The Azure Ningbo, Vignette Collection By Ihg

“高貴不貴的一貫優質服務 Affordable Luxury with Consistent and Excellent Services”

我與家人上週在寧波洲際酒店有非常棒的住宿體驗，唯一的遺憾是我們的時間只能住一晚，真希望能多住幾天！ Alisa迅速回覆入住前的電郵，讓我們有很棒的第一印象。前檯的Emma和Yuta每次見到我們進出酒店時，發自內心地微笑讓我們備感溫暖，並在入住期間悉心照顧我們。行政酒廊的Seven是我見過最細心的酒廊服務員之一。她一個人確保了桌上的餐盤隨時被清理、餐食及時補充、菜牌擺放正確外，同時兼顧每位賓客的需求。另一位服務人員Alice也相當親切。 行政酒廊的下午茶與歡樂時光都很出色，餐點選擇豐富。不過，酒廊不供應早餐，早餐僅在Elements全日餐廳提供。早餐的選擇同樣不錯，但部分菜品要8am才供應… more

我與家人上週在寧波洲際酒店有非常棒的住宿體驗，唯一的遺憾是我們的時間只能住一晚，真希望能多住幾天！ Alisa迅速回覆入住前的電郵，讓我們有很棒的第一印象。前檯的Emma和Yuta每次見到我們進出酒店時，發自內心地微笑讓我們備感溫暖，並在入住期間悉心照顧我們。行政酒廊的Seven是我見過最細心的酒廊服務員之一。她一個人確保了桌上的餐盤隨時被清理、餐食及時補充、菜牌擺放正確外，同時兼顧每位賓客的需求。另一位服務人員Alice也相當親切。 行政酒廊的下午茶與歡樂時光都很出色，餐點選擇豐富。不過，酒廊不供應早餐，早餐僅在Elements全日餐廳提供。早餐的選擇同樣不錯，但部分菜品要8am才供應。一些服務人員顯得生疏，其中一位甚至無法告訴我洗手間的位置。此外，雖然餐廳有大使會員專屬用餐區，但我們並未被引導到該區域。早餐仍有改進空間。另方面，陸園中餐廳不僅餐點出色、價格實惠，服務也極為週到，讓我們食指大動之餘，也享用了一頓難忘的午餐。 禮賓部的Nick非常專業，多次為我們提供幫助。同樣在禮賓部的Gun也很健談。退房時有小插曲，部分職員對IHG餐飲兌換券的使用方式不太熟悉，但瑕不掩瑜。整體而言，這次的住宿體驗非常出色。特別值得一提的是，這家酒店各部門都提供卓越的服務，有一致性，令人印象深刻。 The stay my relatives and I had last week at the InterContinental Ningbo was fantastic, so much so that the most disappointing part was that our schedule only allowed us to stay for 1 night! We wished we could have stayed longer. Alisa responded to my pre-stay emails promptly and set a great tone for our stay. Emma and Yuta at the front desk always greeted us with smiles from the bottom of their heart whenever we entered or left the hotel and looked after us throughout our stay. At Club InterContinental, Seven was one of the most attentive Club attendants I have met. She single-handedly ensured that plates were regularly cleared from tables, food was replenished timely, and menu cards were correctly placed, all while making sure the guests' needs were met. Another attendant, Alice, was also very kind. Afternoon tea and happy hour at the Club InterContinental were awesome. There was a great variety of dishes. The Club is not open for breakfast, which is only served at the Elements All Day Dining. While the breakfast offering there was good, certain dishes were not available until 8am. Some waiters and waitresses seemed clueless, including one who could not even tell me where the restroom is. We were also not led to the designated area for Ambassador members, even though there is one. This is where I think the hotel still has room for improvement. On the other hand, the Lu Yuan Chinese Restaurant not only had excellent food at an attractive price but also provided exceptionally attentive service. We had a great and memorable lunch there. Nick at the concierge was very professional and helped us on several occasions. We also had some great conversations with Gun, also at the concierge. While there were some hiccups during check-out because some hotel staff members were not exactly familiar with the IHG food and beverage coupons, we had a fabulous stay overall. We were especially impressed by the consistently great service at this hotel.

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“An Aging Ningbo Hotel With New Renovations!”

