Fly Me To The Moon

pdb, you actually stayed in one of their rooms last month? I knew their F&B facilities and the pool/gym were completed almost two months ago, during their first phase, but I didn't know the accommodations were available. How were the guest rooms, if you don't mind giving a short report?

pdb

Sorry for any confusion. I stayed on a RC floor of the GHHK's main building.

GeneCMH

but what exactly is the concept here? Is it a hotel within a hotel or just their new spa area?

jkc22

It's just the hotel's new spa/health facility. The facility happens to have several "spa" rooms for those interested in getting a full spa experience.

Fly Me To The Moon

Actually, it is not just a new spa/health club facility. The Plateau has 23 rooms/suites available starting at HKD 2,600/night. Indeed, it is like a "hotel within a hotel".

kv99

Paul, they don't have to give you a great room (i.e. harborview), but they would still have to give you an RC room if it were available, or at the very least, breakfast coupons (under the new policy...) I don't think they have a choice in that.

That said, I've always received solid treatment when I've used points or FFNs there, and I doubt that PL would be too different. Not sure when you went there last, but a warning that service levels seem to have slipped slightly. Still nothing like HR HK, but not as top-notch as before.

KV

787

I’ve never had a room on the GC floor. As a Diamond, normally I’ve been given fairly high floor Harbor View rooms no matter what rate I was paying. I was under the impression that the only GC rooms were the rooms on the top 2 floors by the GC, but according to the web site there are 8 GC floors, so maybe I’ve been in GC rooms all along and did not even know it. At least knowing that there are 8 GC floors, the prospects of getting a GC room once the rules change is not so daunting.

How many floors does the hotel have? I have 30 in my head, but there is no telling where that number came from

The web site also mentions that 70% of the rooms are Harbor View, and that the seating capacity in the GC is 80.

jkc22

The hotel has a total of 36 floors. In the "normal" elevators, one can only reach up to floor 30. GC floors start at floor 29 thru 36. To access floors 31 thru 36, one needs to alight at floor 30 and change to another two elevators (observation type) toward the end of the hallway on the left.

nologic

I was at the GH Hong Kong in early June and it was supposedly 75% occupied. The lesson is: don't count on an upgrade to a GC room, even if the hotel is not too busy...

So, I ended up with a nice Harbor View room on the 28th floor (2 down from the GC), and they installed a DVD player (which I never used), to make the room equivalent to the GC rooms...they offerred a suite a 2x the cost (no free suite upgrade), which I declined...now, had this been SPG...

BTW, IMO, the GC itself was not particularly crowded...despite admitting all of us non-GC visitors...

jkc22

Sigh....

I've had similar experience when I stayed there two weeks ago. The hotel itself was not full, but the GC floors were "pretty booked" due to some Mainland officials. AFAIK, the Mainland customers make up the bulk of the hotel's GC business now, and they pay good $$$$$ (full price of GC rooms at $2500, rather than a cheap corporate rate of $975!).

I noticed that service declined a lot at this property (well, I guess the attention to service also shifted to the Mainland officials -- e.g. 2 lifts being held at all times for private transport, GC concierge devoting all his/her efforts to them. While I don't have appropriate ground to complain, as upgrades are strictly due to "availability." Even though the last of rooms on GC have not been sold, I was told by the check-in agent that I would not be upgraded. Despite spending 10+ minutes trying to find a "nice room" for me, it's just a regular harbour view room, which was exactly what I booked.

In terms of upgrades and elite treatment, I can think of both Conrad and JW Marriott to be far superior to GH. It's also evident that at peak hours this hotel cannot seem to carry out the tasks property -- the staff lost all finesse and became frantic, while running around behind the long check in "bar." Seriously, I arrived at the GH from NRT, after my stay at the PH Tokyo, and I must say the check-in experience was night and day! While the PH was fully booked and didn't even have a desk for me to sit when I arrived, I was promptly asked to take a seat and escorted to my room to complete the check-in process. The staff was soft spoken, had (sincere) smiles constantly, and walked with finesse and good poise.

OTOH, when I arrived at the GH, the staff seemed to appear "efficient" by rushing and dashing hastily, most with expressionless faces. This to me is a clear sign that the GH is still stuck at a 4 star level, with no improvements, and no idea what "first class hospitality" means. The entire scene reminded me of a bunch of flies hovering above a spoiled watermelon.......

Granted, it's a much larger hotel than the PH, but with front desk staff running around (often with forced smiles that disappeared quickly after I turn my head), disorganized bell staff, inconsistent housekeeping, and incompetent concierge, I can say the only tangible benefit for me at this property is the cheap corporate rate. Should I be denied GC access AND any room upgrade after 10/01 like I would at the GH SIN, I will ADMONISH the GM and the check-in staff, and vow to NEVER RETURN to this property!

mauld

If you check the posts on the GH HKG, you'll find very few here received upgrades to a room on the actual RC floor. That being said, I'd still take a non RC floor room here but with club access, but the new rules may preclude that event in the future. You mention it was at 75% occupancy, to me that is pretty full overall, in that case, as a Diamond I would have been happy with any 'harbor view' room + RC access.

kv99

The comment on the decline in service is right on the mark... it's still a good hotel, but the first time I went about four years ago, the service was awe-inspiring: it no longer is... I've really felt the chaos there on my most recent visits. There's been significant turnover in GC staff and that's made a major difference to me. I do like this one Brit who's a concierge there, though. He's very knowledgeable imho.

kevino

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

Do you think that part of the difference between Hong Kong and Tokyo is cultural? I think service is more stressed in Japan. Not that it's more sincere there, just more valued culturally.

TheLifeYou'veAlwaysWanted

grand club lounge at grand hyatt hong kong is magnificent... nothing beats the view and the service... the corporate rate that my company negotiated for us is so called a base rate... of course my company wants us to stay in 'base room type'... fair enough... so the grand club room rate for us is also about 50% more... BUT... my office is hong kong told me the hotel is doing a summer promo of some sort... it's another HKD500 on top of our base room rate to go to the grand club which makes a rather good deal than the original that they had...

and about the HKD975 rate... don't even think about it... my friend who works for that company told me the hotel is very strict in checking in people booked at that rate... they asked for company id such as business card... no id no rate...

nologic

I was fine with this...I would not have been happy if the new rules were in effect.