paulmoscow

What a pathetic upgrade! They have large suites on the 15th floor and we got two of them when we stayed at IC Malta two years ago with just Ambassador status.

mtresc

The website of the IC Malta (http://www.malta.intercontinental.com) says that all Club Rooms will be completely refurbished by March 2009. Has anyone stayed there recently? How are rooms now, any big improvement?

We stayed there few years ago in a Terrace Suite, which was nice, but nothing special. For our next stay (with young kids) we have booked a Club Room and the reservation online now shows "Family Suite". This sounds like an OK upgradefor me. Has anyone stayed in a Family Suite in Malta?

Any other recent experiences from the IC Malta?

adder

I stayed there the last week of May. I think what they mean by referb is that they have stripped the carpets up an replaced this by tiles. Apparently the weather was not good to them. The Rooms are a bit on the tired side I would say, and the bathrooms, water temperature varies greatly in the shower, but this has not changed from the previous year.

They do try hard and the two restaurants we tried were excellent. Overall however I .... the place and Malta for that matter.

morepointsplease

i was there a few weeks ago, we actually didn't stay at the IC this time, but we popped over as i wanted to buy a summer dress and somehow that was the only 'shopping centre' (opposite IC) we could find on the map. by the end of the week i'd found much better alternatives.
we walked through the hotel and the garden type area in the middle. the hotel itself looked decent but i agree the location felt more suitable for partying teens/backpackers, didnt feel like somewhere i'd want to spend much time in.
we saw the beach was packed and the IC private beach looked a bit better though right next to it. not exactly great beach anyway..

johnep1

Now that is a great trip report. Makes me want to redeem some LH F awards.

mtresc

Here are some news about the IC in Malta:

There is a new General Manager at the IC Malta (as far as i know from beginning of this year). In comparison to my stay of two years ago, things have changed a little to the negative side. Examples are:

- upgrades to Terrace Suite no longer offered for RA
- no more free snacks from the minibar for RA (which was the case in the past, including nice chocolates; they said, it is to be "in line with the RA terms & conditions")
- no more Champagne in the minibar (but minibar is still good)
- no more Voss water as gift (only local water)
- on previous stay there was a small amenity (sweets or new fruits) and Voss water delivered to the room every second day, now fruits and water only once on arrival
- happy hour time in lounge reduced by half hour (now only from 18:00 to 19:30 hr instead of previously 20:00 hr), food and drinks were rapidly removed at 19:30 sharp; snacks were simple but OK

The refurbished Club Rooms are nice, fresh and we liked them. Staff (especially in Club Lounge) was very helpful and friendly.

Overall we still enjoyed our stay.

bananacake

Hi, just wanted to check, if i book the basic room here and am an RA, will i get upgraded to the Exec club level, can anyone confirm?

mtresc

Yes you will, because the next room category from Standard Room (= Deluxe Room) is already Club Room. Even as Amb one should get a Club Room in Malta (i.e. one level upgrade). As RA you likely will get a Junior Suite (with Club access).

jahason

Just spent one night at the IC. I booked a basic room at €199 (1000 point bonus offer) and got upgraded to room 1502 (two bedrooms and a living room). Was pleasantly surprised since I am a lapsed Plat Ambassador.

Had breakfast in Club room and after I was kicked out of room at 4pm, stayed at Club room and was given a token to use pool/gym.

All in all a very nice stay.

essexadventurer

I'm after a little advice here. Am looking to stay at the IC Malta on a very attractive prepaid rate for a Deluxe room (under EUR80/night).

I was taking a look at the Ambassador scheme and was wondering, if I sign up, can I expect to be upgraded to "Executive Club" level (under the Guaranteed Room Upgrade scheme)? If so, would this mean I get access to the lounge with the complimentary buffet breakfast, dinner snacks, cocktail hour etc?

It seems too good to be true for an extra USD150. I presume there is a catch?

BA1A

The catch is that whilst you should (will) get a room upgrade as an Ambassador there is definitely no guarantee it would be to the Executive Club level and/or include lounge access. If you check some of the other threads you will see that Club Lounge access as part of an upgrade (at most IC hotels) is the exception rather than the norm.

essexadventurer

Many thanks for your thoughts. At this property, there doesn't seem to be anything in between Superior and Club rooms, so I would hope to get the latter.

Does anyone have any experience of this property? From one of the other threads, I see that the staff are given incentives to try and sell Amb at check-in. I guess I could try and negotiate Club Lounge access at this point? @:-)

antonius66

Many hotels will give you a better room location, i.e. corner room, etc, within the same category, and call it an upgrade for regular Ambassadors. They may not necessarily give you the next category room like a Club room. Or they may give you a Club room without access to the club.

soitgoes

I thought you were booking a deluxe room?

essexadventurer

Sorry - my mistake in the subsequent post - will be booking a deluxe room, you are right.