InterContinental Onethousand Island Lake Resort — Hotel in Hangzhou City

Chun’an, Zhejiang Province… Not known to many tourists outside China, but known to many people working in Shanghai and its neighboring areas as a natural getaway spot. Why? The mountains, the natural fresh air, and a massive lake with 1000 or so islands. The One Thousand Island Lake was historically manmade from a massive reservoir, now it stands as a popular tourist attraction. The InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake Resort is a resort like no other in Chun’an. Isolated away from the city center on a 15-minute car ride from the nearest highway, the resort provides luxurious exclusivity in its hospitality front. My first visit to Chun’an was when I was 12, and the area was still developing with the resort being the sole best of the best resort in the area. 9 years later things changed, what kickstarted Chun’an’s tourist expansion was the Hangzhou-Huangshan Railway Line. More and more tourists came, and the hotel industry boomed in Chun’an. The competition gained for this resort as others look to take over the #1 ranking spot in Chun’an. ||A year ago in March, myself and my family visited this resort. We viewed this stay as one of the best InterContinental Hotel stays in China. My very first stay as a 12-year-old made me want to try this brand again 7 years later as an Ambassador member. This resort was the very first InterContinental property I stepped foot on that made me understand luxury. The stay in March of 2021 was perfect as described in my previous review here. With China still sticking to its travel restrictions over the pandemic, many families in nearby cities find themselves relaxing here. A year ago there was barely anyone at the resort, this time the resort is occupied at most of its capacity. Now as the Diamond Elite Ambassador Member, myself and my family return with a new conditional perspective of the resort.||From August 26th to the 28th, we made our trip to Chun’an. We booked the Classic Room with no guarantee of bedding type a few days before our stay. I wanted the same room which we have received last year, which is the Garden View Deluxe Twin King Family Room. My pre-arrival experience was rather smooth for half of what was there on offer. First I was advised on Ctrip to call the hotel for shuttle reservations from the newly built Qiandaohu Railway Station located 40 kilometers from the hotel. The first time I called was on August 24th for the shuttle reservations. I called the main number and was passed on to the concierge, none of the shuttles available were fit for the roundtrip train tickets of either arrival or departure train we have chosen. I believe the hotel shuttle schedule chart should be made public on Ctrip to save guests time on inquiries. Adding shuttle frequency would have also been better because only 3 roundtrip shuttles were available and the railway has been the most convenient form of transportation to get to Chun’an. I did however over the course of two days managed to get a specific Ambassador to upgrade to the same room as mentioned that was fit for the 3 of us. What I believe may have been the Duty Manager Henry called me on the day prior for a Pre-Arrival Welcome Call. Henry got my arrival time and a room preference. There was an offer to have us upgraded to the suite, which is a nice touch to our membership recognition, however, I asked for the original room 747 so that we can have 2 king beds. I should note that the calls were taken place with audible children sounds running around. It was a little difficult to hear Henry or any of the other members I have called. I recommend the hotel make any reservation-related calls in a separate office away from the lobby.||After a 45-minute drive to the resort, we arrived earlier than the check-in time. With many concierge members standing outside, it would have been nice for them to help out with our baggage into the hotel for check-in. Furthermore, the vibe I got from the hotel upon arrival at the door was rather unenthusiastic. We were just casually told to scan the contact tracing health code and present our PCR test reports. These people are good people, but the service delivery does not reflect the high price tags that are at times equivalent to the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel. The check-in was better than the initial welcome, as it was performed by the front desk agent Lucy. Lucy and the front desk work off of laptops, which is different from the desktop computers that many of the other hotels work from. Working off laptops at the front desk has reduced the amount of eye contact we have received from Lucy at no fault of her own. She was quick, and efficient, and did recognize me as the Diamond Ambassador Member. The time it took for her to complete check-in according to my stopwatch was 5 minutes and 47 seconds, which was a solid duration time for a 3-person check-in.