nicolas75

Hotel Indigo Barcelona Plaza Catalunya

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 was upgrade to Superior Room.

How are the rooms?
Around 28sqm

Smart, quite elegant contemporary design (a kind of mix between Missoni and Karim Rashid's influences).
Rooms already show signs of age (power socket detached from wall near the desk, buckling laminate flooring, damaged mattress)

Bedroom with desk, flat screen television (just a few international news channels in addition to local channels). Wood floor.

Nespresso machine and kettle (but Nespresso is gone, replaced by another brand)

iPhone dock

Bathroom with large shower only . Bathrobe and slippers.

Rituals cosmetics

View over the busy avenue Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes (windows perfectly soundproofed).

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Very friendly and helpful staff
- Excellent location, 10 minutes walk from Plaça de Catalunya (bus stop to airport), Passeig de Grŕcia.
- Small but pleasant outdoor pool
- Pretty nice design
- Breakfast is quite good.

Bad:
- Lift is very slow
- Spire status not recognized at check-in
- Room showing its age

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes, for location, friendly staff and pleasant design. Hotel is not exactly cheap though

Pictures of the hotel

Pictures of Barcelonal

FFlash

Hotel Indigo Madrid Gran Via

What is your Priority Club status?

Platinum (during booking and stay, nowadays Spire)

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

Yes, positively surprised

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

Standard on points, I saw it modified before stay into a "bed feature room" even if it was not possible to know what that "feature" was .
Reveiced a standard I guess.
Platinum offered 600 points or drink welcome gift.

How are the rooms?

King bed. Pretty small room, but who cares as you spend your time outside if you are in Madrid.
Nice bathroom with walk-in shower.
Nespresso machine with selection of coffee and tea pods, which I did not use.

How is the exec. lounge?.

None I guess.

What was good and what was bad?.

Good

-Minute from metro Callao station.
-The killer about this property is the rooftop lounge and the pool. I was sunbathing there for an hour during afternoon and got a nice tan, dipping into the pool and watching football on the huge TV. This blew me off here and would make me return.
-They had prepared a "surprise detail" in form of a small bottle of red, and iberico tapas ^
-In the middle of the lively Centro area

Bad

-None. The room was small if that matters for someone.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?

Yes, anytime. 30k points is a steal. This property runs constantly above 200€ per night.

FonzieBone

HI Paris - Montmartre

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Elite

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Sure. We picked it entirely for location. Only stayed the one night.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked reward night (30K), rec'd "Queen" room but it was a handicap-accessible room.

How are the rooms?
As I said, handicap room. So sink was tiny, no shelving, nowhere to put anything, shower was ok I guess but it was rough concrete underfoot, room fogged up something fierce during showers. Hot water pot w/ instant coffee powder. Room was tiny overall but not cramped.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Staff were friendly and helpful

Bad:
- Room service was overpriced and it arrived in a glass jar, not even on a plate. If this was a design element, it missed its mark.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yep. Property constantly runs >$200USD/night. 30k points is a great value.

nicolas75

Crowne Plaza Toulouse

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 best advance rate, and received a junior suite

How are the rooms?
Around 40sqm
Contemporary design
Seating area, comfortable bed
Marble bathroom with bathtub
Flat TV with good selection of French channels, plus some international channels
Kettle with tea/coffee set
Very quiet
Beautiful partial view over The Capitole

How is the exec. lounge?
The club lounge is not huge and quite basic on weekends.
View over peaceful courtyard,
Seating area, books and magazines
Softdrinks and beers
As the club lounge is not operational on weekends, I was offered a breakfast coupon at main restaurant.

What was good and what was bad?

Good:
- Very friendly staff (great bell boy with amazing sense of service)
- Unbeatable location
- Very good breakfast
- There are many very good restaurants in Toulouse. Le Biben by Christian Constant and Les Jardins de l'Opéra by Stéphane Tournié are just next the hotel
- Toulouse is a superb city, with rich culture and real art de vivre

Bad:
- Wifi signal was very poor in the room

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

Pictures of the hotel

Pictures of the city

Chinatrvl

CP Hong Kong Kowloon East

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Elite

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

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked superior, got deluxe (high floor)

How are the rooms?
As previously mentioned, largish, well appointed rooms with views over the hills and sea.

What was good and what was bad?
I've been fairly frequent to this property since its opening. The hotel has been one of my favorite hotels in Hong Kong and with IHG so far; so please allow me to be a bit critical.

