My husband, my adult daughter and myself stayed at InterContinental Hong Kong on Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui for 5 nights from Dec 20 to Dec 25, 2015.

No words could actually describe the WOW factors of our stay. We were treated like royalties from the beginning to the end. Staff members from the front desk, concierge, housekeeping, bell service, business centre, reservations and hotel managers were just unbelievably professional. I am so excited to share my fantastic experience at the InterContinental Hong Kong here in my blog.

Pros:
1) Every morning, my family of 3 woke up to a stunning panoramic view of the beautiful Victoria Harbour (so rare & expensive in HK), sometimes sunny, sometimes foggy, sometimes overcast. There’s nothing we could do but to be thankful to God.

2) Being an InterContinental Ambassador, I accumulated a lot of points & were able to redeem my stay using 50,000 points per night. (I just got an email announcing that starting mid-February in 2016, this hotel needs 60,000 points for each standard room redemption!!) Then I paid HK600 per night to upgrade it to a harbourview deluxe room when I made the booking. When I got to the hotel, they gave me a complimentary upgrade to a harbourview junior suite (Room 716) with a sitting area, walk-in closet, separate toilet & a Jacuzzi. An extra single bed was added for my daughter sleeping in the sitting area beside the single sofa…a perfect spot in terms of privacy…we couldn’t see each other while in bed.

It would be quite unpleasant if I didn’t upgrade the city view room to harbour view as there were still 2 big construction sites on both east & west sides of the hotel. When we were swimming in the pool or enjoying ourselves in the whirlpool, it’s hard to totally relax with the noises and views around us.

3) The hotel offered a free mobile smartphone for us to use with data & WIFI, and it’s the best to bring with us while touring around Hong Kong with all the apps & free unlimited local calls.

4) The location of the hotel is super convenient as it’s close to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station, with lots of bus routes & Star Ferry nearby. Eateries were everywhere, less than HK$40 for a breakfast with coffee/tea, or highly recommended expensive restaurants on Michelin lists.

Cons:
1) Since we were there on Dec 24, Salisbury Road where the hotel is located was closed to all traffic. It’s only for pedestrians so we had to make a LONG detour to go from Nathan Road back to the hotel. A normal 5-minute walk became a 30-minute one with the crowds & the constant stops as we were not allowed to “CROSS” the road using the intersection. We chose to use the Tsim Sha Tsui East detour as we would like to see more light decorations but we could also use the “U-turn” outside the HK Cultural Centre, but not directly from the Peninsula Hotel as we normally crossed from. Underground exits from the Sheraton Hotel were also blocked so allow more time if you are there on Dec 24, Dec 31 or when Chinese New Year Fireworks are on.

2) There was no airport hotel free shuttle from the airport. A one-way taxi was HK$240. With 3 adults, 3 large suitcases, 3 carry-ons plus 3 backpacks, we could load everything in a taxi sedan with the trunk half-closed. This is the phone number to reserve a taxi van: 8191-1219 for more passengers. Taxi vans were not easy to get at the airport without prior reservations.

3) Not many rooms & suites could accommodate 3 adults. Extra beds need to be reserved in advance. That took up quite some space in the room if staying in a standard one. There was also an added cost for the 3rd adult.

Since both my husband & myself got our IHG Capital One MasterCards linked to our IHG rewards accounts, we were able to get a lot of signing up bonuses. We also put most of our daily expenses on the credit cards to enable us to get free points. Joining the IHG InterContinental Ambassador program also gave us free points and free nights, that’s why we got so many points to redeem for expensive stays at InterContinental hotels in Hong Kong, London (England), Wellington (New Zealand) and Sydney (Australia).

My family stayed in many luxurious hotels when we travel, the InterContinental Hong Kong was by far the best. At least it’s a much better choice than another 5-star hotel that we stayed at after our Asian cruise on the other side of the Victoria Harbour in January 2016. I would totally recommend the InterContinental Hong Kong to everyone.