||We settled in early into room 747. The Garden Deluxe Twin King Family Room is a room facing the Xian Mountain opposite from the lake. Having a Mountain View is a great alternative to the lake. This room is almost a two-bedroom king suite without its living room. The 79sqm space has a closet room upon entry, a spacious bathroom, and two king rooms. The closet room has space for luggage, a hanging cloth space, and some of the best resort slippers I have ever worn. The bathroom has a big streamflow bathtub, a spacious shower with Byredo shower amenities, a big sink area, and a toilet room. The first king room is the first bedroom you would see with its TV with bedside tables, a minibar, cabinet, lighting switches, and a comfy king bed. There is only one power outlet which is inconvenient for charging phones for those sleeping in this room. The second king bed is fit for the master couple that faces a window. It has more power outlets and seating with another TV. There are leather chairs and a table that helps you relax and get a glimpse of the Mountain View. On a one-time basis, a housekeeper would come in and fill the wooden bowl on that same table with complimentary fruit and yogurt. We even got a separate fruit plate for our Ambassador’s benefit. For privacy, the two bedrooms are split with a sliding door. ||We paid 1800 RMB (282USD) per night for the entry-level classic room, but the family room on a fully paid rate of 2674 RMB (420USD). The quality of the room is certainly not worth its original full rate cost, because much of the convenience of the first king room is unfit based on the lack of power outlets. The prime reason why the room was unfit for its price was because of the lack of cleaning that was present in the room. There were multiple cleaning mishaps with the room. First, the wooden floors of the room weren’t vacuum cleaned properly, as there were some food crumbs, plastic, and dust left from the previous guests. There was a child’s sticker left on the wall. The worst was the toilet room where there was pubic hair left on the marble floor and someone left their contact lenses case in the toilet room. Disappointed by how poorly the room was cleaned, I called the instant service on the room phone to bring someone up to reclean the room. A few minutes after I made the call, the Guest Services Manager Abby and the Duty Manager Henry came up to inspect the room with me. They have brought some compensation gifts in the form of a Salvatore Ferragamo Shower Supply Set and a teddy bear. They brought in the nice and heartwarming housekeeper He Lihua to reclean the missed spots. To further enhance my stay, Abby and Henry both granted us access to the Club InterContinental Lounge. I would also like to recognize them for giving me personally a free mountain bike rental, which I had a good time using on the 10-kilometer stretch from the resort to the highway. I had a good time using the bike for 2 hours. Some of the pubic hair and food crumbs remained on the floor, which may have been derived from the lack of vacuum cleaning. ||The Club InterContinental Lounge is a pretty good lounge, with a direct view of the lake. In this Club Lounge are a bunch of great features that make this lounge one of the best hotel lounges I have visited. There is a variety of lounge seating, a buffet area, a living room, a meeting room, and an outdoor patio balcony that views the lake. The design of the lounge is modern with Zhejiang-style influences in its interior. We came to the lounge for Afternoon Tea and Happy Hour. The professional and attentive service was quite lacking for an exclusive lounge, which could have something to do with the lack of customers at the lounge. Afternoon Tea was directly served to me without me asking for it, which has some great cakes, small snacks, and other foods in it. Happy Hour was very disappointing as a result of the lack of options made available to us. The cocktail service was very impressive with many choices for the bartender to make, however, the food choices were, to say the least disappointing. First, the problem was that the Happy Hour service was only provided to 2 people. This is despite the fact that both Henry and Abby gave all of us lounge benefits. It was very awkward to just have two soups, salads, and two plates of chicken and spring rolls. Note that there are 3 of us and the dishes are designed for one person each, the staff could have given us another round of food for the third person. None of the staff members could professionally explain to us why this could not be done. Also, note that the Club Rooms are priced at 3100 RMB ($450), and someone paying this much for 3 people should not get the level of service that we have received. Some of the great staff members were kind, but some were not as keen to work in this exclusive lounge as opposed to many of the other Club InterContinentals we have been to. Arguably this Club Lounge is the best club lounge I have been to based on setting and design, but the service is much left to be desired. ||Breakfast for us was in the Lake View All-Day Dining Restaurant. Breakfast was some of the better breakfasts we have had in our time with the