The InterContinental Shenzhen has a rather (unintended) comedic Spanish theme. The poor staff have to walk around in these ridiculous Spanish outfits and it just doesn’t look or feel right and I pity the poor sods who have to wear these, you can see their awkwardness! The InterContinental Shenzhen is getting old and in need of a renovation, its on a road that can get very busy with traffic. We took about 20 minutes just to get out of the hotel one morning – ridiculous.
The staff are okay, pretty typical for this type of hotel in China, nothing special but asking for anything out of the ordinary will result in a blank stare. The rooms at the InterContinental Shenzhen are a good size, comfy beds, good shower and bathroom and no real complaints about the room. Wherever you are staying in China, make sure you ask for a non-smoking room because all the smoking rooms, and not just in this hotel, will reek of smoke. The Chinese love to chain smoke, in rooms, on the toilet, in the restaurant, anywhere they can light up, they will.
The food is not bad, there’s a few restaurants that serve up some pretty average good, both international and Chinese. Not bad, but just like everything else at the InterContinental Shenzhen, not fantastic. To be honest I can’t remember exactly what we ate most of the days and nights, and that it can’t of been that bad because I definitely would have remembered that and complained here! There’s not much else to eat around the hotel so you’re kind of stuck with the hotel food.
If you read the reviews on TripAdvisor about the InterContinental Shenzhen you’ll read things like “best hotel in China”, “The Spanish decor is so bright and welcoming”, “best hotel I’ve ever stayed in”, which is pretty typical from most of the people posting on there – they haven’t travelled much and anything better than a Best Western will get a 5 star rating. Okay so maybe I’m being a harsh, the InterContinental Shenzhen is a good hotel, but it’s nothing special and compared to say something like a Four Seasons or Oriental Mandarin, it’s not even close in any area.
If you want an okay hotel near the subway but out of the main city a bit, the InterContinental Shenzhen is fine for a few days. It’s got a nice swimming pool, good facilities and you’ll probably be satisfied staying here. But if you’re expecting it to be an awesome experience you’re going to be disappointed. It’s located next to two rather bizarre attractions, which I don’t even know how to describe. One of them is actually okay for kids and family, you can find out more about them in our Shenzhen With Kids information section.
Park Next To Intercon Shenzhen
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Visit our Shenzhen Travel Guide for kids here.