Ningbo, Zhejiang Province… a city that balances the surroundings of mountains and the East China Sea all around its metropolitan area. Some make the long journey here for the seafood shipped in from the Seas of Zhoushan. Others come this way to understand and develop an interest in the bustling eco… more

Ningbo, Zhejiang Province… a city that balances the surroundings of mountains and the East China Sea all around its metropolitan area. Some make the long journey here for the seafood shipped in from the Seas of Zhoushan. Others come this way to understand and develop an interest in the bustling economy of a new trade port city. Most enjoy the surroundings of this dynamic city from the all-natural Dongqian Lake to the ancient shopping strip of Nantang Old Street. There are many luxury hotels travelers choose to stay at, but the Ningbo InterContinental Hotel is one of Ningbo’s most prestigious hotels that deserves recognition. The Ningbo InterContinental Hotel is located in the Yinzhou District, one of the newer developed areas of Ningbo with a high-tech industrial zone. Unlike the 28 other InterContinental Hotels I visited, this InterContinental Hotel is located in a residential neighborhood rather than central urban areas, sightseeing destinations, resort districts, etc… This is the 5th time I visited the 2013-opened InterContinental from September 7th to 8th - my previous visit was 1 year and a half ago. During that period, the hotel underwent modernization renovations, including new executive rooms and suites, a new children’s playground, meeting rooms, dining suites, and the new Club InterContinental Lounge. The hotel also has new members of management and new unfamiliar faces that have joined the team. With that said, here is my 3rd review of the InterContinental Ningbo Hotel: I booked a one-night stay at the hotel using 15,000 IHG One Points - a complete bargain for rewards nights at the InterContinental Brand. Typically, an InterContinental would charge around 30,000 Points per night in more well-known areas of China such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, etc… At the time I booked the only available redemption room category: 2 Twin Bed Garden View Room. I was the only guest at the time of my visit, so my preference was a 1 King Bed. The hotel on its non-peak season charges a room rate of ¥1000 or even as low as ¥850, which isn’t that expensive when you think of other InterContinental hotels that charge multi-thousands of RMB. Getting a room during the weekend can be proven to be a challenge, as the hotel sells out for the tourist peak weekends and holidays. On the morning of my arrival, the hotel’s Duty Manager Angie Wan called me to confirm my bed preference and arrival time. I arrived at the hotel at 10 AM and was greeted at the front desk by the front desk agents. I was also told that I would get a higher leveled river view room for my Diamond Ambassador Membership Room Upgrade. Within 5 minutes and 47 seconds, I got my passport checked, my room card made, and Ambassador benefits introduced. I was even surprised with an upgrade to the hotel’s 1 Bedroom Suite instead of the Room. However, my passport had to be scanned again due to complications with my visa. Therefore it was collected and returned by the concierge, but was compensated in goodwill with a bottle of white wine. The 1 Bedroom Suite given to (1518) is the suite that I had last time. This was not the suite that was renovated recently, as it still holds the old 2013 design. I was told that only 2 out of the 25 levels have been renovated. The 1 Bedroom Suite can go as big as 96 SQM or 107 SQM, depending on where in the building is the suite located. The suite has many features that will be of comfort, satisfaction, and value to those looking for a great suite. Once you walk into the front door, you have the powder room on one side, and to the other is a small closet. In front of you is the office desk space, and living room. The living room has an extensive couch, table, TV, and speaker. At the end is the balcony with two outdoor chairs and a table with its own combined lake and city view. Unfortunately, it was not accessible at the time. Next door is the bedroom containing a King Bed, lamps, a day bed, an extra bed space, and another TV. Towards the hallway is the master bathroom with dual sinks, a bathtub, a master closet, a toilet, and a shower. The 2013-installed suite has proven to be a hectic environment given the age of the suite and the difficulty there is to maintain the hygiene of the suite. Already I found the carpet to be inconsistently clean, the desk seat is already falling apart, and the amount of flies seen in the suite certainly is unpleasant. I had a fly pop out from the towels and escape to the unreachable ceiling. That is not a great rare sighting to witness. Realizing that the suite was not prepared up to standard, Angie who assigned me this suite pulled me out and got me to the newer yet renovated Executive Suite (1 King Bedroom Suite City View Club Lounge Access). The Executive Suite (2509) was refurbished in 2022. The 96 SQM space is refurbished in black and white-hued marble and wooden interior wall decorations. With the grey abstract carpet on the floor, the Executive Suite