Which are the Most Exceptional Intercontinental Hotels?

In my stays at different Intercontinental hotels I have found some of their hotels extraordinary with tall ceilinged classical rooms, and suites with stunning views.

I am extremely interested in what hotels in the Intercontinental group other members feel combine extraordinary architecture, history, beauty and/or views well worth the trip?

My experience is there are some hotels that while extremely well appointed with excellent service you could basically be in any warm climate or any city and not know the difference. I really have come to appreciate those hotels where you know you are in Hong Kong or Sydney from the view from your hotel room.

This is a very subjective matter and I appreciate the perspectives of all milepoint members each from their own unique experience. They can be urban or resort hotels; historic or brand new. I hope we can use this thread to cull out the very most distinctive hotels in their portfolio around the world that are well worth a special personal trip.

To initiate the discussion I have composed a very subjective top 15 draft list. I would appreciate friendly commentary on whether the hotels on this list really deserve to be on this list and in what order. I will continue to update this list as additional members provide their input.

1) Hong Kong IC
2) Sydney IC
3) Bora Bora - Thalasso Spa
4) Washington DC - The Willard
5) Bali Resort
6)Paris - Le Grande
7)Jiuzhai Paradise
8) Berchtesgaden Resort
9) Monterey - The Clement
10) Amsterdam - Amstel
11) Budapest
12)Cannes - Carlton
13) Mumbai- Marine Drive
14)Shanghai Puxi
15) San Francisco Intercontinental

My favourite Intercontinental Hotel in Europe is the IC Budapest!
From the "Riverview Rooms" you can enjoy a very wunderful look to the river Donau the Castle and the Chainbridge...
So enjoy the romantic flair of Budapest!





Mark

Never been there, but always hear great things about IC HGK.

IC HK gets my vote. I wish I could move in

LeGrand should be a lot higher up the list. The ballroom is a listed National Monument in France, for a start, and it has the best lobby and lobby scene of any IC I've visited. Location is also outstanding for tourists. The only downside is the small Classic rooms, but if you've got status the huge number of suites means good upgrades are often forthcoming, often with balconies and opera house views.

It should certainly be well above Cannes (which I believe is very tired internally), and I've seen a surprising number of bad reports about the Amstel recently as well which seems to be needing a refurb - albeit the pool and the formal restaurant are excellent. I'm at Berchtesgaden next week so can comment on that later!

I thought the Grand IC Seoul was good, especially the breakfast buffet -- absolutely massive.

It's uber expensive and has small rooms.
Although the view is nice, I otherwise find it a complete rip off.

Aren't there two IC's in Hong Kong? Are both equally nice?

Definitely referring to the IC HK at Tsim Tsa Shui as the other is called IC grand stanford and it is nowhere as spectacular as the IC HK which has the best views in HK.

Strongly recommend IC SIN. I have stayed there for most of the 15 years it's been open. Great staff and a lot of great experiences from Presidentail Suite down!

Bali definitely gets my vote. Of course, they upgraded us from a Duplex Suite to a Jimbaran Suite, so that's a big reason for that impression!

I agree with Raffles re LeGrand, the Club Lounge at this property is the best I have seen at an IC with free flowing champagne, spirits and a good selection of food to snack on. Many club lounges offer the mere basics to try and justify the extra cost of club rooms.

Just thought I'd throw it out there that this is no unique post by the OP:

MilePoint Hyatt
http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/which-are-the-most-exceptional-hyatt-hotels.1249/
MilePoint Intercontinental
http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/which-are-the-most-exceptional-intercontinental-hotels.1235/
MilePoint Starwood
http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/which-are-the-most-exceptional-starwood-hotels.1230/
FlyerTalk Hyatt
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyat...79-most-extraordinary-hotels-hyatt-group.html
FlyerTalk Fairmont
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/fair...most-extraordinary-hotels-fairmont-group.html
FlyerTalk Intercontinental
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15621821-post82.html
FlyerTalk Starwood
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star...most-extraordinary-hotels-starwood-group.htm

The IC in Hong Kong (the one at the Harbour) is a definite winner! We were there 2 years ago at New Years. We booked through AmEx FHR and received a very good upgrade. The view from our Harbour View Suite was over the top.The nightly laser show was wonderful but totally outdone by the New Years Eve fireworks which seemed to go on forever! Airport car service was perfect. The Club Floor service, snacks and drinks were excellent. The breakfast at the Club Floor was limited but very good and quiet. The lower lobby breakfast buffet was typically (for Asia) abundant and superb, but crowded and noisy. I think the service, once you leave the Club Floor, when this was a Regent was a bit more refined, but overall the views and the location are forever and hard to beat!

