Nov 12, 2014, 6:17 am
Last edit by: thomasito
Update: Hotel leaving Marriott 31st January 2019
SPG INSTANT AWARDS
Room
Smoking Policy
As of June 1, 2015, smoking is no longer permitted within guest rooms and the rest of the hotel premises, in accordance with Beijing Tobacco Control Regulations. Smoking is allowed only at designated smoking areas outside the hotel building.
SPG INSTANT AWARDS
Room
- Late Check Out to 18:00pm - 1500
- Room Upgrade to Spectacular - 1500
- Room Upgrade to Cool Corner - 2500
- Room Upgrade to Fantastic Suite - 12000
- Room Upgrade to Marvelous Suite - 18000
- Airport Service One Way Pickup or Dropoff - BMW 5 - 10500
- Limousine Rental 4h - BMW 5 - 14250
- Buffet breakfast - 3000
- Buffet lunch - 2250
- Selection of Cocktail - 750
- VCP Champagne - 12000
- Away Body Treatment (90 min massage) - 12000
- Away Facial - 8000
- Robe - 6000
- Bath rug- 3000
Smoking Policy
As of June 1, 2015, smoking is no longer permitted within guest rooms and the rest of the hotel premises, in accordance with Beijing Tobacco Control Regulations. Smoking is allowed only at designated smoking areas outside the hotel building.
W Beijing - Chang'an [Master Thread]
Apr 15, 2015, 9:45 pm
#31
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
Horrid. English skills for all staff excluding the ones on the front desk was tragic.
Plat upgrade from a Wonderful to a Superior room despite 9+ suites and Cool Corner rooms available. Important to note that I stayed in six SPG hotels in China this trip, and this new W Beijing - Chang'An was the ONLY one that did not upgrade to a suite ... also appeared to be the most quiet property. The Superior room was rather nice, although it is quite literally 1 room, bathroom and bed all together -- not so good if you're a fan of privacy. No mention of Platinum amenity or points at check in. They had troubles processing my Amex and double charged me CNY 2500.
Breakfast was small and mostly catered to an Chinese audience -- they had about 10 different types of flavored ice creams but not even any cereal. Not well thought out set up either, e.g. no tongs for pancakes and waffles, etc. It just seemed like the staff didn't really know what they were doing.
Despite previous reviews on here and elsewhere, I didn't experience any issues with the wifi or speed -- they must have promptly remediated whatever network issues they were having.
Hotel felt generally rather empty. A lot of taxis didn't know the hotel's location, or had troubles getting to the entrance from the labyrinth of roads around it.
Room rate is higher than the St Regis Beijing, which is rather sad, since I found to be a stunning property with incredible service. As an Australian, I even met the opposition party leader and his cabal at the SR's buffet breakfast one morning during my stay.
I certainly can't recommend the W Beijing at this point. Not even for a night just to see what it's all about.
Plat upgrade from a Wonderful to a Superior room despite 9+ suites and Cool Corner rooms available. Important to note that I stayed in six SPG hotels in China this trip, and this new W Beijing - Chang'An was the ONLY one that did not upgrade to a suite ... also appeared to be the most quiet property. The Superior room was rather nice, although it is quite literally 1 room, bathroom and bed all together -- not so good if you're a fan of privacy. No mention of Platinum amenity or points at check in. They had troubles processing my Amex and double charged me CNY 2500.
Breakfast was small and mostly catered to an Chinese audience -- they had about 10 different types of flavored ice creams but not even any cereal. Not well thought out set up either, e.g. no tongs for pancakes and waffles, etc. It just seemed like the staff didn't really know what they were doing.
Despite previous reviews on here and elsewhere, I didn't experience any issues with the wifi or speed -- they must have promptly remediated whatever network issues they were having.
Hotel felt generally rather empty. A lot of taxis didn't know the hotel's location, or had troubles getting to the entrance from the labyrinth of roads around it.
Room rate is higher than the St Regis Beijing, which is rather sad, since I found to be a stunning property with incredible service. As an Australian, I even met the opposition party leader and his cabal at the SR's buffet breakfast one morning during my stay.
I certainly can't recommend the W Beijing at this point. Not even for a night just to see what it's all about.
