Le Meridian Xiamen, China [Master Thread]
Apr 28, 2010, 12:37 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PVG SIN
Posts: 79
Le Meridian Xiamen, China [Master Thread]
Recently completed a stay at this property; as there were no reviews whatsoever about this new chic hotel in southern China, hope this info could be added to the master thread list of Starwood properties and could help future FT members while researching for accommodation in Xiamen
Pre summary, it’s a long post, guest it would be more appropriate if I write a short summary for some whom choose not to read on. Le Meridian Xiamen is a beautifully designed hotel with fantastic lighting, set on a hill top enveloped in green; although the tress and bamboos are a little pre mature currently it will be lush in the near future. Services in general is top notch per what you would expect from the chain but the housekeeping and maintenance crew needs to get their act together to provide for cleaner rooms with better attention to details. The LM chain style and décor remains my favorite among the Starwoods.
The resort like hotel is situated on a hill top not far from the airport, commute time would be typically 20mins via taxi and a cost of no more than 20 CNY. Most taxi drivers will know the hill but perhaps not the exact location, it isn’t difficult to direct the drivers as the signs are very prominent, hard to miss large sign at the bottom of the hill opposite what seems like a container storage facility.
Upon arrival at the grounds, it is very welcoming with a large triple ceiling height lobby and a member of the concierge to immediately assist you with your bags. They had little red figurines all over the lobby, guess inline with the bold art theme branding. Per LM staffing rotation, it seems that there is always a floater in the entrance of the lobby whom is responsible for meeting and greeting guests to escort you to the check in counters or to be of assistance for other inquiries at other times.
There was a row of 3 well laid out check in counters after the concierge to the right of the lobby, SPG counter being at the end of the row beside a waiting area next to Latitude 24. The Latest Recipe is on the ground floor to the left of the lobby with the Le Mei Chinese fine dining on the second floor, with several nicely designed private dining rooms. U shaped building, lobby with F&B on the bottom of the U and on the left and right arms the hotel rooms. The central courtyard area has a nice water feature with the potential to be converted into a stage for functions, fashion shows and weddings, using a rock faced water feature at the top of the U as a natural looking backdrop.
During my stay, the pool and gym was not ready, there is a makeshift gym in operation some where in the building, which I did not visit due to my 1 night stay But if you fancy a full work out, I believe the hotel has a relationship with a comprehensive sports facility lower down the hill which doubles as a national ping pong training facility for southern china. It’s a 10min hike, but if you do ever need to use the facilities, you could ask the concierge to drive you down using their golf cart, in the event where there are no taxis waiting, they would gladly drive you down the hill. The team is both knowledgeable and attentive to all requests. There is a shuttle service to the shopping district, Zhong Shan road, departing several times a day.
Was efficiently presented a pre-prepared folio with my check in details, rates and room type booked, but no points balance or encouragement to spend them at the hotel per the redemption or upgrade structure. Met and escorted to the room by the DSM, explained the LM discover art card key allowing us free access to the piano museum, followed by a tour of the hotel conducted by his very professional and friendly associate. In the middle of my tour, my wife called me, mentioned she had already unpacked but just got a call from a lady with good English skills highlighting we were upgraded from the Classic room to a Jr. suite She had to repack and unpack again later, escorted and assisted by a member of the concierge this time.
The Classic room assigned on a non SPG floor was spacious enough with balconies and full length windows facing the courtyard, during the day, the water feature emits a pleasing sound of nature mimicking a waterfall and night lighting from the courtyard enchanting. Standard feature on all rooms would be an above the bed lighting mood bar, the funky colors changes every 15 sec or so, if there is a color you particularly like you could pause it and set as default. Did not particularly like the set up of the bathroom with shower and tub enclosed in frosted glass, a more open feel would be preferred per new hotels, in transparent glass with providing for blinds/curtains or a sliding door divider for privacy while delivering an illusion of space and light.
The Jr. Suite we were upgraded to was large and spacious, it has a nice view of the hill and tennis courts, we could see some uncompleted hill top villas at the back from either of the balconies in the suite, am sure they would be wonderful when done. The bed was very large, think it was 2.3m x 2.3m, with huge plush pillows, the best hotel bed thus far. Bath amenities provided were very good from a spa brand from China, large spacious bathroom per the description from the hotel web site. Also, am not sure if it was due to the exec floor set up, there was a Jamo entertainment system in the living room area and a Phillips ipod dock alarm clock by the bed.
