Review: InterContinental Ljubljana (Slovenia)

After visiting the Baltics, I got the ball rolling to the Balkans starting in Slovenia. I’ve been interested in Slovenia for a while after looking at a picture of Lake Bled. Thus, I set base in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana and chose the InterContinental to use my Ambassador Weekend Rate and a Free Night Certificate. I’m glad that I’ve stayed here and thought that this is one of the best hotels in the city.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Booking

I booked a 3-night stay consisting of split reservations between 2-night stay from the Weekend Night from IHG Ambassador benefit and 1 night from the 40K Free Night Certificate from my IHG One Rewards Premier Business Card. I topped up a few more points for the cert to complete the redemption.

I meant to use my Confirmable Suite Upgrade, but didn’t catch that Weekend Night rates are excluded from the Terms & Conditions, thus I didn’t get an upgrade at this stay, except for a higher floor.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Location

InterContinental Ljubljana is located in the downtown area. It’s situated perfectly with the Old Town area just 5-10 minutes walk away, and the (merged) central bus/train station taking just less than 5 minutes on foot. The bus/train station will be the place for you to go on day trips like Lake Bled. Shuttles are readily available to get you to the LJU airport as well.

There’s a great place for burek across the hotel called Burek Olimpija. Burek is a traditional Balkan food that you should try. They have sweet and savory options that fit variety of personal tastes.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Check-in

I flew in from Tallinn and arrived to the hotel some time at 7pm on a Friday. Check-in was smooth, but unfortunately I did not get a meaningful upgrade from this stay. I was upgraded to the base Classic King, just at a higher floor.

I tried to confirm a rumor that InterContinental Ljubljana was one of the hotels that go above and beyond by giving access for Diamond Elites to the Club Lounge. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, or at least not anymore. I know such policy exists at certain properties, like what I experienced in InterContinental Baku in 2024.

After that, the front desk kindly informed me that Ljubljana Old Town always has an Open Kitchen Market that opens from 10am-9pm as long as the weather is nice and clear. The market consists of food stalls serving cuisines from many different parts of the world like Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Egyptian, and so on.

I quickly rushed towards my room, took pictures, and head out to Old Town. I did not expect to have Pad Thai as my first dinner in Ljubljana, but the vibes were great and I appreciated the tip from the front desk.

Adjacent to the lobby is where the Bloom Lounge is, the hotel’s main cafe that served pastries and coffee.

InterContinental Ljubljana- King Classic High Floor Room

I was assigned to a Classic Room at the 17th floor which is the highest floor for guest rooms.

The room looks well-appointed with golden hues and dark wood furnishings, matching the InterContinental theme. The bed was very comfortable and I liked how unique the blanket is prepared and presented. The sides of the bed are not covered by the blanket.

As one of the tallest hotels in Slovenia’s capital, the view was splendid with a mix of downtown skyscrapers and European-styled roofs that are in Old Town.

Rail tracks leading to the central railway station could be seen as well.

I was given a pair of chocolate pudding cake as welcome gift with the InterContinental logo on them. Sweet and delicious.

Across the bed is the TV, and it’s situated in-between a long work desk and the pantry/minibar.

As an InterContinental Ambassador, I was given a $20 credit towards food and beverage charges in property. It’s applicable to the restaurants, but with the time constraints, I decided to raid the minibar for some free drinks before checkout.

Moving towards the entry is where the closets are at. You can find bathrobes, slippers, and space to put rack of clothes in.

Across the closet is where the large bathroom area is. There’s a bathtub, heated towel racks, and giant mirrors by the sink.

A skin care set by Byredo is placed that you are free to take home if you wish.

The bathroom has a separate toilet space and walk-in shower.

The water pressure was decent, but it unfortunately drained slower than normal. If I showered for too long, water would flood outside the shower door. At least, it was a minor issue that I had in my particular room.

Overall, it was a great room other than the minor shower drainage issue. Everything else felt understated but refined.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Breakfast

Breakfast is served at the B-Restaurant on the top 20th floor. B-Restaurant itself is a Michelin-listed restaurant in Slovenia, and Ljubljana has a decent amount of fine dining options. IHG Diamond Elites can get free breakfast should they choose it as the welcome benefit in lieu of points (a no brainer choice).

Plenty of seats with colorful designs are available. QR codes are available for the breakfast a la carte menu that you can order on top of the buffet selections by the open kitchen.

On the farther end, there’s a covered terrace with semi-outdoor seating to get some nicer views of Ljubljana. You can find self-serve coffee machine near here.

Outdoor seating were unoccupied in the morning, but I bet this would be a nice place to be in the evening.

The buffet selections include typical Western breakfast like scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon. Though the burek was the highlight item for me.

Lighter items for breakfast include fruits, pastries, cold cuts, and cereal.

The drinks include orange, apple, and grapefruit juice. Though the water setup was odd where there’s just a bunch of water bottles that look similar to ones found in the guest rooms. Why couldn’t they just use the same apparatus as the juice?

I find the pastries here quite good.

The a la carte menu I tried were the truffle omelet and French toast. Both were very tasty.

Nice breakfast overall, and it never felt too crowded. The burek and pastries were particularly standout.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Gym

The gym is located on the 18th floor. It’s a big L-shaped room, and comes with varieties of cardio and strength training equipment. Pretty much most of the machines are facing the nice backdrop of the city.

InterContinental Ljubljana- Pool

The pool is on the same floor as the gym and is just behind the door across the gym. The pool itself is relatively small, and I had to get up early in the morning before it got crowded. It has a mini waterfall fountain on one end of the pool. Plenty of chairs are placed by the pool facing the window to help you feel the sun.

Ljubljana Castle can be seen from the pool.

Next to the pool is the jacuzzi where it can comfortably hold 4 people at once.

Then, there’s two sauna rooms and a steam room just across the jacuzzi.

Some pool refreshments like flavored water and tea are prepared that you can help yourselves with.

The pool area is decent overall. It offers great view but it can get crowded pretty easily due to the small size of the pool.

Conclusion

InterContinental Ljubljana is a very solid hotel situated perfectly near the city’s landmarks like the Old Town and the central bus and rail stations. The hard product is quite modern and is one of the nicer InterContinental hotels I’ve stayed at. If you’re looking for a luxury hotel in Ljubljana, you really can’t go wrong with the InterContinental. Although I had a drainage issue, that could just be that specific room I was in and it wasn’t anything major.