InterContinental Medellin - Movich, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Medellín

this may sound like i had a bad experience here i did not. to me it shows a management team and staff that was willing to help and overcome any issues i had. they went the extra mile for me. i do remember this and appreciate it. thanks to Mr. Gomez and his staff.

only reason i did not give a excellent for sleep is i like a really soft mattress. the mattress was good just harder then i like.

The first issue i encountered on my trip to colombia was actually trying to get there. I had booked a hotel room while i was at the airport waiting to board my flight. The flight was delayed for a additional 3 hours. I called IHG to see if they could move my day back one since i knew that i would not make medellin that night. The lady on IHG finally got ahold of a manager ( i found out later that this was Mr. Gomez) he approved to move the day back one day. Even though it was past the cancel/change day time.

When i arrived in medellin. they checked me into my room right away. The issue being that the AC was not working. they put me in another room. That room faced the parking lot. the third room they tried would not open. They tried 6 different keys. The whole time the bell hops and the girl Esteffany (not sure about the spelling) were trying their best to help me. I admit i was grumpy i had only slept 2 hours in bogota. I had enough and asked to talk to the manager. This is where i meet Mr Gomez. I told him my issues. Plus the lack of sleep I had and that I was hungry and need something to eat. He assured me that he would take care of the problems. Walked me to the breakfast area and made sure I was taken care of. told me after I ate they would have a room for me. He was true to his word. All I really wanted was a room with a good view and that the AC worked. He gave me a 2 room suite facing the pool. I actually got to know pretty much everyone in the hotel. The wait staff in the breakfast buffet to the security guard at the front gate.

I had to check out for one night. This was due to my lacks attitude of not booking my room long enough. When i came back because of the way Mr. Gomez was and his staff. I decided to purchase the Ambassador membership. Estefanny is the front desk person that sold me the membership and helped with my check in. Even though as she told me "i am new and don't really know the membership that well." She did a great job of selling me the membership. during my whole stay in your hotel she was very helpful in suggesting places to go. or just helping out with any questions I had.

I was actually just hoping for the same 2 room suite i had received the first time I stayed there. I was given a even bigger suite. It was a very nice touch. I know the hotel has some mechanical issues from age. I do know that they are in the process of remodeling the hotel. To me what was more important was how hard everyone tried to make sure my stay was comfortable. I dont know if the staff is this friendly to everyone. I know how friendly they were to me. I spend 200 plus days a year in hotels around the world. I normally carry the top level in 3 different international chain hotels. I can say this was one of the top 2 friendliest hotels I have ever stayed at. Even down to Mr Guillermo( once again spelling) that learned how to make my iced lattes. seems like this drink does not exist in colombia. He actually had the whole staff in the breakfast buffet know how to make my drink. In the end I would not even have to ask for it. They would just bring it to me.

It was a great stay in your hotel. If the Intercontinental hotels in the middle east had been like yours, IHG would not have lost my business. I dont know if IHG has earned my business back, I do know that Intercontinental Medellin has earned my business. I will stay here again when I come back to Medellin.

Once again thanks to Mr. Gomez and his staff. I can not say enough good...

The room was nice, and I appreciated the upgrade. There was no water and no coffee, and that’s surprising for a supposed five star hotel. Also there was no turn down service, and no appreciation for status except for some old fruit on a plate. There was a surprising disregard for elite members [staying in hotels 330+ days a year, I’m used to competence and some basic appreciation. I am not so used to having to run down every small thing with a reluctant, rude hotel staff.]

Most calls to the front desk were bad, often getting contradictory or incorrect information. The front desk apologized a lot and made many promises but rarely followed through. From 9 PM when I requested some water from the front desk (in person) to 1 AM (four hours later) when I called the front desk for about the 7th time, I never received the requested water. One front desk staff member even gave me attitude, saying that because he wasn’t working, he wouldn’t send the water. Then he promised to send water, and the water never came. The next morning, I was told contradictory information about breakfast, and when I tried to get breakfast, it wasn’t available. So much for « elite service and benefits » for elite customers.