holds a similar bedroom, living room, powder room, and bathroom concept to its older suite generation. Except this suite faces the northern direction, typically having no balcony unlike my previous suite based on the building configuration. In addition, the furniture and suite arrangement has been modernized. The workspace now has a black wooden table with wireless phone charging, an innovative lamp, and leather seats. The living room has a marble table, with a white fabric couch and leather seat. The flatscreen TV holds many International and Domestic channels. The abstract artwork above the couch mimics this interior design’s atmospheric feeling: simple yet abstract. In the separate bedroom are the king-sized bed, JBL speaker, bedside tables, rotatable reading lights, a simplistic modernized lighting and curtain control panel, and a day bed. The bathroom has a modernized double vanity sink, marble bathtub, shower, and brand new electrical toilet. Toiletries are provided as always, with the standard edition of the Byredo Blanche Soap brand for the shower and sink. The closet has space for luggage and clothes. Overall, I was impressed with the suite and thought it was better than other latest designed suites in the InterContinental Brand. Angie made sure the room was clean and thankfully it was. Henry Song the Front Office Manager whom I met earlier during my 3rd stay assured me later on that everything should be fine from there. Henry offered me a complimentary visit to the All Day Dining Restaurant Dinner Buffet (even though I offered to pay at first, which was very nice of the hotel). I wanted at the time to give the buffet a review. The hotel has 4 main restaurants, a private dining/kitchen space, and a lobby bar. Here are the dining spaces introduced below: 1. Elements: The hotel’s All-Day Dining Restaurant is located on the 1st floor. It is a restaurant serving the hotel’s breakfast and dinner buffet. Elements’ interior design resembles a calm space with vibrant chandelier lighting, abstract wooden pavilions, a high 3-level ceiling surrounded by 2 waterfalls, marble countertops, and an open kitchen and bar. In addition, family seating, a small kids’ play area, and an outdoor garden are available for families. 2. Lu Yuan: The hotel’s Chinese Restaurant, serving local Ningbo, Sichuan, and Cantonese cuisine. Located on the 3rd floor, it is a main dining room for guests and diners, with an atmosphere of round tables, wooden walls, and a 2013-designed interior. 3. Top: The exclusive restaurant extension of Lu Yuan is also on the 3rd floor. Top features the traditional private dining suites with each of their own private living room and powder room. The menu featured more exquisite yet more formal Chinese cuisine dishes ranging from fresh seafood from Zhoushan to Chinese dishes. Uniquely, each room has its design such as the cloud-themed room I was in years ago for lunch. 4. EMW: The hotel’s Sichuan Hot Pot restaurant next to Lu Yuan with its own Sichuan restaurant theme scattered around the interior design. Guests can experience the ingredients for the hot pot including curated seafood, meat, vegetables, and staple dishes. 5. TOP ONE: A private dining room extension of TOP on the 25th floor. However, this is an exclusive dining room featuring its kitchen and part of the 2022 renovations with identical abstract designs. 6. Lobby Bar: The hotel’s main lobby bar is located next to the 2nd floor main entrance featuring a space to relax and collect drinks including IHG One membership drinks. Henry and Angie gave me a one-time complimentary meal at the hotel’s signatory Seafood BBQ Dinner Buffet at Elements. InterContinental is known for upscaling prices on meals, but to my surprise, the buffet cost ¥188 ($26). This is the lowest dinner buffet price offered by InterContinental. Typically a buffet at any InterContinental property of the same quality as this would cost at least ¥300 ($40). Supervising much of my time at Elements was Restaurant Manager Alex Wu, Jet Wan, and the hotel’s Food & Beverage Director Gino Liu. I started with the exclusively provided IHG One member freshly squeezed watermelon juice and cheesecake. I then had some salad, BBQ corn, BBQ lamb kebabs, BBQ steak, assorted sushi, salmon sashimi, freshly steamed Zhoushan razor clams, and steamed live crayfish. Gino then came around and spoke with me whilst introducing me to other specialized dishes such as the DIY cold noodles, Ningbo Yam & Pork Ribs, Buddha Jumping Over Seafood Soup, Ningbo Seafood Rice Cake Soup, and Seared Fois Gras. I had a great time talking to Gino about the hotel industry. This is followed by Alex introducing me to the most famous durian cake and New Zealand Ice Cream. All the dishes I had were spot-on, and I think this although isn’t the most luxurious InterContinental dinner buffet in the world, but certainly it’s the most reasonably priced I have ever seen. Overall, a solid experience with the dinner and I’d like to thank the hotel for granting me this experience. The Club InterContinental Lounge on the 25th floor is the ultimate upgrade and makeover from the previous Executive Lounge once located in the hotel’s business center. Now, the 2022 renovated lounge features comfortable leather and marble seating, a