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@ Me2 ‘I spoke to Amex yesterday who said that the way the hotel processed our payment, meant that for some reason the AMEX system didnt pick it up as qualifying spend (and it had some odd extra reference on the card statement).Amex were very happy to process this manually and the rebate appeared today on my online statement….so you may want to do the same. Good luck.’
Unfortunately my booking was an advanced booking and as AMEX pointed out advanced bookings are not eligible.
And how would Amex know that information unless you told them … literally all Amex know is if an eligible IHG hotel charged your card between saving the offer and the date it expired or not. Being an advanced booking is irrelevant tbh I’m not even sure what you mean by advanced booking because all bookings are in advance unless you turned up at the hotel, asked for a room and paid the rack rate on the day?
@northernlass and any others that have had to chase Amex for the £70 IHG rebate, how long did you give Amex to ‘investigate’ before escalating the issue to a complaint, and did you write / email to complain?
I am chasing them for the rebate in relation to a stay at the O2 between Christmas and New Year. The chat agent escalated the issue to a back office team on 5 Jan and asked for 10 business days to comeplete the review. I waited patiently and have just chased again only to be told they are still reviewing it and have asked for a further 7-10 business days to complete the review. I think this is pretty unreasonable for a very straightforward case.
It was the Hyatt offer I had the issue with and it took several weeks of chasing plus a formal complaint about the level of customer service! Writing to head office in Brighton seems to be the only way of getting anyone to actually do anything meaningful these days.
Update – Amex posted the £70 IHG rebate on both my cards last week despite telling me previously I wasn’t eligible because I had made an online booking.
Thanks for all the info here. I had a really nice stay 🙂 The junior suite was bigger than I expected and had a proper wall/door dividing the lounge from the bedroom – everything seemed good quality and well arranged in the room. Do the junior suites all have a separate lounge and bedroom, or was I lucky?
Breakfast was very good. The restaurant was a nice space and food came pretty quickly, with well cooked A La Carte options and good quality buffet (though they need a better coffee machine!) Service was very helpful, though could have been a bit more organised.
The lounge was a bit underwhelming but as we had visitors it worked out decent value at £60 for a day – got a couple of afternoon teas, and some nice wine/whisky and softs, for us and guests. There could be a broader range of food and drink (and something savoury with afternoon tea) but the quality of what there was good and it was a nice place to sit. It was often unstaffed which was a shame, but the people who were there were helpful.
In terms of service, everyone tried to be helpful and make things work. People often seemed a bit unclear what was going on, but everyone seemed to err on the side of saying ‘yes’. Very child-friendly – e.g. remembered his name and would happily get him something he liked if it wasn’t on the buffet, or let me stay past 4pm checkout because the kid was napping. I got the sense there was lots of staff turnover and maybe some inconsistency, but it worked out to be a good stay!
I may be less particular about hotels than many here, or price may also have helped set my expectations – stacking various offers meant the junior suite worked out under £120/night, and my expectations might have been different if I’d been paying £500! I know this is a fairly quiet time, too, which may have improved my visit. I’d happily go back, though 🙂
I’ve got a stay booked in a junior junior suite for later in the year, I knew that lounge access comes with suites, so just called the hotel to ask if a junior suite has access and was told it does.
That doesn’t tally with the previous post mentioning having to pay for it.
Any data points?
I jumped the gun asking that last question, the website states that junior suites come with club access.
I was upgraded to a junior suite with Ambassador – an being upgraded like that doesn’t include lounge access (or isn’t meant to, at least). If you pay to book a junior suite, you’re entitled to lounge access.
You get a complementary mini bar in the junior suite, too, and a decent mix of capsule and machine coffee options
I was upgraded to a junior suite with Ambassador – an being upgraded like that doesn’t include lounge access (or isn’t meant to, at least). If you pay to book a junior suite, you’re entitled to lounge access.
