Review: Intercontinental, Jeddah

AME Info recently visited Jeddah on business and we stayed in the Intercontinental hotel. The hotel location was convenient for meetings, as well as being close to the major shopping malls and streets, and around 15 minutes from the restaurants and coffee shops.

The hotel pick up from the airport was a clean and nice 2008 model American car, but when it comes to taking taxis, finding them was not a problem. But be warned, they are in a bad shape. They don't use meters, so we found we more or less paid 10SR ($2.67) for short trips and about 20SR for medium length journey - we never paid more than that though.

First impressions at the hotel were mixed. Army security posted at the entrance of the hotel checked all cars, which wasn't the most inviting of first impressions. The hotel is big, with different sections and buildings depending on your booking, such as sea view, garden view, city view or VIP Area.

Welcoming staff

Once inside though, we found the staff to be welcoming and the lobby area very wide. It also had a nice, private and relaxing seating area for meetings over coffee.

Checking-in was efficient, since we had a hotel pick-up, so the keys for the room where given to us in the car. This meant there was no need to check in at reception. Of course you have to take into consideration that Jeddah in general and Saudi Arabia in particular is not really a tourist attraction.

The rooms were a good size and came equipped with everything you could need. The LCD TV was a good size, but one grumble is that it could not be rotated so could only be watched from the bed. The bed at least, was big and comfortable - and came with a medical mattress.

Wired internet access was available in the room and straight forward to set up. But even better, it was free to use, something many hotels could learn from. There was also a 24 hour business centre available.

Outdoor pool

For down time, there was a decent outdoor pool open from early morning until 8pm and for the more active, a gym that is open until 11pm, later if you contact duty manager. If food attracts more than activity, there is a restaurant on site.

We had lunch, where the starter and dessert variety was ok, but not so great when it came to the buffet-style main course. The room service menu had plenty of variety and 24 hour service.

So with this in mind, would we stay at the Intercontinental again on our next trip to Saudi Arabia? Definitely.

See also:
Saudi Arabian residential projects need $20bn cash injection
Health and beauty report, Saudi Arabia