Last edited by zzap; Apr 15, 2015 at 9:56 pm
Apr 15, 2015, 9:53 pm
#32
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
Here's a few photos I snapped:
This was on the desk on our arrival. Two insanely large macarons, representing headphones on a record.
Spectacular room.
Spectacular room.
This was pretty cool. A touch sensitive dial that allowed you to change the color of the lights of the room. This was previously mentioned earlier in this thread.
The lobby bar. The entrance is directly to the right of the camera, and the check in desks to the left. The elevators are next to the dark couches on the left of the image.
180 degrees around from the previous photo, facing the W store. Entrance is to the left, check in desks just out of shot to the right.
This was on the desk on our arrival. Two insanely large macarons, representing headphones on a record.
Spectacular room.
Spectacular room.
This was pretty cool. A touch sensitive dial that allowed you to change the color of the lights of the room. This was previously mentioned earlier in this thread.
The lobby bar. The entrance is directly to the right of the camera, and the check in desks to the left. The elevators are next to the dark couches on the left of the image.
180 degrees around from the previous photo, facing the W store. Entrance is to the left, check in desks just out of shot to the right.
Apr 15, 2015, 10:05 pm
#33
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
I should also note that I emailed this property's W Insider, Jill Jiao, about 3 days before my trip, and I still haven't heard a response. Even her email address was wrong on the property's site (they had misspelt "Beijing" in her email address). I told the @spg Twitter account about the misspelling and it appears the address has been corrected now ... but why did she not write back? Does Jill even exist?
Apr 16, 2015, 8:04 am
#35
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: PIT-SCE-AOO-PHL-NYC-WAS
Programs: free agent
Posts: 1,033
TPG blogger make it sound like it's all rosy during his stay at this property. Pictures look stunning, but I would care more about experiences. Thankfully, didn't book with this property for our AA mistake fare trip.
Apr 16, 2015, 5:15 pm
#36
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
I see he has taken a photo of the token chocolate fountain at breakfast. Sure, that's great for a photo, but when the only bread on offer is thicker than what fits in the toaster, and there's no cereal, etc. can one really say that it's a decent breakfast? Perhaps he means "bonkers" as in "ridiculous".
The W may have put on their best service, behavior and food out for the "opening party" that The Points Guy is attending there, because his experience is seriously dissimilar to mine. The visuals of the property are stunning, especially at night, as you'd expect for a building just a few months old; it's the quality of service and offerings that let it down.
May 6, 2015, 12:08 am
#37
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Was here for 1 night, verified Platinums do get buffet breakfast in the restaurant + choice of 500 points or local gift (currently it's a stuffed toy rabbit and I forgot to take a picture of it....). Already updated the Platinum Breakfast thread.
Take note if using a Visa or Mastercard here, you are prone to DCC (like most of China). Make sure you tell the frontdesk at checkout to charge in CNY (RMB). They will do the necessary. As my flight out was around midnight I hung around the Kitchen Table and W Lobby Bar. They use a portable card terminal and Kitchen Table charged me in my local currency SGD due to DCC. At W Lobby Bar, I took a look at their portable terminal and noticed it prompted to charge in my card currency SGD instead of local CNY. I quickly told the waitress to try press the X (for cancel) just to try out and next it prompted if I wanted to be charged in RMB which you just need to press 1 or Yes. I was then charged in RMB instead. So it seems only FrontDesk is familiar with the procedure but not the rest of the venues.
Will upload pictures to my Flickr Album when I get a chance.
Take note if using a Visa or Mastercard here, you are prone to DCC (like most of China). Make sure you tell the frontdesk at checkout to charge in CNY (RMB). They will do the necessary. As my flight out was around midnight I hung around the Kitchen Table and W Lobby Bar. They use a portable card terminal and Kitchen Table charged me in my local currency SGD due to DCC. At W Lobby Bar, I took a look at their portable terminal and noticed it prompted to charge in my card currency SGD instead of local CNY. I quickly told the waitress to try press the X (for cancel) just to try out and next it prompted if I wanted to be charged in RMB which you just need to press 1 or Yes. I was then charged in RMB instead. So it seems only FrontDesk is familiar with the procedure but not the rest of the venues.
Will upload pictures to my Flickr Album when I get a chance.
Last edited by lcpteck; May 6, 2015 at 12:23 am Reason: update on DCC.