Although the hardware of the hotel was near excellent, housekeeping and maintenance was mediocre to say the least, did not receive a turn down service of any sort and found parts of the room unattended to, in particular dust and unevenness between joints between carpets and floor boards or marble meeting points. There would be no place to hang your used towels as there isn’t a single hook present in the bathroom, they have rods either above the bathtub or on the doors to the shower cubicle, but these are large towels, hanging them on the rods, the edges would end up soaking the water residue on the floor from your shower, would like to reuse towels as much as possible but cant do so due to the lack of a simple fixture.
The western breakfast selection was above average but not great as experienced in other LM hotels. Nonetheless good illy coffee, fresh juices well made eggs, pastry and breads. The Chinese selection on the other hand was better than the western with a nice selection of soups, fried rice/noodles, congee and noodles made to order with large prawns in a hot broth. This is perhaps due to the more local client residing at the hotel but saw the dinner buffet spread at the hotel on the way out one evening, could not savor it but looked great, will try it again during my next stay.
The executive lounge is on the 6th floor of the building, currently not offering breakfasts but have a happy hour from 5 to 730pm with a large choice of spirits and wine. The facility is divided into two floors with a double height ceiling in the food and drinks counter area, light and airy glass façade with nature as a backdrop in the day and casual mood lighting in the evening. Although upgraded to an exec floor, as gold SPG, did not get to use the lounge, could not comment on the experience and quality of food. Tall and slim lounge staffs were very polite and told me off in a very nice way which was in no way offensive.
Check out was swift and efficient, with reception asking about our stay. DSM was highly professional, wanted to meet us at departure over coffee for our feedback, very nice illy iced latte by the way at Latitude 24. Gave my two cents worth on stay experience and chatted about challenges with landlords in general in hotel management and on my end running serviced apartments, similar issues, perhaps some not only isolated in china. DSM offered to escort me to my departure, nice gesture, declined as I had to locate my wife whom was roaming the grounds soaking in the last moments of the resort, not willing to head back to cosmopolitan shanghai. We loved the laid back city and the hotel and would be back again to see how it matures in the near future.
Can’t figure out how to post pictures, would like to as some of the pictures on the official site do not represent. Can anyone help?
Pre summary, it’s a long post, guest it would be more appropriate if I write a short summary for some whom choose not to read on. Le Meridian Xiamen is a beautifully designed hotel with fantastic lighting, set on a hill top enveloped in green; although the tress and bamboos are a little pre mature currently it will be lush in the near future. Services in general is top notch per what you would expect from the chain but the housekeeping and maintenance crew needs to get their act together to provide for cleaner rooms with better attention to details. The LM chain style and décor remains my favorite among the Starwoods.
The resort like hotel is situated on a hill top not far from the airport, commute time would be typically 20mins via taxi and a cost of no more than 20 CNY. Most taxi drivers will know the hill but perhaps not the exact location, it isn’t difficult to direct the drivers as the signs are very prominent, hard to miss large sign at the bottom of the hill opposite what seems like a container storage facility.
Upon arrival at the grounds, it is very welcoming with a large triple ceiling height lobby and a member of the concierge to immediately assist you with your bags. They had little red figurines all over the lobby, guess inline with the bold art theme branding. Per LM staffing rotation, it seems that there is always a floater in the entrance of the lobby whom is responsible for meeting and greeting guests to escort you to the check in counters or to be of assistance for other inquiries at other times.
There was a row of 3 well laid out check in counters after the concierge to the right of the lobby, SPG counter being at the end of the row beside a waiting area next to Latitude 24. The Latest Recipe is on the ground floor to the left of the lobby with the Le Mei Chinese fine dining on the second floor, with several nicely designed private dining rooms. U shaped building, lobby with F&B on the bottom of the U and on the left and right arms the hotel rooms. The central courtyard area has a nice water feature with the potential to be converted into a stage for functions, fashion shows and weddings, using a rock faced water feature at the top of the U as a natural looking backdrop.
During my stay, the pool and gym was not ready, there is a makeshift gym in operation some where in the building, which I did not visit due to my 1 night stay But if you fancy a full work out, I believe the hotel has a relationship with a comprehensive sports facility lower down the hill which doubles as a national ping pong training facility for southern china. It’s a 10min hike, but if you do ever need to use the facilities, you could ask the concierge to drive you down using their golf cart, in the event where there are no taxis waiting, they would gladly drive you down the hill. The team is both knowledgeable and attentive to all requests. There is a shuttle service to the shopping district, Zhong Shan road, departing several times a day.
Was efficiently presented a pre-prepared folio with my check in details, rates and room type booked, but no points balance or encouragement to spend them at the hotel per the redemption or upgrade structure. Met and escorted to the room by the DSM, explained the LM discover art card key allowing us free access to the piano museum, followed by a tour of the hotel conducted by his very professional and friendly associate. In the middle of my tour, my wife called me, mentioned she had already unpacked but just got a call from a lady with good English skills highlighting we were upgraded from the Classic room to a Jr. suite She had to repack and unpack again later, escorted and assisted by a member of the concierge this time.
