InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort [Master Thread]
May 18, 2014, 8:04 am
#61
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: MUC
Programs: LH Sen, HH Diamond, IC RA
Posts: 313
Worst IHG Experience ever...
Just a short review about my experience at the IC Danang:
- bad communication:
before arrival I had to write several Emails to get my questions answered. My reservation inquiry for the 1880 restaurant was answered immediately, the other general questions like upgrade policy, transfer, club benefits,etc
needed several replies.
- check-in: Check-in Procedure took too much time, was almost 45 minutes, after that, room wasn´t ready, had to wait until 2 pm. No information about the resort was given, had to ask myself for a map of the resort (which is huge).
- room downgrade: As I wrote in my previous post, I had 2 points reservations and 1 paid night. For the paid night an upgrade to Peninsula Suite was confirmed. Before arrival I checked the IHG webiste with my bookings. That showed an upgrade to Terrace Suite for all 3 nights, a one-level-upgrade for the 2 reward nights and no upgrade for the 3rd night, as this was the category I had booked. After check-in, when they took us to our room, I realised, that we got a standard room in the Club Area.
At first, this was ok for us, Club Acess instead of room upgrade would also be fine. But when we asked for details of the Club, we were told, that we indeed had a club room but as we were staying on points, we wouldn´t receive any club benefits...
When I asked about the 3rd (paid) night, I was told, that we could stay in the same room for all three nights. When I requested to speak to the general manager, I was told, that no one from managment was available on that day. After one day, I had the chance to speak to the front office manager and also had a phone call from the manager of operations one day later (after I contacted IHG Care via Email). They offered some compensation ( free breakfast for 2 days and access to Club for one evening), which we accepted.
- Food: What really impressed me, was the Sunday Brunch, which you can choose with 3 different options: 1. with free soft drinks, 2. with wine and beer, 3. with free flow Veuve Cliquot Champage.
We chose the Brunch with free flow Champage, which was about 60 Euro pp.
The Champagne glass was always refilled when it was emptied.
Dinner 1880: Value for money excellent, really good food, very attentive staff, good English skills of the staff. Strange atmosphere, 90% of the guest from Asia, taking photos of really everything, every page of the menue, every course of the menue, while waiting for the next course they were surfing the internet, watching Youtube,...
On one side they allow no children, on the other side they should consider the ban of mobile phones in this restaurant :-)
- water sports: Almost non- existent, as someone wrote in a previous post, that Hobi Cats are on order, they still haven´t arrived yet. The sea at this time (April) was very cold, much cooler compared to the Danang Beach at the Hyatt, where the water had more waves but was also much warmer.
- The pool at Long Bar looks nice, but they are only 4-6 double sunbeds which were always taken.
-In South East Asia I have never stayed in a Hotel, where the staff had such little English skills. It´s impossible to order food the way you like it, e.g. Dinner buffet at the Grill BBQ Station they don´t understand the meaning of rare, medium, well-done.
No-one of the staff can answer questions, where is the salad dressing, because it wasn´t next to the salad. I had to ask the Executive Chef, who had to ask another person. In the end it was next to the cold cuts, but with no signs on it. Asked another staff member, what dressing it was, but he had no clue...This is the problem with everything on the food buffet, you better don´t ask anyone about the different cheeses, how you like your egg cooked, etc.
- The Happy Hour 2 for 1 was disspointing, because there was only a limited menue to choose from. Very few cocktails, more long drinks, beer and wine. The promised Canapees for Happy Hour were only a small bowl of nuts.
- Noise from Construction at the Beach, as they are building some residence (same owner, but will not be associated with IHG)
-Rooms: The room itself was quite nice, but not very functional, the design is black wood and white walls, in my opinion it doesn´t make any sense to pay more money for the rooms with bigger terraces as the terraces are always in the shadow. During our stay, we hardly seen anyone using their terrace.
In the late afternoon there are too many moskitos, to sit outside. In the room there is no moskito-net, because of the dark materials in the room, even if you hear the moskitos, you have no chance to catch them.
Very thin walls, if the Bose Surround System in the room next to you is used, you will understand every single word from the movie your neighbour is watching.
- There was a strange smell all over the resort,like sewage, when we asked about it, we were told it was a kind of fertilizer for the plants. Smelled really bad, especially near the Barefoot restaurant.
- Spiders: As I am afraid of spiders, I wasn´t really happy with a large spider (10cm) sitting next to our room entrance for the whole 3 days. Would have been nice, if housekeeping, garden maintainance, or any of the staff walking by every day, had removed it.
-Club: Had only one evening access to Cocktail Hour in the Executive Club. It is definately not worth paying for it, only limited choice of beverages, very slow service as the waiter hat to mix the cocktails by themselves, food wasn´t refilled regularly, most time it was empty.
