Four months after opening, I stayed at the W Guangzhou for the second time, and must say that while the hardware is excellent, the software -- the people and service they provide -- is still appallingly substandard and perfunctory compared with the other Ws, at least in Asia.

I'd suggest that they send their staff across the border to W Hong Kong to learn from their shining example of top-notch customer service.

And if the first W in Mainland China is any indication of what we can expect of the Ws in Beijing and Shanghai, then I'll probably stick to the Westins and Le Meridiens there.

I'd strongly recommend avoiding the W GZ until they improve standards of their staff.