Petrus

IC Budapest

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes, it was okay.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Deluxe Reiver view Room King got Junior Suite on the 4th floor with views over the River and Castle. Superb view.
How are the rooms?
It's a small suite with a door between the narrow living area and the sleeping room. No windows in the bedroom, which catered for a very good nights sleep, love blacked out rooms. I quite like this layout.
How is the exec. lounge?
Quite okay. Heavy focus on local wines, no french Bubbles. Didn't explore much on the drink options.
Dinner was okay.
Breakfast also quite good, with made to order eggs.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
x3 200points vouchers.

How was the minibar?
Terrible. The worst I've seen in the network.

What was good and what was bad?

-Good

• Great staff at breakfast in The Club.
• Decent gym and Spa Swimming pool and steam room is a big plus for
• View is spectacular.
• Staff are on the ball, welcoming friendly and eager to please.

Bad

• Except for the public areas and the lounge, it is a very tired outfit in need of a refurb design wise.
• No real welcome gift...

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
For EUR 155 per night not that great. IC WAW for example is outstanding value compared to this one.
Would you return?
Yes I would, but would not pay for a higher category room.

boekel

Intercontinental Toronto City Centre

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Deluxe and received IC Club Suite

How are the rooms?
A little warn and dated but nice nonetheless. 1 bedroom and one living room, it is two normal rooms. Two identical bathrooms with just the standard North American tub

How is the exec. lounge?
poor offerings at least for breakfast - no cheese, industrial scrambled eggs but at least a nice nespresso machine. didn't use for evening spread or afternoon tea. But wasn't impressed already last time when I stayed. However friendly and helpful staff

Did you receive a welcome gift?
fruits, water and 600 welcome points.

How was the minibar?
One minibar, which was decently stocked. But I have to note that apart from softdrinks, juice and water I usually never make use of the minibar

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Wifi is excellent
good location, close to Air Canada-, Rogers center and CN tower
Azure restaurant is quite good

-Bad
Booked deluxe, which was priced identically to a junior suite 5 days before the stay. 1 day later it got modified to king deluxe which was 2 categories and 25 CAD lower. Thereafter it was modified again to junior suite, which they wanted to give me. Obviously I was not happy and told them so, also that I'm willed to leave after one night, when they want to cheat their most loyal customers. Received then the Club Suite, which was 1 level above the junior suite but I was too tired to fight for the two level upgrade
dropped the car for Valet and the bellboy acted like a marine officer and used imperative language. Unacceptable in the hospitality industry. I just told him that I'm the guest and he should eventually expand his vocabulary.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
???

Would you return?
If that gets the norm that hotels trying to "cheat" their most loyal guests in order not to give upgrades, I'm likely done with the chain. Here they have also plenty of different categories with hardly any differentiation

nicolas75

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Royal Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheapest advance rate and received a One Bedroom Suite

How are the rooms?
Around 38 sqm

Dining area + seating area

Desk

Bedroom with very comfortable bed

Large flat screen television with very good selection of cable channels.
High speed wifi

Nice bathroom with a bathtub and separate walk-in shower
Large bottles of Agraria products

Very quiet
View over Hyde Park Corner


How is the exec. lounge?
No access

What was good and what was bad?

GOOD
- Great check-in experience with customer relation manager
- Nice suite
- Very good breakfast (currently served at Theo Randall as the other restaurant is closed for renovation
- Very central location

BAD
-Nothing

Value for $ or IHG Rewards Club Points? Would you return?
Yes


Pictures of the hotel

Pictures of the city

nicolas75

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Royal Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Delighted

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheapest advance rate and received an Royal suite with river view.

How are the rooms?
Simply amazing
Around 110 sqm
Very elegant

3,40 m height from floor to ceiling
Antiques, Iran rug, Books

Large seating area with Philips television and sound system.
Harman Kardon Mini-chain

Dining area with impressive bar

Separate kitchen with minibar very well packed
Kettle and Nespresso coffee machine

Very comfortable bed
Convenient plug sockets next to the bed

bathroom with the magic bathtub (filled in 2 minutes) and separate shower,
Anne Semonin amenities

River view

How is the exec. lounge?

I had the great pleasure to experiment the great new Club InterContinental experience at Amstel, which includes:
- Full breakfast at La Rive restaurant (very good indeed).
- Afternoon tea with pastries and canapés at Amstel Lounge (excellent service and very good salted and sweet options)
- Aperitifs and canapés in the A Bar
- Refreshments during the day in the Amstel Lounge
- Pressing of two items of clothing during the stay
- Complimentary local telephone calls from the room

What was good and what was bad?