Conclusion:
Overall an impressive resort with interesting "fantasy" design, especially the public toilets are worth seeing. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, despite they offer free transport to Hoi An and Danang at very inconvenient times,you have to take a taxi if you want to have dinner outside, which will cost you about 75 US$ return to Hoi An.
Food and beverage quite expensive compared to other 5-Stars resorts (Hyatt Regency Danang). Will definately not return.If staying on points don´t expect anything, was told several times, if you stay on points, you will get no benefits, even if they write you in previous emails, you´ll get an upgrade if available, but not guaranteed.
- bad communication:
before arrival I had to write several Emails to get my questions answered. My reservation inquiry for the 1880 restaurant was answered immediately, the other general questions like upgrade policy, transfer, club benefits,etc
needed several replies.
- check-in: Check-in Procedure took too much time, was almost 45 minutes, after that, room wasn´t ready, had to wait until 2 pm. No information about the resort was given, had to ask myself for a map of the resort (which is huge).
- room downgrade: As I wrote in my previous post, I had 2 points reservations and 1 paid night. For the paid night an upgrade to Peninsula Suite was confirmed. Before arrival I checked the IHG webiste with my bookings. That showed an upgrade to Terrace Suite for all 3 nights, a one-level-upgrade for the 2 reward nights and no upgrade for the 3rd night, as this was the category I had booked. After check-in, when they took us to our room, I realised, that we got a standard room in the Club Area.
At first, this was ok for us, Club Acess instead of room upgrade would also be fine. But when we asked for details of the Club, we were told, that we indeed had a club room but as we were staying on points, we wouldn´t receive any club benefits...
When I asked about the 3rd (paid) night, I was told, that we could stay in the same room for all three nights. When I requested to speak to the general manager, I was told, that no one from managment was available on that day. After one day, I had the chance to speak to the front office manager and also had a phone call from the manager of operations one day later (after I contacted IHG Care via Email). They offered some compensation ( free breakfast for 2 days and access to Club for one evening), which we accepted.
- Food: What really impressed me, was the Sunday Brunch, which you can choose with 3 different options: 1. with free soft drinks, 2. with wine and beer, 3. with free flow Veuve Cliquot Champage.
We chose the Brunch with free flow Champage, which was about 60 Euro pp.
The Champagne glass was always refilled when it was emptied.
Dinner 1880: Value for money excellent, really good food, very attentive staff, good English skills of the staff. Strange atmosphere, 90% of the guest from Asia, taking photos of really everything, every page of the menue, every course of the menue, while waiting for the next course they were surfing the internet, watching Youtube,...
On one side they allow no children, on the other side they should consider the ban of mobile phones in this restaurant :-)
- water sports: Almost non- existent, as someone wrote in a previous post, that Hobi Cats are on order, they still haven´t arrived yet. The sea at this time (April) was very cold, much cooler compared to the Danang Beach at the Hyatt, where the water had more waves but was also much warmer.
- The pool at Long Bar looks nice, but they are only 4-6 double sunbeds which were always taken.
-In South East Asia I have never stayed in a Hotel, where the staff had such little English skills. It´s impossible to order food the way you like it, e.g. Dinner buffet at the Grill BBQ Station they don´t understand the meaning of rare, medium, well-done.
No-one of the staff can answer questions, where is the salad dressing, because it wasn´t next to the salad. I had to ask the Executive Chef, who had to ask another person. In the end it was next to the cold cuts, but with no signs on it. Asked another staff member, what dressing it was, but he had no clue...This is the problem with everything on the food buffet, you better don´t ask anyone about the different cheeses, how you like your egg cooked, etc.
- The Happy Hour 2 for 1 was disspointing, because there was only a limited menue to choose from. Very few cocktails, more long drinks, beer and wine. The promised Canapees for Happy Hour were only a small bowl of nuts.
- Noise from Construction at the Beach, as they are building some residence (same owner, but will not be associated with IHG)
-Rooms: The room itself was quite nice, but not very functional, the design is black wood and white walls, in my opinion it doesn´t make any sense to pay more money for the rooms with bigger terraces as the terraces are always in the shadow. During our stay, we hardly seen anyone using their terrace.
In the late afternoon there are too many moskitos, to sit outside. In the room there is no moskito-net, because of the dark materials in the room, even if you hear the moskitos, you have no chance to catch them.
Very thin walls, if the Bose Surround System in the room next to you is used, you will understand every single word from the movie your neighbour is watching.
- There was a strange smell all over the resort,like sewage, when we asked about it, we were told it was a kind of fertilizer for the plants. Smelled really bad, especially near the Barefoot restaurant.
- Spiders: As I am afraid of spiders, I wasn´t really happy with a large spider (10cm) sitting next to our room entrance for the whole 3 days. Would have been nice, if housekeeping, garden maintainance, or any of the staff walking by every day, had removed it.