InterContinental Hotel. Although many waiters and waitresses were there to serve us whenever we needed it, many of them were standing around doing nothing especially when service at times was needed. For example, there was not much coordination on coffee and tea service. My father got his coffee as ordered, but we did not get our tea as we ordered. Many were standing around, hesitating to collect empty plates at our table which was concerning. The food however was very nice, as the options and quality were perfect for the brand’s standards. The small wontons were fresh and perfect, the eggs were great, pancakes and waffles did not disappoint, the fruits were fresh, and many other countless options I would have to mention. ||The fitness center and pools were well designed and nice to do some exercise in. I tried both indoor and outdoor pools. I like the indoor pool more because of how you can do laps in the pool, but the outdoor pool during the summer is certainly the place to go to cool off whilst watching the sunset. I am however not satisfied with one of my experiences with the reception, because the receptionist was simply confusing at times. I was not given a locker key when I told them I wanted to use the swimming pool whilst fully dressed, and I had to go back and get one. The attitude of that specific receptionist on August 27th could use room for some improvements, as I got a lazy attitude from the receptionist. ||We checked out at noon on the 28th and kindly addressed many of the issues with the Duty Manager Starry Yu (Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your child Ms. Yu!). We were given some tonic water drinks to see us off from the resort to the train station. We appreciate it. The response from the hotel through their Duty Manager channel was rather slow however and could use some expedition. ||Overall, I was rather let down by the resort based on my 3rd stay. I think the resort has a lot to improve on when it comes to the quality of service and hygiene. I would come again, but the resort has a lot to improve on in the future. We rank this resort #10 out of 25 of the InterContinental Hotels and Resorts I have been to. This resort was the reason why we became loyal to the InterContinental brand as an Ambassador Member. The resort 10 years ago introduced us to the inspirational luxury of the hotel brand, and now it is below its standards compared to 10 years ago. We have seen better than this in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, this resort has much to improve on to remain the best of the...

Chun’an, Zhejiang Province… Not known to many tourists outside China, but known to many people working in Shanghai and its neighboring areas as a natural getaway spot. Why? The mountains, the natural fresh air, and a massive lake with 1000 or so islands. The One Thousand Island Lake was historically manmade from a massive reservoir, now it stands as a popular tourist attraction. The InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake Resort is a resort like no other in Chun’an. Isolated away from the city center on a 15-minute car ride from the nearest highway, the resort provides luxurious exclusivity in its hospitality front. My first visit to Chun’an was when I was 12, and the area was still developing with the resort being the sole best of the best resort in the area. 9 years later things changed, what kickstarted Chun’an’s tourist expansion was the Hangzhou-Huangshan Railway Line. More and more tourists came, and the hotel industry boomed in Chun’an. The competition gained for this resort as others look to take over the #1 ranking spot in Chun’an. ||A year ago in March, myself and my family visited this resort. We viewed this stay as one of the best InterContinental Hotel stays in China. My very first stay as a 12-year-old made me want to try this brand again 7 years later as an Ambassador member. This resort was the very first InterContinental property I stepped foot on that made me understand luxury. The stay in March of 2021 was perfect as described in my previous review here. With China still sticking to its travel restrictions over the pandemic, many families in nearby cities find themselves relaxing here. A year ago there was barely anyone at the resort, this time the resort is occupied at most of its capacity. Now as the Diamond Elite Ambassador Member, myself and my family return with a new conditional perspective of the resort.