GOOD
- Very impressed by the quality of the service, from check-in desk to spa, bar and concierge
- Superb suite
- Grandeur of the décor
- Boutique hotel feeling
- Love the spa and indoor pool
- Great new Club InterContinental experience
- Fast wifi

BAD
- Nothing. It was just a perfect stay

Value for $ or IHG Rewards Club Points? Would you return?
Yes, definitely my favourite hotel in Amsterdam.

Video of the Executive suite with river view

Pictures of the city

Pictures of the hotel

nicolas75

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Royal Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheapest advance rate and received a Deluxe room with club access

How are the rooms?
Around 28 sqm

Seating area +Desk

Very comfortable bed

Large flat screen television with very good selection of cable channels.
High speed wifi

Nice bathroom with a bathtub and separate walk-in shower
Large bottles of Agraria products

Very quiet
View over Green park


How is the exec. lounge?

Very nice
Excellent service
Very quiet
Breakfast has been heavily improved
Afternoon tea with very good pastries
Evening drinks with a selection of canapés

What was good and what was bad?

GOOD
- Great check-in experience with customer relation manager
- Deluxe room was indeed pretty large
- Very good club lounge
- Very central location

BAD
-Nothing

Value for $ or IHG Rewards Club Points? Would you return?
Yes


Pictures of the hotel

Pictures of the city

nicolas75

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay ?
Yes, as usual.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked cheapest advance rate, and received an Executive room with terrace and harbour view.

How are the rooms?
Around 45sqm
Seating area with desk and sofa. Expresso machine
Bedroom with very comfortable bed.
Pleasant terrace with superb view over the Vieux Port (old harbour)
Great bathroom with Boffi sink, large bathtub, separate rainforest shower /toilets. Clarins Eau Dynamisante amenities.
Flatscreen television with large selection of French and international channels.
Bluetooth minichain
Elegant contemporary design

How is the exec. lounge?

I had the great pleasure to experiment the great new Club InterContinental experience at Amstel, which includes:
- Full breakfast at Les Fenętres restaurant.
- Afternoon tea with pastries and canapés / aperitifs and canapés in the Bar
- Pressing of two items of clothing during the stay

What was good and what was bad?

Good
- Great new Club InterContinental experience
Perfect location
- Very nice historical building
- Great staff
- Very good breakfast (which was offerred)
- Pleasant indoor pool and spa
- Fast wifi
-
Bad
- Nothing

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes, definitely.


Pictures of the city

Pictures of the hotel

PremExecSNA

Intercontinental New Orleans


Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a standard room on corporate rate and received a Hospitality Suite (formerly known as the Parlor Suite) on the 8th of 15 floors. In the past, I've received larger suites, but this one seems to be the standard for RA's now.

How are the rooms?
The Hospitality Suite is the smallest of the suites, normally located on the corners of each floor. It has a nice living area with its own bathroom, and a separate bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom has a standard tub/shower and feels a little cramped with the door open. The bed was comfortable with a nice assortment of pillows. The work desk was comfortable and there were plenty of power outlets throughout the room.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A. The former lounge was removed several years ago during a renovation. However, the hotel provides all Ambassadors (not just RA's) with breakfast coupons to be used downstairs at Pete's in the morning. This is a major perk and the breakfast surpasses anything that was previously offered at the club lounge.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
Yes. Standard bottle of red wine and a chocolate Fluer de Lys. A large bottle of Evian water was delivered daily and there was a fruit plate on arrival.

How was the minibar?
Didn't use.

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
-Breakfast for Ambassadors
-Friendly staff and efficient check in/out
-Decent gym area and pool (in the summer) on the 15th floor
-5 minute walk north to French Quarter and easy walk south to Wharehouse District restaurants
-St Charles Streetcar stops right in front of hotel and provides access to Garden District and Uptown restaurants


-Bad
-Internet was very spotty, particularly in the morning.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
Excellent

Would you return?
Yes. It is always a pleasure to stay at the IC New Orleans.

Voucher

Great report as usual ^

But I think this room is a Studio Suite(02 type) not deluxe room. @:-)

stimpy

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?

So-so. This was my first time at this hotel as I always stay at Le Grand. But there was a rumor floating around that this hotel might leave IC and I just needed a cheap one-night stay so I tried it out.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?