-Club: Had only one evening access to Cocktail Hour in the Executive Club. It is definately not worth paying for it, only limited choice of beverages, very slow service as the waiter hat to mix the cocktails by themselves, food wasn´t refilled regularly, most time it was empty.
Conclusion:
Overall an impressive resort with interesting "fantasy" design, especially the public toilets are worth seeing. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, despite they offer free transport to Hoi An and Danang at very inconvenient times,you have to take a taxi if you want to have dinner outside, which will cost you about 75 US$ return to Hoi An.
Food and beverage quite expensive compared to other 5-Stars resorts (Hyatt Regency Danang). Will definately not return.If staying on points don´t expect anything, was told several times, if you stay on points, you will get no benefits, even if they write you in previous emails, you´ll get an upgrade if available, but not guaranteed.
May 19, 2014, 3:20 am
#62
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Stuck on this planet - mainly in STR and LAX
Posts: 5,019
Looks like they did not improve much. Was there more than a year ago. Too many issues. Back then they promised that the construction noise would only last for a few more weeks then.
We left early after two days.
We left early after two days.
May 27, 2014, 8:10 am
#63
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,363
Just a short review about my experience at the IC Danang:
- bad communication:
before arrival I had to write several Emails to get my questions answered. My reservation inquiry for the 1880 restaurant was answered immediately, the other general questions like upgrade policy, transfer, club benefits,etc
needed several replies.
- check-in: Check-in Procedure took too much time, was almost 45 minutes, after that, room wasn´t ready, had to wait until 2 pm. No information about the resort was given, had to ask myself for a map of the resort (which is huge).
- room downgrade: As I wrote in my previous post, I had 2 points reservations and 1 paid night. For the paid night an upgrade to Peninsula Suite was confirmed. Before arrival I checked the IHG webiste with my bookings. That showed an upgrade to Terrace Suite for all 3 nights, a one-level-upgrade for the 2 reward nights and no upgrade for the 3rd night, as this was the category I had booked. After check-in, when they took us to our room, I realised, that we got a standard room in the Club Area.
At first, this was ok for us, Club Acess instead of room upgrade would also be fine. But when we asked for details of the Club, we were told, that we indeed had a club room but as we were staying on points, we wouldn´t receive any club benefits...
When I asked about the 3rd (paid) night, I was told, that we could stay in the same room for all three nights. When I requested to speak to the general manager, I was told, that no one from managment was available on that day. After one day, I had the chance to speak to the front office manager and also had a phone call from the manager of operations one day later (after I contacted IHG Care via Email). They offered some compensation ( free breakfast for 2 days and access to Club for one evening), which we accepted.
- Food: What really impressed me, was the Sunday Brunch, which you can choose with 3 different options: 1. with free soft drinks, 2. with wine and beer, 3. with free flow Veuve Cliquot Champage.
We chose the Brunch with free flow Champage, which was about 60 Euro pp.
The Champagne glass was always refilled when it was emptied.
Dinner 1880: Value for money excellent, really good food, very attentive staff, good English skills of the staff. Strange atmosphere, 90% of the guest from Asia, taking photos of really everything, every page of the menue, every course of the menue, while waiting for the next course they were surfing the internet, watching Youtube,...
On one side they allow no children, on the other side they should consider the ban of mobile phones in this restaurant :-)
- water sports: Almost non- existent, as someone wrote in a previous post, that Hobi Cats are on order, they still haven´t arrived yet. The sea at this time (April) was very cold, much cooler compared to the Danang Beach at the Hyatt, where the water had more waves but was also much warmer.
- The pool at Long Bar looks nice, but they are only 4-6 double sunbeds which were always taken.
-In South East Asia I have never stayed in a Hotel, where the staff had such little English skills. It´s impossible to order food the way you like it, e.g. Dinner buffet at the Grill BBQ Station they don´t understand the meaning of rare, medium, well-done.
No-one of the staff can answer questions, where is the salad dressing, because it wasn´t next to the salad. I had to ask the Executive Chef, who had to ask another person. In the end it was next to the cold cuts, but with no signs on it. Asked another staff member, what dressing it was, but he had no clue...This is the problem with everything on the food buffet, you better don´t ask anyone about the different cheeses, how you like your egg cooked, etc.
- The Happy Hour 2 for 1 was disspointing, because there was only a limited menue to choose from. Very few cocktails, more long drinks, beer and wine. The promised Canapees for Happy Hour were only a small bowl of nuts.
- Noise from Construction at the Beach, as they are building some residence (same owner, but will not be associated with IHG)
-Rooms: The room itself was quite nice, but not very functional, the design is black wood and white walls, in my opinion it doesn´t make any sense to pay more money for the rooms with bigger terraces as the terraces are always in the shadow. During our stay, we hardly seen anyone using their terrace.
In the late afternoon there are too many moskitos, to sit outside. In the room there is no moskito-net, because of the dark materials in the room, even if you hear the moskitos, you have no chance to catch them.
