InterContinental Istanbul — Hotel in Beyoğlu

-Area and Surroundings:|The hotel has an excellent location just 5 mins walk from famous “Taksim Square” and “Istikal street”. Inspite of being so near, it is cleanly isolated from the hustle and bustle and provides a clutter free access through a garden area to pathway towards Taksim square. There are lots of shops selling antiques, sweets, confectionary etc. A lane with open air restaurants as well. So the area is 5/5 for the stay. ||-Room:|Firstly we arrived at about 6:15 AM and the hotel was generous enough to allocate us a room for us to rest with my family. So we ported into a room at 8:00 AM and rested till the time our actual room became ready. This is really out of turn and never seen at any other hotel across my travel history.||We booked for a Suite Room with Sea View, but upon arrival we were upgraded to “Club Suite” on the highest floor. The room we were upgraded in was one of a kind and had splendid views of the Bosphorus sea. The room décor was par excellence. The choice of colours, the choice of furniture it was simply fantastic.||The layout was an open one with combined Living and bedroom giving a feel of an apartment in the hotel. I was spellbound after entering the room, It was one of the most extraordinary rooms I have stayed and seen in my entire travel journey. Each corner of the room was so tastefully decorated and attributed for luxury and comfort. I would say each part of the room was totally Instagram able.||The room opens up with a small gallery and then the big dining table which can easily accommodate 6-8 guests. The living room white leather sofa dawned perfectly with the dark wood color flooring and a dark maroon color fur carpet next to it. The king bed perfectly placed with an ottoman sitting overlooking the Stadium view and sea view. I am transported to the room once again and I really wish to go back and stay there again. No words could do justice to the feelings of being there. It was so special and comfortable, I bet one can never experience otherwise.||A huge working desk overlooking the living area, beautifully carved in wood with drawers and sliders made my work upto the mark while I was on this holiday with my family. I could work much comfortably while also being there with my family in the living area.||The room has a small kitchen area where there is all minibar, fridge and other confectionaries. This area has the water kettle and the coffee machine and a small sink as well. This area kept the clutter of food and beverage separate so that the room remains clean as we use it with kids.||The room has a small powder Toilette / WC which is an essence of any suite room. This can be often used when the main bathroom is busy or when the master bedroom area is not to be disturbed.||Much thanks to Duty manager for sending complimentary sweets, chocolates and fruits for us. The Housekeeping saw our pattern of consumption and stocked up extra items to make our stay extra comfortable.||-Bathroom and Bathing experience:|The bathroom was very spacious with a sperate shower enclosure and a bath tub as well. I love the concept of HIS and HER wash basins which gives a lot of flexibility and an added layer of comfort. | |-Hotel Staff:|Extremely polite, welcoming, interactive and warm. Each of them deserves star to be performing for the hotel wonderfully.||Wifi of the hotel is fast and works everywhere seamlessly.||-Breakfast:|The resort had a beautiful and scenic restaurant, and we got the best table for the day. The spread was huge and was well marked for contents and allergies. ||We had several requests during the breakfast for our kids, the hotel staff was super kind to fulfill them all. Even at evening lounge area, the spread was good and our requests were taken.||-Swimming Pool / Gym / Spa:|The hotel has beautiful pool with few of day beds. The pool just opened the day we checked in.||-Special mention:|The hotel lobby is very beautiful and has an amazing chandelier which has a bird type lighting. The lights brighten up mimicking the birds flying around.||The concierge desk is well learned and efficient to help out in booking evening cruises or other day activities. Thanks to Mr. Ugur Kaptan for helping us out in booking the best table for the evening cruise. ||Also thanks to Mr. Volkan Atay for his patience and also much much thanks to the Duty manager (Ms. ) who took matter in her own hands to get us a room ready and upgrade us to this...

