Review: InterContinental Perth City Centre

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The opening of the Intercontinental Perth City Centre marks the return of the brand to the Perth marketplace. The hotel held its official opening  on October 15, 2017. This brings the number of IHG properties in Perth to 3, joining the Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn properties.

IHG has previously operated an Intercontinental at Burswood. However, when that complex fell under the Crown banner, the hotel was rebranded as Crown Metropol.

Location

The hotel is located on the corner of Hay and King Street in a building that was a Rydges in its previous life. This location puts it in the Kings St Precinct, and is opposite King Street from His Majesties Theatre.

In terms of other activities in the area, there a wide range of cafes, shopping and supermarkets within a short walk from the hotel. The Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre is a 10-minute walk from the property while Elizabeth Quay is 600 m from the property. Kings Park and Botanic Garden are just is 2 km away.

Intercontinental Perth City Centre

Intercontinental Perth City Centre

First Impressions

Outside the building, the first thing you notice from its Rydges days, is the striking Intercontinental facade that has been added. This follows the distinctive gold and black colouring common to the Intercontinental properties.

Walking through the door, you first notice a wide open space forming the lobby area. This makes quite a change from the layout from its Rydges days.

Check in was efficient, with some small talk about opening day. From there, it was up to the room.

The Room

I initially booked a Club King Room. I was given an upgrade to a Club King City View room.The upgrade came courtesy of being an IHG Ambassador, and I guess it technically was an upgrade.

This room comes in at 28 square metres. While on the small side, they have been quite intelligent with the layout of the room. The main downside I saw was that the table in the room was not the best for doing work on.

The bathroom was small but functional. There was no  bath to be seen – it was just a shower. There was the usual range of amenities that you would expect from Intercontinental.

Food and Beverage

As a 5 star hotel, the Intercontinental Perth City Centre offers a range of food and beverage options. The offering is still rolling out, so there are a few things that aren’t quite ready/

Graffiti opened prior to the rest of the hotel, and is set to offer quality coffee and gourmet-to-go meals. Heno and Rey will opeer Spanish tapas at, whilt The Loft offers Heno high tea and cocktails. Ascua will follow in November, offering woodfired grilled meats in the refined dining room.

Given I was only there for the one night, and I focused on the Lounge offering, I didn’t spend much time in the outlets. Still, they are waiting for me on my next visit to the hotel.

Graffiti

Graffiti is a coffee shop located on the King St side of the building. It has been open for a few weeks already, selling coffee to those passing by on the street. It does seem to have a bit of a following, as there appears to be a small line waiting for their coffee whenever I have walked past.

It is basically a coffee window, and has a small focussed offering to match. On the coffee front, it serves coffee with beans provided by Blacklist Coffee Roasters. It also has a small range of savoury and sweet eats.

One of the items on the menu is the Barbacoa Bun. In the roll is a chopped salad, a choice of protein (Chorizo, Chicken, or Falafel), and a further choice of sauce. I opted for chicken with a spicy mayonnaise. Quite delicious.

Heno & Rey

Heno and Rey is a Spanish Tapas bar. Its gets its name from a Spanish translation of its location on the corner of Hay and King Street.

Ascua

The Woodfire Grill, Ascua, was unfortunately not open for dinner service at the time of my visit.

The Loft

The Loft is the main bar for the hotel. It is located on the first level. You can either take stairs up from the lobby, or catch a lift. It features a balcony overlooking Hay St -maybe not the most scenic thing on earth, but still will be a nice place to have drinks.

Executive Lounge

In common with most Intercontinental Hotels, it features an Executive Club lounge. The lounge is located on the 16th floor, and offers all day refreshments. It also offers Club guests breakfast, afternoon tea and evening canapes.

Loyalty Scheme

The Intercontinental Perth City Centre participates in the IHG Rewards loyalty program. Being an Intercontinental, it also participated in the Ambassador program that adds extra features to the Rewards program.

Reward Rooms look to start from 25,000 points. For rooms that have a cash price of $300, this is quite a good deal. Locally, the redemption rates for other hotels are 15,000 for the Holiday Inn, and 20,000 for the Crowne Plaza.

Final Words

All in all I think they have done a good job in remodelling the building into an Intercontinental. It provides a good option in the area, and I think it will prove to be a popular option in Perth

For further information, please head to the Intercontinental Perth City Centre website,

 

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About Author

Mark is the founder of FlyStayPoints, and caught the travel bug early in life. He discovered the benefits of travel loyalty programs in 2001, and is always learning how they can make travel better. While work takes him between Perth and Melbourne, he is always plotting his next adventure.