Hotel: InterContinental Brisbane
When: November 2025
Status: Platinum Ambassador
Rate: avg. $165/night (Ambassador complimentary weekend night certificate)
Booked: 1 King Classic
Received: 1 King Classic High Floor Lounge Access (two-category upgrade, was initially upgraded to 1 King Classic High Floor about a week out then upgraded again the day before arrival. I had an annual lounge pass anyway so would have received Club access regardless)
I was keen to check out this new addition to the IC family and the Ambassador BOGO rate worked well here as Friday night (i.e. the paid night) was much cheaper than Saturday night. The hotel only reflagged over to IC from Hilton in July this year and is currently in a bit of a holding phase prior to a scheduled refurbishment starting in 2026. That said I still think the facilities are in good working condition and it was a very enjoyable stay.
Arrived fairly late at about 10:30pm after
my delayed flight from Sydney and was warmly welcomed at check-in, the receptionist mentioned it had been a busy night for them with a lot of guests looking to extend their stay due to flight cancellations. They had my annual lounge pass on file and provided a club welcome letter and walked through the various amenities with me. Choice of welcome amenity was also offered and I chose the drink voucher, was provided with 2x vouchers for use at the bar.
My room was on the 24th floor and although I would guess the last major refurbishment was probably around 10-15 years ago, everything was still in good working condition, clean and comfortable. The bedroom had a full-size work station, ample storage space, a comfortable chair / footrest, fully stocked minibar and a smallish TV which had free-to-air stations plus Chromecast. Two complimentary bottles of water were provided and replenished daily, not sure if this is just for Ambassadors or something everyone receives. The bathroom was excellent given the age of the property, it was a proper walk-in shower! Standard Byredo amenities were provided as well as toothbrushes, razors etc. Towels were large and plentiful. Wi-Fi was good, housekeeping was good, the only three gripes I had with the room were the low-ply toilet paper, an airconditioning unit which was pretty noisy even at the lowest fan level and the lack of power points near the bed! I find this is common at older properties and hopefully something they address in the next refurb, I was ok because I travel with a long cable and the powerpoint near the chair was close enough that I could still use it, but this would be a problem for others.
The Club InterContinental is located on the top floor (25th floor) of the hotel and by chance was essentially directly above my room. Whilst not particularly large, perhaps taking up the size of about 3-4 rooms, it was never at capacity during my visit. F&B presentations include breakfast from 6.30-10am on weekdays / 7-10.30am on weekends, afternoon tea from 2-4pm and evening drinks and canapés from 5-7pm. Complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and refreshments are available all day.
To be honest the afternoon tea was my favourite service, you can go for the full set consisting of sandwiches, scones and cakes or if you prefer you can pick and choose the items you want. The scones were the best I have had anywhere and the cakes were fantastic. I'm not sure if their cake/pastry chef is in house or external but they are some of the best I've seen at a major brand anywhere!
The evening service was naturally the busiest period in the lounge and consisted of two hot canapés served to your table (lamb kofta and sweet potato croquette the night I visited) and a small cold buffet. For drinks they had four coughtails, five beers (including Heineken Zero which I appreciated having cut back on alcohol), standard spirits and a seection of wines. Drink top-ups were regularly offered and they were more than happy to serve extra rounds of the hot items if you wanted. Another table had guests with dietary requirements (gluten free in this case) and it was well attended to, they even had some items specially prepared for them.
For breakfast, the receptionist mentioned that those with lounge access can choose between the main buffet at Latitude 27 or the club breakfast, so I tried both over the two mornings. Breakfast in the Club is buffet style and basically a limited version of what is available downstairs. Lounge staff take a coffee order on arrival however it is made from a machine which you can also self-serve at if you prefer. They also asked if I wanted a fresh juice and I said I'd take an orange juice but instead some multi-fruit thing came out, I think that was the only option they had. Latitude 27 in comparison had a lot more variety plus things like an egg station and barista coffee, which weren't available upstairs. The downside was that despite being a huge restaurant it was very busy, so coffee orders might take time and I didn't bother getting one. The only advantage I felt the Club had was that breakfast there was much quieter. Overall I would say Latitude 27 is the way to go.
Regarding other F&B offerings, in addition to 24-hour room service the restaurant is also open for dinner and the adjoining Latitude 27 bar is open all day and serves light snacks/meals. In order to use my $25 Ambassador F&B credit I visited the bar for lunch and got the saltbush fried calamari, it was pretty good. Paired with my free drink vouchers it was an excellent lunch and entirely covered by the F&B credit and vouchers
In terms of other amenities, there is a well-equipped gym and a medium-sized outdoor pool and sauna. I also saw some references to a tennis court and have seen some pictures of it when the hotel was a Hilton but I didn't go looking for it. As Australia's only Harry Seidler designed hotel the atrium is very much a focal point for the hotel and it is a beautiful space, I hope they preserve its ambience in the refurb. When visiting recently reflagged hotels I like keeping a lookout for references to the old brand but, try as I might, I didn't find any! They've done a really good job removing Hilton references even on some of the more 'administrative' signage that you would think would be a low order priority.
The location is central and conveniently from the reception on the 6th floor you can enter/exit to either Queen Street Mall on one side (only available til 11pm) or the main driveway on Elizabeth Street.
I had forgotten to ask about my guaranteed 4pm check-out on arrival and it hadn't been proactively offered so I visited the front desk the morning after - the receptionist on at the time, whilst very friendly and professional was perhaps new and not across the benefits so locked in a 2pm late checkout and said to check again on the morning of departure - I just returned later that evening and a more experienced receptionist locked in 4pm for me without any trouble. Not a complaint here as I'm sure I could have pushed for 4pm at the start but was happy to let it play out. I would definitely say a highlight of this hotel is its staff, everyone was very well-intentioned and happy to engage with guests. The lounge staff deserve a particular callout, they were good at remembering names and food/beverage/seating preferences.
Overall a very nice stay and at $165/night with lounge access there are no material complaints from me. It's probably a good time to visit now as the rates will certainly rise post-refurb.
Hoping to spend next year's birthday in Singapore (I should also have an Annual Lounge Pass by then, so I guess my options are either the remaining IC at Robertson Quay, or voco Orchard)
