Welcome to Intercontinental Hong Kong.  My new favorite hotel of the Intercontinental Hotel Group.  From fantastic views, luxurious rooms, amazing staff and an out of this world buffet, this hotel will definitely be on my repeat list.

Basics:

Sign up for IHG Rewards Club.  Earn points for future stays and to achieve elite status.   Membership is free and offers free internet in most IHG hotels.

Earn multiple points for purchasing stays:

• Citibank Thank You Prestige or Premier Card:  3X for every dollar on hotel stays and services
• Chase Sapphire Reserve:  3X for every dollar on hotel stays and services
• Chase Sapphire Preferred:  2X for every dollar on hotel stays and services
• American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card:  2x for every dollar upto first $50,000 annually
• Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Card:  5X for every dollar on IHG stays and services.

Advanced:

Citibank Prestige refunds fourth night stay of at least 4 consecutive nights at most hotels when booked through their concierge service until July 23, 2017, when the refund for the fourth night is based on average nightly cost, not including taxes.

Purchase Ambassador Membership from IHG.  $200 for first year and $150 each renewal year.  Automatic upgrades on paid stays.  Welcome gift.  Late checkout.

Signup for quarterly IHG Accelerate offers to earn extra bonus points on qualifying stays.

POINTS AND MILE SCIENCE:  

Cost:

1 Night Redeemed  @  50,000 IHG Points (2016 Rate Per Night, Currently 60,000 IHG Points per night)

HOTEL REVIEW:

After reading for years about how great the Intercontinental Hong Kong is, the reality is far greater.  As soon as the doors are opened, you are welcomed to an amazing view of Hong Kong Island.  The staff is phenomenal.  The rooms are generously sized.  The amenities are top notch.  The food is delicious.  And oh yeah did I forget to say, the views are AMAZING.

I was lucky enough to visit during the week of Lunar New Year.  With the Chase IHG Visa Credit Card you earn Platinum Elite Status which entitles you to an upgrade on paid stays if available at check in.  Since this was an award redemption night, I should of received their superior room city view, which is standard.  The front desk wanted to upgrade me but as all the Harbour View rooms had been booked already for the event, the front desk people upgraded me to deluxe room with city view.  Not expecting any upgrade, I graciously thanked them and was shocked to find how great this room really is.

After entering you immediately notice how big this room really is.  The wall furthest away from the door is entirely windows.  I was lucky to receive one with a view of the front entrance and fountain.

The mini bar is located in a small counter cabinet.  You are provided free coffee and teas.

Directly on the left of entering is the walk-in closet.  There is a bench for easy access to your luggage.  The in room safe was rather small, only large enough for a 13″ laptop or smaller.  Operation is fairly simple with a reset switch inside.

The entertainment center was a wonderful surprise even though I didn’t much make use of it since the hotel is so wonderful, you don’t want to spend as much time in your room as elsewhere in the hotel.  It consisted of a 40 inch Sharp LCD display with connections for external devices to the left of the desk at an I/O connection panel.  They provided a usb hub for charging of your electronic devices.  A nice added touch.  The Bose speakers sounded great.  There were around 15 HD channels, but I spend more time around the hotel and walking around downtown than watching TV.

The bed was king size and had a medium firmness with a soft top.  As an IHG Platinum member, there were two free bottles of spring water at each side of the bed.  Light controls for all of the room were also at each side of the bed.

The desk area of the room was amazing.  You can just look up to see the lights of downtown Hong Kong at night.  The seat is full adjustable for height and tilt.  You can find your complimentary smart phone that you can use around the town while you are staying at the hotel.

This bathroom is palatial.  It is larger than both of my bathrooms at home combined.  From marble counters, sunken tub, glass shower, separate toilet, and soft towels and robes, I didn’t want to leave.

There seemed to be an endless supply of hot water at any time of the day.

The deluxe room and views made this trip a dream.  Even for 50,000 IHG Points at the time, it seemed more than worth it.  In my next posting, I will review the rest of the hotel and its amenities.  Stay tuned.