Very thin walls, if the Bose Surround System in the room next to you is used, you will understand every single word from the movie your neighbour is watching.
- There was a strange smell all over the resort,like sewage, when we asked about it, we were told it was a kind of fertilizer for the plants. Smelled really bad, especially near the Barefoot restaurant.
- Spiders: As I am afraid of spiders, I wasn´t really happy with a large spider (10cm) sitting next to our room entrance for the whole 3 days. Would have been nice, if housekeeping, garden maintainance, or any of the staff walking by every day, had removed it.
-Club: Had only one evening access to Cocktail Hour in the Executive Club. It is definately not worth paying for it, only limited choice of beverages, very slow service as the waiter hat to mix the cocktails by themselves, food wasn´t refilled regularly, most time it was empty.
Conclusion:
Overall an impressive resort with interesting "fantasy" design, especially the public toilets are worth seeing. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, despite they offer free transport to Hoi An and Danang at very inconvenient times,you have to take a taxi if you want to have dinner outside, which will cost you about 75 US$ return to Hoi An.
Food and beverage quite expensive compared to other 5-Stars resorts (Hyatt Regency Danang). Will definately not return.If staying on points don´t expect anything, was told several times, if you stay on points, you will get no benefits, even if they write you in previous emails, you´ll get an upgrade if available, but not guaranteed.
- bad communication:
before arrival I had to write several Emails to get my questions answered. My reservation inquiry for the 1880 restaurant was answered immediately, the other general questions like upgrade policy, transfer, club benefits,etc
needed several replies.
- check-in: Check-in Procedure took too much time, was almost 45 minutes, after that, room wasn´t ready, had to wait until 2 pm. No information about the resort was given, had to ask myself for a map of the resort (which is huge).
- room downgrade: As I wrote in my previous post, I had 2 points reservations and 1 paid night. For the paid night an upgrade to Peninsula Suite was confirmed. Before arrival I checked the IHG webiste with my bookings. That showed an upgrade to Terrace Suite for all 3 nights, a one-level-upgrade for the 2 reward nights and no upgrade for the 3rd night, as this was the category I had booked. After check-in, when they took us to our room, I realised, that we got a standard room in the Club Area.
At first, this was ok for us, Club Acess instead of room upgrade would also be fine. But when we asked for details of the Club, we were told, that we indeed had a club room but as we were staying on points, we wouldn´t receive any club benefits...
When I asked about the 3rd (paid) night, I was told, that we could stay in the same room for all three nights. When I requested to speak to the general manager, I was told, that no one from managment was available on that day. After one day, I had the chance to speak to the front office manager and also had a phone call from the manager of operations one day later (after I contacted IHG Care via Email). They offered some compensation ( free breakfast for 2 days and access to Club for one evening), which we accepted.
- Food: What really impressed me, was the Sunday Brunch, which you can choose with 3 different options: 1. with free soft drinks, 2. with wine and beer, 3. with free flow Veuve Cliquot Champage.
We chose the Brunch with free flow Champage, which was about 60 Euro pp.
The Champagne glass was always refilled when it was emptied.
Dinner 1880: Value for money excellent, really good food, very attentive staff, good English skills of the staff. Strange atmosphere, 90% of the guest from Asia, taking photos of really everything, every page of the menue, every course of the menue, while waiting for the next course they were surfing the internet, watching Youtube,...
On one side they allow no children, on the other side they should consider the ban of mobile phones in this restaurant :-)
- water sports: Almost non- existent, as someone wrote in a previous post, that Hobi Cats are on order, they still haven´t arrived yet. The sea at this time (April) was very cold, much cooler compared to the Danang Beach at the Hyatt, where the water had more waves but was also much warmer.
- The pool at Long Bar looks nice, but they are only 4-6 double sunbeds which were always taken.
-In South East Asia I have never stayed in a Hotel, where the staff had such little English skills. It´s impossible to order food the way you like it, e.g. Dinner buffet at the Grill BBQ Station they don´t understand the meaning of rare, medium, well-done.
No-one of the staff can answer questions, where is the salad dressing, because it wasn´t next to the salad. I had to ask the Executive Chef, who had to ask another person. In the end it was next to the cold cuts, but with no signs on it. Asked another staff member, what dressing it was, but he had no clue...This is the problem with everything on the food buffet, you better don´t ask anyone about the different cheeses, how you like your egg cooked, etc.
- The Happy Hour 2 for 1 was disspointing, because there was only a limited menue to choose from. Very few cocktails, more long drinks, beer and wine. The promised Canapees for Happy Hour were only a small bowl of nuts.
- Noise from Construction at the Beach, as they are building some residence (same owner, but will not be associated with IHG)
-Rooms: The room itself was quite nice, but not very functional, the design is black wood and white walls, in my opinion it doesn´t make any sense to pay more money for the rooms with bigger terraces as the terraces are always in the shadow. During our stay, we hardly seen anyone using their terrace.
