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About InterContinental Changsha

InterContinental Changsha is located near Beichen Delta, right next to Changsha Riverside Cultural Park, which includes the Changsha Museum, concert hall, library, and planning exhibition hall. There is also a Joy City mall directly connected to the hotel, which is very convenient. The hotel is some distance from Wuyi Road, the busiest area in town. A taxi ride takes a little over 20 minutes, or you can walk about ten minutes to the metro station and take Line 1.

While it is not as convenient for shopping as the Grand Hyatt, its delta location makes it much quieter by comparison. If the weather is good when you visit, the river views and night views are both quite nice. Getting to the airport is also relatively convenient since you do not need to cross the city center.

Booking With a Free Night Certificate

For this stay, we used an IHG credit card free night certificate. Since the 2019 certificate had already been extended through the end of 2021 and would not be extended again, we had to use it before year-end. Also, IHG free night certificates must be both booked and consumed before expiration, so booking for next year would not help.

If you have multiple certificates, you can only book them one night at a time. After booking, remember to call the hotel front desk and let them know you booked two separate one-night reservations. The staff can help link them so you can stay in the same room for both nights without moving. Still, I recommend confirming again at check-in, since changing rooms is a hassle.

Free night certificates can only be used for the standard base room, with either one king bed or two twin beds. At check-in, you may still receive an upgrade depending on your elite status. We were upgraded at the front desk to a high-floor river-view room, though the weather was not great on either day, so the view was only average.

If redeeming points, the room cost 23,000 points. The cash rate was 1071RMB+taxes, or about $167+taxes, which works out to roughly 0.8 c/p in redemption value, which is decent.

Check-In

Hotel check-in in China was still fairly strict at the time. They had to check both the health code and travel code, and the front desk took photos for their records.

We booked two rooms and were automatically upgraded by one category. We then asked to have both rooms on the same floor and to avoid changing rooms during our two-night stay. After some work, the front desk finally got it sorted out. Since it was around Christmas, the Christmas tree in the lobby was quite pretty.

The chandelier overhead was truly luxurious.

Room

Even with the one-category upgrade, the room itself was not especially large, and the TV felt a bit small.

The decorative items on the bar counter were pretty interesting.

The bathroom area was fairly spacious.

Although it was advertised as a river-view room, the weather was bad that day, so everything outside looked gray and hazy.

I imagine the scenery would have been much better if we had come a few days earlier when it was sunny.

Exterior Views

Even though it was a bit foggy, the night view was still quite nice.

It seemed like all the lights turned on together at a fixed time each night.

This was the view from the other room, looking directly at Joy City.

Unexpectedly, it snowed heavily the next day, and someone even drew Peppa Pig in the snow.

Hotel Breakfast Buffet

Originally, breakfast was not included when booking with a free night certificate, and Platinum status did not help either. The front desk said we would have to pay for it. Later, though, there was a small issue with room service, and the hotel ended up giving both rooms complimentary breakfast for two days. Overall, the quality was very good, and we ended up eating until after 9 a.m.

The breakfast restaurant was the Lan Tiao Restaurant on the first floor.

If you are an upper-tier IHG elite member, the staff will guide you to a dedicated dining area for elites. It is relatively quieter and less crowded. Most importantly, the elite section has extra food items.

For example, there was Cantonese-style dim sum, including steamed beef short ribs, crystal shrimp dumplings, steamed chicken feet, and more. Those items were not available in the main buffet area.

The food in the main buffet area was also pretty good.

There were both Chinese and Western options, plus rice noodles.

There was even ice cream.

What to Eat, Drink, and Do in Changsha

The hotel itself is not really the main attraction. Once you get to Changsha, you should really focus on experiencing the food.

Breakfast

A bowl of rice noodles with a huge pile of toppings is the kind of thing you could eat for a year without getting tired of it.

Delivery

Liang Ge Seafood delivery was pretty good, and they deliver all over the city.

Wenheyou

Wenheyou is still well worth visiting. The crawfish was pretty good, while the other snacks were more average. But the atmosphere was excellent.

Several floors of Hisense Plaza are designed like old-school streetscapes. People born in the 2000s might not feel much nostalgia, but for those of us born in the 1980s, it really brings back memories.

Chayan Yuese

There is also a Chayan Yuese inside Wenheyou, and the line there seemed even longer than at other locations.

At malls, food streets, and even the airport, wherever there are crowds, there is Chayan Yuese.

The Youlan Latte offers pretty good value for the money.

Final Thoughts

If you love photography, spicy food, and great local eats, Changsha is a fantastic place to visit, and the nightlife is also very lively. Compared with the bitter cold of winter in northern China, it felt incredibly comfortable here. As for the hotel, it was solid but nothing extraordinary. In China, free night certificates usually do not offer amazing value, since paid rates are often not that high to begin with. Still, in terms of quality, this property was far better than some North American roadside hotels that somehow cost cat 4 awards.