||From August 26th to the 28th, we made our trip to Chun’an. We booked the Classic Room with no guarantee of bedding type a few days before our stay. I wanted the same room which we have received last year, which is the Garden View Deluxe Twin King Family Room. My pre-arrival experience was rather smooth for half of what was there on offer. First I was advised on Ctrip to call the hotel for shuttle reservations from the newly built Qiandaohu Railway Station located 40 kilometers from the hotel. The first time I called was on August 24th for the shuttle reservations. I called the main number and was passed on to the concierge, none of the shuttles available were fit for the roundtrip train tickets of either arrival or departure train we have chosen. I believe the hotel shuttle schedule chart should be made public on Ctrip to save guests time on inquiries. Adding shuttle frequency would have also been better because only 3 roundtrip shuttles were available and the railway has been the most convenient form of transportation to get to Chun’an. I did however over the course of two days managed to get a specific Ambassador to upgrade to the same room as mentioned that was fit for the 3 of us. What I believe may have been the Duty Manager Henry called me on the day prior for a Pre-Arrival Welcome Call. Henry got my arrival time and a room preference. There was an offer to have us upgraded to the suite, which is a nice touch to our membership recognition, however, I asked for the original room 747 so that we can have 2 king beds. I should note that the calls were taken place with audible children sounds running around. It was a little difficult to hear Henry or any of the other members I have called. I recommend the hotel make any reservation-related calls in a separate office away from the lobby.||After a 45-minute drive to the resort, we arrived earlier than the check-in time. With many concierge members standing outside, it would have been nice for them to help out with our baggage into the hotel for check-in. Furthermore, the vibe I got from the hotel upon arrival at the door was rather unenthusiastic. We were just casually told to scan the contact tracing health code and present our PCR test reports. These people are good people, but the service delivery does not reflect the high price tags that are at times equivalent to the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel. The check-in was better than the initial welcome, as it was performed by the front desk agent Lucy. Lucy and the front desk work off of laptops, which is different from the desktop computers that many of the other hotels work from. Working off laptops at the front desk has reduced the amount of eye contact we have received from Lucy at no fault of her own. She was quick, and efficient, and did recognize me as the Diamond Ambassador Member. The time it took for her to complete check-in according to my stopwatch was 5 minutes and 47 seconds, which was a solid duration time for a 3-person check-in.||We settled in early into room 747. The Garden Deluxe Twin King Family Room is a room facing the Xian Mountain opposite from the lake. Having a Mountain View is a great alternative to the lake. This room is almost a two-bedroom king suite without its living room. The 79sqm space has a closet room upon entry, a spacious bathroom, and two king rooms. The closet room has space for luggage, a hanging cloth space, and some of the best resort slippers I have ever worn. The bathroom has a big streamflow bathtub, a spacious shower with Byredo shower amenities, a big sink area, and a toilet room. The first king room is the first bedroom you would see with its TV with bedside tables, a minibar, cabinet, lighting switches, and a comfy king bed. There is only one power outlet which is inconvenient for charging phones for those sleeping in this room. The second king bed is fit for the master couple that faces a window. It has more power outlets and seating with another TV. There are leather chairs and a table that helps you relax and get a glimpse of the Mountain View. On a one-time basis, a housekeeper would come in and fill the wooden bowl on that same table with complimentary fruit and yogurt. We even got a separate fruit plate for our Ambassador’s benefit. For privacy, the two bedrooms are split with a sliding door. ||We paid 1800 RMB (282USD) per night for the entry-level classic room, but the family room on a fully paid rate of 2674 RMB (420USD). The quality of the room is certainly not worth its original full rate cost, because much of the convenience of the first king room is unfit based on the lack of power outlets. The prime reason why the room was unfit for its price was because of the lack of cleaning that was present in the room. There were multiple cleaning mishaps with the room. First, the wooden floors of the room weren’t vacuum cleaned properly, as there were some food crumbs, plastic, and dust left from the previous guests. There was a child’s sticker left on the wall. The worst was the toilet room where there was pubic hair left on the marble floor and someone left their contact lenses case in the toilet room. Disappointed by how poorly the room was cleaned, I called the instant service on the room phone to bring someone up to reclean the room. A few minutes after I made the call, the Guest Services Manager Abby and the Duty Manager Henry came up to inspect the room with me. They have brought some compensation gifts in the form of a Salvatore Ferragamo Shower Supply Set and a teddy bear. They brought in the nice and heartwarming housekeeper He Lihua to reclean the missed spots. To further enhance my stay, Abby and Henry both granted us access to the