Tag Archives: club lounge

Deluxe room InterContinental Madrid

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 2 Comments


Pic: Deluxe room at InterContinental Madrid (Jan 2012)
Early December, I received a disappointing downgrade letter from the InterContinental Ambassador service.  As of February 2012, I would no longer be an InterContinental Royal Ambassador.  With 30 paid nights in 2011, I did not qualify for extension of my RA membership.  A pity my RA experiences in the past 8 months were limited to InterContinental Bangkok, InterContinental London Park Lane and InterContinental Coex Seoul (the latter being so disappointing I lacked enthusiasms to write blog post)  Anyway, I’m very grateful to the twitter follower who offered me his Royal Ambassador Referral Certificate.
Pic: King bed at Deluxe room InterContinental Madrid (Jan 2012)
My last stay as Royal Ambassador was a weekend stay mid January at InterContinental Madrid.  While the hotel interior didn’t match my taste and the upgrade was limited to a Deluxe room, I couldn’t complain as this was a €99 two-night stay thanks to IHG Best Price Guarantee!

Pic: Complimentary minibar (Royal Ambassadors) at IC Madrid (Jan 2012)

Pic: Free breakfast at Club Lounge InterContinental Madrid (Jan 2012)
I’m going to miss the Royal Ambassador perks: free internet, complimentary minibar, 8am early check-in, 2-level upgrade, club lounge access with complimentary breakfast, cocktails, etc…  Fortunately IHG offers RA downgrades a soft landing to standard Ambassador membership for one year ($150 value)

Pic: Relax area at Club Lounge InterContinental Madrid (Jan 2012)

Pic: Cava and sweets at Club Lounge InterContinental Madrid (Jan 2012)

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Business Class Deluxe room at Radisson Blu Cebu

Posted on November 18, 2011 | 2 Comments


Pic: Guarded entrance gate Radisson Blu Cebu, Philippines (Nov 2011)

Pic: Hotel sign at entrance Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)
For my first night in the Philippines, I booked a room at the number 1 rated hotel for Cebu City on Tripadvisor, Radisson Blu Cebu.  I paid 3829 PHP (EUR 65) for a single Deluxe Room + 695 PHP (EUR 12) for the hotel’s airport transfer service to avoid the hassle with local taxi drivers.  At check-in I requested if they had any upgrades available for Club Carlson Gold members (obtained via status match).  I was told no rooms were available yet (1PM) but if I waited for one hour or so I could get a Business Class Deluxe room.  I agreed and went for a shopping spree at next door’s SM City Mall.  When I returned at 2.30PM, my Business Class Deluxe room (628) was ready.  When collecting my room key, the front desk lady noticed the stack of hotel loyalty cards in my wallet and promptly offered me complimentary Club Lounge access on top of my room upgrade. “You must travel a lot Sir” :)

Pic: Business Class Deluxe room at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: King Size Bed Business Class Deluxe room at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: Business Class Deluxe room at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: Club Lounge at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: Club Lounge Breakfast Spread at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: Pool at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

Pic: Poolside food (Caesar Salad) at Radisson Blu Cebu (Nov 2011)

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Club Room at InterContinental Bangkok

Posted on August 23, 2011 | 3 Comments


Pic: My Club Room at InterContinental Bangkok (Aug 2011)

Pic: Nice sofa in Club Room at InterContinental Bangkok (Aug 2011)

Pic: Huge TV in Club room at InterContinental Bangkok (Aug 2011)
Back from a week Thailand: Bangkok and Pattaya.  8 nights, 6 hotels.  Hotel Hopping, love it!  Made pictures of every room I stayed at, so you can expect 6 hotel reports.

Before my trip, I posted the booking details of my 3 hotels in Bangkok.  InterContinental Bangkok was first on my list.  The hotel is situated near Chit Lom BTS Sky Train, walking distance from Siam Square and offers views on The Royal Bangkok Sports Club (Horse Racing and Golf).  Plenty of luxury hotels can be found in this area, including the Grand Hyatt Erawan, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Kempinski and Hansar Bangkok.

After a +-350 THB taxi ride (incl. 25 + 45 THB road toll) from Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International Airport, I arrived at IC Bangkok.  I was greeted by the Bell Boy who took care of my bags.  At the front desk I was referred to the Club Lounge on the 37th floor for a personalized check-in (Ambassador benefit).  After the formalities were finished, I was escorted to my Club Floor room. (see pics above)Pic: View from InterContinental Bangkok Club Lounge (iPhone)
Around 5pm, I visited to the Club Lounge.  The selection of hors d’oeuvres was impressive and included sushi, sashimi, Thai specialities etc…  Complimentary high quality wines and cocktails were served too.  The food was so good that I didn’t need dinner anymore!

Pic: Hors d’oeuvre at InterContinental Bangkok Club Lounge (iPhone)

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InterContinental Bucharest

Posted on March 26, 2011 | 2 Comments

For info on how to get the lowest room rates at InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo, scroll down.

I’m currently staying at the InterContinental Bucharest in Romania.  The IC Bucharest has 4 published room types: Superior, Deluxe, Club IC and Junior Suite.  During my first stay in November 2010, I was upgraded from a Superior room to a Junior Suite thanks to my InterContinental Ambassador membership.  Earlier this month, I had booked a Club IC room.  Again, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite but with access to the new club lounge at the 21st floor.  If you’re unfamiliar with hotel industry terms like Club room, Club floor and Club Lounge,  read this USA Today Travel article.

As this was my third stay, I was looking for a new experience.  I spotted some pictures of the new Club rooms browsing the IC Bucharest facebook page.  So rather than be upgrade to a Junior Suite I requested to be upgraded from a superior room to a Club Room.  When arrived in the room, I realized there were still ‘old’ Club rooms too.  As the hotel was fully booked on Friday night, I requested to move to a new Club room Saturday.  So here we are today in this lovely contemporary IC Bucharest Club room:

How to get the lowest room rates at InterContinental Hotels?

  1. Determine which IHG hotels are available for your dates and destination at the IHG website.  By default the results will show the Best Available rate.
  2. Use HotelsCombined.com (or similar) to determine if a third party website is selling the same hotel room at a cheaper price. If that’s the case, submit a Lowest Internet Rate Guarantee claim.  If your claim is valid (make sure to read the terms and conditions) IHG will offer you the lower rate – 10%!
  3. Check for IHG promotions.  FrequentFlyerBonus.com has a nice overview of all current promotions (even per country).   Example: 2 Nights for the price of 1: when staying on the best flexible rate at one of hundreds of hotels around Europe including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn hotels.
  4. Use the Friends and Family rate.  If available, this will most likely be the lowest rate but you won’t receive PriorityClub points nor is the hotel obligated to provide you with any of your status privileges (Ambassador upgrades, PriorityClub perks, etc..)  You don’t have friends or family working at IHG?  No worries, we’re all friends of Doug Castor (Global Sourcing Manager with IHG)  He’s sharing his personal link to the IHG Friends and Family rate on his twitter account (which I used successfully in the past)
  5. Enjoy your lowest rate!

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