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My review of Cliveden House, A Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel
Its partnership with Mr and Mrs Smith adds a lot of excellent hotels to IHG’s portfolio. IHG members enjoy Smith Extras when staying with them, which usually means a bottle of Champagne, a box of chocolate or sometimes free breakfast. Ambassador members are also entitled to GoldSmith benefits, which includes space-available room upgrade and potentially enhanced Smith Extras.
You can redeem IHG points on reward stays at Mr & Mrs Smith hotels too, at a rate of $6.2 per 1K points roughly. Even better, the free night voucher issued by the UK Creation credit card is valid on them as well, although I’m not sure if it’s a bug.
One of the best redemptions in Europe is probably The Retreat at Blue Lagoon in Iceland.
There are many outstanding choices in the UK too, and my decision went with the Cliveden House in the end simply because it’s closest to London. There are a few properties in the same league, such as Lucknam Park, Chewton Glen and Heckfield Place.
IHG paid £1,200 for the night.
Cliveden House is at the centre of the Cliveden National Trust, which is about one hour’s drive from central London. Hotel guests need to pay £18 per person as a result, unless you have a valid National Trust membership.
The only other similar property that I’ve ever stayed at is the Langley, a Luxury Collection hotel. In terms of the neighbourhood Cliveden House wins hands down. Langley is only a local park which isn’t well taken care of, whereas Cliveden is a very well maintained National Trust site and probably one of the nicest parks you can find near London.
A beautiful boulevard leads you to the house.
There are a huge lawn and mazes at the back of the house. You can follow the steps down to River Thames.
Cliveden House was built in the 17th century by Duke of Buckingham as a hunting lodge for his mistress and guests. It was bought by William Waldorf Astor in the 19th century, and you can still see the name Astor in many places.
Meghan Markle stayed here in 2018 the night before the Royal Wedding.
The house was last renovated in 2015. It doesn’t look as new as The Langley, but ages well.
IHG’s IT system is a mystery, and I don’t know how they decide what room type you can redeem vouchers for. I was able to use mine on Deluxe Room with Hot Tub, which is only one level below the suites and almost doubles the cost of a standard room.
The room is located at the same wing as the spa centre.
Cliveden House has no room numbers, and instead rooms are named after titles. I’m Load Lothian obviously, which doesn’t sound bad at all 😉
There’s a wardrobe once I enter the room, with the bathroom to the right and bedroom to the left.
The room is nothing much to write about, except for the bed which is quite comfy. There’s a nice tub in the bathroom, but trust me you won’t need it!
Best feature of this room is a small terrace:
Plus a private hot tub:
The terrace is connected right to the swimming pool. I don’t even need to check in at the spa centre!
The facilities are great. The swimming pool is quite deep though (1.83m) and too scary for an amateur like me.
According to my observations, there are a total of four rooms with a terrace, and mine is the only one that has direct access to the swimming pool. Privacy may be one concern though.
My friend who visited the following week told me there’s actually an indoor swimming pool, and took a photo for me.
Smith Extras are a small bottle of Laurent Perrier and some chocolate / snacks. No room upgrade is offered, but to be honest I don’t really want to sacrifice my terrace for a suite 😛
For breakfast there are two options:
- Continental only: £20
- Continental + hot breakfast: £25
They’ve put some good thoughts in furnishing the restaurant, however the continental selection is very limited.
I ordered eggs benedict and porridge for my breakfast. Honestly they are mediocre at best, although £25 is a fair price for an expensive hotel like Cliveden House.
Besides the main restaurant, you can also dine at the Aston Grill or the bar.
Cliveden’s visitor centre is a short walk away, where you can get some simple food and refreshment.
Check-out time is 11am, and you can probably request a one-hour extension but no further. You are still invited to use the pool after check-out which is a nice gesture.
There’s a problem with my door, and they can only unlock the room with a special device which causes a lot of inconvenience to me. The staff are very apologetic though. Not sure if it’s related, but they didn’t charge me for the breakfast in the end.
It is truthfully a very unique experience for me and no doubt Cliveden House is the best hotel I’ve stayed at so far in the United Kingdom – although according to the staff they usually refer to is as a House rather than Hotel. I’m not sure if it’s worth paying cash here via IHG (as prices may be lower elsewhere), but if you have sufficient points or some free night vouchers to burn, I highly recommend staying here for a couple of nights.