I stayed at the Intercontinental Moorea and was very happy with the overwater bungalow. Beautiful views.

I have only stayed at one of the hotels from the list, IC Chicago. I stayed there two years ago before I became Ambassador and on a Hotwire rate. I didn't dislike the hotel, but it never gave me any good feeling either. I would rate lots of other IC's before Chicago. Maybe it would have been different if I was an (Royal) Ambassador when I was there?

I would also give a vote for IC Budapest. The rooms are so-so, but the view is FANTASTIC, the location is one of the best and the service is warm and welcomming, especially in the lounge.

I am looking forward to my stay at both IC's in HK, in April!

Xxx.

IC Sydney have always been very nice to me.
I think I was one of the few RAs to stay at Asiana Saigon not long after it opened, they were very generous, from what I have heard they have tightened up a lot
Loved IC Vienna
IC Cancun, lovely room and Club, rude front of house staff.
Was at The Willard a few weeks ago, liked it a lot

Sydney for it's views and the lounge, although the hotel itself is nothing special (architecturally, it's just an office block).

The Amstel has some of the biggest suites I have stopped in, and does have a real feeling of history about it.

It's helping to prompt people to respond and build up content, which I think is the point of the Beta phase of MP.

There's a few things going on all at the same time here in terms of how I think about the properties. There's the properties in their own right but also the sort of elite treatment they provide, and that yields a very different result.

So certainly the Intercontinental Hong Kong is an amazing property, incredible views. But they really seem not to like Royal Ambassadors, at least Royal Ambassadors on cheap rates or booking lower category rooms. They give as little as possible in those cases. But if you're booking a harbour view suite it's another story!

The Intercontinental Sydney is another great city hotel for sure, views and good club.

I'll be checking out a suite at the Intercontinental Singapore this coming week, and very much looking forward to it.

The Mark Hopkins is a bit of an enigma. It's a grand old property. I had a Terrace Suite there in 2006 which was just amazing, a glass-enclosed outdoor terrace overlooking the city. And the club on the ground floor was good. But then they got a new General Manager who resented RAs, and they created a standard room with a fax machine, called it a business room, and made that the standard RA upgrade. No longer the GM there, and the hotel treats RAs much better. But in the meantime I think the Intercontinental San Francisco supplanted the Mark Hopkins as the go-to property for RAs in the city.

I've had good experiences at the Barclay in New York, a suite upgrade there is pretty much a gimme but no lounge. I don't know how a second IC property in the city causes the Barclay to rate, and my go-to in NYC these days is the Andaz 5th Avenue anyway. But certainly not a bad hotel. Oh, and the Intercontinental Atlanta is even a good property, love the hardwood floors in the suites and a nice club lounge.

The Intercontinental Manila is a tired hotel with really great service, it's so darned cheap that I spent $170++ for a confirmed upgrade to their Presidential suite... twice in about a week last year.

As far as resorts go, the Intercontinental Bali is pretty darned hard to beat. Sure, there's some grousing about the lack of 24 hour complimentary order off the menu food in the lounge these days (that is a huge downgrade!) but the club lounge is great, the service is great. They don't upgrade between the various hotels-within-the-hotel (regular vs Sinjara Wing vs Club) or at least they won't upgrade from either of the first two to club. But even an Ambassador should get a duplex suite. That's all they guarnatee to Royal Ambassadors but I've done better and helped others to secure better in advance as well, my own club room was upgraded to a Jimbaran Bay Suite which was phenomenal with three separate outdoor seating areas on the very large balcony. They do the little things right there.

Anyway, just a few comments.

I found the IC Singapore....not sure how to put it.......begrudging, in their treatment of RAs, as in only did the absolute minimum benefit wise, no gracious thankyou for your business, of course we can do XYZ. More ..this is what the rules say, so thats all you get.

Ag51,
Thanks. That was my understanding as one can see from most of the posts. More importantly I am personally extremely interested in the topic because I belong to the top levels of these hotels and want to explore with my wife some of their more exceptional properties around the world.

It would be tough to beat the IC Thalasso on Bora Bora. Fabulous resort in a spectacular location. Huge, well-appointed overwater bungalows. Outstanding treatment of RAs and Ambassadors. And head-and-shoulders above either IC Le Moana Bora Bora or IC Moorea.

Thanks Pete -- I have edited the list to reflect your advice.

I would put the Le Grande (Paris) among the top few.