IHG Hotels that recognise status

[ShrinkWrapped]

Hotel: Voco Osaka
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: 23400 JPY per night (245ish AUD) - annoying rates tack on 10% service fee automatically in Japan in addition to 10% VAT. Asia Pacific Visa Rate
Booked: 1 King Premium
Received: 1 King Grand Corner *

* interestingly the hotel emailed 3 days prior about what could be set up in the room (memory foam pillows). took the opportunity to ask re: upgrade policy which is 1 category at check in subject to availability. At check-in, upgrade not automatically offered despite space being available. Had to actually ask for first time in several years about an upgrade which was then offered - rather poor form really

upgraded room was 40sqm so reasonably roomy.

location wise the hotel isn't the most convenient in all honesty. 20 min walk to JR Osaka station, 40 minutes walk to Namba. 5 min walk to higeboshi subway station on yotsuyabashi line and 10 min walk to a midosuji line station to get you to JR Shin-Osaka.

Fitness room is laughable.

Breakfast is unique. Buffet is small ish, but you get to choose a Japanese or western set breakfast with the buffet.

I'd return at the rate I paid, but unlikely if it was upwards of 300 AUD per night due to location.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

Hotel: Hotel Indigo Shibuya
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: Standard Room Reward (45000 points per night)
Booked: standard room
Received: 1 king premium high floor

newish IHG hotel in Shibuya. I did appreciate being in Shibuya as it is not a place I normally stay (normally I'm a cheapskate and stay in Mitsui garden gotanda for 200 AUD a night).

room upgraded 3 days before arrival on app. unfortunately didn't upgrade to a scramble crossing view room which may be harder to get as only 1 room per floor

the room is standard Tokyo hotel size (tiny) and 23sqm. ended up walking over each other quite a bit. shower was hilariously squishy.

location was great - 7 min walk to Shibuya station and across the road from mega donki for 24 hours shopping needs. Plenty of food at all ends of the price spectrum in Shibuya.

However, I noted cash rates were upwards of 40,000 JPY, I would never pay that for this hotel I think. Facilities are meagre otherwise.

Saving grace was breakfast. Diamond breakfast is 1 a la carte item AND buffet AND hot drink which is generous.

this was my 9th trip to Japan since 2002 and Tokyo hotel pricing is ridiculously price gougey at present. Even my usual go-to hotels are hitting 25000-30000 jpy in December (several months out too). I guess there are capsule hotels and dormy inns haha

 

[exceladdict]

Hotel: Crowne Plaza Christchurch
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: Standard Room Reward (23000, 27000 points per night)
Booked: standard room
Received: 1 king city view, high floor


Hotel: Crowne Plaza Christchurch
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: IHGBE7 - refundable members' rate, ~255 NZD/night
Booked: 1 king standard city view
Received: 1 king city view, high floor

Had two adjacent stays at this hotel, booked the first few nights with points then the rest with cash. Status acknowledged, selected breakfast, which was great and included barista coffee with no surcharge. Also had a 2pm checkout on the last day.

Staff were great and room was nice, received the "we've upgraded your room" email a few days in advance but from what I could tell it was only a high floor (labeled as "executive rooms" on the floor itself, but with no lounge or other benefits from what I could see). I had to check in and out but they managed to keep us in the same room the whole time so no need to change.

The "city view" in Christchurch, including the nice park on the opposite corner from the hotel:






Hotel: Crowne Plaza Sydney Darling Harbour
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: Standard Room Reward (44000 points per night)
Booked: standard room
Received: 1 King City View - may have been high floor (for this relatively small hotel)

Diamond status recognized and selected breakfast. Also had no issues with a 1.30pm checkout. I think the hotel was at full occupancy.

I didn't screenshot the actual room type from the booking so can't be certain because IHG no longer include room details in any emails and you can't access a booking retrospectively. This hotel was nice but was relatively small and only had two lifts, which were very busy on a couple of occasions.

