Hotel: InterContinental Sydney
When: September 2026
Status: Platinum Ambassador
Rate: 58,000pts/night (reward night)
Booked: Classic Room
Received: 1 King Classic East Harbour View (two-category upgrade, visible in app the day before arrival)
Arrival
Multiple pre-arrival comms were received via both WhatsApp and email, however they were all pretty generic and nothing from the Club IC team. My room was ready on arrival at 1pm and check-in experience was good and welcoming, they didn't have visibility of my annual lounge pass in the system (perhaps explaining the lack of Club IC comms?) but provisioned access after showing the pass on my phone. Welcome amenities included two drink vouchers plus a hotel-specific box of caramel fudge.
Room
The hotel undertook a major refurbishment a few years ago and everything is modern, clean and functional but I still think the design is way too plain, it looks more like a Crowne Plaza than an InterContinental.
At the entrance was plenty of closet space and a partially-stocked minibar (spirits available by request), continuing into the bedroom there was a comfortable king bed, large TV with free-to-air channels and Chromecast and a dining table and lounge by the window. The east-facing view was beautiful, especially for the sunrise and if you really craned your neck you could catch the sails of the Opera House. No bathtub in the bathroom however the shower was great and there were plenty of towels.
There is no complimentary bottled water at this hotel, instead there are filtered water stations by the lifts on each floor.
Club Lounge
The Club InterContinental here is unique as it is split across two spaces - in the morning up to 1pm the Aster Bar on Level 32 serves as the Club InterContinental with breakfast followed by light refreshments. During this morning period, the main Club InterContinental space on Level 31 serves as the Early Arrival Lounge where guests on early flights can relax and enjoy the views and light refreshments (not sure what that includes) whilst they wait for their rooms to be available. After 1pm the Aster space returns to being a bar and afternoon tea, evening canapés and all-day refreshments for Club IC are hosted in the Level 31 space until 10.30pm.
Breakfast is served from 6.30-10.30am weekdays / 7-11am weekends and includes an extensive continental buffet accompanied by an a la carte menu of items fresh from the kitchen, no restrictions on how many a la carte items you can order. I ordered the Eggs Benedict and a Blueberry Crumpet along with some sausages and hash browns. The a la carte items took a little while to come out but were all excellent, although I would probably skip the blueberry crumpet next time. The cold buffet included fresh fruits, cold cuts, cheeses, yoghurts, plenty of bakery items and a variety of fresh juices, of which pineapple was the standout. Coffee was excellent and staff kept top-ups flowing. The best part of course is the spectacular view of the harbour, including the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Hard to imagine a better breakfast view in Sydney!
Afternoon Tea is served from 2-4pm and features a tiered tray of sandwiches, sweets (including something Aussie each day, e.g. lamington/pavlova) and scones. The full suite of non-alcoholic drinks were available to accompany the service and alcoholic drinks were also available at an additional charge. Staff came around offering top-ups on drinks as well as any of the food items, the sandwiches were particularly good so we got another serve of those.
The evening presentation is from 5-7pm and features a tastefully presented grazing table with cold cuts, cheeses, crudités etc whilst two hot items are brought around and served tableside by the staff. The hot items change daily and although the menu indicated it was prawns and arancini, it turned out to be lamb skewers and arancini, which was still excellent. The included drinks menu is seriously extensive with 13 wines, 4 beers/ciders, spirits and coughtails and mocktails. Service was good with drink orders taken on a tablet and sent straight to the bar.
The view from the Level 31 lounge is mostly east-facing with one window looking out towards Circular Quay. The staff were a real standout, they learned guest names remarkably quickly and clearly remembered conversations from the prior day as we heard them asking many guests how they had gone with their sightseeing plans.
F&B
The hotel has a variety of dining options including The Conservatory for breakfast, The Treasury for alll-day dining and Aster for evening coughtails and light meals.
I visited The Treasury for lunch upon arrival - had a club sandwich and used my welcome drink vouchers. The food and drink offering was fine but service was quite weird, the staff came across as inexperienced, confused, a bit cold and overall very different to everyone else we came across.
For those hoping to use IHG Rewards F&B vouchers, for some reason although the charge initially showed up on the app, when I tried to apply it later it was gone and wouldn't let me apply.
Amenities
The fitness centre and pool are both located on Level 31 - gym has all the equipment you could need and faces west whilst the pool looks towards Circular Quay. Pool was very popular with guests.
Location
The location is great for tourists with Circular Quay and the Botanic Gardens just steps away. Plenty of transport options including trains, metro, light rail and buses.
Final Thoughts
This was an enjoyable one-night staycation and a good opportunity to make use of my lounge pass. Usually Saturday nights are a lot more than 58,000 points too so it was excellent value.