Good:
- Location, for my liking
- Drink voucher and free breakfast for one person
- Pre-arrival welcome email - very much appreciated

Bad:
- New toiletries
- No more bathrobes
- No recognition of Spire (same as Platinum)
- No more welcome fruit plate and bottle of wine
- Staff was seriously overworked (I insinuate... as staff had been wonderful during my last stays, and it was very busy this time). Not very welcoming at the front desk, at Cielo, at the concierge.
- Breakfast was a mess at some days. Took some attempts to get coffee, on some days there weren't any eggs for congee or they ran out of bread etc.
- Staff lied. Requested early check-in by email. When I arrived, front desk staff said no rooms available, hotel was fully booked. After a short speak to the backoffice (that I didn't request), magically a room was available. Later, I asked for late check-out and I even offered to pay for it. Answer: "Sorry, only one room available, 4 hours cost 750 HKD++. Book now." I checked online, all room categories expensive, but wide, wide open! That's impertinent. I don't argue for what I'm not entitled to, but I hate to be lied to and pressured to buy.
- Second service, which so far had been reliably carried out every day, was only done once in a 6 day stay.
- I was asked to give feedback (letter with phone number). I called (for second service and a bath robe) and got the promise that somebody will call me back. Never happend.
- Internet very slow. I relied on my CSL 4G phone to get decent download rates in the evening.

Value for € or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Probably not. There are better options for now.
I have stayed a couple of times at the Hotel EAST in Tai Gu. The hotel has similar rates in a very good location for my liking (the attached mall is quite good, and I kind of like to walk along the sea to Shau Kei Wan in the evening for dinner), a stunning view from the rooms and the roof-top bar. Rooms are on the small side.
In Kowloon, The Langham is a newly renovated property with top-notch service of a different league and good member recognition. It's on Beijing Road in the middle of the Kowloon hustle and bustle (that I can very much live without).
It's really a shame, but I don't see much reason to return to TKO with slipping standards and good alternatives.

hanwu85

Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park (Taiwan)

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Platinum

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?
I booked the cheapest room, 1 Queen Bed .
Upgraded to 1 Queen Bed Park View two days before checking in.

How are the rooms?
It's just a normal room with a very big window facing the Taichung Park.
Room space is big, but the tv set is very small.
There is a small sofa in the room.
Not enough light in the room.
Water pressure of the shower is a liitle bit low but acceptable for me.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
- Room Upgrade.
- Staff with great attitude.
- In the same building of a local outlet mall.

Bad:
- Need a little walk to Taichung Train Station. It would be great if free shuttle is available.
- A little bit crowded during breakfast time.
- Not enough light in the room.

Value for $ or IHG Rewards Club Points? Would you return?
I would defitnitely return here if I can pay the low season price.

JacobNL

CP Athens City Centre

What is your Priority Club status?
Spire 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 Superior Room (cheapest) including breakfast, received Club Room on check-in. Also received choice between 600 points or a drink voucher. Also received late check-out at 3pm.

How are the rooms?
The rooms are okay, but have a strange/unusual design which I personally didn't like. My club room was one of the smaller ones (not a corner room) so no walk-in shower. But it did have a balcony. Lots of wear - looks like they're not really maintaining this hotel properly. Apart from that the room was clean, bed comfortable and all the amenities including bathrobes were present.

How is the exec. lounge?
Rather small. There are soft drinks, beer and wine available 24/7 which is nice. Illy coffee machine (nice!). Quite a choice of spirits is available in the evenings - not sure about the exact hours but I suspect they disappear sometime early in the morning, as everything was still in place around midnight. Food - I don't know about dinner time, but around 11pm only some crisps, nuts, etc. Afternoon - some nice warm pastries and other sweets. Also some sandwiches. All in all it's quite OK, although it was a bit of a mess during my stay - they don't seem to come to clean very often...


What was good and what was bad?
Good
- Club lounge
- Friendly English-speaking staff

Bad
- Lots of wear in the room.
- Average breakfast (not really worth the €19 they charge for it)
- Expensive!


Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
For €200 per night I would say it's very poor value, although getting lounge access makes it a bit better. Might go for the IC next time, which is only a little more expensive.