Booked cheapest, received an Exec.

How are the rooms?

Very tiny with a strange layout. There's a curving staircase that leads up about 2 meters to a tiny bathroom. Fortunately I was alone because this room would be rather tight for two people. Almost no room on the desk which had a fruit bowl, Nespresso and a tray of Nespresso stuff on it.

The room was on the first floor almost right above the entrance of the hotel. There is no sheer curtain so you either black out the room or anyone walking by can see into the room.

The ceiling was very high with a scanned reproduction of one of the painted ceilings at Versailles.

There is one cool feature that I've not seen at other Euro IC's but I have seen in top suites at the IC Hong Kong. There is a smartphone that the guest can take out about about with them. It has free calling to the US, UK, UAE, Hong Kong and China and unlimited data.

How is the exec. lounge?

No lounge and this hotel would make perfect sense for the new Club Life Experience, but as it doesn't have that it reinforces the rumors that this hotel will leave the group.

Did you receive a welcome gift?

Fruit and cookies.

How was the minibar?

Laurent-Perrier Champagne, Croze-Hermitage red, Sancerre white. Otherwise it was kind of sparse.

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Smartphone (not for me as I have one)
The restaurant looked good, but I didn't try it.
Although the room was tiny, it was well appointed.

-Bad
No complimentary breakfast for RA's.
Tiny exec room
No sheer curtain

Value for € or Priority Club Points?

The price was cheaper than Le Grand, but it was less value given that I get Club at Le Grand as well as a suite.

turner32

I like IC Marceau. Stayed here once and was upgraded the Prestige room with terrace, which was beautiful, but very small. The actual terrace is the best thing about the room and a lovely space.
That said, the location isn't great IMO, and I simply can't see any RA's plumping for here instead of Le Grand. Because Suite upgrade + Club, + superior mini-bar will win every time.

nicolas75

I stayed only once with my nephew.

Yes, rooms are small, but I like very much the boutique atmosphere.

cazane

IC Frankfurt

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes as always.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room, got upgrade to Deluxe corner room on 15th floor.

Note: Upgrade did not show up before and after check-in in iPad app and android app. Also my next five bookings to ICs do not show any upgrades.

How are the rooms?
Spacious with sofa and one chairs around the living room part table, nice working desk, bathtub with shower curtain.

How is the exec. lounge?
Very attentive staff and good atmosphere.
Breakfast has a rather limited selection on ham and cheese, but good bread, vegetables and egg dishes to order,
At noon they offered bread & butter, some sandwiches, tomato soup and some small cakes and other sweet stuff.
Did not go at afternoon to the lounge. Have eaten there to many times in my life, felt no urge to go there.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
Matcha green tea jam, I would rather expect in Japan.
Instead of a small fruit plate, an apple, a mini cake and some big olives.
First time I got olives, I hope they continue with them.

How was the mini-bar.
Only one Johny Walker Red and a vodka as mini bottles. That was different in the past were they had more booze. Additional white and red whine and the usual soft drinks.

What was good and what was bad?

Good

• Sufficient upgrade.
• Great and attentive staff in Club, at front and restaurant.
• Very good restaurant.
  

Bad

• Nothing

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
Good value
Would you return?
Yes.

VaBeachGirl

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Not as happy as I've been in the past

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked King Deluxe at a Govt rate for one night and initially received King Deluxe! I noticed on the app that I hadn't been upgraded prior to check in. When I did check into the hotel, the front desk agent acknowledged my RA status and proceeded to hand me a a key to a King Deluxe room. I asked what happened to the two room category upgrade and the agent hadn't even noticed. He then changed my room type to a King Club Level.

How are the rooms?
King Club Level was pretty much a a small/regular room, one floor below the club. I did at least have a corner room with additional windows, but in the past I had been given suites, so was kind of disappointed.

How is the exec. lounge?
Excellent staff during the evening cocktail hour. Beer, wine, mixed drinks are available. The food was good - but not a wide selection. Small plates of marinated veggies, pizza, cheese, etc.
Breakfast had scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, meat, bagels, oatmeal, toast, fruit, etc.
Note -- this is a hotel that always provided Club Access to RA even prior to the T&C change

Did you receive a welcome gift?
Never received a welcome gift and never even received the water/fruit, even thought I checked into the hotel around 4pm. I went out to dinner with a friend and when I came back, I called the front desk to ask about it and she said that department had already gone home.

