Overall InterContinental Berlin Review: A luxury hotel that adds value to the IHG credit cards
Pros: Beautiful lobby, lovely club room, ability to use IHG Free Night certificates
Cons: Lack of outlets, mediocre location
We paid: $0; 2 IHG Free Night certificates
Value: $224/night; or, 40,000 IHG points/night
How to stay here without paying full price:
- Get the IHG Premier Card and link it to your IHG account.
- Hit the minimum spend required: $3K (at time of this writing) in 3 months
- Wait for your bonus points/nights to come into your IHG account.
- Search the IHG app or website for award availability. Standard Nights at the InterContinental Berlin cost 40,000 IHG points per night. This means your annual IHG Free Night Certificates apply to this hotel too. If you book 3 nights with points (120,000 total), you get the 4th night free.
- UPDATE: As of May 2020, IHG introduced dynamic pricing. Standard Nights used to cost 40,000 points, but are now costing only 20,000 points. It remains to be seen whether IHG’s overall pricing will increase after the coronavirus crisis passes.
- Book online through the IHG website or app. Stack 3 award nights together and get the 4th free.
- For full instructions, see my guide to booking IHG hotels for free.
Full InterContinental Berlin Review
I stayed here just after Christmas, during a not-so-busy time. I actually checked out of the lovely Waldorf Astoria Berlin, which I reviewed in detail, and walked straight over to the InterContinental Berlin to check in here. The two hotels are within walking distance of each other, and I thoroughly enjoyed the InterContinental Berlin.
My trip to Germany included stays in Munich – read why I’d never recommend the Andaz Munich here – and in Nuremberg too. I reviewed the Park Plaza Nuremberg and really enjoyed its proximity to the largest Christmas markets I’ve ever seen.
But I digress. This is about my stay at the InterContinental Berlin, which was great.
Check-in experience
The lobby at the InterContinental Berlin is beautiful, and it really adds to the hotel’s strong first impression.
Our check-in with the front desk was quick and efficient, and I was ecstatic to receive a complimentary upgrade to a Club room! In my experience, IHG is a little stingy with its free upgrades, especially when you’re booking award nights. IHG is one of the only major chains that explicitly states you don’t get free upgrades on unpaid/award stays. However, the InterContinental Berlin was a big exception, and I thought the Club Lounge here was great – more on that later.
InterContinental Berlin Review: Our room
As mentioned, we got an upgrade to a Club-level room. IHG Club-level rooms are on higher floors and tend to be a little bigger and more updated than standard rooms. We were on the 7th floor, and the Club Lounge was on the top floor (8th floor).
Otherwise, our room felt pretty standard, but perfectly nice. The King-sized bed had European-style covers, with two separate covers for each person.
There was a bedside seat and lamp, and then a full-sized table that looked perhaps a little worn, but that included welcome chocolates.
Speaking of the welcome chocolates, these were a nice touch and we got them twice, one for each of our two nights!
There was a mini-fridge and minibar, but the fridge had an electronic sensor and you could only use a tiny portion of it for your own stuff:
Here was the view of Berlin from our room:
The bathroom was all marble but not large. It had a single sink and a shower/tub combo. One major plus was the heated floors!
I really liked that they gave us two robes and sets of slippers, which we borrowed when we went to the Vabali Spa. (If you’ve never been to a European spa facility, this one is a real experience with 12+ different saunas. It also boasts a great on-site restaurant and several bars, so you can make a day of it.)
Overall, this was a nice but fairly standard room.
Location: InterContinental Berlin Review
This hotel’s location is pretty mediocre. It’s in a nice, shopping-oriented neighborhood. But it’s within a ten-minute walk of the Waldorf Astoria Berlin, and I reviewed that location to be mediocre too!
The InterContinental Berlin is within easy walking distance to a number of shopping malls, such as Bikini Berlin, and the high-end KaDeWe department store, as well as the Berlin Zoo and Aquarium.