In the late afternoon there are too many moskitos, to sit outside. In the room there is no moskito-net, because of the dark materials in the room, even if you hear the moskitos, you have no chance to catch them.
Very thin walls, if the Bose Surround System in the room next to you is used, you will understand every single word from the movie your neighbour is watching.
- There was a strange smell all over the resort,like sewage, when we asked about it, we were told it was a kind of fertilizer for the plants. Smelled really bad, especially near the Barefoot restaurant.
- Spiders: As I am afraid of spiders, I wasn´t really happy with a large spider (10cm) sitting next to our room entrance for the whole 3 days. Would have been nice, if housekeeping, garden maintainance, or any of the staff walking by every day, had removed it.
-Club: Had only one evening access to Cocktail Hour in the Executive Club. It is definately not worth paying for it, only limited choice of beverages, very slow service as the waiter hat to mix the cocktails by themselves, food wasn´t refilled regularly, most time it was empty.
Conclusion:
Overall an impressive resort with interesting "fantasy" design, especially the public toilets are worth seeing. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, despite they offer free transport to Hoi An and Danang at very inconvenient times,you have to take a taxi if you want to have dinner outside, which will cost you about 75 US$ return to Hoi An.
Food and beverage quite expensive compared to other 5-Stars resorts (Hyatt Regency Danang). Will definately not return.If staying on points don´t expect anything, was told several times, if you stay on points, you will get no benefits, even if they write you in previous emails, you´ll get an upgrade if available, but not guaranteed.
Hi Tom sounds like you got a rough end of the stick. We got excellent upgrades.
Is definitely the case that more training is needed but have to say the effort put in from the staff was huge...even if a gap between where it needs to be and where it is now. The GM there is usually very responsive. A resort that size takes about three years to settle into maintenance mode...doesn't help you and no excuse but it the reality.
Mind you I think we were in 1880 the same night as you as I had the exact carbon copy experience and impression....I never saw people snapping their food on Iphones before. And to be honest whilst the food was good it didn't strike me as worth the price tag. Wine was outrageous price but good. It also struck me to be very hot in there which in fairness was quickly corrected upon asking. Service good but a little sterile.
The building work is on villa's, one of which is for the architect who designed the resort...Bill Bensley. Take a look at the three and guess which one it is....nice contractual inclusion
Club lounge wise you surprise me a bit.....they had a menu to order from aside from the normal buffet offerings which we found to be rather good and 24 hour if I remember correctly. It was a strip down version of the feature items in the all day restaurant next door. Think the lack of decent champagnes is a bit of a let down and also the sparking wine was kept on a fairly tight lease.
Is definitely the case that day beds at Long Pool are hard to get if you leave anything past 11.00.
I read a few posts about communication. Think we were lucky is as much as although the folks we met had restricted English, they were highly motivated to please. So with a little patience, they delivered everything, more thsan everything.
What I didn't like was that on the complimentary bus to Hoi An, they stop at at the normal tourist rat run at a stone carving please where they hunt you down in packs to buy stuff. Wish they would drop that one, mind you it seems that's the case all over the territory.
Mind you, that same evening, I was sold a wish lantern near the bridge in Ho An (very freely and in good spirit) and it turns out the lady in question's boyfriend worked in 1880 and served us the night before .... small world
Jun 3, 2014, 1:56 am
#64
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: China
Posts: 817
Recently completed a 6-night stay here and would give the resort an overall grade of 8.5 out of 10. Prior to the trip I had no issues with the excellent communication from the hotel staff in making the booking for our Club Peninsula Suite. Emails confirming upgrades, benefits, etc were all answered within a few hours. Upon arrival in Da Nang we were greeted in the hotel's airport lounge with drinks and cool towels, while our luggage was collected from the baggage belt. After a few minutes waiting, it was a quick 30 minutes by hotel SUV to the hotel where we checked in at the club lounge.
