Intercontinental Lhasa Paradise Hotel

Thank you to all of the amazing staff at Lhasa InterContinental. The hotel is the best InterContinental hotel we have ever stayed at. We highly recommend the hotel for your stay in Lhasa. A paradise in Tibet

This is an impressive hotel to look at but not so good to stay there. It is far too vast and takes ages to walk anywhere. This is not good, due to lack of oxygen, because of the altitude. The pillows are so uncomfortable, we mentioned this and were sent pillows of buckwheat, which were lumpy and hard. It was like having a heavy sack of grain, on the bed. We had to use the cushions, from the settee, but even these were not ideal. There was supposed to be oxygen in the room. Ours did not work. They sent someone up to look but nothing was fixed. We had to have cylinder oxygen, at an extra cost. The dining room is in their garden, so it was freezing cold, in the mornings, for breakfast. I dread to think what it would be like in the depth of winter. Needless to say, any hot food was cold by the time it got to the table. Not appetising, at all. I couldn't recommend this hotel, even though it is supposed to be the best in Lhasa.

We went in Sept and our room faced the West. Our room was always HOT! Eventually we had the front desk send us a portable AC unit. That helped!! Good thing we brought fans! The breakfast buffet was ok. The bacon was really bacon and not some mysterious meat. They need to learn how to keep their food hot. Pancakes sat under a heat light but it was on a cold surface. The hotel is beautiful but the atrium is one big open area. It was either hot or cold! To my surprise there was not a place to take any pics of the area. They showed a bar on their website that looked like a great PIC but that was no longer available. Since it was a holiday, people were camping in the open area in front of the hotel property which seemed very odd. For a IHG loyal member, this hotel DID NOT rank as well as other IHG properties. There is room for improvement.

I am loyal to this string of hotels but this one misses the mark. It may be beautiful but it has a heating and cooling nightmare. Atrium cool in morning and darned hot in the afternoon. The AC was not functioning in our room. I will call it fake AC. The fan ran but just circulated warm air. It never got below 25 degrees C. The breakfast buffet was average but if it opened at 6:30, it was not ready to serve at 6:30. If I would return to this area again I would explore other hotel options.

Before booking a trip consider the altitude problems. Lhasa is the lowest at 3650 mts.The average height of Tibet is 5000 mts. The altitude problem is constant and it gets worse as you go further into the country. Don't forget it is a 24/7 problem. People think that they will be OK as they have traveled in high altitude areas before, but usually it is not so constant as Tibet.In 10 days I saw a lot of people of all ages, struggling, with altitude. problems.