Ic Milwaukee
 

I have not been able to find any threads on this board by people who have actually stayed at this IC since the renovation. Has any stayed there? Any idea where to find parking nearby for less than $20/day?

Thanks!

IC Milwaukee
 

Let me be the first to report on IC Milwaukee and RA treatment. I will keep it short, however:

> This hotel was renovated and rebranded as IC last December from Wyndhm hotels (2006).
> I booked standard room for one night and received corner superior room (I inquired about suites but either the hotel doesn't have one or what I had was something of a suite).
> I also got to see a business room (room 1020) which has a huge conference table, small kitchen (no stove), couch, and a bed that you can pull out from the wall. It had a high ceiling, but the room was not so good for relaxing (it is an ideal room if you want to have a meeting in there).
> RA amenity was a nice bowl of fruits.
> Minibar is not available in all rooms (select rooms - but I have a feeling that RA will almost always get upgraded to rooms that have them). Minibar and snack bar has a decent selection of drinks and snacks. Since I don't drink, minibar was useless. :D
> The staff were all excellent and did their best to accomodate my request (when I found out that my room - though the check-in person called it a suite - was not a suite, but a corner room, she went to check on all of the best rooms that were available and showed them to me. :) I ended up in the initial room that was assigned to me because none of the rooms were better than the corner room.

Overall, this hotel is very nice and clean. It's in a decent neighborhood (thought currently there is construction going on with the bridge that connects the road leading to the hotel, so you need to detour in order to reach the front entrance). It's a bit pricy (paid 208 for Sunday night stay) but if you are a RA, you will enjoy the hotel and its service.

The basic set up for AMBASSADOR (and RA) members is at minimum a selection of fruit and a bottle or two of mineral water. There is also supposed to be an actual amenity gift of either chocolates or similar edible offering, or an actual item like a memo folio or a book mark or a luggage tag or a bottle of wine...

You actually got nothing as an A or RA save for the fruit (and maybe a soft drink from the minibar). This hotel is far from the mark of an IC in providing anything beneficial for members of the program. But thanks for letting us know how poorly they meet their expected goals.

Yea, though you must consider the fact that this was my first ever stay as a RA so I really had no expectations. Now that I know what to expect, I can EXPECT it from my many BKK IC stays starting September. :D

These are actually benefits of AMBASSADOR not just RA. Only free minibar and suite upgrade are RA benefits. (And don't forget you also get a free movie as an A or RA.)

I managed to consume some drinks (no alcohol as I don't drink :() and snacks (which I was told I could for free, but later turned out that it wasn't - they said it was no problem this time). I also remembered about the movie benefit so I decided to watch one on-demand movie just before I left. :D

Did they just have it on the bill and you had to ask for it to be taken off, or did they actually say you would be charged in the future? If it is the former, it's quite common for them not to take it off the bill until you ask, IME.

They did not have it on the bill. My pay per view movie (one) that I watched was on the bill and I had to ask them to take it off. There were two check-in person when I was checking out (one of them seemed to be the manager on duty - she was very nice to me) and younger of the two was very .....y when I questioned about the movie bill and was trying to correct all the un-necessary charges that were on my bill (I decided not to say anything as the other person was very nice and I didn't want to make a scene out of it). Now that I think of it, IC Milwaukee isn't really a good IC for RAs. :mad:

When did you become a RA, and were you an A before that? From the further details you've provided, it appears that there was no indication of your status on the res and thus you did not receive any real benefits that should have been provided as part of the RA/A program. (Did you show your RA card at check-in?)

IC Milwaukee
 

I stayed there Aug 17-20th for Irish Fest. The hotel lobby and hallways looks very modern and chic, sort of like a Westin.

I had a standard room with 2 double beds. The rooms were fairly noisy, alot of hallway noise, and road noise. There were large gaps between the doors and the carpet, both on the hall doors and the inter-connecting room doors.

The beds were not the most comfortable I've slept on, and the pillows were hopeless.

The worst part was the poor housekeeping service. The shampoo, soaps, etc. were not replaced and a wash cloth was left in the tub and not replaced. Also, the coffee was not replenished. We called down for both shampoos and coffee, and only received the shampoo.

The best part was the free wireless.......

Anything more recent on Milwaukee for RAs? The last poster didn't mention his/her status. The web site states they do have 13 suites. Any RAs stayed there and got one of the suites, and, if so, what type of room did you reserve? Lots of very good reviews for this hotel on Trip Advisor so it's confusing to see the poor reviews on FT.

What they call a suite is really a corner room. Not really a suite.

shoot, I did forget that perk.:( oh well, didn't have time anyways.

Just had a stay as an ambassador, had very early check in (9am) was put on 4th fl room at first but it was not made up, so was put on 9th floor.

Was provided with free internet, two baskets (one of fruits, one of cheese, crackers, pretzels, mustard, sausage), two waters, bottle root beer, bottle cream soda and a $30 breakfast voucher for the Kilowat restaurant. I thought that was quite a bit of stuff.:eek:^

Parking is directly below hotel in underground garage $20, have to take a different elevator to access parking but still very nice as temp was -3F above ground outside and the garage was a comfortable 40F.

It was snowing and all sidewalks around the IC were cleaned off repeatedly during the day^

I concur with the bed being not the best, I found pillows acceptable though.

Also agree that the hallways can be loud, the guy across the hall from me was in/out of his room frequently and it almost sounded like he was opening/closing the door to my room. Thankfully he settled down and stayed put early in the evening.

--

What rate did you book to get all those goodies, including the food voucher? Previous posts suggest not very many perks, amenities or Ambassador gifts at this property. I've got a stay coming up in September for a brewery crawl weekend with some FT friend. Rates seem to have really climbed from $130 this spring to $200+ in the fall...I'm hoping this one shows as a 5K Points Break so I can book an award rather than do a BOGO stay.

Did my stay this weekend. Ended up doing it with the ARRP rate (hey, I qualify!) which was $140 a night. Agree hotel is very nicely finished, though as noted, sound proofing from halls could be improved upon.

Received the same array foods and fruits, though only a single root beer. And a small white box tied with a blue IC ribbon containing lost of orange and blue M&Ms. No food voucher, but did receive two drink vouchers for use in any bar or restaurant in the hotel, including room service. Voucher had "Ambassador" printed on it so I guess this is now a standard offering to As and RAs.

No suite, but did get a large "corner" room on the 6th floor. These "corners" are actually right in the front of the hotel as the corner is slightly rounded -- much like the IC Madrid -- and there are two of these larger rooms on each side of the "round corner". Bathroom only had "waterfall" shower stall, no bath tub.

Staff was friendly and none of my minibar or movie charges showed up on the check-out bill (though these may be applied as a deferred charge, but I doubt it). Had a nice breakfast in the second floor restaurant this morning before departing and was amazed by how inexpensive it was...probably the cheapest of any IC in the world: $13+tax and tip! And that was for a 3-egg omlette with three fillings, toast and hashbrowns, and unlimited coffee. And when I used one of my drink vouchers last night, the pour of scotch was equal to a double!

So they definitely do spoil As and RAs with food and drink, but don't expect a traditional suite upgrade, just a very nice large room.

The location is very good for night life, on Water Street with a short walk across the bridge to 3rd avenue German style restaurants and bars, but a bit of a walk down to the older district on the other side of the thruway. Also very near by is "The Fonz" statue. BTW the most convenient bridge has been closed for almost two years now much to everyone's consternation!