scubaccr

LoM,
Please could you ask Anita (or failing Anita the DM) regards the current IC Amstel policy regards Award night upgrades, mentioning that apprarently this was changed in July/August as you know a RA was told on award night in August that Amstel does not provide upgrades on awards anymore, thx

By the way I had 4drinks in A-Bar on my Club Experiences here, maybe it is 2drinks per person x twp people per room, so solo guest may be allowed 4drinks?
(Or it could be yet further evidence of new penny pinching attitude and go hand in glove with RA being told no upgrades on Award nights)

Land-of-Miles

Personally, I didn't like this hotel last time I stayed, and was swayed to stay here by t he club experience. It is one more symbol of why I would be far from distressed if bumped from RA at the end of the year.

If I ever lose RA it is bye bye IC for good, it is insane to choose this random benefit shambles compared to something more tangible.

ORDroad

Their penny pinching started a long time ago.

"Open items" are excluded from the RA minibar.

Thank you very much for your loyalty: 2 Heineken, a tasteless white and plenty of water.

I get better drink vouchers as an IHG Plat anywhere.

Flying Lawyer

They treat him according to the rules. As easy as this

IAN-UK

But I think that has always been the underlying "rule" across the programme.

It's not one I've run into being applied at ICs, but it's certainly one of the uncertainties, and potential discomforts, of the programme.

IHG seems to trying to whip hotels into conforming with its standards, and some seem to be selectively adopting the elements that suit them.

I cant believe this hotel willingly volunteered for the "Intercontinental Life" business for those hotels without club facilities: so sticking to the no upgrade rule on reward stays might be their kickback against the unfairness of life

IAN-UK

scubaccr

My issue is that it had been and was IC Amstel's stated policy to treat paid & award stays the same regards RA benefits. Same stated policy was upgrades ended at Exec Suite (City or River View) so there was zero point in an RA booking any room but entry level Exec City View or Exec River View Rooms.

ie
o upgrade city view -> exec to city view suite which I was fully aware of with somewhere around 30x award nights over the previous years from 2009 onwards. (also book Exec Suite and no upgrade permitted)

IAN-UK

But, again, IHG is trying to get hotels into line. Some have resisted change, others have fallen into line where policies suit them. Amsterdam took on what must seem a terrible chore and expense, the Experience lark: perhaps they are kicking back by playing the rewards rule with a straight bat.

You can hardly complain that they are following the rules. Well you can, and you can vote with your feet, and settle down in another hotel on Amsterdam visits. At the rates they charge you can do better

One of "my" hotels stopped giving Spires club access, claiming IHG rules don't permit. I haven't been back since. I'm sure they don't care, but it gives me some satisfaction to give my cash to another hotel chain.

Land-of-Miles

I don't buy the line that IHG is trying to get the properties into line. It isn't as if they have really seriously tried that in terms of positive standardisation of benefits so why would they wish to do this in an adverse way?

This is a convenient excuse to hang things on from a property perspective, I too react like you to negative changes by properties but then IHG is not my main chain. AMS has interesting SPG/Marriott/Hilton offerings these days and some great independents with far less hideous decor. Not sure I will be troubling the Amstel again with my custom.

IAN-UK

Whether you buy it or not, IHG is attempting to get properties into line. Though cracking the whip delicately across he backs of so many hotel owners is never going to be easy .

While some elements of the attempt have taken hold (club access for Royal Ambassadors at IC hotels seems to be universal at those with lounges; bonus points on check-in for Spires seem to have caught on), others are slowly being introduced (club lounge catering specifications) and some (such as no bennies on award stays) are getting cherry-picked by hotels.


There is no such concept as positive standardisation. Or adverse standardisation. It's simply standardisation. And it focuses around brand specifications. Inevitably that means cutting benefits at some hotels, while augmenting benefits at others.

Standardisation thus involves convincing hotels that historically over-provided to cut back, so as not to embarrass their sister hotels playing by the rules.

So, sooner or later those IC providing fuller catering in their lounges will be persuaded to move to canapés - to a mixed response from guests. And those furnishing bathrooms with higher-end toiletries might get their knuckles rapped after IHG audits.



I'm not suggesting that standardisation is a good thing for guests, though many on here have called out for it - though i think they had the romantic notion that it would ratchet all benefits up to the levels provided by the most generous hotels.

In fact, it creates a pretty boring world of compromise, without the elements of quirkiness that occasionally emerge even in chain hotels.

Flying Lawyer

We had a recent one day stay for a relaxing day and evening in Amsterdam and were more than satisfied.

Booked entry level and were upgraded to an Executive Suite on the fourth floor with water view and without scaffolding view. We arrived early after a 6 am start at about 9 am at the hotel. Plenty of staff available to take care of our luggage including pram. Check in was smooth and accompanied by a nice coffee.

For the start we enjoyed breakfast under the Club Live Experience which was available until 10.30. I cannot understand the complaints about the breakfast. This breakfast is not about quantity but about quality. The cheeses, cuts and salmon were of really high quality. Eggs were nothing to complain about and Moet was available in abundance.

Afternoon tea in the Wintergarten was pretty nice (I cannot comprehend that some guests order the food to their room, it is the atmosphere of the location and not the food which made our day). Staff - most of them either Dutch or Eastern European - were really nice with us and our little one.

Drinks and Canapés on the terrace in sunset were great, too. It was pointed out to us that two drinks were incuded which is fair enough - we were sitting there before dinner to enjoy and not to get drunken.

The following day started again with a good breakfast and tea time before departure at 4 pm to get the train back to Germany. All in all good value for money for a rate in the range of 350 EUR.

turner32

Their attempt to re-define the "Club Experience" is cynical and irritating.
Yes, the breakfast is very good, and afternoon tea is fine, if you're planning on staying in the hotel during the day, but the "two drinks" policy is cheap.
It's possible to buy the breakfast with the room for around EUR 35 for two persons. So, there's no value in the package as a whole. Just withdraw it, but don't cheat people.

Land-of-Miles

Agree the real cost of the drinks is quite a bit less than the supplement and as the property is one of the stingiest with minibar contents it simply helps balance things out.

IAN-UK

I'm not at all sure how this works, but I'd imagine the Amsterdam IC had this policy thrust upon them. Sweetners or twisted arms -but certainly this was not a policy developed by the hotel.

There will be service standards imposed and audited by IHG, so it might be an idea to direct your unhappiness towards them: at any rate, they'll be keen to monitor satisfaction with the concept.

We don't want the two drink rule reported as a success by the hotel and adopted as brand standard

turner32

I think they certainly have "developed" their own policy for the Club Experience, since the other hotels involved in the trial, Porto and Marseille have no such (2 drink) rule, nor do any of the actual Club lounges that exist within the system.
A success for the Amstel, perhaps, but not with their loyal clientele who understand how lounges are meant to operate, and can clearly see how they're being short-changed here.