Here are
some photos I took at PH Ningbo.
Before my arrival
I took bus from Shanghai South Railway Station to Ningbo South Bus Station, and then taxi from Ningbo South Bus Station to PH Ningbo. I did this because I wanted to see the 35 km-long
Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which the bus drives through. Unfortunately, it was raining the day I went to Ningbo, so I did not get to see much.
The taxi driver had no problem reaching Dong Qian Lake, but had great difficulty finding Dayan Road where PH Ningbo is located. Luckily I had my iPhone/Google Map with me so I was able to point him to the right direction. For newcomers, however, I strongly recommend you bring the Chinese address and a map of the hotel with youu. This will save a lot of hassle.
My check-in experience
The taxi driver and I had problem finding the hotel lobby. There were plenty of road signs in the hotel area, but the words were really small. We could not read the words as the rain was really heavy.
At the end, the driver dropped me in front of a building that looked like the hotel lobby. It turned out the lobby was somewhere else, so I had to walk with my luggage in the rain for 100 meters before actually arriving at the 'real lobby'.
A staff was stationed outside and he helped me carry my luggage into the hotel. There were three desks at the reception. Four handsome staff were standing behind two of the reception desks. Their eyes were gleaming with excitement when I walked into the hotel. It was as if they had been longing for a guest to do check-in (this is soft opening afterall and there are few guests staying at this hotel).
The staff realised that I was a Diamond. She apologised for the fact that I would not be able to get points or stay credits during the hotel's soft opening. She said that however, she could comp breakfast and upgrade my standard room to a suite. I told her that this was more than okay.
The General Manager, the Executive Assistant Manager of Rooms, and the Front Office Manager then came out to greet me. They told me that they had been longing for my arrival and once again apologized for the many inconvenience at the hotel due to soft opening. They kindly walked me to me room, which made me feel like I was a VIP.
Room
I was given suite 213. Apparently, it was the largest suite with the best view in the hotel right at this moment.
When I opened the door, I realised the suite was HUGE!! I don't know the exact dimension, but I think the area was at least 100 sqm (120 sqm including the balcony). Unfortunately I could not verify the information as the room dimension information is still not yet available on the PH Ningbo website.
On the right of the entrance, there was a guest toilet with a
TOTO Neorest 600 and a washing basin.
As I walked into the suite, I could see a huge sitting room with two long sofas, a coffee table, a 40-inch Philips flatscreen TV and a Bose DVD player; a drinking bar with a wooden bar table, four bar chairs, a normal-household-size fridge, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making facilities and a washing basin; and a balcony with a wooden rocking chair, a wall mirror, a ceiling fan, a balcony table and two balcony chairs.
Diamond amenities were a bottle of wine, six red apples, a jar of chocolate cookies placed on top of cinnamon sticks, six
Pocari Sweat and six madeleine cakes.
When I walked into the bedroom, I found a king-size bed with Simmons (I
checked) mattress with white textured cotton bed sheets and four pillows, another 40-inch Philips flatscreen TV, a
Bose iPod docking station, two phones, a clock, and a dressing area behind the bed.
Next to the bedroom is an open bathroom with a large bathing tub, two washing basins, another toilet with TOTO Neorest 600, and a shower/steam room area. The
bath amenities were
Le Labo Bergamote 22.
Curtains and window screens were automatic. Power sockets were plentiful and multi adaptable (i.e. you don't need to bring your own power adaptor). Hair dryer was a weak 1200-watt hotel hair dryer.
Guest services
PH Ningbo has the best guest services I have ever experienced in China. People who are used to travelling in China would know that services is usually a weakness in Chinese hotels. However, I felt that I was in the hands of professionals and that they would take care of everything for me whilst staying at this property. This was the same feeling I got when I was staying at PH's such as PH Seoul and PH Saigon -- not PH Shanghai unfortunately.
Getting a taxi was easy. I would ring the conceirge 30 minutes in advance and they would take care of everything for me.
I also asked the staff about bike rental as I wanted to do cycling around Dong Qian Lake. The staff kindly arranged the bikes for me on two occasions. They provided me with a local map and advised me on the best route to take.
On one day, the chain on my bike came off and I was stuck in front of Fuquan Shan area, 14.5 km away from the hotel. It was raining and I had no choice but to ring the hotel for help. The concierge immediately notified the Assistant Front Office Manager, and he came to pick me up in a Mercedes Benz van. He kept on apologizing for what happened to the bike, despite the fact that I broke the bike.
When I got into the car, the AFOM offered me water and tissue papers. When I arrived at the hotel entrance, I found two staff already waiting outside the hotel entrance with a tray of cold towels in their hands. Again they apologized for what happened to the bike. I felt so embarassed because I was the one who broke the bike and caused all the hassle. At the same time, I was so grateful for the care and kindness of the staff at PH Ningbo.
Dining
Food at PH Ningbo was phenomenal! I have dined at other PH's before; the food was good, but the price was really expensive and the taste rarely wowed me. I came to PH Ningbo with no expectation and I was completely overwhelmed.
I have dined six times at the Dining Room. My personal favourites at dinner include: french fries, pork wonton in chicken soup, pan fried dumplings, xiao long bao, Ningbo roasted vegetables, seafood steamed egg, Caesar salad and mushroom soup. My favourites at breakfast include chicken congee, danish, xiao long bao and fresh fruits.
The price and serving size were extremely reasonable tpp. For example, the pork wonton in chicken soup I ordered one night was HUGE -- and costs only 55 RMB! The waitress split the wontons in two bowls, and each bowl still had like eight wontons in a big bowl of chicken soup. Mushroom risotto and mash potato as side dish were 35 RMB each. Caesar salad was around 90 RMB.
The food was so good I had no problem dining at the hotel every meal everyday. Water was a bit expensive though -- 80 RMB for a 875mL bottle of
Saratoga!