InterContinental Huizhou Resort — Hotel in Huizhou

I am sure that this resort, when it opened in 2009, was absolutely gorgeous. They clearly spared no expense in construction; Stanley hardware on the doors, Kohler fixtures in all of the bathrooms, etc. ||Sadly, the toll of time, and what seems to be a lack of money have taken their toll on this property. Walking through the property today feels a bit like watching urban explorers review an abandoned luxury resort that has stared to succumb to the forces of nature. ||Let’s start with the good parts. ||First, the team here are all great, they clearly are well trained in delivering the Intercontinental standard of service. Check in was easy, and everyone here was super helpful whenever we needed anything. I rented two villas here for myself and my team as a reward for a few weeks of hard work at one of our factories. The Villas, while showing their age, are overall not bad. There is some mold here and there, like on the walls leading to the outside pool / hot spring area, but they’ve clearly been keeping up with the cleaning. The beds and bedding were top notch, clearly new, and delivered a great night of rest. ||One note on the villas is that they are about a kilometer from the main building, so getting from one to the other requires either a decent walk or calling for a golf cart pickup to get back to the main building for food or to use the indoor pool or outdoor hot springs. ||One fairly major issue that we had was that, on arrival to our villas, the pool was quite dirty, and importantly, did not have any water in it. We called the front desk and to their credit, someone showed up within the hour to clean and fill the pool. It’s obvious that the pool filter and chlorination systems are no longer working, so the water needs to be changed every 48 hours or so to keep it clean. The smaller hot spring pool adjacent to the swimming pool was functional, though there is quite a lot of mold and dirt on the bricks and mortar that were used to build this section. Again, it was clearly something that looked great fourteen years ago, but now I just want to hit it with a pressure washer before entering. ||There are public hot springs, and these seem to be well maintained. The pools of various temperatures were all more or less clean and comfortable, with only one pool out of service during our visit. They’ve invested in new-ish lounge chairs and umbrellas, which is good as the older ones, like the buildings, are losing the fight against the mold. There are not many seats are available in the area, so during a busy time you might be fighting for one. ||There are some indoor recreation options, a kids play area, a gym, snooker tables, ping pong tables, etc. most things were functional during our visit though they keep the lights off everywhere so again you feel a little like you’re wandering through an abandoned property. ||Now some of the more fundamental issues. ||The exterior of every building, the main building, the villas, etc, are covered top to bottom with thick black mold. It’s outside so not sure it poses a health risk, but it sure is scary to look at. ||The outdoor pool has been closed, seemingly for a very long time, and it has been turning into something resembling a large outdoor pond. There is standing water inside, which has now become home to deep green algae and various plant life. Expectedly the “poolside” restaurant has long since closed as well. ||There was a water sports center, with a man-made lake, kayaks, paddleboat, etc. This was also out of service during our visit. Kayaks and paddleboats line the shore but the waterline has fallen so far below the docks, there would be no way to make use of them, even if you were ok with getting into the greenish-brown water for a day of recreation. ||The club is also closed, again seems like it has been a long time since it operated. Three years of Covid restrictions in China have clearly changed a lot of hotels and resorts in the country, and this one is no exception. ||Oddly, we received coupons for welcome drinks when we checked in, only to find that the bar had also closed long ago. Apparently the one remaining restaurant on the property had some drinks but it was not open at lunch time. ||During our trip here we witnessed a man live-streaming an advertisement for ownership in the resort, so I have to imagine they’re looking to dig themselves out of the hole by converting this place into condos or timeshares. ||Walking up to the property, seeing the mold on the walls and the rusted Intercontinental sign at the front entrance, my first thought was that this place was not long for the world, at least not as an intercontinental property. ||I hope I am wrong, this place has a huge amount of potential, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get back to its...