Club InterContinental Lounge. I would also like to recognize them for giving me personally a free mountain bike rental, which I had a good time using on the 10-kilometer stretch from the resort to the highway. I had a good time using the bike for 2 hours. Some of the pubic hair and food crumbs remained on the floor, which may have been derived from the lack of vacuum cleaning. ||The Club InterContinental Lounge is a pretty good lounge, with a direct view of the lake. In this Club Lounge are a bunch of great features that make this lounge one of the best hotel lounges I have visited. There is a variety of lounge seating, a buffet area, a living room, a meeting room, and an outdoor patio balcony that views the lake. The design of the lounge is modern with Zhejiang-style influences in its interior. We came to the lounge for Afternoon Tea and Happy Hour. The professional and attentive service was quite lacking for an exclusive lounge, which could have something to do with the lack of customers at the lounge. Afternoon Tea was directly served to me without me asking for it, which has some great cakes, small snacks, and other foods in it. Happy Hour was very disappointing as a result of the lack of options made available to us. The cocktail service was very impressive with many choices for the bartender to make, however, the food choices were, to say the least disappointing. First, the problem was that the Happy Hour service was only provided to 2 people. This is despite the fact that both Henry and Abby gave all of us lounge benefits. It was very awkward to just have two soups, salads, and two plates of chicken and spring rolls. Note that there are 3 of us and the dishes are designed for one person each, the staff could have given us another round of food for the third person. None of the staff members could professionally explain to us why this could not be done. Also, note that the Club Rooms are priced at 3100 RMB ($450), and someone paying this much for 3 people should not get the level of service that we have received. Some of the great staff members were kind, but some were not as keen to work in this exclusive lounge as opposed to many of the other Club InterContinentals we have been to. Arguably this Club Lounge is the best club lounge I have been to based on setting and design, but the service is much left to be desired. ||Breakfast for us was in the Lake View All-Day Dining Restaurant. Breakfast was some of the better breakfasts we have had in our time with the InterContinental Hotel. Although many waiters and waitresses were there to serve us whenever we needed it, many of them were standing around doing nothing especially when service at times was needed. For example, there was not much coordination on coffee and tea service. My father got his coffee as ordered, but we did not get our tea as we ordered. Many were standing around, hesitating to collect empty plates at our table which was concerning. The food however was very nice, as the options and quality were perfect for the brand’s standards. The small wontons were fresh and perfect, the eggs were great, pancakes and waffles did not disappoint, the fruits were fresh, and many other countless options I would have to mention. ||The fitness center and pools were well designed and nice to do some exercise in. I tried both indoor and outdoor pools. I like the indoor pool more because of how you can do laps in the pool, but the outdoor pool during the summer is certainly the place to go to cool off whilst watching the sunset. I am however not satisfied with one of my experiences with the reception, because the receptionist was simply confusing at times. I was not given a locker key when I told them I wanted to use the swimming pool whilst fully dressed, and I had to go back and get one. The attitude of that specific receptionist on August 27th could use room for some improvements, as I got a lazy attitude from the receptionist. ||We checked out at noon on the 28th and kindly addressed many of the issues with the Duty Manager Starry Yu (Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your child Ms. Yu!). We were given some tonic water drinks to see us off from the resort to the train station. We appreciate it. The response from the hotel through their Duty Manager channel was rather slow however and could use some expedition. ||Overall, I was rather let down by the resort based on my 3rd stay. I think the resort has a lot to improve on when it comes to the quality of service and hygiene. I would come again, but the resort has a lot to improve on in the future. We rank this resort #10 out of 25 of the InterContinental Hotels and Resorts I have been to. This resort was the reason why we became loyal to the InterContinental brand as an Ambassador Member. The resort 10 years ago introduced us to the inspirational luxury of the hotel brand, and now it is below its standards compared to 10 years ago. We have seen better than this in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, this resort has much to improve on to remain the best of the...

