On this trip to Qingdao, I stayed at the InterContinental Qingdao next to the Olympic Sailing Center. Since it’s right by the sea, I suppose it counts as a hotel with a sea view. However, since it was peak tourist season, rooms were extremely tight. I had booked well in advance and was upgraded to an Executive Sea View Room on the top floor, the 19th floor. But because the hotel skips floors 4, 5, 13, and 14, the 19th floor is actually equivalent to the 15th floor in height. Although there wasn’t much obstruction in front, it was still a bit of a distance from the sea, but you really could see the ocean~~~~ The Olympic Sailing Center was also right below, making it very convenient to go out for a walk or something.
Upon arrival for check-in, the front desk was very efficient, but my room wasn’t ready yet, so I waited in the lounge for a while. Although the room was listed as 42 square meters, due to the layout, it felt slightly cramped. In particular, the row of cabinets where the TV was placed surprisingly didn’t have a minibar counter, which made it feel very confined. The separate walk-in closet was quite convenient for those with luggage. Since the hotel owner is Haier Group, the TVs and such inside are all Haier brand. Fortunately, the sound system was BOSE, with a separate 3.5mm audio cable available, which was very convenient.
That day, I tried the afternoon tea and Happy Hour. There was plenty of food; the afternoon tea included many Chinese dim sum options, and HH even had ribs, which tasted pretty good.
Getting to the lounge was slightly inconvenient; you had to switch elevators on the 20th floor to get to the 21st floor. For someone staying on the 19th floor, this was really frustrating—having to switch elevators just to go up two floors…
Although the hotel opened in 2008, it still maintains a relatively modern style. The room maintenance was average, and the cabinets and furniture were somewhat worn, but you can still tell that back in its day, this hotel was quite upscale.
View from the room window:
Continuing with the ratings (See criteria here):
Hardware: 9
Location: 9, right by the sea. Although the city doesn’t have a subway yet, taxis and driving are both convenient. Parking is free for guests, and the surroundings are very convenient, with the Olympic Sailing Center, Belle Plaza, and Hisense Plaza all within walking distance.
Room: 8, average size, layout slightly cramped, powerful AC, slightly dated.
Sleep: 9, comfortable mattress, quiet.
Linens: 10.
Bathroom: 10.
Amenities: 9.
AV: 9, 42-inch Haier TV, no HDMI, BOSE sound system.
Minibar: 9, Nespresso capsule coffee machine.
Others: 9.
Gym: 8, not very large, limited equipment, basically sufficient, bottled water and orange juice provided.
Software: 9
Concierge: 9, proactively took luggage to the front desk.
Front Desk: 9, excellent service, very fast.
Membership: 9, one-level upgrade, GRO proactively visited to greet and gifted two bottles of Tsingtao Beer.
Welcome: 8, fruit.
Turndown: 9, ice delivered directly.
Breakfast: 9, very rich selection, even had ice cream; crowded during holidays, otherwise fine.
Lounge: 9, excellent views, great service, plenty of items for afternoon tea including Chinese dim sum; HH also had a wide variety, 8 hot dishes including ribs, tasty, not too crowded.
Photos in this post taken with SONY A5100 + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.
Support