new business workstation, modernized sofa seating, a buffet area, and a view of Ningbo City. Opened from 12 PM to 10 PM, the lounge serves guests afternoon tea and happy hour. Duty Manager Angie told me that both the afternoon tea and happy hour are quite generous in selections. To be honest that is true when you think of the quantity, but the quality of selections can be questionable. For example, Afternoon Tea oddly away from InterContinental standards has a salad station, cold canapés, and breakfast pastries. Whatever is served in the Afternoon Tea is provided during Happy Hour in addition to the hot dishes made available. Either way, I enjoyed both services and my hotel industry conversations with the Club Lounge Supervisor Royan Xiang and her brigade of trainees. Breakfast took place at Elements, where the hotel provides another impressive buffet experience. Elements provide the usual range of Chinese, Western, and Continental Selections; but the restaurant also serves unique Ningbo breakfast dishes. This includes baked-to-order scallion and pork pancakes, Ningbo Tangyuan, and Ningbo Rice Cake Soup. From the buffet, I had the scallion and pork pancake, an assortment of Western classics, scrambled eggs, and rice noodles. In addition, Gino arranged some Eggs Benedict, a meat floss-covered bread, and a membership fruit platter. Some things I think could improve are more selections of fresh juice available at the buffet counter and having Eggs Benedict on the Eggs station menu. Aside from that, I think it was a well-curated buffet breakfast. The amount of recreational options available at the hotel is surprisingly generous given the hotel for one isn’t a resort and for two isn’t completely a hotel catered to leisure travelers. Newly built in the hotel’s courtyard garden is the new outdoor children’s playground. It features a whale-shaped play area with slides and climbing walls, but most impressively a children’s go-cart track that surrounds the playground. Indoors is also a play area for younger children, but if you’re feeling like a child as an adult, there’s a video game room near the fitness center. There’s also a table tennis table for those looking to get some competition in. The fitness center has the usual workout machinery and weights, but one of the more grand features of the fitness center is the swimming pool. The fitness swimming pool is larger than any average InterContinental Hotel pool and even has a second pool for children. Should the hotel receive more patrons on a good day, each locker room has a large public sauna bath pool. Even during summers, the hotel holds a summer camp for elementary school children, which I’m pretty sure was a great experience for them. Overall, I had a very solid experience at the InterContinental Ningbo Hotel on my 5th stay. There were some misguided steps seen in the hotel from my unclean suite to the check-in procedure skipping on some steps. However, the eagerness to correct and make up for those misguided experiences certainly proves to me that this is a hotel that looks for improvements. I think if the hotel continues to modernize its rooms and suites with floors yet to be renovated, I think based on service quality this could be Ningbo’s best luxury hotel. The hotel based on my experience is better than the 3 other InterContinental properties in Zhejiang Province. With that said, here are my personalized rankings: Club InterContinental Ranking: #7 out of 19 Club Lounges I have visited InterContinental Chinese Buffet Ranking: #8 out of 19 Buffet Restaurants in Mainland China Overall InterContinental Hotel Ranking: #6 out of 29 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts

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“PHENOMENAL NINGBO HOTEL EXPERIENCE”

We came back for the third time to the Ningbo InterContinental Hotel. In the midst of the uncertain coronavirus in the Zhejiang Province, especially with the lockdowns, we at the last minute decided to come back to Ningbo after all December risk areas in Zhejiang were no longer present. We booked t… more

We came back for the third time to the Ningbo InterContinental Hotel. In the midst of the uncertain coronavirus in the Zhejiang Province, especially with the lockdowns, we at the last minute decided to come back to Ningbo after all December risk areas in Zhejiang were no longer present. We booked the hotel the morning of New Year’s Eve from January 1st to the 3rd. I have written a great review about the first and second stay that myself and my family had. For the third time within a year, we have observed some improvements from the first and second stay. The afternoon after I booked the hotel, Joey Zhang of the Front Desk (who has called me previously after our second stay, and checked my family in and out on the first) called me to confirm my reservation, my preferences, arrival time and the requirements for an extra bed. In good faith of our acquaintanceship, and our own perceived reputation as frequent yet loyal guests, Zhang generously without me asking waived the extra bed fee. Upon arrival at the InterContinental, we were welcomed in by the concierge team member Betty He. One of the other concierge members helped drag our luggage to the front desk, and then Betty