The Classic room assigned on a non SPG floor was spacious enough with balconies and full length windows facing the courtyard, during the day, the water feature emits a pleasing sound of nature mimicking a waterfall and night lighting from the courtyard enchanting. Standard feature on all rooms would be an above the bed lighting mood bar, the funky colors changes every 15 sec or so, if there is a color you particularly like you could pause it and set as default. Did not particularly like the set up of the bathroom with shower and tub enclosed in frosted glass, a more open feel would be preferred per new hotels, in transparent glass with providing for blinds/curtains or a sliding door divider for privacy while delivering an illusion of space and light.
The Jr. Suite we were upgraded to was large and spacious, it has a nice view of the hill and tennis courts, we could see some uncompleted hill top villas at the back from either of the balconies in the suite, am sure they would be wonderful when done. The bed was very large, think it was 2.3m x 2.3m, with huge plush pillows, the best hotel bed thus far. Bath amenities provided were very good from a spa brand from China, large spacious bathroom per the description from the hotel web site. Also, am not sure if it was due to the exec floor set up, there was a Jamo entertainment system in the living room area and a Phillips ipod dock alarm clock by the bed.
Although the hardware of the hotel was near excellent, housekeeping and maintenance was mediocre to say the least, did not receive a turn down service of any sort and found parts of the room unattended to, in particular dust and unevenness between joints between carpets and floor boards or marble meeting points. There would be no place to hang your used towels as there isn’t a single hook present in the bathroom, they have rods either above the bathtub or on the doors to the shower cubicle, but these are large towels, hanging them on the rods, the edges would end up soaking the water residue on the floor from your shower, would like to reuse towels as much as possible but cant do so due to the lack of a simple fixture.
The western breakfast selection was above average but not great as experienced in other LM hotels. Nonetheless good illy coffee, fresh juices well made eggs, pastry and breads. The Chinese selection on the other hand was better than the western with a nice selection of soups, fried rice/noodles, congee and noodles made to order with large prawns in a hot broth. This is perhaps due to the more local client residing at the hotel but saw the dinner buffet spread at the hotel on the way out one evening, could not savor it but looked great, will try it again during my next stay.
The executive lounge is on the 6th floor of the building, currently not offering breakfasts but have a happy hour from 5 to 730pm with a large choice of spirits and wine. The facility is divided into two floors with a double height ceiling in the food and drinks counter area, light and airy glass façade with nature as a backdrop in the day and casual mood lighting in the evening. Although upgraded to an exec floor, as gold SPG, did not get to use the lounge, could not comment on the experience and quality of food. Tall and slim lounge staffs were very polite and told me off in a very nice way which was in no way offensive.
Check out was swift and efficient, with reception asking about our stay. DSM was highly professional, wanted to meet us at departure over coffee for our feedback, very nice illy iced latte by the way at Latitude 24. Gave my two cents worth on stay experience and chatted about challenges with landlords in general in hotel management and on my end running serviced apartments, similar issues, perhaps some not only isolated in china. DSM offered to escort me to my departure, nice gesture, declined as I had to locate my wife whom was roaming the grounds soaking in the last moments of the resort, not willing to head back to cosmopolitan shanghai. We loved the laid back city and the hotel and would be back again to see how it matures in the near future.
Can’t figure out how to post pictures, would like to as some of the pictures on the official site do not represent. Can anyone help?
Apr 28, 2010, 1:32 am
#2
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Singapore
Programs: SPG
Posts: 4,002
[email protected]
Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd
Apr 28, 2010, 2:51 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PVG SIN
Posts: 79
Thank you for such a detailed review. How about flickr as a photo hosting site?
[email protected]
Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd
[email protected]
Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd
Apr 28, 2010, 9:24 pm
#5
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Singapore
Programs: SPG
Posts: 4,002
[email protected]
Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd
Apr 30, 2010, 10:45 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: PVG SIN
Posts: 79
Jun 2, 2010, 4:26 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: UAL SPG Hyatt
Posts: 570
Since it is a relatively new hotel, I thought this might be helpful to see if they are responsive to feedback. I just returned from a short 1-night stay at the LM Xiamen.
(Items from previous review)
- Housekeeping. Room was spotless. I made a point to look out for the things IMZ14U pointed out in earlier review. Countertops, floor behind table, closets. No complains.
- Hooks in bathroom. I had a classic room so maybe not the same. There was a handly chrome "knob" thing from which I could hang towel/bathrobe.
