InterContinental Cali
Avenida Colombia No. 2-72
Cali, AA7457
Comobia
Toll-Free: 018000930030
Tel: 57-2-8823225
Fax: 57-2-8822567
Website: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ic/1/en/hd/cloha?irs=null
Email: cali@interconti.com
Check-In Time: 1:00 PM
Check-Out Time: 1:00 PM

This post is a continuing of a conversation moved from jkarp's trip report of Jun-04, in response to Wallstreet's question regarding my dislike of the IC.

+++

So, jkarp wasn't hit with any fees. That is fortunate... I don't know which is the standard practice there - to hit you or not to hit you. We have seen experiences both ways, and I need more data points to draw a conclussion (to bad we can't just ask and get an honest answer, huh?).

On my last trip to Cali I met two others on hobby that had various problems there, and these are documented in either my report of Jul-03 or the continuing conversations in the Cali Topic section. One was a personal friend, the other a man we met.

Note, there was a marriage convention that week (one of those introduction tours where gringos pay $1,000 to meet girls selected from a book/internet site). Maybe the hotel sees these as an opportunity to charge some gringo fees?

The place is nice - lobby, pool, rooms... good location, too. I mean the pool area is nice and a real plus! A great date option. The food sucks there, but hey I'm picky (whether it's food, girls, liquor, coffee...) but then many here want standard American fare so they'll be happy enough.

So to summarize my answer of why I don't (yet) like the IC, there are two reasons I haven't yet stayed there, even though I find it nice enough to want to stay there and very well might some future trip.

First, and this is personal taste, I like to have a "local's experience" when I travel to S.A. I mean, I don't need a "vacation" experience, and quite the opposite is what I like. I wish to stay in a residencial neighborhood, pick up things (champagne or liquor, snacks, lots of water, etc.) and have a small grocery store nearby and have a refridgerator in my room, be able to walk to a few places (if only in the day), etc. I don't look to pamper myself, and I even find it inconvenient to require room service to get a coffee or ice or sixpack or bottle. The IC in this sense gives you the typical corporate travel experience.

More relevant, is the second issue, and that is that the IC also has a gringo feel. They may (not yet proven out I see) attempt to hit you with fees. Maybe this depends on the person, maybe the dates of stay, maybe how you checkin or make your res... or maybe it was one bad experience that given a number of opposite reports will change my mind (looking forward to more reports).

See what was written (in past reports or Topics) about the guard at the elevator or hitting you with the fees at checkout even though you may have negotiated otherwise at checkin or before arriving.

Other ways it has a gringo feel:
Taxis charge an added fee if they pick you up at the IC's lobby - they claim these taxi's are safer but then us experienced travelers know how to avoid taxi problems. The place is the most expensive in town, whether it's room rate or their restaurant. Some of us like to go to S.A. and spend US prices and get an S.A. version of super luxury, while others prefer to go and spend S.A. prices and get US-level experience... I'm the latter. I don't like that everyone speaks English. Obviously, this is a big plus to many. For me, the charm of travel to S.A. is the many places where no one speaks English (say unlike Europe).

So, other than higher prices and potential fees, you can see most is personal taste.

Sorry if I'm so wordy this A.M!

I would agree with you that electronic IC reservation system leaves something to be desired and that there is a pattern. My card still hasn't been charged so I'm sure that without a confirming phone I may not really have a reservation either.

But higher prices and "potential" fees is personal taste as is whether to have local flavor or a corporate hotel experience.

I can't understand people who travel to another country and then only eat at McDonald's - but to each his own.

Pampering is a very relative term. I don't consider the expectation of hot water to be pampering and unfortuantely in the quaint local places, poor air-conditioning, lack of hot water and brown-outs are part of the local experience. Not the hotels' fault - they are working with what they have to work with and don't have the resources of an IC which probably has their own generator.

Anyway, the combination of diverse opinions usually give the true picture - thanks for the info!

Thanks for moving this post Admin and thanks FLhobbyer, I will check out the hotel you stayed at when I arrive in Cali.

Hunter

Well, I am one of the guys who likes to stay at the known names such as Marriott, IC, and other. Even though I stayed at IC for my last trip I don't really know what there official policy is regarding guest. I think I know it is "no guest" but they did tolerate my guests and I am not sure it is due to the fact they messed up my reservations or I had reservations for 2 and only had 1 girl with me at a time with only one exception and that was may be 20 minute exception. If I ever go back to Cali I would definitely stay there and take their suite no matter how much it costs. There regular rooms are not that great but suites are very nice as you can see the photos above. I took these photos to show others how great the suite was and a great place for non-pros and pros alike.

I am also a corporate hotel chain kind of guy - and I prefer Starwood and Hyatt over Marriott, Hilton, or others. I already have 40-some stays this year, as I'll sometimes change hotels nightly on a business trip if there is a special award promotion going on (e.g. Hyatt's Nights After Nights promo - a free night for every two stays, no limit!).

But when I go to South America, I prefer to go a different route (unless it's free/award of course).

I attribute my preference due to a number of reasons:

- The aweful rules and fees so many chain hotels have
- U.S. chains charge U.S. prices, or typically more than local prices
- Often U.S. hotels are in business districts, not residencial neighborhoods (B.A. is a good example, Rio an exception)
- I like to have a full size refridgerator
- I like places where the local language is the house language, vs. English
- I like to avoid coming off as a tourist

Still, the IC is very nice, and I could certainly see staying there on some occasion, unless they continue to price themselves so far above the rest of the Cali market.

I also would like to try the Alferez, an Accor hotel.

I need to book an upcoming trip, and I plan to use my Vonage softphone to do some work, and want highspeed in my room.

So far, I have identified the IC as the only hotel with inroom highspeed. Does anyone know of any other hotel with inroom highspeed?

(Message edited by FLmonger on November 15, 2004)

FLhobbyer, even IC has a limited number of inroom high speed internet access. They can setup any room to have the high speed internet but the DSL modems are in limited supply. So just you to know before it is too late, either IC is out of rooms or out of DSL modems.

JKarp

I really don't want to stay here, but I don't see any other option as I prefer working from my room in day versus 6-8 hours in some hotel business center or in a cyber off of Sexta.