I Prefer Gift Card 20% bonus sale
Like SLH or LHW, Preferred Hotels & Resorts is a soft alliance of independent hotels, but somehow of a much lower profile. You probably have heard of at least some of their hotels in the London portfolio though:
- Royal Lancaster London
- L’Oscar
- The Stafford
And there is currently a sale on their digital gift card should you be interested in staying with their properties.
- Runs until June 30
- Get 20% bonus on all I Prefer gift cards purchased
- The original gift card doesn’t expire, but the 20% bonus expires after 6 months
- Gift cards can be used at participating hotels except in China, Japan, India, the Middle East and Africa
Note that USD is the only supported currency, so exchange rate fluctuation and currency conversion are potential risks.
Read the FAQs carefully, but here’s my take:
- In principle you must be a staying guest, although you may use it to pay off incidentals too
- You don’t have to book the stay via I Prefer
- They are not valid for pre-pay
My review of Aloft Birmingham Eastside
Marriott’s Every Night Counts promotion is coming to an end, and I’m participating one last time at the Aloft Birmingham Eastside hotel while visiting a friend in Solihull.
If you are looking for a central hotel IHG is your best bet. Somehow none of the Marriott hotels is ideally located. The Aloft is right next to the Aston University, and about 20 minutes’ walk into Birmingham’s New Street station.
From my limited experience, Aloft and Moxy share similar design concept of their public areas, although Moxy has more of a sexy element when it comes to guest rooms.
The hotel has a big ground floor, with a colourful bar by the entrance.
It’s not really a busy day but I didn’t receive any room upgrade. When asked about upgrade availability the receptionist told me “your room was pre-allocated this morning”, which isn’t really an answer. I didn’t bother to pursue as I just needed a bed for one night.
The room is about what you’d expect from a budget brand, basic but clean. It’s weird that Aloft usually positions itself in the four-star league, whereas in terms of quality and price it’s more on a par with Holiday Inn, Hampton or Ibis.
As a Titanium member I could choose breakfast as the welcome amenity. Breakfast is served in the Tempo restaurant, next to which is a Refuel station where you can purchase snacks.
Standard buffet:
Gym room:
Overall the hotel is okay, however unless you need to be in the area or the hotel’s rate is very good, I think there are plenty of better choices in the city.
Don’t forget to claim your IHG Spire Choice Benefit
When I wrote about IHG’s status challenge offer, I mentioned that I registered to that offer and then got downgraded to Platinum…
I complained to their customer service and my Diamond status was finally resumed after two days. The expiry date is still end of 2022, but to my surprise I’m able to choose the Spire Choice Benefit again:
Obviously it’s just a glitch, and IHG is already onto the downgrade bug – if you sign up to the status challenge offer now your status won’t change immediately anymore.
Anyway, if you are a Diamond Elite it’s worth checking whether you have claimed the Spire Choice Benefit or not. It seems that the option is hidden for at least some people, but you can use this link directly. You can choose between 25,000 points or gifting Platinum Elite to a friend.
IHG Platinum & Diamond fast track offer
Although their Platinum status had been quite attainable at a low cost, IHG has rarely provided official status match or fast track opportunities. To celebrate the launch of their One Rewards program, IHG has now opened the flood gate.
You can view the offer here. Although you must select a hotel scheme and membership tier to proceed, there’s no level requirement or proof of membership needed, so it’s more of a survey than status match initiative.
In short:
- Register by July 31
- Enjoy instant Platinum trial for 120 days
- Stay 5 paid nights during the trial to keep Platinum status, or
- Stay 15 paid nights to upgrade to Diamond
- Mr & Mrs Smith hotel stays are included
The offer is open to everyone except residents of Greater China, and stays in Greater China don’t count.
WARNING: don’t register if you are a Diamond member already, otherwise you’d be downgraded to Platinum. I learned it the hard way…
It’s a very good promotion. In the worst case scenario you’d be granted a free Platinum trial for 120 days, which is literally available to everyone.
Should you be interested in the Diamond challenge, 15 nights within 90 days is quite achievable and much easier than the regular 70-night requirement. Considering that Diamond benefits will receive a significant refresh in June, the challenge may well be worth it.