This is my first stay at InterContinental Istanbul, even though I've been loyal to the IHG program since 2013 and spend dozens of nights in hotels every year. I hold Platinum status and am an InterContinental Ambassador, while also staying with other chains (Hilton - Gold, Wyndham - Diamond, Radisson - VIP), so I do have a point of comparison.||The first issues came up before arrival. I booked a room with one bed, but a few days prior the app suddenly showed it had been changed to a room with two separate beds. Changes like that shouldn't be made without the guest's consent. After I wrote to the hotel, they corrected it and granted a one-category upgrade due to my Ambassador status.||Even though it was a fully flexible booking with free cancellation until 4:00 p.m. on the day of arrival, the hotel sent me a message insisting that I pay in advance via a link. That simply isn't in line with the standards of a five-star property of this class and brand. I paid just to avoid hassle.||Upon arrival, the lobby made a good impression and the staff were polite and helpful. Unfortunately, the minibar was locked with a padlock. It was explained that I hadn't requested access or card pre-authorization, but that kind of solution looks really unprofessional and honestly absurd. As an IHG Ambassador, I have a USD 20 credit to use during the stay, so how am I supposed to spend it if the minibar is locked? In theory I should have also received a welcome gift, but the hotel forgot about it.||I was given room 1010. In the app I selected a higher floor and a room away from the elevator, and I also asked for that again by email. I received the complete opposite - a room on the lowest club floor right next to the elevator. I stayed anyway, as it's just a weekend stay and I'm leaving early Sunday morning. The nighttime Bosphorus view is definitely the room’s biggest strength.||The room itself is relatively clean and comfortable enough. The bed is comfortable too, although the pillows and duvet rustle as if they were wrapped in plastic, which definitely hurts comfort. I requested extra pillows, including hypoallergenic ones, in the app, but nobody took care of it. We ended up with two standard pillows per person.||Sound insulation is very poor. At night you hear street noise and, above all, ambulance sirens heading to a nearby hospital. In a hotel of this class, that shouldn't be the case.||The biggest issue? Room standards. It's clear they haven't had a thorough renovation in a long time. There are no bedside power outlets, the USB ports are outdated USB-B, the bathroom fixtures are worn, and the bathtub plug leaks water faster than the tub can fill. This feels more like a three-star hotel from a decade ago than a luxury InterContinental. The cosmetics are the same as in every InterContinental - Bal D'Afrique by Byredo. They smell amazing!||I informed the staff about everything, asking them to fix at least what could be fixed. Unfortunately, the hotel staff completely ignored me. Fixing a bathtub plug is a simple thing. I really don't understand why nobody made any effort to improve my experience. Especially since the hotel had almost 24 hours to do so, and I was out of the room the whole day.||As for the USD 20 credit, I ordered a small snack before departure. And although I had a wake-up call set for 3:40 a.m., around 11:00 p.m. an employee called me, having just discovered that I didn't have a spending account open. When I mentioned the Ambassador credit, he replied "Oh, really?!" and promised to clarify it. Luckily he didn't call again, and at checkout no extra payment was requested.||The SPA is at a high level. Both the relaxation area and the outdoor pool are very pleasant. It's a pity the bathrobes aren't available in the room, so you have to use the locker rooms. Also, the sauna areas are separated for men and women. At a property of this class, in a modern European metropolis, a more contemporary approach would be expected.||The stay isn't terrible. But InterContinental is a premium brand, and there are specific expectations. Many things here need refinement, especially in terms of room standards and reservation service. The location, view, and SPA are definite advantages, but the details and lack of modernization significantly diminish the...

We have been traveling around Turkey with family by car, and our last but not least stop was planned to be Istanbul Intercontinental in Taksim square. This was our first visit to this hotel, but definitely not the first in Istanbul.

The lobby and spa/swimming pool area beautiful and very well maintained, rooms are also nice, even though a little not my most preferred type of interior with a bit old furniture (we have been upgraded from junior suite to executive sea view suit, with amazing view over the Bosphorus), but the comfort overall in the room was very pleasant and room itself was very clean and no bad smells of smoke or anything.

The very disappointing part indeed was check in process, where we have been hosted by a reception lady, who messed up our reservation and without speaking this out to us - had allocated a different reservation type to us: i was specifically selecting and paying for the reservation with breakfast, while she did it without breakfast, and if we wanted bfast - it would have been paid separately on top. I only found this out next morning at the breakfast and had to spend my time to go downstairs and settle it again in the reception, which was very much disturbing in the early morning.

At the same time, during the check in process, this lady was so quickly to demand a deposit from us in quite a significant amount per night, explaining that this was a mini bar deposit (which i doubt can potentially be stuffed for the value daily value requested) - and when i tried to explain, that i hold a Platinum membership for long years with IHG hotels and i was never asked to pay a deposit ina nay of Intercontinental hotels in different countries before, she asked the IHG guest relation manager to speak for her. This gentlemen was extremely rude, not allowing me to speak even, and interrupting my attempts to explain my view or my preferred way of settling this deposit issue - by immediately picking up the phone and asking the bellboy to lock the minibar in our room - this was his decision in return for my explanation that i was never asked to pay deposit before and this solution was not agreed to from my side! After check in, by the way, when we entered, the full buffet cupboard with a fridge and kettle and everything inside - was locked by a huge hanging locker, as if they were protecting something from suspected thieves.

If i would be alone, i would immediately leave the hotel after such disrespect shown to me and my family at the check in desk, however we were traveling to Istanbul to see off our son traveling to the U.S. in 3 days time for University study, and I really made a big personal effort to keep it all to me not ruining the overall trip and my boys’ impression!

After this bad experience and next morning, after realizing that the IHG guest relations gentlemen (i think his name was Can or similar) was very rushing the previous night to lock our minibar without due care and respectful communication, however was not attentive and careful enough to check if the details of our reservation were entered into the system correctly so that i would not have problems with breakfast - i again met him and told about this problem with breakfast. He checked in the system (after all had already been corrected by me with another receptionist) and started arguing that my reservation was with breakfasts included and that i am wrong, and again started to communicate with his sarcastic unfriendly tone. I then said that at least they could have provided a kettle for us to be able to make tea in the evenings, which he did not respond anything and I left. The kettle was provided later that evening.

As i understood this gentleman who i regretfully had to face through the stay - was a senior guest relations manager - i really was confused who i could pass my concerns to, and not finding anyone - had to just continue to be patient. Upon check out - I mentioned this situation to a lady at Reception who proposed the bonus points as appreciation and passed her apologies.

Nevertheless, I wanted the chief management of the hotel to be aware of their member of staff who will now be the only factor for me or anyone of my family/friends refraining to ever visit Intercontinental...