took over to bring it to our suite. The Club InterContinental Staff Member turned temporarily-assigned Front Desk Member Cathy Liu immediately recognized and welcomed us back of the hotel. Assisting her at the Front Desk was Veegee Li and Manager Charley Zhang. Myself, my mother and father booked the One Bedroom Executive Suite with a River View. Unfortunately the Club Lounge was closed due to the events of the virus and construction. None of the original lounge benefits were available. Therefore, Cathy Liu gave us three dinner tickets to the Elements All Day Dining Restaurant for buffet dinner. Charley Zhang had to help confirm what to do with a spare buffet dinner ticket, (in which there were 4 for 3 of us) we were given ¥240 in food vouchers instead of the ¥120 for Spire Elite Ambassador Members. The entire check in process took about 11 minutes. All 3 front desk staff members were great, professional and heart warming. Betty He helped escort us to the suite, which was Suite 1218. In addition to her excellent initial welcome service, Betty also brought up mugs of warm milk and ginger tea for the cookies and fruit already provided to us upon arrival. She was also at the lobby at times where we walked in and out. The One Bedroom Executive Suite is a suite with its own variety of sizes at the same standard. It can go as big as 96SQM or 107SQM, depending on where in the building is the suite located at. The suite has many features that will be of comfort, satisfaction and value to those looking for a great suite. Once you walk into the front door, you have the powder room on one side, to the other is a small closet. In front of you is the office desk space, and living room. The living room has its own extensive couch, table, TV and speaker. At the end is the balcony with two outdoor chairs and a table with its own combined lake & city view. Unfortunately, it was not accessible at the time. Next door is the bedroom containing a King Bed, lamps, day bed, extra bed, and another TV. Towards the hallway is the master bathroom with dual-sinks, bathtub, master closet, toilet and shower. We had to ask for a missing pillow for my extra bed, so we called instant service to have someone bring one up. The room attendant Rudy promptly did that. Our two breakfast services at the Elements Restaurant was done in a rather empty hotel, as we realized the restaurant was rather empty for a holiday prime time breakfast at 8AM. That’s something we weren’t concerned about, as we have the place almost to ourselves. We had many great things for breakfast. Omelettes, small wontons, fruit, and other great dishes were served on stand. The variety was generous. We would like to recognize the massive improvements of the Chang Fen. Previously the two Chang fens we had since May 1st 2021 needed improvements, we recognized how well done it has become. All serving chefs of Elements did a great job. That is in addition many of the great, attentive and friendly Elements breakfast serving staff members. Those staff members include Lucy Bi, Annie Chen, Ryan Liao and Allen Bao. Great staff, great atmosphere, and great breakfast service. We rank the InterContinental hotel breakfast a solid #8 out of 13, it’s still a perfect experience. Elements was also the restaurant that held our dinner buffet to replace the executive benefits from the club lounge temporary closure. We were delighted by the options for the dinner buffet. Premium options that value this buffet well included the lamb kebabs, Peking duck wraps, fois gras, variety of seafood, Buddha jump over the wall soup, steamed Yangcheng Lake Mitten Crabs, steak, salmon, mini-hotpot with hotpot items including local seafood, ice cream, and a vast variety of desserts including durian cake, mouses and cheese cake. We enjoyed the dinner buffet. In addition to staff members presents at the breakfast buffet, Alex Wu, Gali Chen and Manager William Hu personalized our meal at Elements. William and Alex helped introduced us to the dishes provided, including a special dessert and the Buddha jumping over the wall soup. We appreciate how we were well served by those three. The value of the buffet if you came as a non-hotel guest would still be significantly worth it, as ¥188 is a great price for the buffet. For our case, getting the executive package in compensated replacement for the buffet was certainly worth it. Furthermore, we’d like to thank Cathy Liu and the Front Desk for giving us the reservation. After such a great experience at the Lu Yuan restaurant, we decided to use the 240RMB credit there. I had the contact of Lu Yuan Manager Charlotte Liu, and asked her to make us a reservation and craft a chef’s menu for us. Charlotte Liu facilitated our restaurant compensation experience on the second stay. She immediately gave us a reservation at the Top Private Room Restaurant extension, in the same dining room suite we were in last time. The cloudy decorated room has a bathroom, living room and dining room. Helping us cook our lunch on our last day was executive chef hailing from a local area in Ningbo, Chef Ming. Chef Ming crafted us the following dishes: Starter Fruit Plate, Preserved Jellyfish, Cucumber Spring Roll, Yellow Croaker Fried Tofu Wrap Pieces, Half a Roasted Chicken, White