(My own observations)
- PEACE & QUIET. This is a big deal to me. I had a room that faced a green hill and it was most peaceful and quiet. The general location of the hotel away from the city center (yet still within a short cab ride) makes it very attractive to me. It is really hard to find a hotel in china where you cannot hear car horns and other manmade noises.
- Location. Don't expect to be able to "walk" to anything around the hotel. 5-10 min cab ride more like it. It is pretty isolated. Good for some, not good for others.
- Restaurant. I only had the chance to try the chinese restaurant on the second floor by the lobby. Good food, reasonable prices and attentive service.
- Facilities. Pool and gym not ready. They have an agreement with the China Table Tennis Training Center down the hill to use their facilities. Will drive you there/back in a golf cart. I did not try.
- Staff. Generally excellent and responsive. I get the impression that the hotel is still very new and you don't get the jaded bunch you sometimes find in larger city hotels. Let's hope it stays that way.
- Lighting. For some reason, I find that the corridors to the rooms are very dark. It may be a LM thing but some of us can be visually challenged!
(Items from previous review)
- Housekeeping. Room was spotless. I made a point to look out for the things IMZ14U pointed out in earlier review. Countertops, floor behind table, closets. No complains.
- Hooks in bathroom. I had a classic room so maybe not the same. There was a handly chrome "knob" thing from which I could hang towel/bathrobe.
(My own observations)
- PEACE & QUIET. This is a big deal to me. I had a room that faced a green hill and it was most peaceful and quiet. The general location of the hotel away from the city center (yet still within a short cab ride) makes it very attractive to me. It is really hard to find a hotel in china where you cannot hear car horns and other manmade noises.
- Location. Don't expect to be able to "walk" to anything around the hotel. 5-10 min cab ride more like it. It is pretty isolated. Good for some, not good for others.
- Restaurant. I only had the chance to try the chinese restaurant on the second floor by the lobby. Good food, reasonable prices and attentive service.
- Facilities. Pool and gym not ready. They have an agreement with the China Table Tennis Training Center down the hill to use their facilities. Will drive you there/back in a golf cart. I did not try.
- Staff. Generally excellent and responsive. I get the impression that the hotel is still very new and you don't get the jaded bunch you sometimes find in larger city hotels. Let's hope it stays that way.
- Lighting. For some reason, I find that the corridors to the rooms are very dark. It may be a LM thing but some of us can be visually challenged!
Feb 23, 2012, 11:17 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2
As a P member, It will be upgrade the suite, the room is enough large, free tennis 1 hour, lounge, later check out and so on. the view is very beautful and location is quiet, but it's a bit difficult to take a taxi, by you can book priority in the front desk.Hope this can be helpful to you.
Jan 8, 2014, 4:16 am
#10
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia 33% of the Year
Programs: QC Life, QFF Plat No 0010XXX, AA Plat 2 MM, Sinbad Blue, HHonors Dia., Marriott Titanium, IHG Amb
Posts: 423
Have had a few short stays recently and have been very happy with the hotel and service. As a Platinum, I have been given the same room on top floor with both club access and the choice to have breakfast in the main restaurant .( May be to do with dietary choice.)
I echo many of the comments above..although it is only a short taxi ride from most things, it is quite a novel experience to be able to feel you are "escaping the city" and it's noise and crowds when you drive up the hill.
Recommended . John.
I echo many of the comments above..although it is only a short taxi ride from most things, it is quite a novel experience to be able to feel you are "escaping the city" and it's noise and crowds when you drive up the hill.
Recommended . John.
Dec 23, 2016, 6:52 am
#11
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Body in Downtown YYZ, heart and mind elsewhere
Programs: UA 50K, refugee from AC E50K, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 5,132
Hello all. An update to this thread - I just completed a stay at LM Xiamen. All in all it was not bad but unfortunately not great either. I don't think I'll go back to this property.
Upon arrival at the hotel (roughly 18h00) we got our bags out of the car and entered the rather impressive-looking lobby. No one offered to help with the bags at any point. Normally this isn't a problem, but it's an oddity for a LM and for an SPG property in general. Once the lobby, it wasn't immediately obvious where to sit while one person (me) handled the check in formalities. So the other 2 people in my party just sort of stood there with the luggage while I went to the desk. No one ever approached them to ask if they needed help or anything.
I booked and received 2 standard King rooms. So far so good. But I received 2 rooms on 2 floors. When I asked for 2 rooms on the same floor I got the ever-so-lame "we're quite full today". My SPG status was never acknowledged during check in, so I asked politely "Could you please make sure you have my SPG number on the reservation?". Answer, "Yes, it's here." So then I had to ask which floor the lounge is on. Answer, "It's on the 6th floor. Here is a letter which lets you know what time it's open." Armed with my "Dear Valued Guest" letter, we proceeded to our rooms.
