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My review of InterContinental London Park Lane
IHG made a welcoming announcement last year regarding the free night certificate earned via the Creation credit card – instead of extending it, a new one valid through the end of 2022 was issued as a replacement, which means you could have still used the old one as long as you booked by the end of 2021. Bearing in mind that I may not be able to travel abroad, I booked a Saturday night at the InterContinental Park Lane in June.
And fortunately my gamble paid out as the hospitality sector has reopened since May. Some people aren’t as lucky though, as they’ve booked the InterContinental at O2 instead, which is now being used as a quarantine hotel.
To be honest I had very low expectations beforehand as everything I’ve heard about the hotel is bad. To start with, their standard rooms measure a pathetic 18m2 (or 194 sqft) – how on earth are people paying £300+ for a room so tiny is totally beyond me.
The hotel is located near the Hyde Park Corner station, next to Four Seasons and the Peninsula being built. Although I like a bit of nature, its location isn’t great for exploring central London – there’s no shops or restaurants nearby, and it takes 20-30 minutes to walk to Soho or Oxford Street.
I was able to score early-in at 12:30pm. My Spire Ambassador status is recognised and 4pm late check-out request granted with no questions asked. I choose the drinks voucher as welcome amenity, although the 600 points also hit my account right after.
The receptionist isn’t very familiar with the $20 benefit though and I end up confirming with someone else later. At checkout I also had to remind her to get the $20 deducted from my bill.
I’ve got a double upgrade to a Deluxe room, which is basically a larger corner room.
The room is nothing to write home about, although I did say that I had had minimum expectation so it actually turns out okay. I find it larger than the 22m2 as advertised on their website.
The bathroom is very small though but is equipped with a tub which is bonus. The bathrobe is very comfy, probably the best I’ve ever seen in a hotel.
Best part of the room is its dual-aspect, and thus extended views of Hyde Park corner.
Breakfast is charged at £26 pp, a discounted offer to Ambassadors from the original £30+. As I’m here on my own for just one night, I decide to accept the offer and use the $20 (£15) credit.
I quite like the restaurant’s decor:
There’s a continental buffet section, including salad, fruits and cold cuts etc which is served by the chefs. Hot items are a-la-carte and you could order by scanning the bar code.
The Eggs Benedict I ordered are quite good. At £11 I think I’ve got a good deal here, although there’s no way I pay £26 for it!
The fitness centre is spacious and well equipped. There is no pool or spa though which from my point of view is a deal-breaker for a luxury hotel in Mayfair.
Is my stay acceptable? I guess yes, but for a 5-star InterContinental hotel I believe most people are looking for more than just “acceptable”, and I’d say the Hilton next door is overall a better hotel albeit being usually 30% cheaper. If you have an expiring free night voucher, or a big stash of IHG points you may consider coming here for a one-time experience, but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
Targeted: stay once and earn 5,000 bonus IHG points
A friend of mine has just received an offer email from IHG:
Which says that he could earn 5,000 bonus points for simply completing one paid night at any hotel by July 29.
You could try your luck by registering here. Note that these offers are always targeted though, and you’ll unlikely qualify unless you’ve received the invitation email.
IHG launches free night voucher promotion for UK and US new members
IHG has just launched a ludicrous offer for new members residing in the UK and US.
You can access and register here.
- New member only (or signed up within the last 30 days)
- Register by July 31
- Make two qualifying stays by September 6
- A free night voucher is awarded (up to 40,000 points value), which is valid for 120 days
The two stays must be paid (i.e. not award stays), and can be done at any brand except Mr & Mrs Smith.
It is genuinely a very good offer, and if you have a frequent travel companion who isn’t an IHG member yet you should consider signing them up for the next stay. Don’t forget that IHG is also running a free night voucher offer for its Ambassador program as well. If you sign up to both, purchase the Ambassador membership and stay twice (including an InterContinental/Regent/Kimpton stay) then you’ll get two free night vouchers!
IHG buy points 100% bonus sale
The (frequent) sale of IHG points is back, with the same 100% bonus offer.
You can access the offer page here.
- The offer runs until June 10
- You need to buy an minimum amount to qualify for the bonus, ranging from 15,000 to 30,000
- The annual limit has also been doubled to 250,000 points (pre-bonus)
To get the best price, you need to buy at least 26,000 points. It works out as $50 per 10,000 points, or £35. GBP staying strong recently has done us a favour!
IHG has been aggressively experimenting with its dynamic pricing system in the last year, and we’ve observed multiple fluctuations (or devaluations) since. That said, It’s still very easy to make great use of points purchased at £35 per 10K, in the UK and abroad.
Great Hilton & IHG Deals: 3-for-2, $100 credit, breakfast, room upgrade and more
A lot of us are probably looking forward to some summer staycations in the UK at the moment, and if you fancy a luxury one within budget, you may find this article useful.
