If there was one hotel in the IHG portfolio of hotels that I’ve wanted to stay at for a long time, it’s the Intercontinental Hong Kong. The hotel is often described as having the best location of any hotel in the city and they’re right; the views overlooking the harbour and Hong Kong are just spectacular.
Check in was a breeze as we were welcomed at the Ambassador desk as I’m a Platinum Ambassador IHG member. Our first night at the hotel we were using a free night voucher via our credit card and we received an upgrade to the next room category, an Intercontinental Deluxe Room.
While the room lacked the harbour view, it didn’t lack space. One of the greatest things about this hotel is the free phone that is in each room that you can use during your stay in Hong Kong; it basically gives you the ability to keep in contact with your loved ones and pull up maps when you’re lost in the city – all for free!
The bathroom was rather spacious too and definitely not what I was expecting for a hotel room in Hong Kong; I was thinking small rooms like London however it’s not the case at all.
Our first night at the Intercontinental Hong Kong, we decided to chow down at the Harbourside Restaurant for dinner. I ordered my usual gluten free club sandwich and G ordered Indian (don’t ask why…). Unfortunately the gluten free bread was rather dry and crumbly (I soon realised that Hong Kong and gluten free bread are not friends, it was dry everywhere!).
Suffering from tummy jet lag (does anyone suffer from hunger pains that are so strong that you wake up in the middle of the night for a snack?) it was time to check out the Harbourside Restaurant for breakfast. Yes I may have had ice cream for breakfast and rice and salmon (I’ve come to realise that I could happily eat white rice for breakfast every day!). The buffet is all labeled so you can easily grab your gluten free breakfast with ease however I did spot a few things that I didn’t think were labelled correctly (and this happened in the Club Lounge also).
Our next three nights at the hotel, I had booked us in to a room with a Harbour View and we weren’t disappointed with the Deluxe Junior Suite. Seriously…G ran to the windows before we could turn the lights on!
While the room was about the same size as our previous room, I found this layout to be better for relaxing in. It was definitely lighter and brighter than our previous room…
…and it had a much better view; honestly we didn’t need a tv as the harbour kept us entertained!
Our suite came with a shoe room and yes there are three bags (I should point out one had gluten free food in as I had heard gluten free horror stories about finding food in Hong Kong and Malaysia so I took nibbles with me!).
The bathroom was seriously lush and had much better toiletries; oh la la Salvatore Ferragamo!
With this suite, I had also booked us Club Lounge access which I find to be a godsend when you’re gluten free and something that I book every time we stay at any Intercontinental Hotels. I was looked after like a princess and when it was cocktail time in the Club Lounge, I bought down my gluten free crackers to nibble away with the cheese (sometimes a girl has to bring her own gluten free crackers to the party, which I don’t mind!).
The afternoon tea pastries in the lounge for the gluten eating monsters were impressive along with the scones and jam; first time I’ve seen those in a club lounge before and I did suffer from a serious case of gluten envy.
As I had a lot of questions and couldn’t figure out which room to book us into; I had numerous conversations with the Intercontinental Hong Kong team via twitter. When we were out having afternoon tea at another hotel, I received a private DM via twitter from the Intercontinental Hong Kong advising that the Typhoon warning was moving from 3 to 8 and that the public transport would be getting busy as they would be shutting down services later on that evening. All communicated to me via twitter, I was impressed!
We made our way back to the Club Lounge and the lovely staff there showed us a catalogue of dvds we could borrow to keep us entertained that evening while we waiting for the typhoon.
Now during my stay I had one thing on my mind and only one thing – ICE CREAM BURGERS! Now if I was going to be stuck inside a very large hotel with many toilets during a typhoon and this was possibly going to be my last meal then I was going to eat an ice cream burger which was full of gluten (I’ve obviously watched way too many Hollywood weather disaster movies in the past and kept thinking we might end up having a ship come crashing through our bedroom window when the Typhoon hit…I digress)
and it was soooo good! If you’re in Hong Kong, definitely roll into the Intercontinental Hong Kong to eat one, you’ll regret it if you don’t! Sweet burgers are the next big thing…
After eating this ice cream burger, the Typhoon warning was downgraded quite shortly after…this is what happens when I eat gluten, typhoons bugger off!
We had a lovely stay at the Intercontinental Hong Kong and would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Hong Kong including foodies as there is a NOBU within the hotel. Make sure you book yourself a Harbour View room as the view is just incredible.
For gluten free travellers, I found the staff at The Intercontinental Hong Kong to be totally clued up about gluten free dietary restrictions and were only happy to help with questions about the food and to find alternatives when required.
Tips for IHG Platinum Ambassadors
As I’m a Platinum Ambassador, I thought I would add this to the bottom of the post so you can understand all the ins and outs of the hotel and their Ambassador policies
- You will be upgraded to one room above the graded room that you’ve booked
- You can purchase an upgrade / club lounge access at check in and take advantage of a 30% discount
- The breakfast in the Club Lounge is hearty and one of the best Club Lounge breakfasts I’ve ever seen along with truly fantastic service
- Our Ambassador Welcome Gift was Jasmine Tea and it’s what I’m currently drinking as I write this post (it’s blooming lovely!).
Have you stayed at The Intercontinental Hong Kong? What are your thoughts on the property?
xx
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