HAT

Crowne Plaza London, The City

What is your Priority Club status?
Platinum

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 Double Bed Deluxe Room, received Executive Club Room (top floor) with Lounge Access

How are the rooms?
-Rooms are great, most of them with Queen beds. Comfy enough with decent pillow choice.
-Work desk with integral power points + work chair
-40" LCD TV (with some Sky Sports channels).
-Compact bathroom with bath and shower.
-High speed Internet free to IHG members.

How is the exec. lounge?
-Small and crowded
-Food: Had tempura vegetables and deep fried calamari
-Drinks: Reg brand alcohol + some soft drinks
-Breakfast: Had a breakfast in the restaurant so can't comment on that.

What was good and what was bad?

Good:
-Great location, right opposite Blackfriars Train Station and Underground. Close to main London attractions.
-Good status recognition: got a welcome drink, 500 bonus points, room upgrade and been offered a breakfast for Ł5.
-2pm late check out available on request.

Bad:
Nothing really

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes! Paid Ł186 and got a room upgrade (worth Ł250+), which is a great price for Central London. I would never use 45k points here though as I'd better stick with IC Park Lane for 50k.

Happy

Staybridge Vauxhall, London

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Elite one night, Platinum the next night (2 accounts)

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes. FD immediately recognized status, offer choice between drink+snack from the pantry or 500 pts. Opt for pts.
Hotel opened in 2015. It has a very inviting sitting area across the front desk. People actually sit there to relax or read a book. Quiet hotel.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked reward night (30K). Received same type (studio).

How are the rooms?
Most rooms in this new property is studio with a fully equipped kitchen. The layout is a bit odd because the side of the counter top is obstructed the passage to one side of the bed and the entrance of bathroom.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Location is very convenient - on a quiet back street that is no more than 10 min stroll thru a city park to Vauxhall station. No view to speak of and the blind is down all the time as you look directly into the residential building across the narrow street (or they look directly into your room).
Staff were friendly and helpful. Included breakfast is decent and they put great attention into preparing the fresh fruit salad each morning - each morning it had different exotic fruits mixed in the basic fruits. Good quality.
It certainly is a very welcome option in London.

Bad:
Nothing really.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes. Property constantly runs at 200GBP per night. 30k points is a great value.

Happy

Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Tower


What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire Elite

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes. FD recognized status. Upgraded room to a bigger one and issued lounge access. Though the rep forgot to do all 3 nights, so our keys stopped working on Day 3 and had to go downstairs to reprogram the keys.
FD never mentioned about pts, but if made to choose lounge access or pts, the choice is obvious.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked reward night (25K). Received an upgrade to a larger corner room.

How are the rooms?
Basic, bland decor, but served the purpose (pre-cruise stay).

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Room upgrade and lounge access. Lounge is not busy at breakfast time but can be busy in the evening. Good breakfast with egg dish made to order. Minimal offerings in the evening (a big salami and a cheese wheel) but beers are available all day long. Cheap wine and spirit in the evening though.

Bad:
Housekeeping did not replenish ANY toiletries. Even an almost empty tiny bottle that I purposely left the cover opened, had the cap closed and put back to the tray - NO replenishment on any kind for all 3 days. Very strange. They did replenish coffee / tea and water.

Location is out of no where although the train / metro station is within 5 to 7 min walking distance at the back side of the hotel. Area seems to be in perpetual construction for the past several years. No acceptable restaurant nearby (the nearby mall is a cheap one and a bit of a hike to get to). Hotel's own restaurant only served buffet dinner though very busy, probably due to lack of dining option nearby. One would be better off to take the train or metro to town - there are enough somewhat reasonably priced restaurants at the main train station which is only one stop away. (Metro takes many more stops to get to town).

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes. At over $200 retail, 25K pts is good redemption value. Would use it again if we happen to cruise out / arrive Copenhagen again.

stigs

Staybridge Suites Toronto - Markham

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Platinum.

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 Queen Studio Suite, upgraded to King Suite.

