InterContinental Jakarta Pondok Indah

What is your IHG One Rewards status?
Diamond 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 1 King Classic. Received Club Floor King Room (no real upgrade) but the room was massive with super high ceilings

How are the rooms?
Very Nice (very spacious) with massive windows.
TGW Tea and Nespresso Coffee Machine.
Nice working desk.

How is the exec. lounge?
Excellent: Barista Indonesian Coffee, TWG Tea.
Nice Afternoon tea set.
Excellent cocktail hours selection with 3 made to order hot dishes, salads, sushi, cakes.
One of the best IC lounge I have experience so far.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:

• Excellent Lounge
• Excellent breakfast (in the restaurant)
• Staff
• Great view
• Nice Fitness room

BAD
Poor Swimming pool

Value for $ or IHG One Rewards Points? Would you return?
Yes Paid in cash.. Also received 4pm checkout.

 

Intercontinental Yokohama Grand



What is your IHG One Rewards status?
Diamond Ambassador



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

Yes, stayed here for two days



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

Booked King classic harbor view on the first night and then King classic city view the second night for 25,000 and 23,000 points respectively. I received king premium harbor view walk in shower.



How are the rooms?

Positives:
Room had a very nice view of the bay
Quite large with a lot of storage
US style outlets we nice since I forgot to bring an adapter



Negatives: A bit dark even when the lights were turned on in the evening.
Bed was a little hard and the sheets weren�t very comfortable.
Rooms a bit dated



How is the exec. lounge?

Booked on points so when asked I was told I would have to pay the difference in room rate from classic to club which was 23,000 yen. Naturally I passed on it.



What was good and what was bad?

I was asked without prompt about which diamond benefit I would choose. 4pm checkout and ambassador credit were given right away. Breakfast was a buffet with made to go omelet. Mostly Chinese and Japanese with a few American choices. Hotel very close to the main sights of Yokohoma along with being maybe 200 feet from the mall.


No Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?

Best flexible rate was just above 130 usd so 25,000 points isn�t really a deal but I�m pretty flush with points. I enjoyed Yokohoma and the surrounding cities so I would stay again at this price point

 

Does the AMB free weekend night wipe out the 15% service charge on the second night too?

 

InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
1 King Classic, initially upgraded to 1 King Classic Atrium View shortly after booking and upgraded again the day before arrival to 1 King Premium Club Lounge Access Separate Bath (Club access not provided, but otherwise considered a four-category upgrade)

How are the rooms?
Clean, comfortable and reasonably modern. Amenities from Byredo, fully stocked minibar, TV with a range of free and cable channels (including some international, e.g. CNN) and a full-sized work desk.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A, didn't have access.

What was good and what was bad?
The Good

• Appreciated the generous upgrade, the room was huge!
• Really good welcome experience even when arriving at 10:15pm. Warmly greeted by the bell desk team and receptionist Tamara. Late check-out and Diamond amenity proactively offered.
• Great location on Collins Street, with a free tram stop nearby.
• Hotel is in a heritage building with a stunning atrium.
• Buffet breakfast was high quality with a lot of variety. Barista coffee is included and the service from Ang�lica and Juan was second to none! Egg chef on the first day made the omelettes a bit small but the chef on the second and third day was much better. He also knew the drill when guests showed up with a slice of sourdough and smashed avo/salmon already on their plate, taking the plate and plating the poached egg right on top!

The Bad

• Wi-Fi was slow to the point of being unusable for anything beyond the most basic tasks - needed to hotspot from my phone for work video calls.
• Air conditioning required you to leave your key in the slot and ran a couple of degrees warmer than whatever you set. Minimum was 18 degrees which was just barely acceptable for me.
• Some areas of the hotel are in need of refurbishment. A particular callout are the hallway floorboards which are extremely creaky.
• Went for after-dinner drinks at Alluvial and got the feeling they were keen to close, they were quite impatient when some in our group were taking a while to peruse the menu. When drinks arrived they automatically brought the bill with it. It was odd because all this happened at around 9-9.15pm and they only came around to say last drinks at around 10pm, so I'm not sure why they were in such a rush.
• Hotel imposes a deposit of AUD $100/night, I think this is excessive and out of line with the competition. For a short stay it's not a huge issue but when checking out there was a guy having a $500 deposit taken for a 5-night stay!

Value for $ or IHG One Rewards Points? Would you return?
Paid AUD $317/night. Despite a few areas needing improvement, none were show-stoppers and I would be happy to return.