I thought I'd remembered a recent review of this hotel and it having a nice poolside bar or restaurant, but I think I was mistaken. At the small-ish pool area you could order things via your phone, but they would be delivered (with a tray charge). Instead, we ate at the (very quiet) hotel restaurant for a light dinner and (busy but impressive) breakfast, again no barista coffee surcharge which was great. Staff were nice, but in my mind I was constantly comparing the stay to one I'd had at both the immediately previous stay in Christchurch at half the price, and the new IC Sydney last year for a similar points price (admittedly at a quieter time of year).

We hadn't stayed in this location before but it was reasonably convenient for what we needed. Altogether a good stay, I'd be happy to stay here again but would probably look first to the IC or may try out the kimpton next time.

The "city view" here:

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Hotel: Intercontinental Sydney (Macquarie St)
When: December 2023
Status: Platinum Ambassador
Rate: Standard Room Reward (33000 points per night)
Booked: standard room
Received: 1 king room top floor facing harbour

Booked this as a weekend staycation with my partner. Check-in was relatively smooth although they don’t make it clear which desk handles Ambassador Check-in. Upon check in I was offered a welcome gift of either bonus points or drink vouchers, I picked the latter. Late 4 PM checkout granted no problem.

The room itself was fine. It had everything you need but was a bit small and certainly not as flashy as other Sydney CBD hotels I’ve stayed at such as the Grand Sheraton:


The hotel has a number of restaurants including the Treasury on the ground floor, another restaurant on the 1st, and I think some other restaurant in addition. There is also a penthouse 31st floor which features a pool, gym, bar and executive lounge (although I didn’t bother checking the out).

As an ambassador I was given $25 in food and drink credits which I used on a vegetarian bowl at the restaurant which with tip came out to exactly $25:

Would I stay here again on points? Probably. It is a good location and although the room was small it was a decent luxury hotel nonetheless. What I did appreciate was the hotel honouring the three pillars of ambassador status: namely an upgrade to a better room, the 4 PM late checkout and the $25 food and drink credit.

 

[SYD]

Hotel: Intercontinental Sydney (Macquarie St)
When: December 2023
Status: Platinum Ambassador
Rate: Standard Room Reward (33000 points per night)
Booked: standard room
Received: 1 king room top floor facing harbour

Booked this as a weekend staycation with my partner. Check-in was relatively smooth although they don’t make it clear which desk handles Ambassador Check-in. Upon check in I was offered a welcome gift of either bonus points or drink vouchers, I picked the latter. Late 4 PM checkout granted no problem.

The room itself was fine. It had everything you need but was a bit small and certainly not as flashy as other Sydney CBD hotels I’ve stayed at such as the Grand Sheraton.

The hotel has a number of restaurants including the Treasury on the ground floor, another restaurant on the 1st, and I think some other restaurant in addition. There is also a penthouse 31st floor which features a pool, gym, bar and executive lounge (although I didn’t bother checking the out).

As an ambassador I was given $25 in food and drink credits which I used on a vegetarian bowl at the restaurant which with tip came out to exactly $25:

Would I stay here again on points? Probably. It is a good location and although the room was small it was a decent luxury hotel nonetheless. What I did appreciate was the hotel honouring the three pillars of ambassador status: namely an upgrade to a better room, the 4 PM late checkout and the $25 food and drink credit.

But apparently that hotel is stingy with zero AMB free weekend nights - unless they’ve “fixed” that?

 

[drron]

But apparently that hotel is stingy with zero AMB free weekend nights - unless they’ve “fixed” that?

Though the seeming new policy of not retaining Diamond with ambassador renewal may also fix that problem.

 

[#flying]

But apparently that hotel is stingy with zero AMB free weekend nights - unless they’ve “fixed” that?

I redeemed an AMB free weekend night at that IC a few weeks ago.

 

[SYD]

I redeemed an AMB free weekend night at that IC a few weeks ago.