How are the rooms?
Like any SS, well-designed. Mini-kitchen upon entry with full-sized fridge, sink, microwave, two-burner stove, dishwasher. At back of room, L-shaped sofa. King suites have a separate bedroom with locking doors. Sink outside bathroom area.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
-Super-friendly staff
-Welcome letter from GM
-Expertly-equipped rooms, great for long-term stays
-Wonderful breakfast with many quality hot & cold options
-Dinner provided TUE-WED-THU
-Good shower pressure, ergonomic shower head, plush towels
-Quiet, slept great
-Indoor pool & small fitness area
-3 washers & 4 dryers free to use
-Outdoor patio with barbecues
-If staying on the east side of Toronto, you avoid almost all heavy traffic

Bad:
-Useless business centre (one PC out of order, the other takes 10 minutes to half load a page)
-Key card lock at SW back of property not working, open 24/7
-You do need a car to get around here

swag

Intercontinental New Orleans

- What is your Priority Club status?
Platinum

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

- Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
1st stay, 1 night paying cash, booked a standard room, that's what we got.
2nd stay, 3 nights using award free nights, booked a standard room, got upgraded to a balcony room.

- How are the rooms?
Nice, big, clean. Some of the balconies, if you get one, are huge; ours is probably 120 sq ft. The balcony to our left was half that size, but the one to the right looked about 50% bigger than ours.

- How is the exec. lounge?
n/a

- What was good and what was bad?
On the first stay, we opted for a fruit basket for our welcome amenity; it never came. I mentioned that misstep when checking in for my 2nd stay and opting for the points, and they sent up a fruit basket and also a bottle of wine. The 2nd stay was also the day after a Saints night game at the Dome, so they'd been sold out and most guests were remaining until checkout time. Still, when I arrived at 11:30, they had a room (upgraded) ready for me, definitely due to my Platinum status (she said they had had to tell lots of early arrivals they would have to wait).

- Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
It's a good use for my free night certs, especially when paid rates are high. But cash rates in NOLA fluctuate a lot, with so many special events and big conventions. I certainly wouldn't use 50K points here when the rates are below $200...

stimpy

CP Toulouse

-What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire

-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?
I needed a reward night and at booking I was surprised that I was given an option of either a standard room or a Club Executive room for 30K points! So of course I chose the Club room. At check in I was told that I'd been upgraded but when we arrived in the room it was the same as I had booked. So I went back down to ask about the upgrade and after some discussion I was given the Presidential Suite!

-How are the rooms?
Not quite the same as a Presidential Suite at a 5 star hotel. It was a large bedroom with a connecting door to a salon. The furniture was nice and modern with plenty of space. I think they did a partial renovation of all the rooms at this hotel since I was last here. So the bed and bath are new, however the rooms still lack enough electrical outlets and the heating and air is still the old system. But it works well enough.

-How is the Club lounge?
Plenty of space, but not so great with the F&B. Beer and wine and soft drinks to go with nuts, weiner tots, and a few other items. Neither eggs nor meat at breakfast.

-What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Great location right on the grand place.
Nice upgrade eventually

Bad:
Nothing other than a less than impressive Club.

-Value for € or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes.

FonzieBone

HI Killarney

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
It was fine. Place to sleep. No recognition from FD other than sliding across the IHG letter and giving me a points voucher. Actually the FD clerk seemed chronically depressed.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked standard room best flex w/ breakfast, rec'd family suite.

How are the rooms?
Dated. Crappy lighting (very dim). No plugs anywhere. Shower did have a space-extending curtain, that was nice. Bed seemed a bit small. Generally a shabby feeling.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:

Restaurant had decent selection of Irish beers and friendly bartenders. Food (fish n' chips) was good. Lobby is really nice.

Bad:
No electrical outlets anywhere. Pain to charge things. Despite being a suite, vault ceilings came down quite low and maneuvering about was difficult.
20 min. walk to downtown Killarney (7€ cab fare). Property has a lot of rooms so despite our "upgrade" it was basically the farthest room from the FD.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
74 euro for a Monday night in the shoulder season? I'd stay if I was trying to accumulate a paid stay for some reason, but certainly not for creature comforts.

stimpy

HI Andorra

What is your IHG Rewards Club status?
Spire

-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?
Standard booking, given Diplomatic Suite as always. Pretty much the same exact room each year.

-How are the rooms?
Nice and large, huge bathroom with jacuzzi tub and separate shower.

-How is the Club lounge?
No Club, but everyone in the room can have a free drink at the bar instead of just one person. And even though the drink coupons says house wine, beer or spirits, they give you anything you want. And they pour heavily.

-What was good and what was bad?
Good:
Good location. Walking distance to nice restaurant/bar area.
Always a great upgrade and great service and very low prices.

Bad:
Nothing

-Value for € or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Yes. Great value.