Crowne Plaza Hobart by IHG — Hotel in Hobart

Being long time loyal IHG members, my husband and I always wanted to visit Tasmania but had to wait till a new IHG hotel brand opens in Tasmania. So when we heard of the Crowne Plaza opened in Hobart, and being able to visit Hobart during border restrictions to other travelers in the first week of January, what a joy to be back to our favorite hotel brand, Crowne Plaza. As we arrived in mid Monday morning, our room was nearly ready and while waiting we were sent to the Club Lounge for refreshment.

We were upgraded to a corner spacious room with the view above all surrounding. There's a huge walk in bathroom with plenty of spaces to put our things around, with adjacent walk in wardrobe, toilet, separate spacious area of generous modern bath tub and a separate spacious shower. For many years staying at hotels, I always used my own brought along shampoo and conditioner due to my thick healthy hair. But for the first time, I decided to use the provided beautiful shampoo and conditioner, hooray so glad that I was not disappointed, great brand (can't remember but not one of those at supermarkets).

Most IHG hotels usually have a welcoming message addressing to my name on the TV when I first turned it on. But this hotel goes extra mile, no matter what time of the day whenever I turned the TV on each day, each time it has different appropriate caring greeting messages to me, so nice to have that personal caring touch, thank you. We love the automatic setting of the drapes and blinds closing and opening whenever we return to the room, keeping our room cool during the hot day while we were out. The bed, pillows and even the long couch are all just so comfortable. Housekeeping is top mark in all amenities.

The Club lounge in the same floor a few doors from our room, is spacious for social distancing with the view of Hobart and even the peak of Mount Wellington and the harbour. We have access to the club lounge for breakfast, and access anytime up to 10pm including 4-6pm for canape every day when we can make it. All the staff at the club lounge wowed us with their amazing attitude, always beaming with their happy smile to greet us and no matter how busy they are, always someone to open door to say goodbye to us when we leave. The staff service at the club lounge is the best service, so attentive, patient, caring and generous that we have not seen in other IHG hotels around Australia and New Zealand. The breakfast has healthy choices and generous, never had any problems with any extra requests. The choices of beautiful modern durable porcelain cups, glasses and bowls captured out attention, never ever had my coffee stayed hot for so long! The canapes are excellent with the modern twist of five star quality, the staff are all so knowledgeable to give us insight of ingredients in each thing on the plate, very impressive. Though we did have our first day of breakfast at the dining room on the fourth floor, but we decided to have breakfast for the rest of our stay at the Club lounge due to the 'homely' feeling of satisfaction with the all the staff and their dedication. Our thanks to Kate for her extremely dedication and also to the kindness caring of cheerful Bikram, Pispa, Ryan, Kim (or Kay?). We look forward to seeing these new friends on our next return visit.

From our first day of stay, we were impressed with the kindness and respectful from all the staff, from the front desk, concierge, housekeeping or any staff we came across in the elevators and those serve at dining room etc. Congratulations to the management team for this excellent hotel, perfect hotel right in Hobart CBD so convenient, so blessed to have the outstanding services of all staff in all areas that we are so proud to be part of IHG in all these years.

Since this is a new hotel, we have one small suggestion that the opening hours of canape at the Club lounge could be better 5pm - 7pm, as most other IHG hotels internationally have canape either 5pm - 7pm or 6 - 8pm, but this is the first hotel canape opens from 4pm and finishes at 6pm, which is the time most business people are still at meetings or tourists are on the road returning from a distant day trip.

Keep up all the good work and we look forward to future revisit...

I felt compelled to write a review because the hotel under IHG holds itself to a high standard with a claimed 5 star rating.

PROS: Location central, includes 24 hour gym, bar/restaurants and breakfast buffet. The rooms are generously sized, modern furnishing, soft yet supportive, high end plush king beds. The standard king room was more than sufficient.

CONS: No on-site parking, valet service is a min 30 wait. No other amenities such as pool/spa other than gym.