The (standard King) room was suitably appointed and adequately comfortable. In line with several other LM properties, it featureed a predominately dark colour palette of black, dark brown etc. The room always felt a little on the dark side to me no matter how many lights I turned on. Still, the desk was well-lit though I found it a touch on the small side. The bathroom was also on the smaller side but quite functional and came with the usual assortment of amenities that one finds in Chinese hotels.
Internet connectivity in the room was pretty bad. I travel with a portable router which I like to plug in myself. Usually this gives me a solid and speedy connection but at LM Xiamen, I was only getting sporadic connectivity despite a constant green light on my router. Using the hotel wifi was no better - sometimes I'd get good connectivity, sometimes I'd get nothing at all.
I also had trouble keeping the room temperature properly moderated. The AC would come on, but the humidity in the room never seemed to go down despite cold air blowing my way.
It was dinner time but for the sake of simplicity we elected to dine at the hotel Chinese restaurant, Le Mei on the 2nd floor. As one would expect from a LM property, it was luxurious and comfortable. The staff spoke decent English and we had no problems placing our order. Service was quite slow though. We had ordered Chinese tea to drink and they insisted on pouring a cup then taking the pot away. To me that's fine, so long as they're attentive and keep pouring when the cups get low. But that didn't happen. So after polishing off my first cup, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, I finally got up and poured my own cup which is what I would have preferred to do in the first place. Oddly though, no one came running up to spare me the agony of pouring my own cup. So I took the pot back to the table where I wanted it. And then someone came and took it away despite my gentle protests. So over the course of dinner I had to keep getting up to pour myself more tea which struck me as inefficient. Only once in a while would someone intercept me and pour a cup for me. I found the whole thing to be silly; they should just leave the pot at the table and I can pour at my leisure.
We only ordered 3 dishes, but boy did they come slowly. I guess this was supposed to be leisurely dining but to me, that's something that really only works with Western meals where you nibble, savour, sip some wine or Champagne then repeat. Chinese food to me should come at a somewhat swifter pace but that didn't happen here.
Breakfast in the lounge was decent. There was the ever-present bacon & eggs along with some Chinese selections. I enjoyed some noodles that first day and also asked for an egg over-easy. The egg guy looked at me when I ordered; clearly English wasn't his strong point. Then again, Mandarin isn't my strong point either so we're even on that count. (And it's my fault for travelling in a country where I don't speak the local lingo. I really ought to learn some Mandarin ...) Fortunately there was a sign at the egg station which helpfully had a few numbered selections in English & Chinese. For example, #1 was well done, #2 was sunny side up, #3 was over easy etc. So I pointed to his sign at the #3 slot and said "san-ge". So he picked up his sign, read it very carefully and very slowly, repeated "san-ge" to me and I said "how". So he read his sign some more, then nodded slowly and proceeded to crack an egg into the pan. Phew!
My one criticism of breakfast is the tea selection. Xiamen is in Fujian province which is renowned for tea production. Some of the finest teas in China come from Fujian yet at LM, all they serve is Twinnings tea in little bags. LM prides itself in local art yet at this property, the best they can do is generic tea that's available anywhere.
Later in the evening we made it back for appetizers which turned out to be more of a light dinner spread. There were noodles, rice, a few meat choices, pizza (!!), breads, cheeses and some sweets. The lounge director was a lovely lady from Warsaw who has lived in Xiamen for the past 2 years. Under her guidance. the lounge attendants were running an efficient show. Food was replaced when it got low and drinks were offered discreetly. Here too I think the property could do better at showcasing some local beers - they had Carlsberg, Heineken and Tsingtao but no local brews. (I can understand not offering Chinese wine though!)
It's interesting what a difference proper leadership can make. For evening appetizers the lounge was a well-oiled machine. At breakfast though, things slipped a notch. They ran out of Jasmine tea. I asked for more and the attendant told me "We only had one bag this morning. Sorry." Fortunately I knew this wasn't the last bag of Twinnings Jasmine tea on the property since I had a couple of bags in the minbar in my room. So I asked for water instead. She looked, and looked, and looked, and finally found one bottle. She poured me one glass. And that's all I had until I got back to my room where I could make some more tea.
I also wanted some noodles at breakfast, but the chef disappeared before I could order. So I waited for a bit, then went and had some cheese & bread (while sitting in visual range of the noodle station), then waited some more, then decided to make my own noodles. Except I couldn't figure out the controls for the hot plate. So I had more cheese and bread.