Otherwise, this hotel isn’t really close to much else, although its restaurant, Marlene, has its own Michelin star!
One other downside to the location, unlike the Waldorf Astoria Berlin, the nearest U and/or S train stop is the Tiergarten stop, about a 12-minute walk away.
That said, the neighborhood is very nice, and Berlin is well-known for its shopping. Just be aware that it’ll take a while to get to some of the famous Berlin locations such as Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, etc.
Club Lounge: InterContinental Berlin Review
This was a big standout for the hotel, and I was so happy to have received the Club upgrade. The lounge was quiet and clean, and open from 6a-10p every day.
They offered snack mixes, chips, beer, soft drinks, and water throughout the day at all times.
They also served breakfast every morning, INCLUDING champagne, with a buffet and made-to-order egg dishes.
The eggs benedict wasn’t the best, but the buffet and champagne were pretty great.
In the afternoons, the Club Lounge hosts a small tea service with little sandwiches and cakes.
Some serious German chocolates were on offer, too.
We missed the evening service both nights, unfortunately, but we understand they had another hot buffet and some made-to-order appetizers. Also in the evening, they offered complimentary wine and hard liquor in addition to the beers available throughout the day.
This was a lovely, very pleasant experience and a big value-add for the hotel. We even played a game of Checkers that the lounge provided.
Our experience
The room and the hotel were very quiet, which is always a big plus in my book. This was partially a function of the not-so-busy time of year, but I think they’ve invested in some good soundproofing regardless.
One downside to the hotel was a general lack of outlets though. There was only one outlet on each side of the bed. The outlet on my side of the bed was consumed by the phone, but I decided to unplug it so that I could use it. Normally I wouldn’t do that, but there weren’t many other outlets in the rest of the room either – just one at the desk. And then there were ZERO outlets in the bathroom! I couldn’t believe it. Technically there was one outlet actually, but it was bolted to the in-house provided hairdryer:
I’ve never seen that before. This was just a cheap hairdryer, and I can’t imagine most people try to steal hotel hairdryers. But nonetheless, I wasn’t able to lift the outlet cover to unplug the hairdryer and plug in my own device, so it was definitely a conscious choice the hotel made.
Our bed was also very firm, even for European standards. It might’ve been a bit too firm for us.
To end the experience on a plus, every encounter we had with staff was positive. The concierge was great, and check-in and check-out were both quick and easy.
Value for Points
At only 40,000 points per night, I think the InterContinental Berlin is a great deal. And, the IHG Premier credit card provides you one free night each year worth up to 40,000 points, which makes this a great redemption. For an $89 annual fee, that’s a steal.
You might notice that I redeemed two Free Night Certificates this time. I actually hold two IHG cards: The IHG Premier, which I mentioned, and the “legacy” IHG card that’s no longer available to new applicants. The legacy card has only a $49 annual fee and also gives you an annual Free Night Certificate. So, I was able to combine my two Free Night Certs into one reservation.
Rooms only cost about $224/night including taxes and fees at the time I visited. A 40,000 point room at $224 implies a value of .56 cents per point for this redemption. TPG values IHG points at .5 cents apiece, so this seems average. However, I think 40,000 points is a wonderful value for the InterContinental Berlin. At a busier time of year, the room price would be higher, which would increase the value per IHG point.
And even regardless of the value per point, I managed to get 2 free nights here out of my $89 and $49 annual fee cards. Not a bad deal at all.
Bottom Line
I think the InterContinental Berlin is a real credit to IHG’s rewards program. It’s a great way to demonstrate value to IHG cardholders, since the hotel costs a reasonable 40,000 points per night and you can use your Free Night Certificates here.
The InterContinental Berlin is also a good place to stay in Berlin, especially if you can get a Club room. I’d absolutely stay here again.
I hope you enjoyed my InterContinental Berlin review! Reach out if you have any questions, or feel free to comment on your experience here.
