I checked into the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai on November 26 and just too many things went wrong. Now one hopes, and expects, that a stay at a luxury hotel (and I assume Ritz-Carlton considers itself to be in that class) to be flawless, but, of course sometimes, hopefully rarely, something will go wrong. Still one does not expect many things to go wrong at a Courtyard by Marriott, much less a Ritz-Carlton (and on the Club Floor at that!), and if things do go wrong that they will be resolved expeditiously and fairly. That, unfortunately, did not happen here. Even the follow-up did not seem to work.

On this trip, as further detailed below: (a) a light did not shut off in the room; (b) the speakerphone did not function properly; (c) the bed was not made up as requested; (d) the WiFi did not work properly in the lounge (and help was not provided); (e) there was no recognition of my birthday (at least initially); (f) the bed sagged; and (g) a wake-up call was missed.

Now, I stay in luxury hotels all over the world (from the Peninsula to the Mandarin Oriental to the St. Regis, to Leading Hotels of the World) very often and must say that I have never seen so many things go wrong, even at lesser hotels.

And what was I offered in compensation? “Free Internet” in my room. I am just amazed I was charged anything for this stay (which cost about $600).

(a) At around 3:00 a.m. of my arrival night I spent over 15 minutes trying to shut off the light above the TV unit that lights the vases. Finally (thinking something is wrong with me), I called the operator to ask how to shut off the light. She offered to send up an engineer. Not wanting someone in my room at that hour, as I was ready for bed, I declined for a little while longer and then gave up and called for help. A manager came up very quickly, soon followed by an engineer. The manager goes to shut off the light and guess what? It does not shut off. The engineer then goes behind the TV unit and move some plugs and finally the light shuts off and I could go to bed. The manager apologizes and leaves. How could this have gone wrong?

The next morning (which by the way was my birthday) did anyone apologize again for this disruption in getting to bed? NO. Not a word.

(b) I was very hot during the night (not the fault of the Ritz-Carlton) because of the down comforter, which did not have a separate sheet under it. I wanted a separate sheet and in the morning called housekeeping on the speakerphone. I barely heard the person who answered so I called again, and again and again. Soon (I must admit quickly) housekeeping knocked on my door and someone came in my room, ran to the phone and spoke to someone in Chinese for about five minutes while doing things to the phone. Anyway, he then left and I called back housekeeping (using the handset this time) and requested a separate sheet on the bed under the down comforter. I also mentioned, to make sure it was clear, that the speakerphone did not work properly. Anyway, as of check-out the next day, the speakerphone still did not work.

(c) That evening I come back to the room in the early evening and the sheet was there, but it was just left on the bedspread folded up. I assumed that it would be put on the bed when my bed was turned down and left for the evening. Anyway, I get back to the room around 1:00 a.m. and the bed was turned down but the sheet was still folded up so I wound up making my bed at 2:00 a.m. in a Ritz-Carlton!

(d) During the first evening, I tried to use the WiFi in the Club Lounge at around 1:00 a.m. It just did not seem to work (and I am very proficient with computers and got it to work easily at Newark airport and at Narita, as well as at the Hyatt in Shanghai soon thereafter). I was told that the WiFi does not always work well in the lounge. That should not be an excuse. Well, it was around 2:00 a.m. and after wasting a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to get it to work, I gave up and went back to the room to use the Internet, where, of course, I was charged for the Internet (which is really “nickel and diming” (or is that yuaning) for a Club Room). At least I was given that for free on check-out. Now, I understand not being offered tech support at 2:00 a.m., but in the morning no one apologized for the problem or offered to get help.

(e) As I mentioned, it was also my birthday and the hotel knew that as I had to present my passport on check-in and I believe both my passport number and birth date had to be written down. Not that the Ritz-Carlton has to do anything for my birthday, but even a Happy Birthday with a wake-up call or when going to the lounge seems like a bare minimum, especially at a purported luxury hotel. This is not a major complaint of mine (unlike the others set forth), but it is still surprising for a hotel like the Ritz-Carlton not to do or say anything.