Nice. There’s a thread here about not releasing nights but that was just after the refurb.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

But apparently that hotel is stingy with zero AMB free weekend nights - unless they’ve “fixed” that?

I've had mixed success there. Some weekends I could find ambassador availability, other times I did not. I suppose one key question is whether it is even worth using an ambassador weekend night at this property particularly when you can often find it available for 33K points (or less) per night (which works out to $165 USD if you bought those points during a promotion). For those curious, I used the Rooms.Aero site to find dates where the Intercontinental was on "sale":

 

[dairyfloss]

I've had mixed success there. Some weekends I could find ambassador availability, other times I did not. I suppose one key question is whether it is even worth using an ambassador weekend night at this property particularly when you can often find it available for 33K points (or less) per night (which works out to $165 USD if you bought those points during a promotion). For those curious, I used the Rooms.Aero site to find dates where the Intercontinental was on "sale":
View attachment 359374

Can you show me the King Suite Bridge/Opera View at the IC Sydney on points? This is why AMB weekends are better; not so much on base rooms. Gotta spend big, to save big

 

[doctorstrangelove]

Hotel: voco Grand Central, Glasgow
When: December
Status: Diamond + Ambassador
Rate: IHGR Advance
Booked: 1 Double Standard Bed
Received: An upgrade? Not entirely clear; maybe to Double Premium but certainly nothing to write home about
Amenity Offered: welcome drink, points or brekkie: breakfast option selected. Still also received 600 free amenity points.

Great location in Glasgow as it's an intricate part of Glasgow Central Station itself: you can enter the hotel from the station concourse and the hotel's swanky bar, Champagne Central, directly overlooks it. Beautiful old heritage building that's been well restored but does have some issues; namely creaking. There was a terrible creaking sound coming from what I presume was my doorframe during the duration of my stay. It sounded like someone knocking on the door so convincingly that when one of the cleaning staff was trying to gain access to my room one morning I thought it was the creaking rather than them knocking. Room 345 in case anyone randomly chances onto it during a stay in Glasgow. Reported to reception who stated that they would get someone to have a look at it but it persisted. Didn't ask to change rooms as thankfully it settled down overnight and I slept soundly both nights of my stay without it waking me up, but it was irritating when browsing my e-mails in the morning!

Staff were friendly. Breakfast was full Scottish as you can see from the picture and was artery-clogging good. There were lighter options e.g. cereal, pastries available too.

Roy Rogers AND Trigger once stayed here.

 

[doctorstrangelove]

Hotel: Indigo Edinburgh, Princes Street
When: December
Status: Diamond + Ambassador
Rate: IHGR Advance
Booked: 1 Queen Bed Standard
Received: 1 King Bed Suite City View (best room available; it would have cost 120AUD/night more to book it outright)
Amenity Offered: welcome drink, points or brekkie: breakfast option selected. No 600 free amenity points (that's a first - I usually get them anyway)!

The location here is superb; you're just across the road from Waverley Station so about as central as it gets. I did have a little bit of trepidation when it came to booking this property initially as the Christmas market is in full swing this time of year so I thought noise might be an issue. Thankfully not; apart from a very occasional high-pitched shriek from one of the punters on the fairground rides across the roard nothing else breached the sanctum of my room and I slept soundly.

The room itself was spacious, comfortable and pleasing to the eye. There was a view of the castle from the room but just about! A great view of the Balmoral hotel across the road (maybe one of these days...) The bed was comfortable and the shower in the bathroom had both great heat and pressure; very important after coming in from the cold of a Scottish December! Some really nice snacks (shortbread & chocolate) and artisan teas for consumption in the minibar area along with complimentary water.

I had full Scottish breakfast here on both days and it was amazing. It set me up for the rest of the day and I didn't need to seek further sustenance until I returned to the hotel that evening.

Pleasant interactions with all staff.

