Not sure if there is already a master thread for this hotel, it's recently opened - perhaps a good time to start a thread here

My wife and I both live in Shanghai and I booked this trip for her as a birthday gift. My communication with the hotel, with a very friendly and helpful lady called Kathy Wen (Club Lounge manager), went smoothly and being an SPG Gold member I got a confirmed room upgrade (from standard Club room to Panorama Club room) before our arrival. Kathy was also very helpful in arranging flowers in the room and she promised to arrange a 'surprise' upon arrival.

The hotel driver was waiting for us at Yantai airport, around 40 mins drive from the hotel. Not cheap to arrange the pickup, 500 RMB (with local taxis charging around 100 RMB), but as the hotel is remote and many drivers have no idea where it is probably convenient to arrange a pick up from the airport. No need though for the way back, just take a normal taxi.

Upon arrival - around 23.45 - it turned out Kathy had stayed after the end of her shift at 23h to await our arrival. She showed us to the room where indeed lovely flowers were waiting for my wife and the bed was nicely decorated with rose petals and two 'swans' folded from towels. Indeed a very nice surprise and many thanks to Kathy and her colleagues who arranged this!

Now, on the hotel. It's brand new (opened in February) but all facilities are open now. We had a room on the Club floor which meant we had access to the lounge for breakfast and evening 'happy hour'.

The room itself was very nice with a lovely view across the sea, however room was a little on the small side for Chinese standards. Not sure about the exact size (room descriptions have not yet been uploaded to the Starwood site...) but the total room size including bathroom must be something like 35 m2 or so. It would be useful for them to update their room details on the website so you actually know what you're booking. No balcony (none of the rooms have that surprisingly enough given the sea side setting and mild climate in Shandong, guess Chinese people are not big fans of sitting outside in the sunshine). Bathroom modern and with sea view as well although for some bizarre reason it did not have air conditioning (air conditioning in main room was fine though). Also, the water from the shower stall (lovely rain shower) seemed to flow onto the floor into the toilet stall next to it, which wasn't very practical. The bed was lovely, usual high Sheraton standard.

Service in the hotel was generally fine (or in some cases even excellent - all club lounge employees were great and helpful). As mentioned Kathy was excellent and pretty much every other hotel employee provided service with a smile. However, when we asked about actvities in the surrounding area the ladies at the reception downstairs seemed to know very little about Yantai and Penglai and gave wrong information, so would recommend to only speak to the concierge when you need information about trips. Service in the restaurants was fine, especially in the Club Lounge and in the Feast buffet restaurant. Service in the Cantonese restaurant Yue was a little patchy with the waitress not remembering anything from her own menu and the excuse that they couldn't serve fruit juice 'as the man who makes juice just popped out to see the finance team'.

Regarding food quality - the buffet restaurant Feast was excellent with a surprising large selection of food and high level of quality. Service here was also excellent. Value for money for something like 190 RMB per person. The food at Yue (Cantonese) was also very good (the scallops were myummy), however they didn't have over 50% of the seafood items on their menu. We did not try to the Japanese restaurant. The breakfast in the Club Lounge was good, a nice buffet selection with additional items we could order from a menu. The Club Lounge also opened in the afternoon between 5 and 8 and served complimentary drinks (including wine) and food. The food in the lounge was a bit of a surprise as it was a full buffet with both warm food (lamb chops, dumplings etc) and some of the best sashimi (tuna, salmon) I've had in China.

What you don't see on the official hotel pictures is that the hotel is built in a residential area at the beachfront, surrounded by large unfinished appartment buildings. It is part of the Economical Development zone in Yantai, approximately 20 minutes drive from the centre. The location itself is nice, you have to cross the street to get onto the beach. The beach itself is a bit dirty but still very nice and quiet for a long beach stroll. Don't expect resort type beaches here. They are building lots of resorts close to the Sheraton some (not Sheraton btw) advertising with grand slogans as in 'China's Hawaii' or 'the second most beautiful place in the world after the riviera'. It's a nice location, but nothing like Hawaii or the French Rivieria. If you want a beach resort go to Sanya in Hainan, not to Yantai.

Facilities of the hotel are great, nice spa, indoor swimming pool and in the changing rooms there are bubble baths (quite large) and sauna/steamrooms. The only thing lacking was any outdoors facilities, no terrace, nothing to sit outside. Perhaps a cultural thing - may be westerns are more keen on sitting in the sun than Chinese people.

We had a great time during our stay at the Sheraton and visited Yantai (but only briefly and went to see Tashan mountain, you can go to the top with a cable car and visit the pagoda right on the top of the mountain). The main attraction for us though was visiting Penglai, lots to see there with the Penglai pavillion (where you can take a scenic speed boat ride, a short hike around the pavilion and a cable car back to the starting point), the site of the 8 immortals with its surrounding temples and pagodas and several other things. We also visited the Chang Dao islands, approximately 40 minutes by ferry from Penglai (ferry leaves 5 minutes drive from the Penglai Pavillion). We only had two hours on the main island which is probably too short. Quite a large island but the north-east side if beautiful with some stunning cliffs and rock formations. Might be worth considering it for an overnight stay if you also want to visit some of the smaller islands - something we didn't do. We also visited Nanshan mountain with the large buddy on the top - very nice to see and a lovely view across the valley once you've reached the top. We also visited the winery 'Chateau Changyu' which was interesting (never realised Shandong had so many vineyards and wineries - most China's wine comes from there and there's actually some half decent stuff they produce).

So, back to the hotel - overall assessment: great people and generally very good service. Staff seem to have followed good training - perhaps lacking in experience in some cases. Very good club lounge, value for money and would recommend booking it. Very nice shiny new hotel. Design of the hotel is somewhat unremarkable and it feels a bit more like a business hotel than a holiday resort. A bit outside of Yantai but actually in you're planning to visit Penglai you're already 20 minutes drive or so in the right direction. Be prepared than Shandong is not cheap, a visit to Penglai pavillion will set you back 300-400 RMB per person in entrance fees, boat trip and cable car (all payable seperately). The site of the 8 immortals was something like 130-140 RMB per person. Basicly prices you would expect to pay in the US or in Western Europe, nothing over the top but definitely not cheap at all.

Overall assessment. I'll give it 4 stars. Highlights were the great service, the club lounge and its service and the food at the buffet. Spa facilities were also very nice. The only things that stopped me from giving it 5 stars were the somewhat small size of the room (we had a Club Panarama King Room), the location, surrounded by high rise apartment buildings and the lack of any outdoors terrace (which they do have space for, they have a large front garden they could use to open a small terrace).

I have posted some pictures on Tripadvisor.

Matt.