The hotel is a good looking property nestled in the hills of the peninsula with beautiful views over the private beach/bay. Bill Bensley designed the property and all the staff seem to be very proud of this fact, I guess it really depends on personal preference (the black and white concept and large paintings in the room didn't quite do it for me). I found the feeling and views of the bay very similar to the IC Koh Samui, with its winding driveways down from the lobby/club lounge to the rooms and restaurants below. The resort is split into four separate levels, with a funicular running from the beach below to the lobby and Citron restaurant at the top, stopping at the La Maison 1888 restaurant and the three resort shops in between. I didn't spend much time in the lobby as I was checked in at the club lounge, but did notice several nice lounge areas on the upper level, and the large concierge and business center area on the lower level. There was a gaming station for kids, as well as a billiards/pool and chess area near the concierge. The karaoke rooms are not yet finished, but are located in the lower sections of the same building as the Citron restaurant. It looks like they will have four private rooms each with a different theme. There was also talk of a casino area being put in the basement area of the lobby building, but construction has not yet started on this. The convention center/nightclub building housed an impressive 3D cinema, and the property recently opened the nightclub (Wed-Sat nights) with the hopes of attracting both hotel guests and residents from the city for a fun night out. The Long Bar under the adult pool had only just reopened after some renovation work, and though I didn't spend any time there, looked like a nice place with lounge beds, swinging chairs, and a cool place to escape the heat. The beach is clean, water temperature nice (I felt the water was warmer on the far right of the beach near the 3 villas), and there is a separate seating area for Club guests where complimentary drinks can be ordered. Plenty of beach activities (paddle boarding, kayaks, wind surfing, fishing), and two separate pools (adult infinity and general pool).
We received a suite on the "earth" level, directly adjacent to the La Maison restaurant. This meant we could easily walk to the beach or to the funicular versus having to call the buggy every time we left the room. It would have been a long hot walk from the rooms on the far end of the resort. The Club Peninsula Suite is split up into an outside lounge area with huge patio (two lounge beds, a desk, and a dining table overlooking the bay) and a large bedroom and bathroom with a very big tub. During our stay we were shown the massive Royal Residence, the Seaside Beach Villas, the Heavenly Penthouse, and the Classic Room, and would have to say our Club Peninsula Suite was the way to go. The Royal Residence is nice but at $6000/night a little out of my league. I preferred the Club Peninsula Suite over the Heavenly Penthouse (even though the Penthouse did have a private pool) simply because of the location, and the suite actually felt larger. The Beach Villa selling point is the private pool and beach access, but the outside patio seating space didn't feel as spacious as the Club Peninsula Suite, which I preferred.
Pros:
- Beautiful property with lots of wildlife (monkeys early in the morning by the entrance to the resort)
- Large room with plenty of lounging space. Design of rooms and outer areas means lots of cool breeze which is nice in the hot summer heat.
- Logistics made easy with funicular.
- Hospitable and attentive staff (communication tough at times, but after a few tries got to know our food preferences making subsequent ordering much easier. There are plenty of foreign trainees around to help out).
- Nice beach (good temperature for swimming, sandy with some coral for snorkeling by rocks on the left side, clean water with very little trash).
- Plenty of activities (trips to surrounding areas, beach activities, hiking, free use of tennis courts for club residents, etc).
- Promotional dinner with Michel Roux and Giancarblo Perbellini at La Maison 1888 was a fun experience.
- Airport lounge with drinks and snacks (both arrival and departure).
- Very nice spa with excellent therapists.
- Excellent gym with brand new equipment.
- Helpful Club staff in arranging day-trip transport to Hoi An.
Cons:
- Quality of food at Barefoot could use improvement (burger at Barefoot was average and grilled crab tasted frozen though it was advertised as fresh).
- Selection of food offerings at IC Club not spectacular. I wish fresh coconuts would have been included in the Club benefits as they were at the IC Koh Samui.
- Music around the resort get a little repetitive, especially the X-files theme song in the Club lounge.
- Dirty outside seating pods at Citron restaurant (several hairs and stains on the sofa cushions).
- Some wear and tear around the resort (eg. door to my room had a large crack in it).
- Minibar not automatically restocked. Had to call on two separate occasions.
- Key card didn't work twice and no way of contacting the reception or IC club would have meant a long walk back to the lobby (luckily a passing buggy assisted).
- Poor design of toilet in the room (curtain instead of door, with very little space meant knees are always touching the curtain when seated - unhygienic).
- Tennis courts only open from 8am - would have been nice to play during the cooler morning hours.
- Pool not open at night - would have been nice to swim at night.
- Not enough lounge chairs at the adult pool.
- Would have been nice to have some shade (eg. large umbrella) at the outside dining table of our Club Peninsula Suite for in-room breakfast, as it was too hot to sit out in the sun, even at 7am.
Overall very happy with my stay and will certainly return.