There is only one elevator and it's quite slow. So if you don't do stairs I suggest this might not be the place for you.

With the caveat that I received quite a good room upgrade with my IHG Diamond status I'd highly recommend this property. Definitely a bit more panache to the Indigo vs voco brand based on my recent experiences in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

Hotel: ANA Crowne Plaza Fukuoka
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: IHG Asia Pacific Visa 20% off Rate
Booked: 1 queen standard
Received: 1 queen standard

So…. This hotel is literally a blast from the past. Options for major chains in Fukuoka are limited with the Hilton being miles away and Ritz-Carlton being daylight robbery prices. We stayed at the Blossom Premier for a similar price down the road a few days prior when we had one night here which was miles better.

The best way to describe this hotel is that it’s trapped in the 80s. The room decor is ‘era-appropriate’ with a drabness. The standard rooms are small, 21m2 for the standard queen. The club level rooms are double in size but unfortunately the hotel was full so couldn’t be upgraded as a diamond elite (And they weren’t lying either - I checked the app for availability the day prior!)

Service however was warm and very gracious. Given 1000 points at check in as they were unable to upgrade the room (to be fair, I was only here as it was giving me the last 2 nights I needed to requalify for 2024).

Breakfast at the restaurant was buffet style, reasonable and sufficient (3000 yen otherwise)

Location was good, 5 min walk from Hakata station. In fact, most of it was do-able underground if you hated the winter weather. Plenty of shopping nearby. 2 subway stations at Hakata.

All in all, for the rate we paid (<200 AUD per night), it was very adequate.

 

[Solid]

Hotel: Crowne Plaza Hawkesbury Valley
When: December 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: $415
Booked: 1 King Suite
Received: Bilpin Suite (3 x 1 King Bedrooms full kitchen / dining room).

Late checkout received after asking, offered the usual amenities.

The hotel has two free slushie machines and a free lolly station as part of the school holidays so the kids were sorted.

 

[jakeseven7]

Anyone had a stay at the Regent Taipei recently? Thoughts?

 

[gaz0303]

Hotel: Crowne Plaza,Canberra
When: January 2023
Status: Diamond Elite
Rate: 19000 points x 2
Booked: 2 standard double rooms
Received: Presidential suite and 1 standard double room. Free parking. Took option of free breakfast for 2.

 

[fantastikforce]

Hotel: Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok
When: October 2023
Status: AMB Diamond Elite
Rate: 39,000 points x 5
Booked: 2 Twin Essential
Received: 2 Twin Premium Room w/Green Lung View

Also took option of free breakfast as my amenity.

 

[drron]

IC Tokyo Bay.
December 2023
Diamond Ambassador.
Booked King bay view
Received King bay view.
Breakfast as amenity.
Hotel was full they said so no upgrade. received 2x F&B 2000Y plus 2000 points and 2 drinks as compensation for no upgrade.

CP Kyoto.
December 2023.
Diamond ambassador.
Booked. King Castle view.
Received King castle view on top floor one of 2 renovated floors. Plus families rooms x 2 also upgraded.
Breakfast as amenity.

CP Kanazawa.
December 2023.
Diamond Ambassador.
Booked basic king.
Received premium king.

Also staying IC Bangkok in 3 days time. Already received email granting club access. This because I selected a years lounge access as my award for staying 40 nights last year. Great to see I don't have to ask.

 

[Solid]

Anyone had a stay at the Regent Taipei recently? Thoughts?

Not the Regent but if it is any help and you need IHG stayed at Indigo Taipei North recently, Rooms were quite large, staff friendly and breakfast buffet extensive.

 

[jakeseven7]

Not the Regent but if it is any help and you need IHG stayed at Indigo Taipei North recently, Rooms were quite large, staff friendly and breakfast buffet extensive.

Thank you!

No we are all locked and loaded into the Regent for a work trip but no one has ever stayed there before. Seems like no one on AFF has either!!