Stayed here overnight for a recent visit to Hangzhou as it appeared to be the closest 5-star hotel to Hangzhou East Railway station, at which my trains to/from Shanghai arrived and departed. Aside from the Moonlight and Xintiandi shopping malls, there did not appear to me any attractions in the immediate vicinity. The traffic in Hangzhou is often very heavy, and the drive to and from the above-mentioned railway station took more than ½ hour each way.
The hotel appears to be well maintained, with pristine white marble in the lobby, dominated by a central atrium staircase linking the lobby with the food and beverage outlets above. Staff appeared nervous and uncertain in speaking English, and a female receptionist did her best to communicate with me, albeit haltingly. The first room which I was allocated was extremely noisy due to the hotel’s proximity to an elevated highway, and that particular room faced that direction. I was then relocated to a room facing in the opposite direction on a higher floor, and while the noise level was lower, it was still obtrusive enough that I had to wear the earplugs which the hotel handily provides in all rooms – which is hardly surprising, as I expect that most guests are disturbed by the traffic noise. The reason why it was particularly noisy was that I had to open the window to admit some cool air, since the air-conditioning only blew warm air (hotels routinely set their ventilation systems to heating mode in winter), and there was no option for cool air. It helped to cool the room somewhat, but that, and the earplugs made for a less than satisfactory night’s sleep. This is a shame, because I found the rooms to be spacious, well-appointed and equipped with stable (though not fast) Wi-Fi, comfortable beds and with an attractive light-coloured palette.
Although the hotel is supposedly entirely non-smoking, ashtrays are provided at the lift lobbies of all floors, and I saw guests standing around them smoking, which makes a mockery of the non-smoking policy and worse, makes the corridors smell terrible, not to mention being extremely unpleasant for non-smokers. I hope that the hotel management will take urgent action regarding this issue.
Strangely, the recreation facilities (20 metre heated indoor pool and well-equipped gym) open relatively late at 09:00, which seems far too late for a business hotel (and even for many leisure travellers), however, kudos to the hotel for decent facilities.
Breakfast at the 2nd floor restaurant was rather messy – there were no staff to seat guests – once each guest had their room number verified by the host/receptionist, they were left to their own to find an empty table – this is not acceptable for a hotel that markets itself as a 5-star. There was also no system to indicate that tables were occupied while guests were getting food from the buffet – I returned to my table to find that it had been cleared and given to other guests. The food selection seemed adequate, and food was generally tasty.
The hotel offers decent value relative to its 5-star rated competitors, but I given the wide choice in Hangzhou, I would look at alternatives, primarily due to the traffic noise.
9 reviews