Detailed review with pictures

 

InterContinental Hong Kong Grand Stanford

What is your IHG One Rewards status?
Platinum Ambassador

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Absolutely � it was one of the best hotel rooms I�ve ever stayed in!

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked a King Classic Club Lounge Access Victoria Harbour View. Received a 1 Bedroom Suite Victoria Harbour View at check-in (a three category upgrade).

How are the rooms?
For a city such as Hong Kong where space is at a premium, the suite felt absolutely palatial (65sqm), with an entry hall, sitting room with separate loo, bedroom and en suite with separate shower and bath, and a WIR. The view of Victoria Harbour from the massive windows running the length of the room was spectacular!

The suite had quality furnishings throughout, with TGW tea, a Nespresso coffee machine and Byredo Blanche toiletries in large dispensers.

How is the exec. lounge?
Exceptional. The breakfast spread served in the lounge was outstanding including made-to-order dishes, an afternoon tea from 4-6pm each day, and happy hour including Taittinger champagne and an array of hot and cold sweet and savoury hors d�oeuvres from 6-8.30pm each night.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:

• Exceptional lounge;
• The service from the staff in the lounge and attention to detail;
• The expansive views of Victoria Harbour from the room were truly breathtaking;
• Location is ideal to watch the light show from the Avenue of Stars each evening at 8pm.

Bad:

• The room was not ready when I checked in at 4pm as the previous occupant had requested a late checkout. However, I was accommodated in the lounge until the room was ready (at approx. 5pm) and received an upgrade to a 1-bedroom suite, so cannot complain!
• The hotel is also slightly out of the way for the metro (MTR) � the nearest station (East TST) is a 10-minute walk.

Value for $ or IHG One Rewards Points? Would you return?
Yes - paid in cash and used my Ambassador free night certificate. Including the upgrade, the stay represented exceptional value for money.

 

Intercontinental ANA Tokyo


What is your IHG One Rewards status?
Diamond Ambassador


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


Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked premium room high floor with lounge access and received the Tsuki Suite


How are the rooms?
View showed nothing in particular but being on the 32nd floor meant it was still very nice during all hours of the day. Not a true suite but still was spacious enough. The bathroom was separate but into two sections. First section was the closet with sink and then by opening the door you could use the rain fall shower and then tub. Two large windows with padded edges for viewing, two tables, two TVs, minibar, coffee set, and all the fixings for indulging in beverages. Bed was comfortable enough but as we all know the beds in Japan can run hard. Overall, room was perfectly large enough for two people.


How is the exec. lounge?
Several excellent choices for breakfast to pick off the menu including a nice breakfast bar. Absolutely no need to eat at the main restaurant
Afternoon tea is nice
The evening was very nice as well. A variety of beers, cocktails, spirits and two champagne choices.
Each person received a plate of three hot canap�s and a buffet of cold canap�s and sweets. Enough canap�s for a early dinner IMO.
Concierge was proactive and responded once a day.


What was good and what was bad?
Diamond and ambassador benefits presented and explained at check in without prompt. Good location as it�s close to several malls, roppingi, and a couple of metro lines.
Suites come with gym and pool access.
Nice variety of restaurants at the hotel and nearby
Excellent lounge

Bad
I did hear some construction around 2pm on my last day. Not enough to ruin my stay


No Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
1,100 usd total for three nights with the BOGO ambassador so quite the deal IMO. I would return if I could pay 500 for a club high premium room and get the upgrade.

 

IC Sofia

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? Booked the cheapest entry level room with points and was upgraded to a king family suite with double sofa bed. Big enough for four! Shame I left my family in Blighty.

How are the rooms? Large and comfortable. The sitting area had a sofa and two armchairs with two coffee tables. Desk was in the corner. Well stocked mini bar. Nespresso machine with branded capsules. Bath and separate shower, Byredo amenities.

How is the exec. lounge? Underused during my visit. During happy hour there were only a couple of other folk using it. I drank gin, the fizz was some dodgy looking Bulgarian bubbles. I had breakfast in the Ador restaurant, and ordered from the egg menu. I did not indulge in afternoon tea.

What was good and what was bad? Good, received a drinks voucher for cocktails as my welcome amenity. Used the �15 Ambassador allowance for the minibar. There was a fruit bowl and two large bottles of mineral water along with a hand written welcome card in the room. Also two small bottles of mineral water as the standard Ambassador benefit. Xmas decs were tasteful and gorgeous. 70p ride on the metro from the airport.
Bad, nothing much - this is a clean and well run hotel. If I was being really picky I would comment that the bath took a long time to run.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return? I used 29,000 points for the suite. No club costs thanks to free two year lounge pass.