Crab above minced beef, seasonal vegetables, a Ningbo specialty rice, and a mooncake with a sago dessert. Chef Ming perfected all the dishes, though there was a piece of rubber band accidentally left in the crab dish, which wasn’t a big deal. The lunch service was serviced by Charlotte Liu and the very lovely Lucy Li. The very young yet extremely professional Lucy Li was in charge of serving us the food, and rotating the lazy table. She did a wonderful yet impressive job. Charlotte kept us entertained with a nice conversation and she was great at introducing dishes. I should note that Charlotte is a great manager for her assigned restaurant. She took her own time off to foresee our lunch. A lot of credit shall go to her for her great work as a manger for her improved restaurant. If anyone paid attention to my previous review, our first experience at Lu Yuan was a cause of concern, our second compensation meal was not as great as this lunch service, there were noticeable improvements seen in this meal service. I personally would come back to Ningbo just for this experience. One of the main reasons we come back is the for the swimming pool. It was always warm and cool to swim in. As usual, we like the changing room facilities, large pools and great gym area. Both staff members present were professional. Upon our 4PM Ambassador Check-Out, we were greeted and apologized to by Givenchy Wan and Assistant Front Desk Manager Alice Zhu. The apology was for the rubber band piece found in the crab. In compensation, we were given a bottle of wine and two pens for the very small trouble. Givenchy helped us check out in a professional manner. Alice Zhu helped get us call a taxi to the train station. We were helped by concierge staff members Scott Ding and Justin Liu. Everyone at check out helped us exit the hotel smoothly, and did very well. It was certainly sad to leave the hotel behind, but I’m sure we’ll be back within the next year. Overall, our stay was the best one yet in the last year of our multiple trips here. The value of our stay was well worth the money, travel and time in this hotel. What is very distinctive about this hotel compared to the 18 other InterContinental hotels I have been to, is that this hotel has great spirit. The feeling of being a luxury yet family friendly hotel creates that warm hospitality vibe with a bit of casualness go it. This hotel achieved a balance between formal and casual service, whilst maintaining the luxurious brand’s reputation well. One could argue that this hotel is the best hotel anyone can go to in Ningbo. It certainly stood out as the best out of the other InterContinentals in Zhejiang. Without a doubt the next time we come to Ningbo, we will be here to stay. We came for the great hotel suite, and stayed for the amazing service and hospitality. I don’t think any other hotel in Ningbo can change my mind in terms of this hotel being the best hotel in this great city. Therefore I ranked this hotel #4 out of 19 InterContinentals globally. I hope my best stay here is yet to come. We would like to thank again to all the following great staff members who have facilitated our stay. There’s no way to thank them and send our gratitude enough. Therefore we’d like to thank again everyone on this list: Front Office: Joey Zhang Front Desk: Cathy Liu Veegee Li Charley Zhang Givenchy Wan Alice Zhu Concierge: Betty He Scott Ding Justin Liu Elements: Lucy Bi Annie Chen Ryan Liao Allen Bao Gali Chen William Hu Alex Wu Top (Lu Yuan): Charlotte Liu Chef Ming Lucy Li

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“The Pride of Ningbo! The True #1 Ranked Hotel in Ningbo! TWICE!”

This is review has been deleted and re-uploaded with an update based on my second stay. I have visited 13 InterContinental Hotels around the world. I expect the best out of this prestigious brand, and I expect an all 5 star luxurious experience with InterContinental. As the Platinum InterContin… more

This is review has been deleted and re-uploaded with an update based on my second stay. I have visited 13 InterContinental Hotels around the world. I expect the best out of this prestigious brand, and I expect an all 5 star luxurious experience with InterContinental. As the Platinum InterContinental Ambassador Member, I have brought my 3 family members to the Ningbo InterContinental Hotel. We stayed from the Chinese Labor Day (May 1st, 2021), to May 2nd, 2021. I booked a Two-Bedroom Family Suite (Suite 1515). 5 days prior to my trip to InterContinental, I was given a call by the Guest Service Manager Ms. Laura Luo. She called to facilitate any preferences to my stay, and to my surprise, she lowered the price from 1,970 RMB ($304) to 1,870 RMB ($288) as part of facilitating my Ambassador Upgrade. She also helped bring my family 4 Breakfasts and 4 Club Lounge Accesses. (The Club Lounge did not come with the room) Ms. Luo also made me aware that the Official Club Lounge is under construction, and the Business Center was used to be built as a temporary club lounge. We arrived by car and was escorted by a young man at the entrance to the front desk. From there, we were checked-in by Mr. Joey Zhang. Mr. Zhang was professional and proficient in English. He gave me a Welcome Letter, and gave me the extra