Hotel: InterContinental Wellington
When: January 2026
Status: Platinum Ambassador
Rate: NZD $295/night (Visa cardholder rate)
Booked: 1 King Classic
Received: It's complicated. I
think it was a 1 King Premium but if anything, it might be more of a downgrade. More on that later!
Bit of an odd stay to be honest, fortunately it was only two nights with a late arrival and early departure. If you look up rooms on the IHG website you'll see it starts with Classic as the cheapest, then Classic Low Floor and Premium. However looking at the pictures, the Classic and Classic Low Floor look renovated and much nicer compared to the Premium category. Well, a bit over a week out from my stay I saw the room type update in app to "1 King Premium" and wasn't sure what to make of it.
Arrival
I arrived just after midnight and check-in with the night team was fine; it was here that the receptionist noted that I hadn't been upgraded and offered compensation of $70 F&B credit or 10,000 points. The lack of an upgrade seemed odd as the hotel was not full according to the website, but anyway I took the points. He also couldn't see my milestone lounge pass in the system but arranged access after showing him the award on my phone.
Room
My room was on the 8th floor and although not as fancy as some newer ICs, it was fine. There was a large desk, ample storage space, minibar and a large TV with Chromecast. Complimentary tea and coffee was good and even included a few biccies, something I don't see a lot of these days. The view was nothing special, just looking onto other buildings on Featherston Street. Ambassadors are meant to receive complimentary mineral water and this has typically been commercially bottled water or filtered taps on each floor for guests to self-serve, however here they had two glass bottles on the table which I think they might have filled from the tap! A small jar of honey had been left on the table as a welcome gift, haven't had the chance to try it but I certainly hope it's worth it after the rigmarole having to declare and present it at Aussie customs
The bathroom was fine with all the key amenities, including a scale. There was a cool window between the bathroom and bedroom which at the touch of a button can be made completely opaque. The shower had both a rainfall and regular showerhead however the water pressure was too low on the rainfall head for my liking. Housekeeping was quick and did a good job.
As for the room and upgrade/lack thereof, I'm not entirely sure but I
think what's happening is that they are progressively renovating the rooms and all of the Classic ones are done but there are still Premium ones to go. So I could argue that in some ways they downgraded me by moving me from a renovated King Classic to an unrenovated King Premium. Given it was such a short stay I was happy to take the compensation points, but it's something to note if the upgrade is important to you.
Club InterContinental
The Club is located on the 7th floor and has beautiful harbour views. There are a variety of seating options however the nicest spots are by the windows. F&B presentations include breakfast from 6.30-10.30am on weekdays / 6.30-11am on weekends, afternoon tea from 2-4pm and evening drinks and canapés from 5-7pm.
Breakfast consisted of cooked-to-order eggs cooked supplemented by a small buffet of mostly cold and a few hot items. I got the eggs benedict with salmon and it was superb, the coffee was just ok.
For afternoon tea I arrived in the last half hour of service and I think they had run out of clean tiered trays because they just plated my set. It was a generous set consisting of two sandwiches, a quiche and three sweet items - teas were from T2 and although not much of a tea fan, my Gorgeous Geisha tea was lovely.
The evening service was the busiest - the food offering was entirely self-serve with one hot canapé (teriyaki tofu) and two cold items (watermslon salad and poached prawn on mini toasts) supplemented by a selection of cheeses, cold cuts, crudités etc. The drinks menu was extensive with five coughtails, two mocktails, a broad selection of NZ wines, local and international beers and standard spirits. Over the course of the evening I had a gin and tonic, a non-alcoholic beer which turned out to be Corona Zero and two coughtails, the Botanic Garden and the Harbour Lights - the coughtails were the highlight. Staff regularly offered top-ups and came around just before 7pm for last call, they were happy to double park you before the end of service. It was a nice service overall but some suggestions for improvement would be to offer a hot plated canapé to each table, introduce more local spirits (the G&T featured Humdinger gin which was the only NZ spirit on the menu) and in a city known for its craft brewing scene, surely they can do better than a Corona Zero for the non-alcoholic option!
It should be noted that this particular Club InterContinental has been awarded "Oceania's best" on numerous occasions and going by the view and the friendliness of the staff, I can certainly understand that. Some small things that could be improved but still a nice experience overall.
F&B
The hotel has quite a lot of dining options, in addition to 24-hour room service they also have The Lobby Lounge, the casual all-day Two Grey and the more upmarket GPO. I stopped by The Lobby Lounge to have a light dinner and use my Ambassador F&B credit and welcome drink voucher, I got a club sandwich (NZD $36) which was really good, probably the best thing I ate at the hotel! I'd note that the Ambassador F&B credit here is NZD $25 which is on the lower side considering it's meant to be the equivalent of USD $20. For comparison the IC in Auckland offers NZD $30 and all the Aussie ICs do AUD $25. Anyway, NZD $11 for a club sandwich and beer after the credit and drink voucher is a steal in anyone's book
Amenities
There is a well-equipped gym and a large indoor pool. The hotel is going through refurbishment and the public areas look nice.
Location
Very convenient being about halfway between Te Papa and the Beehive, the cable car is just a few minutes walk away as is the waterfront. Wellington is a very walkable city. If you're looking for a dining recommendation I can highly recommend Graze Wine Bar in Kelburn, a few minutes walk from the cable car station at the top of the hill. Phenomenal experience at the chef's counter!
Final Thoughts
I had an issue with the minibar which I spotted when reviewing my bill on the TV - looks like they did the inventory reconciliation on the second day of my stay rather than prior to check-in and as a result they replenished a missing mixed nuts and M&Ms consumed by the prior guest and charged $18 to my room. I advised the receptionist at check-out and he waived the charges without a fuss, however I did find the "guest denied" comment next to the reversal on my invoice kind of funny! Ideally they should get these things right in the first place as it leaves a bad taste.
My overall feelings on the property are mixed, happy to return but I wouldn't pay a premium for it. I get the feeling they are trying to keep costs to a minimum. Brand loyalty and my lounge pass are what made me pick this hotel but I think I would have been just as happy and saved a bit of money staying elsewhere, like the Doubletree across the road.
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the room smelt pretty noticeably of damp, but we aired it out with the balcony doors and it cleared okay, so might have just been the weather.
is been like this for years