 

IC O2

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive? We booked the cheapest entry level room and received a nine category upgrade to a one bedroom suite high floor. This generous upgrade was service recovery for our previous stay when the key card system was broken for the first 24 hours of our stay and we had to queue at the concierge desk for a staff member to accompany us in the lift or to our room.

How are the rooms? Huge. I only had time to take one photo as it was my son�s birthday and we had a busy weekend planned. The photo is of the balloons that Micaela on the guest relations team put in the room along with a birthday cake for my boy. The living area is in the back of the pic. We had a dining table with seating for six and two sofas opposite each other. One was a sofa bed. All of this was lovely but rather wasted on us as we are leisure travellers and as usual the only time we spent in the room we were asleep and snoring our heads off. It would be ideal for folk who get sent away to work by their employer. There was a large desk and a separate cloakroom so you could easily host a meeting or spend the day grafting at the desk. The minibar and coffee station were on the left hand side. There was a Nespresso machine with generic capsules. The main bathroom had a separate bath and rainfall shower and free standing Byredo amenities. The suite was at the end of the building and had windows facing in three different directions.



How is the exec. lounge? We were remembered by staff from previous visits and greeted accordingly which was nice. We squeezed in three afternoon teas, two breakfast visits and two happy hour visits. Breakfast on Saturday was speedy. I ordered poached eggs on smashed avo and it arrived quickly. Sunday morning was slow. The lounge was packed. I ordered an omelette. It hadn�t arrived 30 minutes later and we had plans for the day so I cancelled my order.

What was good and what was bad? Good - fab upgrade. We were given a mini box of chocolates each as we checked in. Received welcome points plus a drinks voucher which we exchanged for a pint and a glass of vino. A birthday card, a cake and balloons were waiting in the room when we arrived. My son was thrilled. There was also a generous fruit bowl. We spent some time in the spa. The pool was quiet, we had a massage each and could choose our sessions as there was plenty of availability. We used the Ambassador allowance for the mini bar.
Bad - eggs to order menu on Sunday morning in the lounge was a disaster. One of the bathrobes was soft and new. The other was old and scratchy. I am 99% sure that the pool temperature had been reduced. The Thames looked warmer.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return? This hotel is excellent value when there is nothing on at the O2. If you also have free two year lounge pass it is cheaper than spending the weekend at home.

 

IC NY TS

What is your Rewards Club status?
Platinum Ambassador

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

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked Premium Midtown View. No updgrade, hotel policy is not to upgrade to jr suites or suites which they informed via email a week ahead of check-in

How are the rooms?
Good size, especially for NY standards. Good and spacious bathroom. Room is very worn down, every piece of wood in furniture, boarding etc has incredible amount of chips in it. Honestly, wasn�t too bothered actually as otherwise the cleanliness was very good. Rather, it was comical level. Soundproofing is poor, need earplugs as the traffic noise from 8th avenue is very loud and 24/7. Bed is good, pillows are decent.


How was your complimentary welcome amenity?
Drinks voucher to the bar

How was the minibar?
Ok, unspectacular. Soda was coke only, beer was Sam Adams and some better one which I don�t remember which was after drinking replaced by Sam Adams. M&M, pringles and some lower end wine and liquer which we didn�t try.

Spa and gym?
Didn�t try

Early check-in / late check-out?
Received early check-in (11am) despite not asking in advance. Asked for late check-out and received it (I think it was 6pm, left at 4pm)

What was good and what was bad?
First and foremost this is a hotel where nothing is incredible nor very bad. Good overall but not spectacular.

Good
Ambassador check-in was great and very friendly
In the hotel the staff clearly paid major attention to status recognition.
Despite deficiencies, the room is still on positive side
Doormen were great

Bad
Breakfast was disappointing and clearly inferior in quality and offering from what it was on previous visit few years ago
Few exceptions, but breakfast staff was mainly poor service even by NY standards.
Lack of upgrade - this is two sided. I get it, the hotel has policy and they communicated it in advance, but still not the level of service I�ve received at other ICs

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Paid in $ - decent value.
For Ambassador, low value. Perks were early check-in and late check-out and the compensation points, but other than that Ambassador provided no additional value.
Wouldn�t mind returning but at least next times will try something else

 

The suite upgrade is the ext level upgrade should be part of the guaranteed Ambassador upgrade. For the IC NY TS only the following specialty suites are excluded per Ambassador terms and conditions:

• InterContinental New York Times Square: Manhattan, Deluxe Studio, Sky View Studio

 

In my opinion as well, but this is the email I received and the message was repeated at AMB check-in:

Good afternoon, Ambassador Birkin,

Thank you for choosing Intercontinental New York Times Square for your upcoming reservation and for your Loyalty to IHG as a Platinum Ambassador.

