holtju2

The RA benefits are stingy. They also make a "special" treatment to RA's minibars as I posted on FT and with pictures here as well.

infoworks

I asked. The hotel will honour fee internet and use of mini bar for an RA but no upgrad and no lounge access. Policy from IGH.

Dave Noble

The treatment as pictured is not entirely accurate. The hotel has now changed the contents of mini bars in general so some of the items shown now in the 1st picture no longer exist in any mini bars in the hotel

They do reduce the quantity of items in the mini bar however; they only provide 1 of each item

They do try to avoid providing the published RA upgrade benefits by not providing any of an executive room, club room or suite when booking the lowest category room

holtju2

I have to do a test next time. lol

I have been to this property probably close to ten times in the past 6 months. These have all been paid stays. I have ALWAYS received a club room regardless that I have booked the most basic level room, but I have never received a suite.

Dave Noble

As of at least may, the hotel's upgrade policy is as per post 72 in this thread ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18570264-post72.html )

Book a deluxe room and will get a Grand Premier room ( which has no club access ) ; if you are getting upgrades to a club without booking at least a premier room then you are getting better service than they give to Royal Ambassadors normally; staying regularly there may well be getting you additional benefits

Personally I prefer to stay at the Crowne Plaza in KL

holtju2

Yes. I have seen it, but that doesn't comply with the RA benefits.

The location of the CP is better, but it is an old hotel that going to be demolished soon.

Dave Noble

I know it doesn't comply, but that is what they are doing

I find the rooms there very nice ; that it may have been there for a longer period may well be true but the rooms are (imo) nice. Until it closes, that is my preferred KL option

pr0digy25

PC T&Cs say that an RA should be upgraded to an exec room, Club IC room or suite. From the cheapest room here (deluxe) they upgrade you to what is called a Grand Premier room which the FD classes as an exec room, when in fact it's just a refurbed room on the lower floors. The actual exec rooms are up on the higher floors 20+.

The Grand Premier has no club access... Had to argue with the FD with their website on my laptop and the PC T&Cs that the The Grand PRemier is not an exec room. They grudgingly gave me club access, but still in a low room overlooking construction that goes day to night.

I've stayed in many ICs around the world and this one is by far the worst I have seen in treatment of RAs.

I also tried the new DoubleTree up the road, even though I am not a Hilton Diamond... I was treated wonderfully there, nice suite with Club access. This DT is good enough to be a full-blown Hilton.

aks120

For info - as a Platinum Ambassador I got the following back from the hotel:


Deluxe room Upgrade to Premier room
Premier room Upgrade to Grand Premier
Grand Premier Upgrade to Executive Club Room (access Club lounge)
Executive Club room upgrade to Executive Suite room (access Club Lounge)
Executive Suite room upgrade to Ambassador Suite (access club lounge)

However, if the room booking using reward night then will remain at the same category which is DELUXE ROOM

Regards

aks120

pr0digy25

Having stayed a few nights at the IC KUL over a period of a week and a half I can say this property is utterly shameful.

First off is the aforementioned minibar ripoff... I am not a drinker yet I feel ripped off with 3 measly beers. Not even a bottle of wine despite the quite extensive wine list in the in room dining menu.

Second is the RA upgrade.... If you book the most basic room you get upgraded to a Grand Premier room which is well appointed albeit on the lower floors and without club access. If you want a room on a higher floor you will have to book on the executive floor.

Sounds easy enough right? Well you pay more naturally for an exec/club level room... But what you get is an old Nikko room that shows significant signs of wear and tear. Pay more, get less seems to be the appropriate idiom here.

The Grand Premier rooms are not executive rooms as they are not on the executive floor yet the IC KUL likes to think of them as that. Why they would refurbish basic rooms first I have no idea, perhaps to give the illusion to the non status stayer that the hotel has undergone extensive refurbishment which is sorely not the case.

So my advice for those RAs looking to book this property is book the most basic room which will give youa new Grand Premier room and either arm yourself with the PC T&Cs to give you club access or negotiate for the club as a supplement to the GP room.

Dave Noble

The minibar "rip-off" does not remove any actual item types from the minibar, just that instead of being 2 of each item, they only provide 1. That there is no wine is not an issue of RA, just that they dont have them in the bar


Good luck; if you want club access then you will generally need to book a premier room which upgrades to club room ( which would I suspect be much better value than negotiating a rate for club access ). The difference in price between a deluxe room and a premier room is only about USD10 to USD13 a night

Personally, I much prefer the Crowne Plaza to the IC in KL and would now book that rather than the IC

holtju2

Either a suite or club access as quite a few of the IC properties seem to do. There is nothing "premier" or "grand" on this Grand Premier room.

I would rather not to book either of these two IHG properties in KL. Why give money to substandard properties?

If you prefer to stay around the IC, the DoubleTree is an excellent option. HH Diamond members can expect both a suite (if available) and club access (guaranteed). Also, the club at the DT is better than at the IC.

Dave Noble

There is the cop-out in the T&Cs of "Executive Room" ; KL does seem to stick to 2 categories upgrade for RAs which means that a basic room booking doesnt get club access; fortunately the price of next category room is pretty small

I don't find the CP to be a substandard property, but quite a decent property so am quite happy to stay there; the suites there are quite decent. I also find the CP location to be better than the IC location

getting HH Diamond in the 1st place is the problem for me, since not many reasonable value Hiltons where I tend to go

pr0digy25

These is nothing in the PC T&Cs that say a "two level" upgrade. It says Exec Room, Club IC Room or Suite for an upgrade.

IC KUL tried to argue that the GP rooms were Executive Rooms, but the actual Exec Rooms are on the upper (20-24th floor or somewhere abouts) and are actually the old Nikko rooms.

The IHG website does not mention anywhere that a GP room is an Exec Room and with that fact and showing the T&Cs to the loyalty manager, I wretched free club access out of them. Sure it was only a few dollars more to pay for the Club, but if they are not adhering to IHG guidelines then they need to be corrected.

Staff told me there that the franchisee is actually pretty backward and seems to go against the advice of IHG on many aspects of the hotel. So who knows, if things continue the way they are.... may not be an IC in KUL for too many years.

Dave Noble

I don't disagree tha they seem to be actively trying to avoid providing the benefits and , indeed, a 2 level upgrade is definitely not in the T&Cs ...

Knowing what the hotel does however , it is (imo) easier to either avoid staying there or book a room 2 categories lower than what room type is wanted than have to engage in fights over everything there. If wanting a club room, the extra cost of a premier room is fortunately trivial. If looking for higher category rooms ( e.g. suite ) , the plus of their policies is that it is v easy to know exactly what to book in order to get the desired category

Personally, I happily stay at the CP where I have tended to receive very good service

Dave