two breakfasts and two extra membership drinks. He also confirmed about our access to the temporary Club Lounge. The total amount of time it took for us to check-in was 10 minutes and 45 seconds. A quick, yet productive Check-In. We were assigned Suite 1515. The Suite consists of two Executive Rooms. One containing a Queen Bed, the other containing Twin Beds. Each have their own bathroom. The bathrooms have a very comfortable duo-distribution shower, bathtub, sink and a wide array of amenities. I should note that this hotel breaks ranks from using the normal Agraria bath products. Instead, they use Salvatore Ferragamo bath products. A great change from the Agraria Brand as it is common to see this brand over Ferragamo. The beds are rather comfortable, with comfy pillows and blankets. There are functional TVs and ergonomic friendly desks. The view although isn't great due to the location, it is covered by the beautiful courtyard that you can see down below. You can do from room to room in this suite with the connecting doors. The Club Lounge is small but still manageable with the fully-occupied hotel. We had a nice afternoon tea service with various cakes, fruits and snacks. We joined again for Happy Hour which provides alcohol and dinner like buffet food. Although the lounge looks outdated and small, there will be a bigger lounge that replaces this temporary location very soon. I look forward to seeing that lounge on my next visit. We would like to thank Ms. Cathy Liu and her associate for her professional and friendly service at the lounge. We went to the Elements Restaurant for a Buffet Breakfast Meal. The design of the restaurant was beautiful, with unique inspiring designs that fit very well with the rest of the hotel modern design. Breakfast service was busy, and many of the seats were occupied. Thankfully we got a table. There were a wide-range of options that were available to our own tastes. I liked the Scramble Eggs. I also liked the Chinese Options which were delicious. We also would like to compliment the bold use of serving 肠粉 from scratch, which are steamed rice rolls. As culinary experts for He, we recommend making the 肠粉 less wet and more tender. However, we are quite thankful for your attempt to perfect a challenging dish. Out of 11 Breakfast Buffet in all 11 Chinese InterContinental Hotels, we rank this hotel at #6. There are better InterContinental Breakfasts I had, but there isn't reason to believe that there should be major improvements in this Breakfast Service. We tried the swimming pool. It was large, and there many different facilities that were to my high expectations. We appreciate the changing stall, as it is very rare to see private changing rooms in a hotel pool changing facility. There were many facilities that I rarely found the other fitness centers at this brand. There were a PlayStation Room, a Children's Club, a Table Tennis Set, and a great gym. Check Out was also performed by Mr. Joey Zhang. He was kind and knowledgeable throughout the check out process. He even addressed our concerns with the minor lounge size issue. Rest assured I was still satisfied throughout my stay. Mr. Zhang gifted us with two pens and two body lotion from the Ferragamo. I highly appreciate his services in my short stay. Overall, this is certainly one of the better Chinese InterContinentals I have been to. I have designed a ranking for the best InterContinental Hotels I have been to. This hotel ranks at #5 out of 14. Nationally, it ranks #3 out of 11 Mainland China Hotels. It closely ranks among the top 2 prestigious InterContinentals I have been. Those are InterContinental Shanghai Hongqiao National Conference and Exhibition Center and the new Chongqing InterContinental Hotel. It is rare for me to give 5 stars to a TripAdvisor review at an InterContinental, this is one that I look forward to returning to. We appreciate the hospitality and service given to us, I look forward to my return next year or even this Winter. UPDATE: I came back to the InterContinental Hotel in Ningbo with my family recently from June 12th the to 13th. We once again booked the Double Bedroom Suite. This is the second time I’m reviewing this hotel, the first was an extremely long great review that you can find on TripAdvisor. We came in the May 1st Holiday, and enjoyed the single night we had there. The purpose of the stay was to give Shangri-La Hotel Ningbo a second chance, we were given a free night there. Of course one night is not enough in Ningbo, so we wanted to return to the hotel for our stay. I received two phone calls from the hotel. The first one was from the reservations, informing me that my the suite does not have a living room like the Superior Suite. We were well aware of that. She asked if there was anything I need pre-stay. I told her I wanted to make a reservation at the Chinese Restaurant Lu Yuan. She transferred me to the restaurant where the reservation was made smoothly. The second call was a day later from Laura Luo, who called me again just like the first time to confirm any final preferences. I told her that I wanted the same exact suite as last time. (Suite 1515) That request was to my surprised honored. I was also told by Laura that none of the Lounges are open due to the recent