MAJOR COMPLAINT: Housekeeping. Inconsistent, unprofessional and oddly do not make up the beds. On the first day I was given a used mug, I washed it myself and carried on, on the second day I received a broken glass chipped very sharply on the rim. On the third day I received a dirty mug with instant noodles inside. I finally spoke up and when I asked the housekeeper for a new cup she rudely ignored me. I had to alert reception whom to their credit promptly assisted me. On the fourth day, I saw the housekeeper from the previous day on several occasions when I was in and out of the room. I noted the room before and after ours had been serviced but I thought to myself surely the housekeeper wouldn't be unprofessional. At 7pm, the room was purposefully ignored and unserviced.

I will commend the reception staff whom were very understanding and remedied a new room and upgrade. Unfortunately on the 6th night house keeping again completely missed the room despite requested all day.

When I contacted housekeeping, there was no answer. I alerted reception once again who stated it was documented the room was on DND (to which it never had been). When you stay at Crowne Plaza if the room is on DND, a card is left by housekeepers to let you know they came by. This never happened.

Suites whilst marketed as premium you can see where IHG cuts corners. Automatic blinds and curtains are a real treat but only when maintained. In the suite, the corner blinds don't function as well as the simple single rectangle window design in the king room. This resulted in broken, crinkled and protruding blinds that forced automatic curtains to stop half way and could not close fully.

There were several electrical glitches in the Suite compared to the King room. Closing the blinds in the bathroom meant the lights would turn off. Turning on the bathroom lights, meant the vanity would then turn off. When it came to turning off the master light at night by the beside, the bathroom lights would turn on, then the night light and then the vanity. It took a few tries but I learnt you had to tap the "off" button 4 times before all the lights would turn off. The bathroom lights randomly turned on for no reason in the morning. You couldn't turn on the wardrobe lights without turning on all the lights in the room which wasn't nice if your partner is sleeping.

Overall I would recommend only for overnight business trips but not for multiple night stays where there is an expectation of added service...

Rude front office employee ruined the stay

I would have given one star if not for Preeti’s good service recovery. The customer service I received from one of the front office staff, Dylan, was truly shocking. Upon check-in, an associate confirmed my departure preference of 2pm (a benefit as an IHG One Rewards Diamond member) and assured me it had been recorded in the system. However, on my departure day, I received a call on my in-room telephone from Dylan. His tone was passive aggressive as he said, “Oh, what time are you checking out? Checkout time is 11.” I had to climb out of the bathtub soaking wet to answer the call, and I informed him—confused and slightly annoyed—that my 2pm late checkout had been confirmed with his colleague. He said it wasn’t in the system, so I responded and said this was literally doubled checked and confirmed with his colleague at check-in. He immediately became defensive and argumentative, saying “Oh, I wouldn’t be calling you if it’s in the system.” I was stunned. It was clearly a breakdown in communication within the front office. Why was I being treated as if I were at fault? I told him I didn’t appreciate his attitude, especially his comment about not calling if it were in the system. And then, without another word, he HUNG UP THE PHONE on me. I went downstairs to get my keycard recoded—it hadn’t been programmed for a 2pm checkout—and to speak with Dylan directly. But in person, the experience was even worse. He accused me of “snapping at him.” In reality, he was the one who had the outburst and hung up the phone. In all my years of travelling, I have never encountered a front office employee so rude and immature. I asked to speak with a supervisor or manager. Initially, Dylan said “Oh, they’re not here.” When I asked when they’d return, he replied vaguely, “Oh, later.” After I pressed him again, he stormed off—throwing something into the bin on his way—and returned with Preeti, the front office manager. So she had been there all along. Was he lying when he said she wasn’t around? I’m still unsure. Reflecting on the situation now, it almost feels comical. If you’re having a bad day, don’t take it out on a guest. And if passive aggression and defensiveness are your default communication style, hospitality may not be the right career fit. Thankfully, all other staff members—especially those in the club lounge—were professional, courteous, and attentive. Preeti handled the situation with care and professionalism and was able to effectively deescalate things. While I spoke with her, Dylan remained in the back and out of sight. It honestly felt like dealing with a five-year-old. Food was good. Location was great. If not for the bad apple, this would have been a...