Intercontinental Changzhou

“An InterContinental Hotel That Took Over A Shangri-La Branded Hotel. Some improvements could be needed.”

Can you imagine a luxury hotel that transitioned from one brand to another within virtually no time, and then took on the brand name using the previous brand’s hard product? That’s why I travelled to Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. An industrial city not known for much of the city’s tourism, but a tra… lisää

Can you imagine a luxury hotel that transitioned from one brand to another within virtually no time, and then took on the brand name using the previous brand’s hard product? That’s why I travelled to Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. An industrial city not known for much of the city’s tourism, but a transfer point to cultural heritage sites like Tianmu Lake and Nanshan Bamboo Forest. Most commonly visited for the city’s tourism is a dinosaur-themed amusement park featuring its own Chinese striped-down version of Jurassic Park. The Changzhou Fudu InterContinental Hotel is nestled in the Industrial Park of Wujin District. What once was a top-rated Shangri-La Hotel in Changzhou, the hotel’s ownership decided to not renew the franchisee contract and signed a new contract with IHG’s Hotel Management Group just 2 month’s prior to my stay. Without renovating any part of the hotel’s hard product or replacing any of the Shangri-La veteran staff, the hotel overalled its entire soft product and changed the names of the restaurants, the room-categories, and of course the hotel. I booked my stay on the 20th of December to the 21st. I originally booked the hotel entry-level Twin Classic Room for the low price of ¥630, which is approximately $85. For being an IHG One Diamond Elite Member, an InterContinental Ambassador Member, and a Milestone Annual Club Lounge Member Holder, I was upgraded to the Twin Classic Lake View Room with Club InterContinental Access. Prior to my stay, I was given a call from the hotel to enquire about my upcoming stay including arrival time and preferential requests. Upon arrival, my friend and I entered the grand chandelier lobby and walked towards the front desk where the front desk assistant checked us in within a fast 3 minutes and 13 seconds. I was given the brand new edition IHG wooden key cards and a pair of IHG One Complimentary Drink Vouchers. The front desk team then sent us off to the Shangri-La Hotel scented elevator leading us up to Room 1517. Upon entering our room, we walked into the Housekeeping Supervisor Coral Han who was checking the entire room and making sure the room was up to standards for all VIP arrival guests including Loyal Members of the InterContinental Brand. Our Twin Classic Lake View Room is located on the higher floors with a total space of 45 square meters which is about 488 square feet. In the room are two comfortable twin beds with a bedside table on each side. Although the hotel lacks special outlets like USB ports to charge your phone, the hotel gladly provides a free plugged in charging wire bedside so that you can charge your own devices. Across is a Samsung TV screen with a working desk on the side. There are also plenty of closet space to store your clothes. In the bathroom lies a basic toilet, a bathtub, a shower, and a vanity sink. Accompanying with the bathroom are Byredo Blanche soap amenities which pairs well with the brand. It should be noted that the room is rather old with an aging carpet along with worn out leather on the desk. The brown marble walls, wooden panels, and artwork certainly left the impression of Shangri-La’s signature interior designs that have been left over for the InterContinental brand to take over. In addition to the hard product left over by the hotel’s days as a Shangri-La hotel in the rooms and suites, the hotel provides an InterContinental soft product within the rooms including a signature turndown service and welcome fruit plate. The signature turndown service includes a sweet dessert plate, yogurt, and a folded bed with towels. The room was somewhat not that well prepared despite the inspection made before I entered. I found a hair strand on the bed. The carpet has also seen better day with what remains as a lot of leftover personal debris. Thankfully, the Executive of the Housekeeping Department Andy Li arranged the room for be cleaned once again. He also arranged us a nice discount on our dinner at the Hotel’s Chinese Restaurant. Later on in the morning after a good night of sleep, the overhead showerhead was only half operating with many of the shower holes clogged. The Club InterContinental Lounge is located on the top floor. What was left of the Horizon Club for Shangri-La with the hard product turned into the Executive Lounge for Club Guests at the InterContinental. In this lounge is a service front desk, a dining room, a casual dining space, a meeting room, a buffet area, and a computer room. Afternoon tea service and Happy Hour are provided in the lounge. A special feature of the space is the views of the Wujin district. Mia Wu served us well and gave us a rendition of her version of the Zurita Tonic: A mocktail introduced by a friend of mine at another Club InterContinental Lounge. Andy in addition to addressing our concerns in the room, invited us to tour the hotel. He gave us a tour of the following: The Fitness Center: An area where guests can work on their fitness with facilities such as a gym, an indoor swimming pool, and even a table tennis court. Also no longer featured at the Fitness Center was the former Hair Salon - a Shangri-La Hotel Signature. Outdoor Lake: A constructed lake featured outside the hotel with ducks and gooses featured at the lake. It is a nice place to walk around when needing a breath of fresh air. Tian Xiang Lou: The Hotel’s Signature Chinese Restaurant. Once Shangri-La’s Summer Palace Restaurant, the hotel rebranded into Tian Xiang Lou and kept much of its Changzhou-themed decor, seating, staff members, and most importantly the chefs. For just ¥188 RMB for two which is the extra Dinner Combo package in addition to the room and breakfast, we had a delicious meal consisting of cold dishes, Changzhou Tofu Soup, stir-fried shrimp, braised pork belly, poached Lion’s Meatballs (pork), Yangzhou Fried Rice, and seasonal fruit. We were served by both our server Grace Wang and the Restaurant Manager Jolin Zhang. The restaurant features many private dining rooms in addition to the public dining room, some of which includes seating rooms for talks. In addition to Andy’s showcasing of the hotel, we also had a chance to pass by Nishimura Restaurant: A Japanese Restaurant focused on fulfilling the Japanese Traditional Palate with all the traditional classics like sashimi, handmade noodles, and more. Breakfast took place at the Hotel’s Cafe Longcheng. It hosts the hotel’s All-Day Dining Venue with both breakfast, lunch, and dinner services. Located on the 1st floor, the restaurant features a lakeside view, multiple cuisine stations, and plenty of seating. For the breakfast buffet, there are Western dishes, Chinese dishes, noodle & wonton station, congee station, pastry station, and fruit station. I had scrambled eggs, roasted mushrooms, sausages, Preserved Egg & Pork Congee, Wonton Soup, and Fruits. All of which I felt were excellent. This experience easily ranks top 10 for me out of the many Chinese InterContinental Breakfast Buffets I have experienced. My time came to an end at the Changzhou Fudu InterContinental. I was fascinated by how unphased the hotel’s rebranding took place for the property itself. What really took place in terms of the change from Shangri-La was just a swap in brand names and a shift in small detailed soft product services. The hotel remains mostly the same as it was when the management company transitioned. I think it is commendable that the staff didn’t change as much as I would have expected, and that all was needed from them was to embrace a similar level of luxury and hospitality. I do think however the hotel is in need of a renovation, and that the hotel needs to renew the rooms and suites so that the hotel can attract more attention to Changzhou as a tourist & business destination as they are the top rated hotel serving the city. I thank Andy Li and his team for guiding us through the hotel and facilitating our needs at the hotel. I look forward to the day the hotel becomes better with a complete modernized renovation. I rank this hotel out of all InterContinental Hotels at #13 out of 31 InterContinentals I have visited. The Club InterContinental Experience for me ranks at #8 out of #25. I look forward to my return to the Changzhou Fudu InterContinental Hotel!

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