It seems like I've focused on a lot of the negatives of this property. To be fair, it's a luxurious place and the grounds are nice. The courtyard is pleasantly appointed and the "back" of the property where the tennis court is (my room looked out this way) is nicely landscaped. The main buffet restaurant just off the lobby has an impressive set of offerings both for breakfast and for dinner. Despite the hotel being "quite full" I'd say the main restaurant was only ever 60% full whenever I passed by so finding a table would never have been an issue. There's a comfy-looking bar (Latitude 24) which seemed to have good drink offerings despite being 100% empty every time I walked by.
The pool area looked a little drab to me, but it was clean and functional. The gym had a number of cardio machines and some limited weight machines. The gym attendants were all very nice. I didn't go into the spa, but the lobby area looked pretty nice to me.
There's a large ballroom behind the front desk area. There were some events going on when I was there, but despite being large-scale events, there was never any noise unless you got very close to the ballroom so kudos to the soundproofing of this area.
When it came time to check out, the lady at front desk processed me quickly and without any fuss. For the first time in China, she didn't call someone to check the room and make sure I hadn't stolen the mattress or anything. Checking out of this property was like checking out of any SPG property elsewhere in the world and I appreciated their flexibility in this aspect.
In the end, it wasn't a bad stay. But they could have put me in 2 rooms on the same floor and they should have at least acknowledged my SPG status at check in. Little things, like running out of tea in the lounge, shouldn't happen. And there really ought to be someone to help with your bags, or at least offer to help. So in the end I don't think I'll return to this otherwise pleasant property. There's a Westin in town and a Sheraton as well so I think it's a good thing we have a choice.
Upon arrival at the hotel (roughly 18h00) we got our bags out of the car and entered the rather impressive-looking lobby. No one offered to help with the bags at any point. Normally this isn't a problem, but it's an oddity for a LM and for an SPG property in general. Once the lobby, it wasn't immediately obvious where to sit while one person (me) handled the check in formalities. So the other 2 people in my party just sort of stood there with the luggage while I went to the desk. No one ever approached them to ask if they needed help or anything.
I booked and received 2 standard King rooms. So far so good. But I received 2 rooms on 2 floors. When I asked for 2 rooms on the same floor I got the ever-so-lame "we're quite full today". My SPG status was never acknowledged during check in, so I asked politely "Could you please make sure you have my SPG number on the reservation?". Answer, "Yes, it's here." So then I had to ask which floor the lounge is on. Answer, "It's on the 6th floor. Here is a letter which lets you know what time it's open." Armed with my "Dear Valued Guest" letter, we proceeded to our rooms.
The (standard King) room was suitably appointed and adequately comfortable. In line with several other LM properties, it featureed a predominately dark colour palette of black, dark brown etc. The room always felt a little on the dark side to me no matter how many lights I turned on. Still, the desk was well-lit though I found it a touch on the small side. The bathroom was also on the smaller side but quite functional and came with the usual assortment of amenities that one finds in Chinese hotels.
Internet connectivity in the room was pretty bad. I travel with a portable router which I like to plug in myself. Usually this gives me a solid and speedy connection but at LM Xiamen, I was only getting sporadic connectivity despite a constant green light on my router. Using the hotel wifi was no better - sometimes I'd get good connectivity, sometimes I'd get nothing at all.
I also had trouble keeping the room temperature properly moderated. The AC would come on, but the humidity in the room never seemed to go down despite cold air blowing my way.
It was dinner time but for the sake of simplicity we elected to dine at the hotel Chinese restaurant, Le Mei on the 2nd floor. As one would expect from a LM property, it was luxurious and comfortable. The staff spoke decent English and we had no problems placing our order. Service was quite slow though. We had ordered Chinese tea to drink and they insisted on pouring a cup then taking the pot away. To me that's fine, so long as they're attentive and keep pouring when the cups get low. But that didn't happen. So after polishing off my first cup, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, I finally got up and poured my own cup which is what I would have preferred to do in the first place. Oddly though, no one came running up to spare me the agony of pouring my own cup. So I took the pot back to the table where I wanted it. And then someone came and took it away despite my gentle protests. So over the course of dinner I had to keep getting up to pour myself more tea which struck me as inefficient. Only once in a while would someone intercept me and pour a cup for me. I found the whole thing to be silly; they should just leave the pot at the table and I can pour at my leisure.
We only ordered 3 dishes, but boy did they come slowly. I guess this was supposed to be leisurely dining but to me, that's something that really only works with Western meals where you nibble, savour, sip some wine or Champagne then repeat. Chinese food to me should come at a somewhat swifter pace but that didn't happen here.
