InterContinental Heilong Lake

Place was massive as most intercontinental hotels are in China. The area is absolutely beautiful. Staff is extremely friendly. Rooms are massive and well equipped. Food however is clearly focused on the local cuisine. If you’re into pig or deer blood noodle soup this is the place for you. Other than that expect typical Szechuan food. Spicy, hotspots and noodles. Western choice is very limited. Although their buffet breakfast does its best to offer the western palate a variety of pastries, Yoghurt’s and the mandatory egg station. It’s really a family hotel. So expect lots of families in their massive pool.

My wife and I were coming back from a trip in Sichuan highlands near Tibet and on our way to Chongqing, we decided to stop at this property. After 10 days of home stay, we wanted to get back to intercontinental hotel standard to recover. This place is really a resort type about an hour away from Chengdu. The facilities are grand but the service is holiday inn level at best. Our expectations weren’t very high so that’s ok. However, in a typical Chinese hotel fashion, the developer built a grandiose facilities but didn’t think about upkeep and considering the market and what they can charge I don’t think they can make much money. Therefore they control cost and number one cost is AC. We arrived on a Sunday. It was hot (30C). We checked in at the IHG counter (I am a spire member), the receptionist asked me for my passport (normal) and instead of checking my name or even if I had a reservation she wanted to find my entry stamp into China... I do not think that it is the most urgent. I come in and out of China once a month and my passport is full of China stamp !! She should check my booking, welcome us and ask for my passport to make a copy. Then we proceeded to the room. And there, we discovered that there was NO AC and the room temperature was 27C. When we called they said the system was being maintained... first of all, when planning for a system maintenance I would suggest to check the weather forecast. I knew from the forecast a week before that day would be hot. Second, this is an issue if you have a AC system which carry cold and warm through the same pipe. This is typically what low cost hotel have (hence my assessment this should be a holiday inn). They brought us a portable AC in the room. The problem with that type of equipment does generate cold BUT in doing so generate warmth air from the engine...therefore it doesn’t help. We almost decided to check out then but we were really tired from the drive and not sleeping the night before due to altitude. So we stayed and figured that it would get better as the night fell and outside would cool down a bit. This was a good theory until we found out there was an open door concert about a mile away blasting out music until 7am !!! I am taking rave party !! So at that point our choice was to sleep with the balcony window open (still warm) but with the music noise or close the window and it would be a sauna !!. I really do not understand how IHG put their name on this hotel. I know they are desperate to compete but aren’t they any standards or is it just about money and market share ?? Anyway my advice is stay away at all cost. Chengdu is nearby and there are plenty of choices. We stayed at the Crown plaza in WenJiang on the way down from Beijing and everything there was far more superior at 1/2 the cost...

She gave us an extra breakfast. We really appreciate that. Even though she made the decision after our long-time endeavor.😃😃 otherwise we would enjoy no benefit at all even we are gold members. And she also gifted us a birthday cake 🎂 which is really welcoming.