The hotel is a good looking property nestled in the hills of the peninsula with beautiful views over the private beach/bay. Bill Bensley designed the property and all the staff seem to be very proud of this fact, I guess it really depends on personal preference (the black and white concept and large paintings in the room didn't quite do it for me). I found the feeling and views of the bay very similar to the IC Koh Samui, with its winding driveways down from the lobby/club lounge to the rooms and restaurants below. The resort is split into four separate levels, with a funicular running from the beach below to the lobby and Citron restaurant at the top, stopping at the La Maison 1888 restaurant and the three resort shops in between. I didn't spend much time in the lobby as I was checked in at the club lounge, but did notice several nice lounge areas on the upper level, and the large concierge and business center area on the lower level. There was a gaming station for kids, as well as a billiards/pool and chess area near the concierge. The karaoke rooms are not yet finished, but are located in the lower sections of the same building as the Citron restaurant. It looks like they will have four private rooms each with a different theme. There was also talk of a casino area being put in the basement area of the lobby building, but construction has not yet started on this. The convention center/nightclub building housed an impressive 3D cinema, and the property recently opened the nightclub (Wed-Sat nights) with the hopes of attracting both hotel guests and residents from the city for a fun night out. The Long Bar under the adult pool had only just reopened after some renovation work, and though I didn't spend any time there, looked like a nice place with lounge beds, swinging chairs, and a cool place to escape the heat. The beach is clean, water temperature nice (I felt the water was warmer on the far right of the beach near the 3 villas), and there is a separate seating area for Club guests where complimentary drinks can be ordered. Plenty of beach activities (paddle boarding, kayaks, wind surfing, fishing), and two separate pools (adult infinity and general pool).
We received a suite on the "earth" level, directly adjacent to the La Maison restaurant. This meant we could easily walk to the beach or to the funicular versus having to call the buggy every time we left the room. It would have been a long hot walk from the rooms on the far end of the resort. The Club Peninsula Suite is split up into an outside lounge area with huge patio (two lounge beds, a desk, and a dining table overlooking the bay) and a large bedroom and bathroom with a very big tub. During our stay we were shown the massive Royal Residence, the Seaside Beach Villas, the Heavenly Penthouse, and the Classic Room, and would have to say our Club Peninsula Suite was the way to go. The Royal Residence is nice but at $6000/night a little out of my league. I preferred the Club Peninsula Suite over the Heavenly Penthouse (even though the Penthouse did have a private pool) simply because of the location, and the suite actually felt larger. The Beach Villa selling point is the private pool and beach access, but the outside patio seating space didn't feel as spacious as the Club Peninsula Suite, which I preferred.
Pros:
- Beautiful property with lots of wildlife (monkeys early in the morning by the entrance to the resort)
- Large room with plenty of lounging space. Design of rooms and outer areas means lots of cool breeze which is nice in the hot summer heat.
- Logistics made easy with funicular.
- Hospitable and attentive staff (communication tough at times, but after a few tries got to know our food preferences making subsequent ordering much easier. There are plenty of foreign trainees around to help out).
- Nice beach (good temperature for swimming, sandy with some coral for snorkeling by rocks on the left side, clean water with very little trash).
- Plenty of activities (trips to surrounding areas, beach activities, hiking, free use of tennis courts for club residents, etc).
- Promotional dinner with Michel Roux and Giancarblo Perbellini at La Maison 1888 was a fun experience.
- Airport lounge with drinks and snacks (both arrival and departure).
- Very nice spa with excellent therapists.
- Excellent gym with brand new equipment.
- Helpful Club staff in arranging day-trip transport to Hoi An.
Cons:
- Quality of food at Barefoot could use improvement (burger at Barefoot was average and grilled crab tasted frozen though it was advertised as fresh).
- Selection of food offerings at IC Club not spectacular. I wish fresh coconuts would have been included in the Club benefits as they were at the IC Koh Samui.
- Music around the resort get a little repetitive, especially the X-files theme song in the Club lounge.
- Dirty outside seating pods at Citron restaurant (several hairs and stains on the sofa cushions).
- Some wear and tear around the resort (eg. door to my room had a large crack in it).
- Minibar not automatically restocked. Had to call on two separate occasions.
- Key card didn't work twice and no way of contacting the reception or IC club would have meant a long walk back to the lobby (luckily a passing buggy assisted).
- Poor design of toilet in the room (curtain instead of door, with very little space meant knees are always touching the curtain when seated - unhygienic).
- Tennis courts only open from 8am - would have been nice to play during the cooler morning hours.
- Pool not open at night - would have been nice to swim at night.
- Not enough lounge chairs at the adult pool.
- Would have been nice to have some shade (eg. large umbrella) at the outside dining table of our Club Peninsula Suite for in-room breakfast, as it was too hot to sit out in the sun, even at 7am.
Overall very happy with my stay and will certainly return.
Jun 7, 2014, 5:54 am
#65
Ambassador: Finnair Plus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Discoverist, Priority Club Plat Amb, Miles and Smiles Elite
Posts: 5,282
Has anyone purchased Ambassador membership while in this property? My Amb will expire while in Danang, and I was wondering whether purchase at the property would result in more than one-category upgrade. (As has been reported for many IC properties.)
Jul 19, 2014, 3:51 am
#66
Ambassador: Finnair Plus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Discoverist, Priority Club Plat Amb, Miles and Smiles Elite
Posts: 5,282
First impressions very positive.