I brought myself, my mother and grandmother to the One Thousand Island Lake InterContinental Resort from 3/16 to 3/18 of 2021. The hotel is isolated from the town center, and is a great place to escape the crowded city. ||Despite difficulties with my debit card transaction problems and my mother forgetting her passport at home, front desk staff member Nancy facilitated our check-in at a patient yet professional and understanding manner. ||I initially booked a Twin Garden View Room at a size of 45 SQM. Upon arrival, I was upgraded to the Twin Deluxe Garden View Room (Room 747) at a size of 79 SQM. The room the size of a suite has two king size beds in it’s own section of the bedroom space. A sliding door can split the two king bed sections apart, making up two bedrooms in this spacious area. Each has it’s own respective amenities you would find in any standard room. The bathroom was spacious and clean, and the closet space was sufficient. The window was facing a fog topped mountain area, with a garden camouflaging the main entrance. Upon arriving, we asked for a rollaway bed which was delivered. However, after realizing the beds were king sized over a twin sized, we managed to recall the rollaway bed without any charge. I was impressed with the flexibility of the housekeeping staff and instant service staff in the rollaway situation. One issue we had which was to my surprised resolve was the mini-fridge temperate issue. My grandmother has type 2 diabetes, and every time she had a meal, she needed a cold shot of insulin. The fridge was not cold enough. The housekeeping lady helped us by putting bucket of ice and putting the insulin shots in a plastic bag to prevent it from getting wet from the melted ice. She also refilled on the second night of our stay. This is high class housekeeping service, and it was the high point of our stay. We also received free yogurt daily, which we highly appreciated, along with a welcome plate of fruit. Big thanks to housekeeper: 吕岐美 and her associates for making sure all the details are fulfilled. ||Breakfast was great. I was impressed with the selection in an isolated hotel. Our favorites were the Small Wontons and the Scrambled Eggs. We would also like to recognize the customized order made fulfilled by our breakfast staff members. My grandmother wanted warm corn juice, and to my surprise despite it being off the buffet menu, it was made. We would like to thank the waitress who served us twice at the Breakfast Buffet: Hua Li, along with the additional waitresses serving with her. ||We had an amazing experience with the boat excursion to the Huangshan Island. On top of that, we had a great dinner experience at the Chinese Restaurant on the same floor of the Buffet Restaurant. Big thanks to the staff who were there on the evening of 3/16. Although I understand that due to the non-peak season during our stay, and it is hard to break-even with such circumstances, I was disappointed by the closure of the dinner buffet. However, all is well as there the hotel wasn’t at a proper capacity to open a dinner buffet session.||Overall, my family and I had a superb stay at this resort. It is one of the best visits I had this year to the InterContinental Hotel as a Platinum Ambassador Member. Because of my frequent visits to InterContinental, I have designed a ranking list to list the best InterContinental Hotels I have visited. Out of 11 of the InterContinental Hotels I have stayed at globally, this hotel ranks at #5. Nationally within mainland China, it would rank #3 out of 8 mainland China hotels, behind the brand new InterContinental Chongqing and InterContinental Shanghai Hongqiao NECC. The ranking list is yet to change, as I have more InterContinental Hotels to visit. I have also designed a Breakfast Ranking List for Mainland China InterContinental Hotels: |At this time, this hotel ranks #4 out of 8.||It is hard for me to give a hotel 5 out of 5 stars, only 4 out of 11 of my visits to InterContinental received 5 stars so far. Earning my 5 stars for a review, requires my stays to be as close as possible to perfection, under InterContinental Standards I have seen. I am impressed by this resort and my experience there, I look forward to returning in the...