In the past, whenever I visited Hangzhou, I would always choose the affordable and generous Haiwaihao CP. Often, after a 40% discount, the price was around 300 RMB, and I could even get upgraded to an Executive room. Unfortunately, this property recently left IHG, so for this trip to Hangzhou, I chose the famous “Big Gold Ball.” Of course, the main reason I hadn’t chosen it before was its inconvenient location and lack of subway access. However, with the opening of Metro Line 4, transportation here has become much more convenient. It’s only six stops from Hangzhou East Railway Station, so you arrive quickly. Right next door is Hangzhou’s most high-end shopping mall, MixC, which now even includes an Apple Store—all within walking distance. If you’re not interested in joining the crowds at tourist spots, this is actually a pretty great choice.
First, let’s talk about its exterior. I have to say, it’s honestly quite ugly—like a giant Ferrero Rocher chocolate sitting by the river, glittering in gold. The photo below is an official shot; at night, it shines just as brightly. The adjacent International Expo Center belongs to the same owner, and there’s also an outlets mall in between. Across the street is the Hangzhou Citizen Center. I must say, this part of Qianjiang New City feels a lot like Chengdu’s High-Tech Zone: everything screams wealth, all the buildings are brand new, and each one has such a bizarre architectural design…
Now, let’s talk about the room. I booked a River View Room, which was very spacious at 65 square meters. Overall, the hardware was excellent: floor-to-ceiling windows, BOSE sound system, capsule coffee machine, walk-in closet, and a large bathtub. Both the room and the bathroom were sufficiently spacious and well-maintained.
Since the hotel was fully booked on the day of check-in, I didn’t receive a room type upgrade, but I was granted Executive Lounge access, which was a good thing because Executive Rooms don’t have river views. The hotel called a day in advance to ask about my arrival time. I said around 1 PM, so when I arrived, the room was already prepared. The room was truly huge. After meeting a friend in the lounge that afternoon, fruit, macarons, and a bottle of red wine had already been delivered to my room. The service in the Executive Lounge was excellent, while the front desk service was average—they seemed busy and slightly chaotic. A nice touch was that the welcome drink vouchers could be redeemed for Evian or San Pellegrino at the Lobby Lounge, which was quite generous.
The mattress was a Simmons. Since I arrived early, I immediately requested a latex pillow, and I slept really well both nights~~~~
The view outside the window was quite nice:
There’s also a riverside promenade here, perfect for a comfortable evening stroll:
At the hotel’s ground-floor entrance, there’s a massive decorative wall:
Floors 1-4 mainly house conference facilities, banquet halls, and restaurants. The lobby is on the 5th floor, so you first take an elevator up to Level 5, then transfer to another elevator to reach your guest room floor. Floors 5-18 make up the entire “Gold Ball,” and the interior atrium looks absolutely spectacular:
The middle section here is the Chinese restaurant on the 4th floor; the lower section shows part of the All-Day Dining seating area. The upper right corner is the Lobby Lounge, and the upper left corner is the lounge area and front desk.
Concierge and Business Center
Because it kept raining and I had work to do, I spent most of my time holed up in the hotel. I have to say, the in-room Wi-Fi was pretty terrible—extremely slow—and since the computer didn’t have an Ethernet port, I had to head down to the lounge to get work done. Apparently, the lounge has the best Wi-Fi signal in the entire hotel, and indeed, it was great—the speed instantly improved. Thanks to my Executive benefits, breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner were essentially complimentary, so I only needed to figure out lunch. I’d heard the German restaurant downstairs was delicious, and reviews mentioned some great group deals, so I planned to try it on Monday noon. Unfortunately, it turns out they’re closed for lunch on weekdays, so I had to settle for Room Service instead. The burger patty was cooked well-done, tasted pretty mediocre, and felt like it hadn’t been salted at all…
Overall, among all InterContinental properties in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, this one comes highly recommended (along with InterContinental Suzhou and InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake). Next time I visit Hangzhou, I’ll probably stay here again.
Time for another rating (See criteria here):
Hardware: 9.5
Location: 8. Convenient transportation. Although it’s not in the city center, it’s very close to a metro station, easily accessible by car, and offers free parking for guests.
Rooms offer river views, and nearby amenities are convenient, including MixC mall, just over 1 km away.
Room: 9. Very spacious with a sensible layout and powerful air conditioning.
Sleep Quality: 10. Simmons mattress.
Linens: 10.
Bathroom: 9.5. Slight odor in the restroom.
Amenities: 9. Standard IC amenities.
Entertainment: 9. 42-inch Sony TV, Bose sound system, and a TV embedded in the bathroom mirror.
Minibar: 9. Standard IC offering.
Others: 9.
Gym: 9. Not very large and doesn’t have extensive equipment—relatively modest compared to other InterContinentals—but it does have professional trainers available for chatting, guidance, and instruction, all completely free of charge.
Service: 9
Concierge: N/A
Front Desk: 8. Fast processing despite crowds, but service quality was average.
Membership Recognition: 7. One-level upgrade, no Ambassador gift.
Welcome Amenities: 10. Fruit, macarons, and a bottle of red wine.
Turndown Service: 8
Breakfast: 9. Wide selection, meeting InterContinental breakfast standards.
Lounge: 9.5. Afternoon tea offerings were limited but tasty. Happy Hour was extremely generous, featuring four types of seafood and excellent hot dishes—both the braised beef brisket on day one and the pan-fried fish fillet on day two were superb. With few guests and a pleasant atmosphere, the food quality was outstanding enough to serve as dinner. Unlimited San Pellegrino, fast Wi-Fi, and excellent service. Lounge breakfast was average.
Photos in this post taken with SONY A5100 + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.
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