InterContinental London Park Lane by IHG

Had the most amazing afternoon tea, and free flowing champagne which was a birthday treat for a friend. The delightful Olivia attended to our every need and was such a well spoken, well travelled and extremely informative member of staff. She gave us a thorough run through of the many ‘Royally themed’ picnic inspired afternoon tea delights. It was an absolute pleasure to be in the company of such a delightful young lady. She is an absolute credit to the establishment and they are very lucky to have her. I would definitely recommend afternoon tea at this hotel, it was fantastic.

Disappointing Stay — Not Worth the Price We stayed for three nights and, unfortunately, found the experience quite disappointing. While the doormen were consistently friendly and welcoming, the reception staff fell short — often curt and unhelpful. One receptionist even snapped, “Do you mind me using the desk?” as I was speaking with a colleague, in an unnecessarily rude tone. The only member of staff who stood out for their kindness and professionalism was the concierge, Victor. He was thoughtful, helpful, and gave us great local tips — a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming experience. When we arrived at our room, an extra bed had been set up for our daughter — which came with a £60 per night surcharge. Shockingly, the sheets and pillow on that bed had visible bloodstains. Thankfully, the staff member who set up the bed was kind and quickly replaced the linens. On our final night, our room was disturbed by loud music well past 11:30 p.m. We could clearly hear songs like “Sweet Caroline” playing. When we called down, we were told — with an apology — that the music would continue for another 30 minutes. They did waive the extra bed fee for that night, which we appreciated. We love London and can’t wait to return — but we won’t be staying here again. For the price, the service and quality simply didn’t measure up.

I am not sure if my expectation of Intercontinetal brand of hotel is too high or their hotel standard is going down the drain. This is the second Intercontinetal hotel I have issue with in a space of 2 weeks. As an Intercontinetal Ambassador members, I am really disappointed at their services. The room that I was first given was fill with smell of cigarette smoke (someone smoking in the room?). First step in and my reaction was "no way I am staying in the room" So the first thing I did was to call their "Instant Services". Tried at least 3 times and waited for 15 mins and no one answer the phone (this was about 3.30pm). With the smell of smoke and unable to get their instant services, I had to went down to the reception. They offer to change my room (what else can they do) but I had to wait for another 1.5 hours for the room to get ready. P/S: duty manager went to my original room and she too admit that the room is filled with cigarette smell. New room is ok and to be fair they did offered me 100 GBP of credit. At about 10.30pm, again I tried calling the Instant services and this time I tried 4 times over a period of 25 mins before someone answered the phone. I seriously wonder how they can still call this "Instant Services" when I had a easier time calling my bank. Overall VERY DISAPPOINTED by the overall service level. A huge let down from what I used to experience at Intercontinetal (and they are supposed to be the best of IHG hotels). Maybe it is time to switch my alliances Finally (this may not be the hotel problem) although the location is great, traffic getting in and out of the hotel had become really bad