As an Ambassador, one of your many perks is receiving a room upgrade. However, our Double Premium Midtown View is our highest category available as our Junior Suites, Manhattan Suites and Presidential Suite are not eligible for complimentary upgrades. In lieu of an upgrade we are happy to offer either 10,000 IHG Points or a $50 F&B Credit.

Please let us know which you would prefer so that we may apply the credit to your reservation or account.

For your convince kindly find attached the link for the InterContinental Ambassador Specialty Suite Exceptions.
https://zngl.me/N33BTdP

 

First time back here after a 2015 stay which wasn't all that great.

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

Booked cheapest standard room and used confirmable suite upgrade. Received additional AMB upgrade from Junior Suite with Club Access to King City Suite with Club Access.

How are the rooms?

Modern enough and in a generally good state. 63 sqm, separate living room, large bathroom with shower and jet tub.
Living room and bedroom extremely dark due to insufficient light sources.

How is the exec. lounge?

Very good, with attentive staff.

What was good and what was bad?

Service from most staff was very good.
Parking is a bit of a pain. The car park next door is not hotel-owned and fills up on occasions. If that is full, good luck!
Drinks voucher not accepted at the bar. Was told this was only good for the main restaurant. Truly?

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

Paid EUR 650.-- total for 5 nights including lounge access, so pretty good value in my book.
Will definitely consider this IC again when next in Malta.

 

InterContinental Boston (Oct 2023)
What is your Priority Club status?
Plat Ambassador

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

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked 1 King Classic, initially received same with a blocked view; asked about it at reception and was offered either Greenway View or Fort Point Channel View. I let them decide and got the prior.

How are the rooms?
Spacious room with the classic IC decor. The space between the bed and the window-side desk was so wide one can do yoga comfortably. Having type-C charging ports.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?
Good
- Amb receives a $20 credit for mini-bar consumptions
- Pool is nice, and they even have free apples at the gym
- Love the real fireplace at lobby

Bad
- Even though I'm using Amb Cert to stay, they seem to not realise I'm Amb. Besides the upgrade I need to explicitly ask for, they never give bottled water until I asked... It's supposed be part of Amb benefits AND included in the $35/night "resort fees" I must pay. Had to request both nights. So frustrating.
- I think they didn't even properly clean the part of fridge that's for guest's own use. There were half a bottle of juice from past guest.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Only the facilities remind me I'm staying at an IC. At this price point, no, there are better options that are more conveniently located too.

 

3 nights in late November 2023 as Platinum Ambassador

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
King Classic Club Lounge Access High Floor, received this room albeit with a view of the Eastern Harbour, I believe that is the upgrade for this hotel

How are the rooms?
Newly renovated, modern and good layout. Nice big window for views to the east.

How is the exec. lounge?
Good staff and nicely appointed. Might not be good if it were at capacity but fine when 1/2 full. Breakfast on the top floor is a great way to start the day, a nice mixture of buffet and ala carte items. Breakfast was quite busy the last of the 3 days we were there, service/food/experience wasn't nearly as good as the first two days. I think they let some early check-in couples in to use the lounge before their rooms were ready.

What was good and what was bad?
Good: Location, decor/furnishings, lounge/breakfast staff (mostly)
Bad: Service at the bar was really poor. Initially was turned down for guaranteed 4pm checkout. Room a/c didnt work but got it fixed.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Fair value for $, the city centre in Sydney is expensive so I feel like this hotel is still worth it. Will return again for the location and the views.

 

1 night in November 2023 as Platinum Ambassador

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked: King Classic City View
Received: King Classic River View

How are the rooms?
Tired, in need of renovation and an odd layout. That said, they were comfortable enough.

How is the exec. lounge?
No access

What was good and what was bad?
Good: Location and view of the river
Bad: Older hotel, in need of a renovation.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Average value for $ but nothing special. Will probably try a more modern hotel next time in Adelaide like the Hotel Indigo or Hotel Sofitel.