The owner does play a fair share on budgeting. The property is long overdue for a full refurbishment, and Jinmao’s hotel portfolio all over China have more or less deteriorated over the past few years thanks to tight budgeting decisions, see HR Chongming, JW Marriott Shenzhen and the once Grand Hyatt Lijiang as prime examples (though Hyatt’s desperation in increasing UBC’s footprint did play a part for the Lijiang case). It’s really, really unfair to say Jinmao is relatively hands off.

GH Shenzhen didn’t have a GM for over a year from April 2021 till summer last year when Richard Li took over, yet everything’s ever so smooth and no discernible deteriorations can be found thanks to an owner (China Resources) with mass financial backgrounds with a reputation of not skimming in hotel operations (their DOR did do a remarkable job as the acting manager).

Hyatt did have a reputation in the region years ago for tight management and in many cases overshadowing owner inputs (which often does great for quality-seeking consumers and Hyatt’s brand image), but sadly that culture has long gone.