Hyatt: new London hotels, Asia Pacific bonus points offer
Hyatt has recently opened two new hotels in London:
They were recently converted from Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites of the IHG brands. From what I see their room rates have almost doubled to an eye-watering level (sometimes £300+), which is insane for the location. I hope they’ve done a great renovation job!
On the other hand, if you do want to stay with them spending points appears to be a great option. I find Hyatt’s new redemption pricing confusing, but for an upcoming Saturday they only cost 9,000 points and 12,000 points respectively.
You also earn 500 bonus points per night when staying at either of them by July 31.
Also Hyatt-related, they have started a new Mid Year promotion in Asia Pacific.
- Register by July 31
- Stay between May 16 and September 2
- Earn 1,000 bonus points for every two nights stayed
- Maximum bonus awarded is 15,000 points
You can see the list of participating hotels on the promo page, which seems to cover most properties except those in mainland China.
Free breakfast for Accor Gold members in China
Accor has announced a benefit boost for members staying at its hotels in Mainland China. You can read more here (in Chinese).
Amongst exclusive room rate and dining discount, the most impressive enhancement is one free breakfast for Accor Gold members. Accor’s breakfast benefit now looks like this:
- Gold: one free breakfast in mainland China
- Platinum: two free breakfast in Asia Pacific
- Diamond: two free breakfast in Asia Pacific, or only on weekends elsewhere
The gap is now huge between China / Asia Pacific and the other regions, and breakfast only on weekends for the top tier is very mean.
It’s not rare for hotel programs to offer enhanced benefits in Asia Pacific or China, for example IHG has similar arrangements too. However, the timing of this announcement is a bit weird given that many cities in China are still undergoing lockdowns and travels are not yet resuming.
My review of InterContinental Paris Le Grand
My IHG free night voucher from the Creation card was expiring in December, and there was no high-end hotel left in the UK for me to try. For practical reasons I redeemed it at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, although at hindsight I probably should have chosen the Kimpton instead, which is a new hotel with a swimming pool.
The hotel is next to the Opera metro station, and just five minutes’ walk to the La Fayette department store. The proximity to the Opera is one selling point of the hotel.
The moment I entered the hotel, I was stunned by its beauty.
I’ve seen other properties of the same genres, e.g. Hotel Bristol in Vienna, but it’s the very first time I find one that demonstrates its abundant history and elegance, but doesn’t show a single sign of age.
The hotel is so huge that you can barely see the end of the corridor.
I’m upgraded to a King Premium Room, which is the largest non-suite rooms. However there are so many rooms at this hotel, and they vary a lot in shape and size even when belonging to the same category.
Entering the room, the first thing I see is the waldrobe.
Bathroom is on the right, with both a shower and a tub.
Bedroom is on the left.
The room is neat, but unfortunately after seeing the other areas of the hotel my expectations were very high. Although probably quite big in size, it feels like a lot of the space is just wasted.
As an Ambassador welcome gift, I’m offered a box of biscuits and some strawberries. There are three large bottles of mineral water to keep me hydrated!
There’s no espresso machine and I was just going to make peace with instant coffee, but then I couldn’t find anywhere a kettle…
I finished my toothpaste so requested one in the afternoon. It wasn’t in the room when I came back in the evening so I asked again, and still nothing arrived after one hour. I called again, and this time they finally sent someone.
At €45 per person, the breakfast price is very steep so I gave it a pass. For Ambassador members, Club Lounge access is sold at €120 per room (2pp) which I think is more than reasonable, as it includes breakfast, afternoon tea and happy hour (they’ve been serving oysters and prawns recently :)).
Spire members can choose between 600 points and a drink voucher. I asked for the latter and had a beer at the bar of Cafe de la Paix, which is the hotel restaurant.
Ambassador members also have €15 credit to use towards the bill. Before check-out I came again for a cup of coffee and a coke zero, which worked out perfectly at €15.
The hotel doesn’t have a swimming pool, and shockingly its gym is simply two interconnecting rooms put together…
Besides the toothpaste incident mentioned above, the front desk agent also made no mention of welcome drink, €15 credit or late check-out, and they very often had to confirm with colleagues to know how to do something. The staff don’t seem properly trained to me, at least not for the IHG program.
Quality of the guest room also doesn’t reflect the hotel rate. I do admire the beauty of InterContinental Paris Le Grand, but purely from an accommodation perspective I like the Renaissance Republique hotel more, evening before factoring in the price difference.