The restaurant Fogon de Piedra was also a disappointment. The staff were intermittently professional and confused, politely welcoming and changing utensils, but ignoring many of the things one expects from a high quality restaurant. To give some examples, I’ll list them below:

The wine by the glass menu was incorrect. Most of the wines weren’t available. The only white wine by the glass was a Riesling, which is just wrong. Most Riesling wines (especially low end ones) are very sweet, and almost like a dessert wine. [this is like serving cinnamon rolls instead of complimentary bread… just a wrong choice]

The complimentary bread served was wrong. The waiter poured olive oil and balsamic and then only provided thin, cracker-like bread. Obviously, a restaurant needs to provide bread that can absorb the oil/balsamic. The right (and obvious) answer is to provide both thin cracker bread and normal bread (focaccia, olive, sourdough, etc).

The ceviche was bad, with stale, chewy shrimp. Obviously the kitchen was trying to get rid of old ingredients at the close of the day.

The meat was OK. Not excellent, just OK.

The salad was very bad, using shredded carrots and shredded lettuce. That was not a decent, basic salad. It was inedible.

The pepper was old, and no fresh pepper was offered.

During the meal, the waiter interrupted us asking us to pay the check. This was unprofessional and inappropriate. At any nice restaurant, the wait staff doesn’t try to push clients out mid-meal.

The restaurant offered no coffee or dessert.

The restaurant had no toothpicks.

I was an InterContinental Ambassador member for many years, and left InterContinental Hotel Group because of consistently poor service and old, outdated hotels. I decided to try IC again in Managua, and it was a bad stay with poor staff and poor benefits. My stay in Medellin was very much the same as Managua. Unlike other hotels where they provide real benefits and appreciation to their elite members, InterContinental seems not to value their elite members. It seems that InterContinental is even worse than before when I left, with poor service, poor benefits, poor facilities, and inconsistent communication.

Special attention: Tatiana was very professional, polite,...

I am a Spire Royal Ambassador and the Intercontinental Medellin is probably one of the more frustrating hotels where I stay. The hotel has a good location with several good restaurants close by, the gym is great and the pool is very good. The breakfast is also very good and it is nice eating on the terrace. The bad is unquestionably the service levels of the hotel. First, the past three visits there was no help in unloading my bags from the staff and I had to lug my bags inside by myself. Even worse was when I arrived to the hotel I was told that a VIP was arriving and that I would have to unload 50 meters down the parking lot which with a bad back was not fun to do by myself. Also as a Royal Ambassador they frequently do not allow you to check in early and so when I arrived at noon, I kept having to check and see if my room was ready and so when I was finally able to check in at 4 pm I pretty much missed a day by the pool waiting for my room. The other frustrating thing about the hotel is that if you have to work in your room during the day, all you hear is a constant slamming of doors and so you will need noise cancelling headphones if you want to work in peace. In addition, the staff never respects the Do Not Disturb sign and will repeatedly knock on the door and call you for various reasons and the housekeepers can be overbearing and bothersome in wanting to talk with you all of the time. The other annoyance is the pool as it is shared by a private club. On two occasions when I was in the pool or when I was getting a massage, the club members will just move your stuff or move your sun bed. The hotel also hosts several large conferences and at times the hotel can be very noisy late at night. During one stay when they were hosting a youth conference, the kids would make a lot of noise and party in the hallways all night long and when I complained, the front desk staff shrugged and said there was nothing that they could do. I suggested maybe putting out a sign to remind the kids to be quiet after 11 pm, they said maybe but nothing was done. Also when I ask for a late checkout they usually say no and it is an ordeal to get approved and they act as if it is a personal favor to get it approved, which is annoying. The last time they said they needed the rooms for conference VIPs. So in conclusion, the hotel amenities and rooms are nice but I would not say this is a restful hotel with good service. In fact I am a frequent traveller in Colombia and a lot of times would like to spend my weekends at the Intercontinental Medellin but the service is so bad and it is such an ordeal staying at this hotel that I will not return and do not recommend it for business travelers. In fact the service was so bad and they really do not care that I even considered my loyalty to IHG. So the good news is that they treat VIPs very well. The bad news is that you are never the VIP despite being a Spire Royal Ambassador and a...