How was the minibar?
Great! A little bit of everything including a small bottle of Moet. Tequila, Scotch, too.

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Mini bar; Club Lounge and evening staff; location to Marta

-Bad
Lack of RA recognition; had to remind them to upgrade me and upgrade that was received was mediocre; no water, fruit or welcome amenity gift

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
At a government rate, it is a great value

Would you return?
Yes but only as RA

stimpy

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Reserved Deluxe, given Superior Suite with Club

How are the rooms?
Large and modern. In some ways like other new IC's, but still rather unique. The bathroom area is open and takes up about a 3rd of the suite. And there is some wasted space on the other end where there is a large sitting area and space beyond that which you can only reach by walking over the sitting area. But still there is a lot of space to walk around. Lanvin amenities and a very nice Toto Japanese toilet with the full boat of features.

How is the exec. lounge?
Very large with lots of seating, which was evident as the lounge was very sparsely populated. There is a bar room off to the side that has beer, sparkling wine and lots of alcohol. Also a telescope to spy on folks from the 22nd floor. There is a decent selection of wine which is served from a machine which is kind of weird and didn't work one night. The food was good and plentiful both at breakfast and dinner. And you can have a full dinner in the lounge. 4 items for laundry each day for Club guests.

Club service was good, but for a couple of days it was REALLY good. I went to breakfast one day and was very nicely greeted by about 5 different managers and 5 more staff. I think the GM was there too. I guessed there was some sort of IHG management meeting going on and indeed there was! But I think the lower level IHG people did not have club access so that left just a few of the big shots, one of whom complained out loud about how empty the club was. For a couple of mornings I had a level of service only seen at starred Michelin restaurants. But then they left and it went back to normal.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
Fruit.

How was the minibar?
Big problem here as they claim that RA's do not have free mini-bar. Sort of. There is a fridge with a few drinks that are included for everyone. The only alcohol items are a can of Tsingtao and a can of Heineken and some soft and fruit drinks. That's it. Meanwhile the drawer with the spirits and wine is off limits to RA's!

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Excellent new hardware
Great location
Humidfier/air cleaner inside the suite and outside in the hallway ^

-Bad
RA minibar benefit is missing here.

Value for RMB or Priority Club Points?
Yes

PremExecSNA

Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Overall, yes.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked basic king room and upgraded to a Grand Tower Suite. Prior to arrival, the reservation reflected several other rooms, including a Junior Suite in the Executive (Historic) Tower, a regular Executive Suite, and back down to a Grand Tower Suite. Upon checkin, they could only offer me a Premier King room if I wanted to stay in the Executive Tower, which I accepted.

How are the rooms?
There are two towers in this hotel. The Grand (newer construction) Tower and the Executive (formerly known as the Historic) Tower. The rooms in the Grand Tower are ok, but feel cold and lifeless. The best rooms are in the Executive Tower. The Premier King is a larger standard room located on upper floors with views. Mine was on the 37 (of 41) floors and had a nice water view of Lake Michigan as well as the downtown skyline. While it was nice and comfortable, it certainly fell short of the previous upgrades which were offered to RA's in past stays.

How is the exec. lounge?
There is no club lounge. However, I was offered vouchers for a full buffet breakfast each morning in the Center Court Restaurant on the 2nd floor. The selections were better than anything at a club lounge. Also, they offered a coupon for a free drink at Jordan Steakhouse or Eno Wine Bar, a Starbucks comp, and a 10 percent discount on their restaurants.

Did you receive a welcome gift?
No. Standard fruit and mineral water.

How was the minibar?
Basic selection of beer, wine and liquor. Chandon bubbles as well as a Clos du Bois Merlot.

What was good and what was bad?

-Good
Location is great for Michigan Avenue shopping and dining.
The Health Club is fairly well equipped and has a beautiful historic swimming pool.
Great historic vibe in the Executive Tower
Breakfast coupons and other comps make up for no lounge
-Bad
A little disappointed that the upper floor upgrades of the past seem to have disappeared. Also, I didn't care for the sneaky downgrade at the last minute.
This is a big spot for conventions and weddings (read that: lots of drunks)

Value for $ or Priority Club Points?
Good.

Would you return?
As an RA, yes. Rooms at the nearby HIE are about half the cost of the IC and are very comfortable. The breakfast and health club tip the scales.