First of all, if you hold the Amex Platinum or Centurion card, it’s always worth checking the FHR options on Amex Travel. Many London hotels are doing Complimentary Third Night at the moment, for example:
Baglioni is a Leading Hotels of the World member, which means you could take advantage of the Amex cashback offer if you have them to reduce the cost of three nights down to £540. Don’t forget to sign up to the free LHW membership offer too, which may help you fare a better room upgrade and earns some points.
But most of the good deals can’t be booked via FHR. Hilton Impresario and IHG Luxury & Lifestyle, which are the luxury booking programs offered by the two hotel groups respectively, offer similar stay benefits with FHR, and are both running 3-for-2 deals with some of their hotels.
You must contact a qualified travel agent to book the rate though. If you happen to speak Chinese, or know friends from China, there’s an app called Badazhou which enables you to book such deals very easily. You can scan the following barcode using Wechat to claim free membership:
If not it’s a bit tricky to book such rates. Virtuoso supports some of these hotels where you can book online, otherwise you’ll have to find a qualified agency using google and talk to them.
Here are some of the best deals I found on Badazhou. Note that Amex has targeted cashback offers for both hotel groups so check your cards before making any bookings.
- Rate: £490 for 3 nights (Deluxe Room)
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out; double Hilton points
One of the five-star hotels in London that I stayed earliest, and probably the best Hilton property in London. The rate is insanely good for a five-star in London, not to mention the many benefits on top.
InterContinental Park Lane, London
- Rate: £930 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; Club benefits; early check-in and late check-out
I’ve redeemed my credit card free night voucher for a one-night stay in June. The rate still looks a bit steep to be honest. and I’m not sure their Club Lounge has re-opened – in which case I suppose you’ll get $100 credit instead.
Hotel Indigo Kensington, London
- Rate: £303 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; $50 credit; early check-in and late check-out
A “budget” option for London, especially if you like museums or luxury shopping. Note that breakfast isn’t included and the credit is lower, due to Kensington not being a top brand.
Kimpton Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
- Rate: £488 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
My favourite hotel in Edinburgh so far (review here), which I can genuinely recommend.
InterContinental the George, Edinburgh
- Rate: £453 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
Also a conversion from former Principal, and I intend to try it out next time I’m in town.
- Rate: £600 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
- Rate: £635 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; round of gold or afternoon tea; early check-in and late check-out
Hotel Indigo Victoria Station, Manchester
- Rate: £99 for 1 night
- Benefits: Room upgrade; $50 credit; early check-in and late check-out
I’m not sure about Hilton, but for IHG you must stay by June 30 to take advantage of the 3-for-2 offer.
Other IHG offers:
- Save 20% on IHG hotel bookings with Railcard
- IHG Europe offer: 10% off, £80 credit and room upgrade with Mastercard
- IHG Luxury & Lifestyle: 3-for-2, $100 credit, breakfast, room upgrade and more
IHG UK midnight checkout promotion
IHG is running an interesting yet unusual promotion in the UK, which could be useful if you need extended late checkout for a stay in the next couple of weeks.
You can see the offer here. Simply make a note when you book on IHG’s website or in the app, and the hotel will accommodate your late checkout request, for as late as 11:59pm!
There are a few catches though:
- Stay between May 17 and June 2, which is a pretty short window
- Only valid on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday checkout
- Standard room stays only
- Subject to availability
Still a good promotion anyway if you happen to need it and are happy with one of the participating hotels (listed on the offer page).
Given most hotels’ occupancy rate must still be fairly low in the next weeks (at least on weekdays), I assume that they would try the best to fulfil your request, even if you are staying in a non-standard room.
IHG Q2 promotion, earn up to triple points
It’s been a while since IHG’s first-quarter global promotion ended, and the next one is finally revealed.
You can sign up to the offer here.
- Valid for stays from May 15 to August 16
- Double points on your second stay
- Triple points on your third stay onwards
- The maximum bonus points is capped at 100K during the promotion period
Award stays don’t count for the sake of earning bonus. If your first stay is booked on points, then the following paid stay won’t trigger double points as I understand it.
Similar to Hilton’s promotion, the offer is not too bad if you have paid stays in line for the next months especially if the bill is going to be big. It’s useless if you only intend to redeem points though, unfortunately.
Keep the staircase conditions in mind and make sure you plan your stays wisely – if you have an expensive stay coming up, stay at least twice beforehand to maximise the bonus points.
Stay twice with IHG and earn a free night voucher (targeted)
IHG appears to be back on the track to rolling out targeted offers as we are seeing more and more of them recently. @hypnos has just shared a new ludicrous offer and you could see if you are eligible.
The link to register for the offer is here, but I suspect that for most of us it will just return an error message suggesting that it’s not available to us.
If you get lucky, you need to stay twice by July 29 at any IHG hotel to win a free night voucher, and I believe they must be paid stays. It is a very good offer really, although not many people can really benefit.