May 30, 2015, 5:10 pm
#40
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: MHT/BOS
Programs: AA EXP; UA 1P
Posts: 200
I spent two nights at this hotel this week and came away unimpressed. I probably would not return.
The physical property was great, though.I like the modern style of the rooms and the common areas. I was in a standard room. The bathroom was enormous and well-equipped. The color-changing backdrop behind the bed was lots of fun. The air conditioning worked well and quickly. The internet was usually fast (though my VPN did intermittently drop out —.not sure if it was a problem with the W or with my VPN).
In two days, though, I experienced enough service issues that I would avoid the hotel in the future. First, my initial key did not work; a staff member on the floor near my room intercepted me and called down, but the front desk couldn't really understand what I was saying over the phone and started asking me extensive questions before they could issue a key, so I ended up just going down to the front desk again. Second, I tried to order room service, and it took speaking to three people and repeating my order about a dozen times before someone understood what I was ordering. (A croque monsieur, which I agree is not a friendly-sounding item when there is a language barrier, but it was on their menu. And, by the way, the thing I got was not a croque monsieur; it was a ham-and-cheese sandwich on toast.) Third, I had lunch at the Kitchen Table buffet restaurant, and with no explanation they seated me as the only person in a side dining room, rather than in the bustling main dining room. There was a tech conference in the hotel at the time, so they may have wanted to keep a hotel guest separate from the conference diners, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. (The food itself was only okay —.weirdly dessert-heavy, as others have mentioned.) Fourth, I had two dining vouchers from check-in, which I tried to use at the end of my lunch. I was told I could only use one per meal, and that it was in the terms on the back of the vouchers. (It wasn't.) I asked the waitress to send a manager over, and she went off and came back and said okay, I could use both. Fifth, at the end of my stay I asked the doorman for a taxi to the airport. He called a taxi but didn't tell the driver where I needed to go.
Sorry for the long-winded write-up, but overall the hotel struck me as needing a little more polish on the service before I would return.
The physical property was great, though.I like the modern style of the rooms and the common areas. I was in a standard room. The bathroom was enormous and well-equipped. The color-changing backdrop behind the bed was lots of fun. The air conditioning worked well and quickly. The internet was usually fast (though my VPN did intermittently drop out —.not sure if it was a problem with the W or with my VPN).
In two days, though, I experienced enough service issues that I would avoid the hotel in the future. First, my initial key did not work; a staff member on the floor near my room intercepted me and called down, but the front desk couldn't really understand what I was saying over the phone and started asking me extensive questions before they could issue a key, so I ended up just going down to the front desk again. Second, I tried to order room service, and it took speaking to three people and repeating my order about a dozen times before someone understood what I was ordering. (A croque monsieur, which I agree is not a friendly-sounding item when there is a language barrier, but it was on their menu. And, by the way, the thing I got was not a croque monsieur; it was a ham-and-cheese sandwich on toast.) Third, I had lunch at the Kitchen Table buffet restaurant, and with no explanation they seated me as the only person in a side dining room, rather than in the bustling main dining room. There was a tech conference in the hotel at the time, so they may have wanted to keep a hotel guest separate from the conference diners, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. (The food itself was only okay —.weirdly dessert-heavy, as others have mentioned.) Fourth, I had two dining vouchers from check-in, which I tried to use at the end of my lunch. I was told I could only use one per meal, and that it was in the terms on the back of the vouchers. (It wasn't.) I asked the waitress to send a manager over, and she went off and came back and said okay, I could use both. Fifth, at the end of my stay I asked the doorman for a taxi to the airport. He called a taxi but didn't tell the driver where I needed to go.
Sorry for the long-winded write-up, but overall the hotel struck me as needing a little more polish on the service before I would return.
May 30, 2015, 5:23 pm
#41
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,991
I spent two nights at this hotel this week and came away unimpressed. I probably would not return.
The physical property was great, though.I like the modern style of the rooms and the common areas. I was in a standard room. The bathroom was enormous and well-equipped. The color-changing backdrop behind the bed was lots of fun. The air conditioning worked well and quickly. The internet was usually fast (though my VPN did intermittently drop out —.not sure if it was a problem with the W or with my VPN).