Jul 28, 2014, 6:40 pm
#70
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Singapore
Programs: IHG Plat Amb, Accor Plat, Hilton HHonors Gold, Best Western Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, GHA Black
Posts: 278
Sep 3, 2014, 1:49 am
#71
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: HH Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 263
Sep 3, 2014, 2:03 am
#72
Ambassador: Finnair Plus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Discoverist, Priority Club Plat Amb, Miles and Smiles Elite
Posts: 5,282
Sep 4, 2014, 1:59 am
#73
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: London, England
Programs: Intercontinental Gold Ambassador | British Airways Silver EC
Posts: 36
Hi everyone,
There seems to be a fair amount of confusion over Ambassador upgrades and privileges - both Gold/Platinum and Royal. I can understand why as this property does seem to do things a little differently to other Intercontinental hotels/resorts I've stayed at. I managed to obtain the guide used by staff to work out upgrades at this property. Hopefully it will be useful to you all.
In particular, it seems worth noting that an RA could book a Classic Room, Classic Terrace Suite or a Son Tra Room and still get upgraded to a Son Tra Terrace either way. So booking a Classic Terrace Suite or Son Tra Room is simply a waste of money. I do hope that guests who book those rooms are reimbursed back to the value of a Classic Room!
There is also an interesting note regarding Gold/Platinum Ambassadors who book the Son Tra Terrace Suite. It says "If Gold/Platinum Ambassador book for Son Tra Terrace Suite, offer room rate of Son Tra Room." I presume this is instead of an upgrade. Why wouldn't they just offer the upgrade? The guide confirms that guest would be eligible.
I also note the comment about no upgrade being offered on Weekend Certificate stays. I've always known a AMB Weekend stay to be eligible for upgrade. Did I imagine that? Or is that another quirk to this property?
There seems to be a fair amount of confusion over Ambassador upgrades and privileges - both Gold/Platinum and Royal. I can understand why as this property does seem to do things a little differently to other Intercontinental hotels/resorts I've stayed at. I managed to obtain the guide used by staff to work out upgrades at this property. Hopefully it will be useful to you all.
In particular, it seems worth noting that an RA could book a Classic Room, Classic Terrace Suite or a Son Tra Room and still get upgraded to a Son Tra Terrace either way. So booking a Classic Terrace Suite or Son Tra Room is simply a waste of money. I do hope that guests who book those rooms are reimbursed back to the value of a Classic Room!
There is also an interesting note regarding Gold/Platinum Ambassadors who book the Son Tra Terrace Suite. It says "If Gold/Platinum Ambassador book for Son Tra Terrace Suite, offer room rate of Son Tra Room." I presume this is instead of an upgrade. Why wouldn't they just offer the upgrade? The guide confirms that guest would be eligible.
I also note the comment about no upgrade being offered on Weekend Certificate stays. I've always known a AMB Weekend stay to be eligible for upgrade. Did I imagine that? Or is that another quirk to this property?
Last edited by FLYGVA; Sep 28, 2015 at 10:05 pm Reason: edited internal document out of post
Sep 4, 2014, 8:15 pm
#74
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ha Noi
Programs: FB Gold, IC Gold Amb, Le Club Plat.
Posts: 86
However, this resort still provide upgraded for Amb.Voucher booking,
My last stay on August14, booked 6 nights, 2 first on points (Standard room), next 2 with Amb.Voucher (Club Terrace Suite), last 02 on points (Standard room). We bought club access for 4 reward nights
Was told that resort provides upgrade for paid nights to Peninsular Suite, but no upgrade for rewards nights. Were offered to choice from stay in Club Terrace suite for all six nights, or first two nights stay in standard room, then move to Peninsular Suite, them move back, we choose the 1st offer.
Change from last year that they added 02 more new room category, made upgrade more difficult & complicated.
Another change that resort now have Private Club Intercontinental Room area, on Earth level, near Le Maison & Beach
My last stay on August14, booked 6 nights, 2 first on points (Standard room), next 2 with Amb.Voucher (Club Terrace Suite), last 02 on points (Standard room). We bought club access for 4 reward nights
Was told that resort provides upgrade for paid nights to Peninsular Suite, but no upgrade for rewards nights. Were offered to choice from stay in Club Terrace suite for all six nights, or first two nights stay in standard room, then move to Peninsular Suite, them move back, we choose the 1st offer.
Change from last year that they added 02 more new room category, made upgrade more difficult & complicated.
Another change that resort now have Private Club Intercontinental Room area, on Earth level, near Le Maison & Beach
Sep 5, 2014, 12:31 pm
#75
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: IHG Pla Ambassador
Posts: 2
AMB certificate and 5 award nights at IHG Da Nang
I was at this resort last Feb 2014 and like it so much so I plan to return with my family next Feb of 2015.As a Platinum ambassador member If I book 2 weekend nights using AMB certificate for 2 Bed club international and 5 nights using points ( award nights). Do you think that I can keep these 5 nights at the 2 bed club international ? No need for upgrade. Any ideal ? Thanks