You get a complementary mini bar in the junior suite, too, and a decent mix of capsule and machine coffee options
Ah I see thanks for the explanation 😊
Glad you enjoyed your stay @AnotherUser. Out of interest what room did you book before being upgrade to the Junior Suite?
I have a two night stay coming up, first night on points and second night on credit card voucher. Given the points stay books in to the base room I am wondering if I should can it and pay cash for the first night for a King in the hope that my Amb status bags an upgrade to a Junior Suite which they let me keep for the second night.
I’m staying Friday / Saturday on a rugby weekend so it’ll no doubt be busy which will mean upgrades are thin on the ground. A King room is c. £300 whereas my base room is booked for 64,000 points.
Glad you enjoyed your stay @AnotherUser. Out of interest what room did you book before being upgrade to the Junior Suite?
I have a two night stay coming up, first night on points and second night on credit card voucher. Given the points stay books in to the base room I am wondering if I should can it and pay cash for the first night for a King in the hope that my Amb status bags an upgrade to a Junior Suite which they let me keep for the second night.
I’m staying Friday / Saturday on a rugby weekend so it’ll no doubt be busy which will mean upgrades are thin on the ground. A King room is c. £300 whereas my base room is booked for 64,000 points.
I’d booked a King Premium City View room – they just upgraded me one room category. If you definitely want a particular room category, I’d be inclined to email the hotel and ask (or, if making a cash booking, go through Emyr and ask him).
Thanks. Re Emyr, I was under the impression that he can’t get the usual benefits at the George because it’s not affiliated with Virtuoso. I take it I am wrong though?
I don’t know about the George, I know the OC O2 stopped working with them a couple of years ago, so it’s possible. I’m sure he would confirm the situation!
*Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me, I didn’t have the greatest stay last November, many seem to have become extremely penny-pinching. This kind of behaviour is very short-sighted though, as next time I’ll go to a Kimpton or Indigo instead of an IC.
If a hotel drops out of the Virtuoso system it isn’t necessarily that it is penny pinching, more that Virtuoso isn’t bringing any benefits/the right guests. IHG has its own IHG Luxury & Lifestyle agents (with a considerable degree of crossover) which is also a preferred booking route. The concept of these particular agency channels is that guests not only pay the full rate in exchange for some allegedly exclusive benefits but will be of a calibre likely to spend more than the average punter. If the experience of Virtuoso bookings at a particular hotel is that those guests just take the benefits such that the hotel gets no extra spend but may not only have to pay the agency but also has to purchase points then why would they bother participating? It’s easy to drop Virtuoso while keeping say FHR because the big groups want to maintain a relationship with Amex.
The Virtuoso concept is unfortunately much better suited to the US market where booking trips via agencies is much more commonplace than in Europe where there is much more direct booking with Marriott leading the way in Europe by a big margin.
Just had an enjoyable weekend stay. Was able to use the club pass that offers a la carte breakfast. Afternoon scones and cakes and evening canapés were very pleasant but not a filling meal. Decent selection of teas all day and alcohol during the happy hour session.
On the train home following an enjoyable weekend stay, only let down by warm, rather than hot, water at times in the bathroom and a couple of cosmetic issues in the room that need tidying up. Main peeve was that we were turned away from the bar on Friday night because it was too busy “even for hotel guests” with no offer of being served a drink elsewhere. Staff otherwise were very good.
Booked a King Premium City View on the railcard rate and received one category Amb upgrade to a Junior Suite which was one large room as opposed to a separate lounge and bedroom arrangement that others have seen. Second night was using my last Creation voucher and hotel kindly let us keep the same room and gave us comp access to the lounge following some persuasion after I declined the initial offer of £60pppn for access. Lounge is pleasant enough but not worth £60pppn especially if you have Diamond status, although it is a nice quiet space to have breakfast.
If you are a light sleeper it is worth bearing in mind that rooms at the front overlooking George Street tend to be noisier at night. I don’t think they have any secondary glazing in the otherwise magnificent windows.
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