Anyway, I had asked the concierge to make a restaurant reservation the night before and when I checked in the morning, the morning concierge said he had been unable to get through so far (it was a popular restaurant). Anyway, I am glad I followed up as he then called again and got me the reservation. I told him thank you and that is was important that I had gotten the reservation as it was my birthday. He did say “Happy Birthday” at that point, but no further mention of my birthday until check-out the next day.

For comparison, I not only received a birthday card in the mail in New York from someone in customer service at Continental Airlines’ ground staff in Hong Kong, but when I went to the Continental Airlines lounge at Newark, I was wished a happy birthday in advance (as I left for Shanghai). I asked how she knew my birthday was coming up and she said she saw it in my passport. Now, that is paying attention.

Further, after I left the Ritz-Carlton, I moved over to the Hyatt in Shanghai (as someone I was supposed to meet with has an office there and made a reservation for me). I had not wanted to spend my whole stay at the Hyatt, wanting a special weekend. Well, my stay at the Ritz-Carlton was special, but not in the way I expected. By way of comparison, at the Hyatt, it was immediately noticed that my birthday was the previous day and I was wished a “Happy Birthday” and was told that something would be sent to my room for my birthday—and this is not even a Park Hyatt!


AFTER, the foregoing took place, I felt too much had gone wrong that had not been rectified, so at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, I wrote a letter to the manager, which I then left with the concierge in the lounge.


(f) I go to bed and have trouble sleeping. I guess I was so tired the night before that I did not notice that the bed sagged. I left a note on the bed before I checked out saying “Bed Sags” which I left in a portion of the bed that just, well, sagged, so the message sloped down the bed. Really, I would expect even better at a Courtyard.

(g) The next morning I did not receive my wake-up call. Luckily, I did not have to catch a plane and I woke up on my own anyway just in time for breakfast in the lounge. (By the way the food in the lounge was fine. That was one of the reasons I stayed on the Club Floor.)


I left the hotel to go for my run and came back to the room mid-afternoon (I had late check-out) and had a message that the manager would see me on check-out. I go to check out at the lounge and started to comment on my stay. The Club Manager shows up soon thereafter and I must say apologized profusely and gave me a grand send-off with a promise that the “next time” things would be better. Not only do I not know when I will be in Shanghai next, does that property (or does any Ritz-Carlton, if this stay is representative of a decline in service) really deserve a next time?

I was offered a car to the airport and a snack for the plane (well, as I said I was only going across the river to the Hyatt), but the gesture was appreciated. I was also given a Ritz-Carlton Polo shirt, which was also a nice gesture, but as someone that I told the story to said, why would I want to advertise the hotel. I also received “free internet” as compensation for all that went wrong. Now, really, that seems totally inadequate for all that went wrong. I am just amazed the hotel had the nerve to charge me anything at all. As the send-off was so nice and I really was not in the mood to argue over the bill, I just left without an argument.

In addition, a couple of other things were not up to luxury standards and these are general comments: (i) the waits for the elevators were way too long--perhaps the Club Floors should have an express; and (ii) the service in the Club Lounge, although very gracious, was very slow--I attribute this to inadequate staffing.

As an epilogue, after I got back, I got a call from the Gallup Organization asking me about my stay. I thought to myself, wow, even though so many things went wrong, at least Ritz-Carlton is checking up. I specifically asked if my comments (as set forth above) would be sent back to management with my name included and was told that it would. I have expected a call or letter from Ritz-Carlton apologizing and making amends. Well, it has been three weeks and no follow-through.

I am now going to send a letter to the CEO of Ritz-Carlton and will see what happens.

I realize this is a long post, but so, so much went wrong.

Should I have been charged anything at all for this stay? How should the Portman Ritz-Carlton or the Ritz-Carlton chain make amends?