InterContinental Toronto Centre by IHG — Hotel in Toronto

Where should I start: have been here before and encountered the same issue, so naturally had concerns, when booking on the ihg app (are elite and also have been ambassador members in the past and we travel, so know the site very well), put in the booking notes -allergy-please no feathers or down at all. I also called and made sure it was noted in the reservation: allergy- this is done with EVERY hotel we stay at. Day before we were set to arrive, i called again and made sure no feathers or down products were in the room - allergy, assured it would be taken care of. Last time we stayed, instead of removing the products, they just downgraded us from a club lounge junior suite to some other suite on the "allergy free" floor and when we tried to go to the club lounge were "politely" told, we were not in the "correct" rooms to access the lounge, but hey we got our room for less because it was a cheaper room, so yay! This time, I wanted to make sure we stayed in the room we had chosen (b-day). After much assurance, yes, we would, and no, there would be no issue to remove the feathered products. We were excited. Check-in was great. Went to the room, put our stuff down, 5 minutes later there's a knock, we opened it and housekeeping is asking when we are going to be leaving. Me being completely confused, asked why, as any normal person would. Then they asked if we were planning on extending our stay, and I said no, then I was told, well, you'll have to leave then. It clicked then what was happening, and I said I just checked in less than 10 minutes ago, and I still have 2 nights of my stay left. Not once did I get, oh, I'm sorry, you're the new guest in this room. Instead, I got oh, so you don't need to leave. I was a little taken back by the comment and wanted to say thank you for allowing me to finish my reservation I paid for, but I kept it to myself. I closed the door and my husband was standing there shaking his head and I asked if he heard that and he jokingly said, are they going to let us stay, I just replied with, hopefully. Not even a minute later we could hear movement in the other room (it's a 2 room suite), so we went over to look and there is another housekeeping person in our living room area opening up the fridge and bar area, putting stuff in. I said hello, can I help you? She turned around and said oh I didn't know anyone was in the room. I just said clearly because most people would usually knock before walking into a hotel room. She said we didn't know anyone checked into this room yet. I said to her still, are you not supposed to knock before entering, whether you know it's empty or not? What if my husband or myself had been changing or showering or other things? She then said, well I'll just be a minute, I just need to check the supplies,and if you need anything, just call us.  I just said go ahead and ok. Not a stellar first start. The club lounge had excellent food, the only draw back were the kids running around all over bumping into and knocking people and grabbing multiple plate fulls of food and then leaving half of it, so other people there got nothing because the amount brought out was limited or the adults who treated the 1 or 2 drink honesty bar like it was an all you can drink free buffet for alcoholics. Both nights we went for snacks there was at least a table that had 2-3 adults that were loud and obnoxious and the table was completely covered in beer, wine and drink bottles and they were still going up for more. When the table ran out of room, they just started putting them on the floor and the staff didn't do a thing about the kids or the drinkers, which made the whole experience less than pleasant.  My husband's allergies were really acting up, so he kept taking allergy meds. We thought oh maybe it's the city air (smog, etc). I work midnights, so the last night I had to stay awake to switch over and I went to the living room area to watch TV, feeling cold I went to grab a blanket and opened one of the cupboards and what's in there, blankets, but also feathered pillows!!...

Stayed here for one day for comic con. Stayed in a one room with “city view” as you can see from my pictures it was not much of a city view. I also paid 900 for the room because I was under the impression it was going to be a great view of the city from what I was told over the phone when booking. It was not a great view at all.

Everything at this hotel is extremely overpriced which of course is to be expected with any hotel but there prices were ridiculously overpriced.

I initially called room service to inquire if I could order food and pick it up, the women on the other end of the phone was very rude and condescending. I chose to ignore her and ended up just going to the in house restaurant named azure.

I ate at the hotel’s restaurant azure with my wife and kids. The hamburgers and fries were actually good but my wife also ordered fish which looked terrible and was undercooked. they also charged 85 dollars for a 20 dollar bottle of wine lol.

Most of the staff was friendly minus a few exceptions.

I paid for valet parking, when leaving the hotel the valet who brought my car up to the lot for me wasn’t very engaging ,he didn’t bother to ask if I needed help with luggage or anything of the sort even though I use a walker and was struggling to load up my luggage. I’m not saying this is mandatory but I have stayed at numerous hotels and have used there valet services and this was by far the worst experience I’ve had with valet, and they were not even busy. On top of all that he expected a tip which I found amusing since he didn’t do anything to deserve one. He was not courteous in the slightest way.

Anyway I would not stay here again, it was convenient because the hotel links to the comic con convention center directly so you don’t have to do too much walking. If you have young kids this is a great perk if you plan on doing something within the convention center. Other than that I would personally not stay here again.

Overall the staff was 50/50 some were very rude while others were very nice and engaging.

The food was decent when it came to finger foods but everything else food wise that myself and my wife tried was not good.

I was also lied to about what my city view would look like.

Will not be...

Hidden “Amenity Fee” = Stay at another hotel

You may wonder why someone would rate the rate the rooms, service, and location as good, but rate the InterContinental Toronto Centre by IHG hotel one star. I don’t care if I’m staying at a $100 or $1000/night hotel, hidden fees should not be rewarded with five-star reviews. I suggest you do the same and provide a realistic one-star review for the InterContinental Toronto Centre by IHG and state the reason why.

IHG: If you want an extra $25/night from guests, just raise your price and stop with the sneaky tactics. If you choose to respond with a generic response defending the supposed value provided by your hidden fees, don't bother.

InterContinental Toronto Centre by IHG has an “Amenity Fee”, which is a check-in surprise and blatant cash grab on their part. It’s compulsory, and you will be denied access to the room you’ve already paid for if you decline. Note: I directly asked at check in if the fee was compulsory, and the answer was yes. Also, I felt a bit bad for the fellow at check-in, as it’s not staff’s fault that IHG lets them take the brunt of the negative feedback.

Here’s what the $25 plus tax undocumented (at online checkout directly on the IHG website) “Cash Grab Fee” provides. They appear to be very proud of the 20% laundry discount as it’s listed twice. Below is a copy of the letter they give you on check-in, and you’ll see that most of the below is what you’d already expect to be included in your nightly rate at most hotels:

To enhance your experience, we have introduced a daily amenity fee of $25 plus tax. This fee includes an array of exclusive benefits designed to make your stay exceptional: • $10 Credit for lunch or dinner at Azure Restaurant, per night of stay (non-cumulative) • 24/7 health club access • High-speed internet • Free local calls • 2 bottles of water upon arrival • Complimentary access to Press Reader offering over 7000+ newspapers and magazines • A generous 20% discount on laundry or press services • 5% off spa treatments (with a minimum spend of $100) • 20% off...