I am a member of the Intercontinental Ambassador programme which offers as part of the pack a 2-for-1 voucher which can be used at Intercontinental brand hotels. I have always liked the Intercontinental Berlin, however, the 2-for-1 voucher changed its terms a year ago which reduced (read increased) the number of rates which it could be applied to. In particular they took out all of the Club Rooms. However, this change seems to be short lived and when I decided it was time to use the voucher (2 weeks before it expired), I was able to secure a Club Room on the voucher rate. This ended up being EUR220 for the 2 nights.

The IC is located near the Zoo in Berlin, and very close to the shopping area.

The hotel consists of two towers – indeed originally it was two seperate hotels, sharing a common check-in. However, those days are long gone and the two towers have been renovated. So whilst the taller (West) tower has smaller rooms than the shorter (East) tower, the rooms are pretty nice.

The Club Lounge is on the 8th floor of the East Tower, and is opens right on where the lifts appear on the floor. The hotel had allocated me on the 8th floor a very nice room. The Ambassador membership offers a one room upgrade, but I am not sure I received it. However, the room was pretty nice:

The Ambassador programme offers water and fruit in the room which is visible in the picture above.

A perk of being on the club floor is that the WiFi and Minibar are free! The latter is usually reserved for the higher level of the Ambassador programme (Royal Ambassador) but was a nice perk for the stay:

The charges never appeared on the bill so that worked well. There was no hard liquor in the mini-bar, but beers and plenty of soft drinks, and of course chocolate. They replenished each days use without question.

The bathroom was large, with a big tub, as well as a seperate WC and Shower Room. There was ample storage space for clothes.

The Club Lounge is large and formed of an L-shaped room overlooking the hotel entrance.

The Lounge offered an excellent spread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were hot offerings on each occasion – soups (octopus at one lunchtime), as well as breads, cheeses, salads and super little desserts.

For breakfast they offered a order-at-table menu for eggs, omlettes, pancakes etc. Very nice!

 

 

The hotel has a large, open Reception with helpful staff who understood about the voucher right away at check-in.

The Entrance is under the glass pyramid

Overall, a super stay.

Comparison with Grand Hyatt Berlin

I tend to find that the Hyatt is better value than the Intercontinental, but some of that is because of the perks that Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status provides – free upgrades, free WiFi and free breakfast. These are all extra at the Intercontinental at the level which you can join. Some of these perks come to the higher level Royal Ambassadors.

The location of the IC is better if you want to shop or to explore the Zoo, but the Hyatt is close to Potsdamer Plaza, and the various sites in that location.