Well, my stay is over, and I'm happy to report things have changed drastically!

In short: It was a very good stay.

Before the stay:
In the cheapest booking category there were only twin rooms available, double rooms were booked out. I booked a twin room and wrote an email, asking about the possibility of a change to double room in case of a room upgrade. The email was promptly answered and my request noted, also assuring me that all platinum benefits would be granted. Definitely a good start.

Arrival:
A note of warning: If you want to get there by subway and have some heavy luggage... don't. On a map it looks conveniently close to the next subway stop - and it is! BUT the streets in between don't have crosswalks (and they have fences so you can't just walk over them). Instead they have little subways, without escalators. Hardest 300m of my life.

The area around the hotel doesn't look very fresh anymore (old-ish buildings, not kept very well in shape), neither does the hotel from outside. However, as soon as they see you approach, they will sprint for help with the luggage. So that's a nice first impression.

Check-In:
Check-in was busy but no one in the priority line. It took a minute or so until an agent was free to check me in, so far so good. On check-in I asked again about the upgrade and change to double bed instead of twin. She checked my reservation sheet and told me i was already upgraded. They also had all the room cards and welcome drink voucher ready already. ^ Well prepared, quick check in.

The room
Judging from descriptions of earlier reports, it seems that this hotel has undergone renovation (including the elevators which are decidedly un-1980s now.). Everything feels clean, "modern" (well, this french-sofitel-modern style that seems standard in most sofitels).
This also applies to the rooms. I got a luxury club room with queen bed, which was, again, clean and normal. Exactly what I would expect in a sofitel.

Upon entering, the first thing I saw was a bottle of Perrier on the sideboard and this:



.. Now, you may call me "easy to please" all you want, but when I see that upon entering a room, I will smile. A lot. Too sad I was alone and in less-than-ideal health. Despite that, and for the benefit of FT, I tried some anyway. It was a pleasant little sip which I would've gladly had more of, if i was in the mood for it ^

On the nightstand was a small bottle of evian, as well as two bottles Nongfu Spring water (good chinese brand) in the bathroom. The latter were replaced all the time, Evian and Perrier was one off.

The room was not too cramped but also not overly spaceous at around 30-35sqm, but it was furnished in a way that really made it feel like the space was well used. Nothing felt "in the way" or anything like that.
The bathroom was fully stocked with everything (something I do enjoy since I don't usually pack shaving gear, and am not a fan of calling room service late at night for just a little shaver)

On a little table by the chair, there were petit fours and fruit:



There was also a personally addressed letter from the GM, explaining all the benefits. This was a bit too much though, since the letter explicitly stated that he or some kind of assistant manager would call me during my stay to see if everything is alright, and that there would be a personal greeting by GM or some other manager during check-in. Both of that did not happen. I don't care, but don't advertise it if you can't guarantee it..

I apologize for not taking any pictures of the room, that somehow didn't come to mind.

Lounge
The Platinum benefits included lounge access, which serves breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails. The lounge itself is beautiful, quite big, with a panoramic window front towards the lake. There is also the option of sitting outside. Sadly it was rainy when I was there, but you get the gist:



and the lounge itself towards the food:



The food offering was not extremely huge, but definitely satisfactory. For evening canapes there were usually 2 warm dishes (fried chicken pieces and some other fried stuff), a selection of cheese, fruit and some other nibbles and things. Here some impressions:







Breakfast was also nice, with, again, a small but good selection of cold cuts, cheese, breads, chinese hot dishes (porridge). You can also order egg dishes, but they are not really advertised. I'm not generally one to request things I'm not offered in some way, so I only found that out on the second morning
They also bring you a delightful little bread basket with very tasty pain au chocolat.






Staff
The staff were delightful! Easy and simple. The only thing I would maybe have to criticise would be slightly inattentive lounge staff:
On the first morning, after asking my room number, I had the misfortune of sitting down on a not-completely-laid-out table. The result was that no one came to ask me for coffee/tea, bring me a bread basket or anything alike.
This was completely different the second day, so I would take it as a one-off.

Check-out
Check out was just a simple, really. Stangely enough, I was asked to pay 40RMB "room charge" (on a pre-paid charge)... I didn't think clearly and just paid, because I thought maybe those 40rmb got lost somewhere in the payment process or whatever... A minute later, while waiting for my taxi, a member of staff hurried towards me and gave me back my 40rmb, apologizing for their mistake. ^

Final thoughts
This property has listened to complaints - or gotten a new GM who knows how to run things properly. It's a modern, very conveniently located hotel, and it could serve as a good example on how to treat Platinum customers properly. I would definitely return again.

EDIT: small detail I forgot to mention: The newspaper was in Chinese on the first morning, no newspaper on the second morning. Since they have pressreader this wasn't an issue at all, really.