Covid cases out of Guangdong, and that there are no windows at the temporary lounge I was in. The new lounge was still under construction. I told Laura that there will be a possible need for an early check-in due to rain. We arrived before check-in time as predicted. Big thanks to the lobby concierge for bringing our baggage in from the car. Our early check-in was honored, and was conducted by Cathy Liu, the club lounge staff member who was there at my first stay serving my family at the temporary lounge. We had a nice conversation during check-in. We were assigned Suite 1515 as promised. Due to the unforeseen lounge closure, we were given a 120RMB Food and Beverage Credit Voucher for use. Our baggage was taken with us to our room by one of the concierge members. The suite would remain the same as last time. The quality however was increasingly better though. The bathroom soap amenities has changed to a different more premium looking brand by the name of Byredo Blanche. The water heating system worked faster than last time. The balcony was fully accessible. It is safe to say that there has been improvements throughout the room itself. It is very impressing. Catering was a bit of a mess at first, but the compensation was overwhelming at the end. As said earlier, we were catered by Lu Yuan for dinner. I was going to order the 566RMB 4-person meal via WeChat. But upon receiving the 120RMB voucher, I knew it had to be used as the voucher wouldn’t count to the WeChat promotion. The menu was a bit of a disappointment, as the number of local Ningbo specialties advertised on the menu was as limited as 5 dishes. The rest was predominantly Sichuan dishes or Guangdong dishes. We blindly ordered some dishes according to the recommandation of our lovely waitress. Three of dishes we tried ordering were to my shock sold out. We ordered some dishes like the stir-fried steak, cold chicken appetizer, seafood xifen noodles, fried fish appetizer, some stir-fried clams, little stir-fried cucumbers and some rice. Unfortunately most of which were done poorly. Either the food was too dry, too spicy, frozen or overcooked. The most perplexing dish was the fried smoked fish being presented on Raw Spaghetti, which lead to a spill whilst passing it along. We made our complaints to Chinese Restaurant Manager Charlotte Liu. She was kind and sincere, she apologized to us. I was still hungry as the food was not satisfying. To Ms. Liu’s credit, she sent some local Ningbo Tangyuan up to our room. I ordered some Room Service in the form of Hainan Chicken Rice. Unfortunately, the chicken rice was bland, dry and tasteless. I called room service about it, to the manager’s credit, he sent a free Ribeye Steak up to the room. It was juicy, well seasoned and more presentable. Ms. Liu wanted to give us a second chance, so she spoke to the head chef to craft a Ningbo Local Menu. The next day during lunch hours, she invited us to a private dining experience at the Top restaurant. We had many local dishes that exceeded our expectations. Those included fresh clams, crab with fresher xifen, fruits, noodles, a fancy looking soup, fish and fresh orange juice. This was all done in a large dining room with its own living room, toilet and lazy table. Quite the overwhelming experience. We would like to thank Eillie LV for serving us. She was professional and friendly to my family. I appreciate it. We would most importantly like to thank Charlotte Liu, we certainly appreciate the compensation that was given to us. The fact that this was free was very touching, we were about to pay for that meal. We also would like to thank Manager Lily for the compensated Yangmei and Grapes, as a result of the unfortunate experience with the Hainan Chicken Rice. The facilities still remain the same, with the nice swimming pool, game room, kids club, garden etc… Checkout was to say the least a perfect one. Cathy Liu has addressed the problems we had on the catering side. Front Office Manager Henry Song came out and addressed those matters and apologized for the situation. We had a deep discussion on my enthusiasm on the InterContinental Brand. We also had a discussion of why I was here, with the mishaps of the Shangri-La. I told them that they should be named the best hotel in Ningbo. Song humbly told me that it would not be based on location. That’s what I like about all staff members, humbleness. Song also warned of what was to come at the Shangri-La, as Shangri-La called him to say that there is a VIP Guest coming. Song escorted us to my taxi along with the young Mr. Han of the lobby to carry our bags there. Overall, compensation was pretty much the highlight of the stay. We loved how such compensation was not over complicated. Please have the catering department take note of the issues raised during this stay. It was a completely memorable stay. It was great honor to stay with this hotel. As of now the competition between InterContinental and Shangri-La skews towards this hotel’s favor. I look forward to coming back again! The rankings of this hotel as of June 13th among all the other InterContinental Hotels has increased. Now it is #4 out of 14 globally. Thank You InterContinental Ningbo! Stanley Leung

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