotel.

On regular rates, the cheapest room usually gets us a Panorama suite, sometimes a penthouse suite. Booking an executive room gets upgraded to a penthouse suite.

When you want your stay to be as "luxurious as possbile", the room you ideally would like to have a is a panorama suite - a penthouse is nice, but not necessarily much better. It has a roof top terrace, though, which is nice during the summer months.
A regular executive studio is "luxurious" as well, but it's -well- just a regular hotel room.

I cannot comment on F&F rate, as I have never stayed on this rate at this hotel.

If you are on a tight budget, you need to be very aware that this hotel is expensive (particularily when you enjoy the great USD/EUR fx...). The restaurants and beverages are expensive, so is the bar, so are massages, parking etc. I can only recommend renting a car, so you can go somewhere else to have dinner and -of course- for some trips around.

If you have any further questions, just ask. I think there are two or three other frequent guests of this hotel here on FT.

Btw, there's also a dedicated thread to this hotel for further information.

xerobasher

does anyone know when exactly they charge the credit card? I just made a booking through F&F, advance purchase rate...don't think I have been charged, didn't get any confirmation for the payment or similar...

Shimon

I am staying at the CP in Jerusalem on the F&F rate. I have extended my stay by an extra 2 nights at the same rate. Had I known they would extend the booking at the same rate I would have booked in 3-4 nights earlier.

The F&F rate was not bookable online for the night I extended my stay for.

camsean

It varies by hotel, but the majority of my F&F stays have not been charged in advance. YMMV

Raffles

The Ambassador 'free weekend night' voucher is only now valid on Best Flexible Rate. My point was that using a voucher is still worthwhile, since booking 2 nights at the Best Flexible Rate (one of which will be free with the voucher) is cheaper than 2 nights using the F&F or Advanced Purchase rates, so if you have a voucher it is worth using. You will also get your basic IC 2,000 points for the BOGO nights.

Beecherman

Thanks Chinatrvl...I appreciate your quick reply. And you answered my question. I looked into the 'T&C' for Ambassadors and the upgrade rule does not apply when you book a room using points. Its up to the hotel's discretion. I was interested in gauging other travelers experience at this property. And since we'll be staying there on a Tues/Wed in February my gut tells me our chance for an upgrade is good. We would love to stay in the Presidential Suite, but the room you described is exactly what I hope we will be given (the Panorama Suite).

And thanks for your advice about the overall cost of the hotel. I understand, and have stayed at other similar 'resort' properties and know to 'be careful'.

Best of luck to you, and happy travels!

Chinatrvl

I just realized your are "only" Ambassador - I posted about RA upgrades, which will most likely not apply to you. Sorry!