Breakfast in the lounge was decent. There was the ever-present bacon & eggs along with some Chinese selections. I enjoyed some noodles that first day and also asked for an egg over-easy. The egg guy looked at me when I ordered; clearly English wasn't his strong point. Then again, Mandarin isn't my strong point either so we're even on that count. (And it's my fault for travelling in a country where I don't speak the local lingo. I really ought to learn some Mandarin ...) Fortunately there was a sign at the egg station which helpfully had a few numbered selections in English & Chinese. For example, #1 was well done, #2 was sunny side up, #3 was over easy etc. So I pointed to his sign at the #3 slot and said "san-ge". So he picked up his sign, read it very carefully and very slowly, repeated "san-ge" to me and I said "how". So he read his sign some more, then nodded slowly and proceeded to crack an egg into the pan. Phew!
My one criticism of breakfast is the tea selection. Xiamen is in Fujian province which is renowned for tea production. Some of the finest teas in China come from Fujian yet at LM, all they serve is Twinnings tea in little bags. LM prides itself in local art yet at this property, the best they can do is generic tea that's available anywhere.
Later in the evening we made it back for appetizers which turned out to be more of a light dinner spread. There were noodles, rice, a few meat choices, pizza (!!), breads, cheeses and some sweets. The lounge director was a lovely lady from Warsaw who has lived in Xiamen for the past 2 years. Under her guidance. the lounge attendants were running an efficient show. Food was replaced when it got low and drinks were offered discreetly. Here too I think the property could do better at showcasing some local beers - they had Carlsberg, Heineken and Tsingtao but no local brews. (I can understand not offering Chinese wine though!)
It's interesting what a difference proper leadership can make. For evening appetizers the lounge was a well-oiled machine. At breakfast though, things slipped a notch. They ran out of Jasmine tea. I asked for more and the attendant told me "We only had one bag this morning. Sorry." Fortunately I knew this wasn't the last bag of Twinnings Jasmine tea on the property since I had a couple of bags in the minbar in my room. So I asked for water instead. She looked, and looked, and looked, and finally found one bottle. She poured me one glass. And that's all I had until I got back to my room where I could make some more tea.
I also wanted some noodles at breakfast, but the chef disappeared before I could order. So I waited for a bit, then went and had some cheese & bread (while sitting in visual range of the noodle station), then waited some more, then decided to make my own noodles. Except I couldn't figure out the controls for the hot plate. So I had more cheese and bread.
It seems like I've focused on a lot of the negatives of this property. To be fair, it's a luxurious place and the grounds are nice. The courtyard is pleasantly appointed and the "back" of the property where the tennis court is (my room looked out this way) is nicely landscaped. The main buffet restaurant just off the lobby has an impressive set of offerings both for breakfast and for dinner. Despite the hotel being "quite full" I'd say the main restaurant was only ever 60% full whenever I passed by so finding a table would never have been an issue. There's a comfy-looking bar (Latitude 24) which seemed to have good drink offerings despite being 100% empty every time I walked by.
The pool area looked a little drab to me, but it was clean and functional. The gym had a number of cardio machines and some limited weight machines. The gym attendants were all very nice. I didn't go into the spa, but the lobby area looked pretty nice to me.
There's a large ballroom behind the front desk area. There were some events going on when I was there, but despite being large-scale events, there was never any noise unless you got very close to the ballroom so kudos to the soundproofing of this area.
When it came time to check out, the lady at front desk processed me quickly and without any fuss. For the first time in China, she didn't call someone to check the room and make sure I hadn't stolen the mattress or anything. Checking out of this property was like checking out of any SPG property elsewhere in the world and I appreciated their flexibility in this aspect.
In the end, it wasn't a bad stay. But they could have put me in 2 rooms on the same floor and they should have at least acknowledged my SPG status at check in. Little things, like running out of tea in the lounge, shouldn't happen. And there really ought to be someone to help with your bags, or at least offer to help. So in the end I don't think I'll return to this otherwise pleasant property. There's a Westin in town and a Sheraton as well so I think it's a good thing we have a choice.
Jul 18, 2017, 3:25 am
#12
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,209
Booking a room for two people results in an additional charge for a rollaway bed
I'm staying here excitedly this coming weekend and the booking system (both mobile app and web site) produced an unusual result.
Booking a regular Superior Room with a King Bed for 2 people resulted in a mandatory (I couldn't remove it) rollaway bed being added for about 50% additional charge (room rate's ~680RMB and rollaway bed was ~350RMB each night).
Removing the additional person and booking for 1 person was the only way to book the room at the regular rate with no additional charge. Experimenting, the room could not be booked for 3 people.
Now as it happens, I am travelling alone but you never know eh?