In two days, though, I experienced enough service issues that I would avoid the hotel in the future. First, my initial key did not work; a staff member on the floor near my room intercepted me and called down, but the front desk couldn't really understand what I was saying over the phone and started asking me extensive questions before they could issue a key, so I ended up just going down to the front desk again. Second, I tried to order room service, and it took speaking to three people and repeating my order about a dozen times before someone understood what I was ordering. (A croque monsieur, which I agree is not a friendly-sounding item when there is a language barrier, but it was on their menu. And, by the way, the thing I got was not a croque monsieur; it was a ham-and-cheese sandwich on toast.) Third, I had lunch at the Kitchen Table buffet restaurant, and with no explanation they seated me as the only person in a side dining room, rather than in the bustling main dining room. There was a tech conference in the hotel at the time, so they may have wanted to keep a hotel guest separate from the conference diners, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. (The food itself was only okay —.weirdly dessert-heavy, as others have mentioned.) Fourth, I had two dining vouchers from check-in, which I tried to use at the end of my lunch. I was told I could only use one per meal, and that it was in the terms on the back of the vouchers. (It wasn't.) I asked the waitress to send a manager over, and she went off and came back and said okay, I could use both. Fifth, at the end of my stay I asked the doorman for a taxi to the airport. He called a taxi but didn't tell the driver where I needed to go.
Sorry for the long-winded write-up, but overall the hotel struck me as needing a little more polish on the service before I would return.
The physical property was great, though.I like the modern style of the rooms and the common areas. I was in a standard room. The bathroom was enormous and well-equipped. The color-changing backdrop behind the bed was lots of fun. The air conditioning worked well and quickly. The internet was usually fast (though my VPN did intermittently drop out —.not sure if it was a problem with the W or with my VPN).
In two days, though, I experienced enough service issues that I would avoid the hotel in the future. First, my initial key did not work; a staff member on the floor near my room intercepted me and called down, but the front desk couldn't really understand what I was saying over the phone and started asking me extensive questions before they could issue a key, so I ended up just going down to the front desk again. Second, I tried to order room service, and it took speaking to three people and repeating my order about a dozen times before someone understood what I was ordering. (A croque monsieur, which I agree is not a friendly-sounding item when there is a language barrier, but it was on their menu. And, by the way, the thing I got was not a croque monsieur; it was a ham-and-cheese sandwich on toast.) Third, I had lunch at the Kitchen Table buffet restaurant, and with no explanation they seated me as the only person in a side dining room, rather than in the bustling main dining room. There was a tech conference in the hotel at the time, so they may have wanted to keep a hotel guest separate from the conference diners, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. (The food itself was only okay —.weirdly dessert-heavy, as others have mentioned.) Fourth, I had two dining vouchers from check-in, which I tried to use at the end of my lunch. I was told I could only use one per meal, and that it was in the terms on the back of the vouchers. (It wasn't.) I asked the waitress to send a manager over, and she went off and came back and said okay, I could use both. Fifth, at the end of my stay I asked the doorman for a taxi to the airport. He called a taxi but didn't tell the driver where I needed to go.
Sorry for the long-winded write-up, but overall the hotel struck me as needing a little more polish on the service before I would return.
May 30, 2015, 11:09 pm
#43
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Bangkok/Singapore
Programs: Frantic Hilton/Marriott runs
Posts: 925
I visited a friend who was staying there whose spoken Chinese was nil. (In his defence, it was his first trip to China and he thought there will be people at the W Beijing who speak English.)
He asked me to translate to the housekeeping to remove the Cosmo that he made upon his arrival 3 days ago. The welcome fruit platter was also still there. Guess they think westerners like rotting apples.
Down at the spa, the jacuzzi at the men's is still empty 6 months after opening. The wet marble floor is a litigation claim waiting to happen.
I won't spend money on this place.
He asked me to translate to the housekeeping to remove the Cosmo that he made upon his arrival 3 days ago. The welcome fruit platter was also still there. Guess they think westerners like rotting apples.
Down at the spa, the jacuzzi at the men's is still empty 6 months after opening. The wet marble floor is a litigation claim waiting to happen.
I won't spend money on this place.
May 31, 2015, 1:14 am
#45
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
I'm getting some malicious enjoyment from observing that others are finally reporting bad experiences of this property. After posting here that I had a poor stay, The Points Guy and Lucky from OMaaT blogged about how amazing their experience was at this property and I thought I must have accidentally stayed at some duplicitous W knockoff!