InterContinental
After reading the favourable reviews and having a fantastic stay at the Park Lane the month before we were looking forward to our stay. Although the first day was totally unacceptable the guest services manager Marta did all she could to make the rest of our stay fantastic. The hotel is in a fabulous location and the room we had had 2 balconies overlooking Paris which was a great place to take in the sites and people watch. Despite the shaky start both my husband and I would stay again.
Rate: 1st Night CAD$169 Luxury Weekend Rate / 2nd Night CAD$239 comp with RA Free Night Voucher
General Review: This is an amazing InterContinental. Every visit runs smoothly. Check in was a breeze. The receptionist was extremely knowlegeable about Royal Ambassador Status and all of the benefits. 30 minutes after arriving to my room there was a telephone call from the Concierge offering their services and wishing me a nice stay.
The leisure club / spa was very quiet - we were the only people in there. Children must be accompanied in the pool. There was a steam room in the changing rooms. Sadly the Jacuzzi was out of service - being cleaned.
The hotel is located adjacent to the CN Tower, which is about a 5 minute walk. A great place to visit for a panormaic dinner - if you can cope with ascending some 400+ metres into the sky using a glass floored lift!
At first glance, this is a beautiful hotel. It is billed as the first high rise hotel in Austin Texas, built in 1927 and is located a few blocks from the capitol building and one block up from Austin’s famous 6th street. It seemed like a great place to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and enjoy New Year’s Eve. So, I booked the hotel.
You are first greeted curbside by the hotel valet (the only parking for the hotel is by valet). They were very courteous and professional and they knew the local area very well. They proved to be quite helpful throughout our stay. We also received a warm welcome from the front desk staff. They took a moment to tell us about the hotel services and facilities and then we were promptly given our room keys.
We headed to our room by way of elevators that just may have been in the building when it was built in 1927. They rattled and shook and made all kinds of noises that nearly made my wife a nervous wreck by the time we got to our floor. We were Platinum upgraded to a corner room with a view of downtown along with a nice sitting area and desk. A welcome note and a tray of fruit with bottled water were waiting for us on the coffee table. We thought it a nice touch, but little did we know that there was a hidden cost associated. The bottled water was placed with the fruit tray and appeared to be complimentary, since there wasn't a price tag on it (as there was on the replacement bottle the next day). It turns out that we were charged $6.50 for that bottle of water, not a large amount of money by any means, but certainly an annoyance.
The room had a mini-fridge with items for purchase. It also had a small television in the unit above the fridge that faced the sitting area. You could slide the tv out a bit and turn it slightly towards the bed, but the angle really wasn’t conducive for watching from bed. It would have been nice to have a larger tv that would fully face the bed as well as the sitting area. The bed was very comfortable with good linens and pillows. The room was very quiet and I never once heard any of my neighbors. I don’t want to go into great detail about the bathroom, but lets just say that the tp was so cheap and thin that if you didn’t quadruple layer it . . . well . . .
I was surprised to find that you had to pay an additional fee for internet access. That’s ridiculous in this day and age in the states. This is the first hotel that I’ve stayed at in the last 5 years that charged additional for internet access. I can understand charging extra for internet when you are staying at a discount chain, but not at a hotel of this caliber. Internet service should be standard fare at hotels, just like cable tv. I managed to get my internet fix by walking a half a block to Starbucks and hooking up for free.
The bottom line is that I don’t see myself staying at this hotel again. Sure they have a great staff, but I just can’t get past the feeling that they are nickel and diming you.
10 min away from downtown, nice rooms but service 
at least needs training to treat guests, especially if r talking about PC program..we gave arrived really early, so nicely asked if can leave our bags and alternatively if they have any room we could just take a shower and go do our travel-stuff
. Unfortunately, the clerk did not have any room, at least that what he said. Finally, we a had breakfast ( delicious ), and tried again to have a qiuck shower but this time young lady firstly said there is no room.... but if we pay for an early checkin we may get a room!!!!!!
I kindly asked for Duty Manager to talked to but she was not helpfull at all, unless she was smiling for the whole time our conversation ....which was kind of ironic...anyway once we got our rooms were kind of dissaponted, because during our trip we have stayed in 7 different IHG group-hotels...
The good thing about this hotel Food!!
reaalllly brilliant - We had a buffet - Dinner and all of dishes were simply IDEAL- tasty. Service in the restaurant very efficient.
Had booked cheapest best flex rate for king bed deluxe. Received a call the day of arrival that I was upgraqded to king executive club level which is the standard 2 categories upgrade for a RA.
At check in was informed that I had access to the club lounge.
Room was nice with adaquate space for a couple. Bath room had shower and tub. Received standard welcome gift, water and fruit.
Club lounge has nice food offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner so that one does not necessarely have to go out for food. Had dinner one night at the down stairs restaurant. This is a great place that offers french brasserie dining. Had the steak and fries that reminded me of my months spent in France.
Hotel is in a nice area and has a lot of restaurants in the area, so dining and entertainment is great.
Excellent stay for a RA.