I am sure that this resort, when it opened in 2009, was absolutely gorgeous. They clearly spared no expense in construction; Stanley hardware on the doors, Kohler fixtures in all of the bathrooms, etc. ||Sadly, the toll of time, and what seems to be a lack of money have taken their toll on this property. Walking through the property today feels a bit like watching urban explorers review an abandoned luxury resort that has stared to succumb to the forces of nature. ||Let’s start with the good parts. ||First, the team here are all great, they clearly are well trained in delivering the Intercontinental standard of service. Check in was easy, and everyone here was super helpful whenever we needed anything. I rented two villas here for myself and my team as a reward for a few weeks of hard work at one of our factories. The Villas, while showing their age, are overall not bad. There is some mold here and there, like on the walls leading to the outside pool / hot spring area, but they’ve clearly been keeping up with the cleaning. The beds and bedding were top notch, clearly new, and delivered a great night of rest. ||One note on the villas is that they are about a kilometer from the main building, so getting from one to the other requires either a decent walk or calling for a golf cart pickup to get back to the main building for food or to use the indoor pool or outdoor hot springs. ||One fairly major issue that we had was that, on arrival to our villas, the pool was quite dirty, and importantly, did not have any water in it. We called the front desk and to their credit, someone showed up within the hour to clean and fill the pool. It’s obvious that the pool filter and chlorination systems are no longer working, so the water needs to be changed every 48 hours or so to keep it clean. The smaller hot spring pool adjacent to the swimming pool was functional, though there is quite a lot of mold and dirt on the bricks and mortar that were used to build this section. Again, it was clearly something that looked great fourteen years ago, but now I just want to hit it with a pressure washer before entering. ||There are public hot springs, and these seem to be well maintained. The pools of various temperatures were all more or less clean and comfortable, with only one pool out of service during our visit. They’ve invested in new-ish lounge chairs and umbrellas, which is good as the older ones, like the buildings, are losing the fight against the mold. There are not many seats are available in the area, so during a busy time you might be fighting for one. ||There are some indoor recreation options, a kids play area, a gym, snooker tables, ping pong tables, etc. most things were functional during our visit though they keep the lights off everywhere so again you feel a little like you’re wandering through an abandoned property. ||Now some of the more fundamental issues. ||The exterior of every building, the main building, the villas, etc, are covered top to bottom with thick black mold. It’s outside so not sure it poses a health risk, but it sure is scary to look at. ||The outdoor pool has been closed, seemingly for a very long time, and it has been turning into something resembling a large outdoor pond. There is standing water inside, which has now become home to deep green algae and various plant life. Expectedly the “poolside” restaurant has long since closed as well. ||There was a water sports center, with a man-made lake, kayaks, paddleboat, etc. This was also out of service during our visit. Kayaks and paddleboats line the shore but the waterline has fallen so far below the docks, there would be no way to make use of them, even if you were ok with getting into the greenish-brown water for a day of recreation. ||The club is also closed, again seems like it has been a long time since it operated. Three years of Covid restrictions in China have clearly changed a lot of hotels and resorts in the country, and this one is no exception. ||Oddly, we received coupons for welcome drinks when we checked in, only to find that the bar had also closed long ago. Apparently the one remaining restaurant on the property had some drinks but it was not open at lunch time. ||During our trip here we witnessed a man live-streaming an advertisement for ownership in the resort, so I have to imagine they’re looking to dig themselves out of the hole by converting this place into condos or timeshares. ||Walking up to the property, seeing the mold on the walls and the rusted Intercontinental sign at the front entrance, my first thought was that this place was not long for the world, at least not as an intercontinental property. ||I hope I am wrong, this place has a huge amount of potential, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get back to its...

This was my second time at this resort. My memory of the first experience was about one hotel in a wonderful place but that needed urgent care. This time I was invited by a friend and we were upgraded to a villa.||||Positive advice:||1. If you can take a villa: privates hot spring and cold swimming pool. Unforgettable.||2. Enjoy the service of the friendly staff. Specially at the restaurants where Peggy (at the Chinese restaurant) and Jayson (at the Café Veranda Restaurant) are leading enthusiastic teams that are kind and always ready to please you. Everything we tried from the menu was delicious and I only can congratulate who is in charge of the cookers team.||||To be considered as improving areas:||1. The Club. Nothing to compare to a standard Club in any other hotel of the group (can you imagine that you don’t have a beer or a gin tonic? just a bottle of wine is available at the Club).||2. The details. It is clear that the management do not pay attention to the small things (lights have mixed colors on the lamps, from the bright white till the warm yellow; you have to ask for more soap on the bath or extra towels in a place that is supposed that you are enjoying with the water; you have a kitchen but no refrigerator, etc.). Seams that the management is saving on the pinups.||3. The surroundings. I remember a nice place to take a walk but now everything is closed (the bridge to cross to the other side of the lake, the outdoor forest hot spring…). Seams again to save on the pinups.||||What is unacceptable:||The payment with a foreigner credit card provide a bank slip where you don’t realize that they are converting the local currency to the currency of the country where the credit card is issued. There is small letter saying that they offered you to choose the currency option and that for “the currency service" they will charge you a fee of 3,6%!!!. Of course they didn’t “offered” any option and of course they charged the expensive “service fee”. Another example that the management of the hotel is concentrate in the small money and not on providing great experience. It is a pity.||||In any case, knowing what the traps are, I will go back and take...