InterContinental London – The O2

[FFoxSake]

Would it be a good use of the Ambassador Complimentary Weekend Night for Fri + Sat night stay?
AMB rate seems to be £369 per night on both nights.

Having never stayed at the IC O2 Arena London before, what are the opinions of the HfP collective for a weekend break here?

[NorthernLass]

There are a few reviews on here, starting with this one:

https://www.headforpoints.com/2016/05/31/intercontinental-london-o2-hotel-review/

I had a couple of bookings which were cancelled during the pandemic – cash and points prices have gone up a lot since it first opened, though it still compares well to other London hotels.

You might get better value booking a junior suite, how do the prices compare?

[FFoxSake]

Thank you.
Yes, indeed, the prices have risen a lot… e.g. 2016 review “astonishing value for money at £104 when available”!
Junior suites starting from £509 it seems.

Any recent experiences of upgrade generosity here?

I assume the pool/steam/sauna areas are still free for hotel guests?

[NorthernLass]

I think they started charging then may have relented – again there’s an HFP article if you search for them all!

You can contact them to ask about the upgrade – I suspect that if you book the highest category of junior suite, you may well be upgraded to the 1 bedroom suite. In recent times they have split up all the rooms into a ridiculous number of categories!

[BJ]

I think they relented on the pool charges within 24h of Rob running the article on HfP 🙂

Not been around much lately but I guess it has already been reported that IHG app status has updated Diamond through end of 2024 for those receiving the email on similar? Just noticed today that mine has.

[Lady London]

I’d avoid that hotel unless you really need to be (relatively) cheap and in London.

They didn’t treat customers particularly well in terms of honouring reservations on a number of occasions reported here during the pandemic – and the swimming pool – one of the few reasons you’d stay there – charging debacle didn;t give a good impression of them either.

So unless you really haven’t got anywhere else to use it, I’d actually look in another city or country to use it.

[BJ]

Yeah @FFoxSake, cone to Auld Reekie instead!

[NorthernLass]

Hi @BJ, I’ve managed to use an expiring Ambassador certificate for The George in November for a pre-Xmas trip but I’m sure it’s the most difficult IC to find availability at. Also insanely expensive on some nights, though it’s pretty reasonable on our dates, plus I got a 3rd night for 37k points so it feels like a real bargain break!

[FFoxSake]

BJ wrote:

Yeah @FFoxSake, cone to Auld Reekie instead!

On stair wi tub, or pat in hand,
The barefoot housemaids loo to stand,
That antrin fock may ken how snell
Auld Reikie will at morning smell:
Then, with an inundation big as
The burn that ‘neath the Nore Loch Brig is,
They kindly shower Edina’s roses,
To quicken and regale our noses.

Thanks all for the inputs. Plenty of food for thought there…

[bibby135]

Staying here this weekend for two nights. Diamond ambassador with IHG. Using AMB comp night (staying Friday and Saturday night) and have 1-bed suite high floor which will total £530 for two nights. Have lounge access membership which will include breakfast, afternoon tea and evening canapés/drinks. Going with the kids so will be sticking to the kids times for swimming.
I had a phone call from the hotel to discuss any requirements before we arrive – sofa into bed etc for the kids. Nice touch. Wife also contacted them to explain it was my birthday on the Saturday which they acknowledged and promised a few goodies.
They did explain however there won’t be any further complimentary upgrades as they can only upgrade to a 1-bed suite high floor and that’s all they can upgrade to – despite a 2 bed suite showing and 2 bed penthouse showing. They said they can’t upgrade to those. Maybe one to discuss at checkin and maybe get lucky!! Will feedback how our stay is next week 🙂

[NorthernLass]

I found this on my cancelled stay – they would upgrade from junior suite to 1 bedroom but not from 1 bedroom to 2 bedroom, that’s why I suggested booking the junior suite. Otherwise you’ll pay for the 1 bedroom and stay in it.

[aseftel]

bibby135 wrote:

They did explain however there won’t be any further complimentary upgrades as they can only upgrade to a 1-bed suite high floor and that’s all they can upgrade to – despite a 2 bed suite showing and 2 bed penthouse showing. They said they can’t upgrade to those. Maybe one to discuss at checkin and maybe get lucky!! Will feedback how our stay is next week 🙂

That is aligned to the Ambassador terms, which state

17. InterContinental Ambassador and Royal Ambassador guaranteed upgrade excludes Residences, Penthouses, Presidential and Specialty Suites and two bedroom or greater Suites/Villas.

There is of course nothing preventing them from being more generous than the terms require.

[alex_l]

Last time we visited (6 months ago) we only got a high floor upgrade as a diamond for a junior suite – hotel was busy so wasn’t too much of a surprise. Overall it was good but a few negatives for me:

– Pool was freezing to the point neither of my under five kids lasted very long. It wasn’t very tidy or well looked after either e.g. towels everywhere.
– if you want to eat in the hotel, book as the restaurants were full with outside guests and no capacity for hotel guests and a shoulder shrug when I pushed at that – hotel didn’t warn us.
– Parking can be a shambles if there’s a concert and they do gleefully ticket if you park outside the marked spaces.

[rachyclaire]

I’ve stayed four times now, twice last winter and I really like the hotel. The pool tends to be empty for the first half hour or so of opening, which was ideal for me (weekend stay, might be different in the week). I also really liked breakfast there, they have pretty much everything you could wish for! They were also very helpful when I called to arrange an extra bed in the room I booked on points. (Lowest category rooms are only bookable for two online).

However, both times I stayed last winter, I found the reception staff to be very inexperienced and overrun, the queues at check in were awful and the staff seemed to have no understanding of status/ambassador, and on the second stay this led to them making a complete mess of the billing, credits not applied where they should have been and ambassador free night not removed. It took a fortnight and a complaint to the GM to get this resolved. My ambassador free night is still showing in my account so I assume they just did the refund and didn’t apply the voucher! They also got rid of the shuttle from the station, although in fairness I think they’ve improved the road layout and pavements since we first visited, but it was handy when you’re hauling your luggage along in the pouring rain!

[Crafty]

We’re staying there later this week. Two nights on an Ambassador weekend voucher, booked the one bedroom suite as that’s what we need, followed by two nights on best flex rate with a suite upgrade voucher that otherwise would have expired unused.

Initially I was deeply unimpressed by my contacts with the hotel, especially the myriad categories they have split junior suites into so that true upgrades can be denied. However, all is forgiven as they have now graciously agreed that nights 3 and 4 will be in a one bedroom suite (as an “extra” upgrade from the junior suite that is all the voucher apparently gets you), so that we don’t have to switch rooms halfway through.

Disappointed to hear the pool is cold. My kids are really looking forward to the pool but hate when they aren’t heated sufficiently.

[FFoxSake]

FYI – anyone with a booking (or contemplating one) soon…

“We would like to inform you from September 18th to October 9th, The Spa will be undergoing renovations to improve guest experience.
From September 23rd, treatments at The Spa and the Fitness Centre will be available, and the Spa facilities such as the swimming pool will re-open on October 9th.
We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding as we work to improve your experience.”

Rates have been lowered significantly as a consequence (25-30% typical), so worth checking/modifying any existing bookings.