Anyone any ideas what's going on with the reservation system? My best guess is that they have entered their inventory incorrectly and put the standard occupancy of a King Bed room to be 1 person rather than up to 2 people (hence the additional mandatory rollaway bed and inability to accept a booking for 3 people).
Lurkers: want to alert them to the fact that they've done this so they can correct this?
Booking a regular Superior Room with a King Bed for 2 people resulted in a mandatory (I couldn't remove it) rollaway bed being added for about 50% additional charge (room rate's ~680RMB and rollaway bed was ~350RMB each night).
Removing the additional person and booking for 1 person was the only way to book the room at the regular rate with no additional charge. Experimenting, the room could not be booked for 3 people.
Now as it happens, I am travelling alone but you never know eh?
Anyone any ideas what's going on with the reservation system? My best guess is that they have entered their inventory incorrectly and put the standard occupancy of a King Bed room to be 1 person rather than up to 2 people (hence the additional mandatory rollaway bed and inability to accept a booking for 3 people).
Lurkers: want to alert them to the fact that they've done this so they can correct this?
Jul 18, 2017, 7:12 am
#13
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: SPG
Posts: 713
I'm staying here excitedly this coming weekend and the booking system (both mobile app and web site) produced an unusual result.
Booking a regular Superior Room with a King Bed for 2 people resulted in a mandatory (I couldn't remove it) rollaway bed being added for about 50% additional charge (room rate's ~680RMB and rollaway bed was ~350RMB each night).
Removing the additional person and booking for 1 person was the only way to book the room at the regular rate with no additional charge. Experimenting, the room could not be booked for 3 people.
Now as it happens, I am travelling alone but you never know eh?
Anyone any ideas what's going on with the reservation system? My best guess is that they have entered their inventory incorrectly and put the standard occupancy of a King Bed room to be 1 person rather than up to 2 people (hence the additional mandatory rollaway bed and inability to accept a booking for 3 people).
Lurkers: want to alert them to the fact that they've done this so they can correct this?
Booking a regular Superior Room with a King Bed for 2 people resulted in a mandatory (I couldn't remove it) rollaway bed being added for about 50% additional charge (room rate's ~680RMB and rollaway bed was ~350RMB each night).
Removing the additional person and booking for 1 person was the only way to book the room at the regular rate with no additional charge. Experimenting, the room could not be booked for 3 people.
Now as it happens, I am travelling alone but you never know eh?
Anyone any ideas what's going on with the reservation system? My best guess is that they have entered their inventory incorrectly and put the standard occupancy of a King Bed room to be 1 person rather than up to 2 people (hence the additional mandatory rollaway bed and inability to accept a booking for 3 people).
Lurkers: want to alert them to the fact that they've done this so they can correct this?
We'd like to have a look into this, please PM us your booking details or email your them to [email protected].
Looking forward to hear from you.
Best regards,
Ahmed El Tagoury
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Jul 18, 2017, 9:24 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,209
Hi Ftrichard,
We'd like to have a look into this, please PM us your booking details or email your them to [email protected].
Looking forward to hear from you.
Best regards,
Ahmed El Tagoury
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
We'd like to have a look into this, please PM us your booking details or email your them to [email protected].
Looking forward to hear from you.
Best regards,
Ahmed El Tagoury
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Jul 27, 2017, 8:09 am
#15
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,209
I stayed here for two nights last weekend. Really nice hotel and good value.
Got upgraded to a suite which was on a par with other LeM suites in the region. The lounge was good with breakfast, afternoon tea (didn't have) and two hours of food and drink in the evening. Food was enough for a meal.
Found the location to be fine and Didi drivers had no problem picking up. No matter where you stay in Xiamen you'd probably need a car to take you around so the location didn't feel like a pain.
Only observation is that the swimming pool area seems quite run down and it's entirely indoors which I don't understand given that the city is packed full of tourists, the weather in summer is hot and sunny and there's an obvious area between the two wings that's crying out to be a swimming pool with sunbeds.
But I liked it and as a Cat 2 with lounge it would be a real bargain on points for Plats.
Got upgraded to a suite which was on a par with other LeM suites in the region. The lounge was good with breakfast, afternoon tea (didn't have) and two hours of food and drink in the evening. Food was enough for a meal.
Found the location to be fine and Didi drivers had no problem picking up. No matter where you stay in Xiamen you'd probably need a car to take you around so the location didn't feel like a pain.
Only observation is that the swimming pool area seems quite run down and it's entirely indoors which I don't understand given that the city is packed full of tourists, the weather in summer is hot and sunny and there's an obvious area between the two wings that's crying out to be a swimming pool with sunbeds.
But I liked it and as a Cat 2 with lounge it would be a real bargain on points for Plats.