The-Aviator
Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2018
- Posts
- 134
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Hotel: InterContinental Perth City Centre
When: January 2023
Status: Diamond Ambassador
Rate: $263/night
Booked: 2 Double Beds Classic City View
Received: 2 Double Beds City View Lounge Access (lounge access was not provided, as is their right under the T&Cs, but otherwise considered a two-category upgrade)
Request for 10am early check-in was honoured, which we appreciated considering we saw other guests hanging around closer to 3pm waiting for their rooms. Check in agent was lovely, despite wearing a trainee badge she was well across the hotel's features and IHG Rewards / Ambassador benefits. No welcome letter / fruits or anything provided. Took breakfast as the Diamond amenity.
Housekeeping and evening turndown were both excellent and on-time, something I find a lot of hotels are struggling with in the post-pandemic era. Breakfast at Ascua was really good, still a great range of food although no wood-fired meats as they had back in 2018. Chefs at the egg station were super friendly and chatted with guests while preparing omelettes.
On to the negatives. Stopped by Heno & Rey on our first night to use our Ambassador F&B credit. There were only three tables of guests and despite being well staffed with three servers plus kitchen/bar staff, the restaurant was a mess with lots of tables not cleared after the previous guests had left. All the plants in the raised garden beds were dead, sorry but if you want to be a luxury hotel keep your plants alive or at least get fake ones if you can't maintain them! We ordered a jug of sangria and the server was in a rush and spilled a lot of it onto my dining companion. Got a simple sorry and she pulled some napkins out of the bucket on the table and handed them to us then walked away not to be seen again. Icing on the cake was when we went to pay and were given the incorrect bill for about double what our bill should have been.
Ambassador benefit is a guaranteed 4pm checkout, however when we went to organise this the receptionist offered 2pm. We didn't need til 4pm anyway so I didn't push it and took the 2pm. He handed us the re-coded key cards but then grabbed them back to re-code a second time, as he realised he had mistakenly granted us Club lounge access. Mistakes happen but was poorly handled and was a bit embarrassing in front of other guests, we hadn't done anything wrong and he was making a scene to fix his own mistake. Made me feel like staff at this hotel are more worried about getting in trouble with management than about how their guests might feel.
Still a reasonable experience overall and I would return, but certainly not at the impeccable standard it was in 2018.
When: January 2023
Status: Diamond Ambassador
Rate: $263/night
Booked: 2 Double Beds Classic City View
Received: 2 Double Beds City View Lounge Access (lounge access was not provided, as is their right under the T&Cs, but otherwise considered a two-category upgrade)
Request for 10am early check-in was honoured, which we appreciated considering we saw other guests hanging around closer to 3pm waiting for their rooms. Check in agent was lovely, despite wearing a trainee badge she was well across the hotel's features and IHG Rewards / Ambassador benefits. No welcome letter / fruits or anything provided. Took breakfast as the Diamond amenity.
Housekeeping and evening turndown were both excellent and on-time, something I find a lot of hotels are struggling with in the post-pandemic era. Breakfast at Ascua was really good, still a great range of food although no wood-fired meats as they had back in 2018. Chefs at the egg station were super friendly and chatted with guests while preparing omelettes.
On to the negatives. Stopped by Heno & Rey on our first night to use our Ambassador F&B credit. There were only three tables of guests and despite being well staffed with three servers plus kitchen/bar staff, the restaurant was a mess with lots of tables not cleared after the previous guests had left. All the plants in the raised garden beds were dead, sorry but if you want to be a luxury hotel keep your plants alive or at least get fake ones if you can't maintain them! We ordered a jug of sangria and the server was in a rush and spilled a lot of it onto my dining companion. Got a simple sorry and she pulled some napkins out of the bucket on the table and handed them to us then walked away not to be seen again. Icing on the cake was when we went to pay and were given the incorrect bill for about double what our bill should have been.
Ambassador benefit is a guaranteed 4pm checkout, however when we went to organise this the receptionist offered 2pm. We didn't need til 4pm anyway so I didn't push it and took the 2pm. He handed us the re-coded key cards but then grabbed them back to re-code a second time, as he realised he had mistakenly granted us Club lounge access. Mistakes happen but was poorly handled and was a bit embarrassing in front of other guests, we hadn't done anything wrong and he was making a scene to fix his own mistake. Made me feel like staff at this hotel are more worried about getting in trouble with management than about how their guests might feel.
Still a reasonable experience overall and I would return, but certainly not at the impeccable standard it was in 2018.
(however I have just purchased IC Ambassador membership to extend my Diamond Elite status until end of 2024 as I'm really liking the perks haha)
