Our first stay here since the change in ownership and a lot of things have changed. First, the hotel was completely sold out. In the past it has gotten quite full on weekends when there are lots of weddings or when there’s a big event at Intex next door, but completely sold out for this time of year is rare. As RTW mentioned above, busloads of package tour groups from Asia arrived throughout the day. I suspect that the new owners, who are based in Hong Kong, have contracted with some travel agencies to increase occupancy. This is really pushing up rates for near-in reservations.

The RC lounge in the lobby had at least double the number of guests in the evening as would have fit into the lounge on the 26th floor, and yet the seating is spacious and there’s no intrusion from others’ conversations. Food offerings (6 to 8 pm) included smoked swordfish, smoked duck, guacamole, and breads to go with the cheeses, as well as other things. Nothing you could call top quality, but 10 times better than previously. I think it would be easy to make a light meal of it. It is also much easier to linger well past the 8 pm closing, since they are not rushing as much to close off the room.

During the day RC guests can have beverage services in the lobby lounge during its public opening hours (11-5 weekdays and 9-5 Sat, Sun, and holidays). No self-service beverages, but one addition is a selection of juices. In the 26th floor lounge there was no complimentary juice, so this change will make guests with kids happy. The lobby lounge used to have a dessert buffet for the general public on weekends, but they are stopping that because some RC guests tended to think it was complimentary and were helping themselves.

The 26th floor lounge is still open (I think the hours were 7-5) for self-service coffee and tea, so it is a quiet place to read the newspaper or maybe have a meeting. I imagine that the wi-fi still works as well.

Another big change is the dining options. The Italian restaurant is now closed for dinner, the bakery/gift shop, which also had salads and sandwiches, is closed completely. The Chinese restaurant on the 28th floor, which was the hotel’s signature restaurant when it opened, is also closed completely. The menu at the Bay Lounge restaurant on the 28th floor has been significantly cut down, and the ala carte menu at the Japanese restaurant has been reduced to just a small selection of sushi and sashimi. They’ve also discontinued 24-hour room service and that menu to has been significantly shortened.

There will definitely be more changes to come. The staff are saying that they’re being told something different every day. No one seems to expect things to actually settle down until at least the August holiday season.