Originally Posted by
point bonita lighthouse
Thanks JKC22,
Sorry to hear about your difficulties--- we have all been there. We greatly appreciate your insights.
If you have time what is your perspective on the physical infrastructure potential of the hotel? Are the rooms spacious with light and views? Has it been furnished attractively? Thanks
The infrastructure is done nicely (albeit the shower and A/C malfunctioned during my short stay there). It's actually rather tastefully redone, and the interiors are really classy. The serious shortcomings of this hotel are in its staff - at all levels. Even the FO Manager I spoke to sounded inexperienced at best, disinterested in hearing my complaints shortly after checking in.
What bothered me are the service laspes, some examples:
1. There's no working gym or spa at the hotel yet, the Concierge said that I could pay RMB150 out of my own pocket and access two nearby facilities at which they have agreement.
2. After calling the FO Manger I found that I will be reimbursed for the fees paid should I use the facilities. The off site facilities are not really desirable options (quite inconvenient). The Peninsula facilities would be comparable offerings, but that was not the case.
3. NO WHERE and NOT ONCE was the lack of a spa and gym mentioned when I booked the reservation for my upcoming stay - this bothered me the most, as I was fully expecting a full service hotel.
4. On arrival there was no staff to anticipate my needs. This is further complicated by the fact that the driveway/porte cochere is not yet fully complete/operational.
5. Check in area was a zoo due to inexperienced staff. Thank goodness a FPC agent escorted me to my room immediately. BUT - the bell staff and the front desk staff seem puzzled as I had left the check-in area and didn't know what to do......
6. I had to send laundry back twice due to not being cleaned properly.
7. Highly inconsistent service at restaurants.
8. I had a billing error at check out that took over 30 minutes and a call to the Canadian call centers to sort out. Thank goodness I wasn't in a hurry for a flight.....
The Peninsula a few doors down where I had two meals trumps this place in the F&B offerings. The Chinese restaurant (Dragon Phoenix) while good, is not up to the same caliber as that at the Peninsula (Yi Long). All staff I ran into at the Peace hotel and the managers I spoke to mentioned the Peninsula as their primary competitor. Pity, they are a LONG way from being a worthy competitor to the Peninsula - it has nothing to worry about for at least a good year or two.
If you are not booking the premium suites (Sassoon, Nine Nations, Bund View Suite, etc.) you will be looking at the buildings across the street due to the orientation of the building. The best views are actually found at the Chinese restaurant Dragon Phoenix (8th Floor, full frontal view of Bund), and the Cathay Room (9th Floor), and the Peace Hall (absolutely beautiful architecture).
Fairmont is in its best interest to stop marketing this hotel as being fully operational.