Chihster

Stayed in Renaissance Beijing 2 times over the last couple of months. Both times were told I can have breakfast in either the lounge or the lobby restaurant. The lobby restaurant opens a bit earlier. We utilized it a few times with no issues. I like the pastries there, other food quality not to my liking. Nonetheless you definitely get to have the full spread.

moondog

Which Ren?

Chihster

Wangfujing

Score8

I didn't want to start a new thread, but will do so if anyone thinks it is helpful 'for the file.'

I checked into the Ritz Beijing today (not the Financial District one). I'm torn about how much I should expect from a Ritz.

I booked a Club level room with Club level access (obviously, though you have have the latter without the former). I was told that the rooms on the actual Club level were sold out, but that there are two other club floors and that I would be on one of those. I suppose I am not used to their being more than one club floor other than at the Sheraton Times Square.

My room sucked. It was just really,really tired. Furniture was banged up, carpet had been cut out in squares in a couple of spots, some other discoloration due to other spills. The bed was saggy and just a little sad. Check in was also underwhelming as the list of Club privileges was handed to me on a faded copy where the bottom of the page was barely legible. Again, not a tragedy, just poor form. I want to be balanced in that the staff was massively attentive and wanted to please guests. Since I'm feeling negative, I might call it frantic rather than attentive, but to each his own. So, once I saw my first of two 'club level' rooms, I asked to move. A room that wasn't available on the Club level (where the club is), suddenly becomes available. FWIW, I think all of the rooms here are tired. The only Ritz I remember with this furniture is when the Boston Ritz was still on Newbury. II need to take a pic of the couch. And the room smells.

So, why I am I writing all of this? After grabbing a glass of wine from the lounge (I was instructed to take it back to my room, as they were closing, which was fine by me), I heard a lot of shouting in my hallway. The hallway was flooding from a room down the hall. It's now 10:53 and they have been at this for more than an hour. For much of the time, the staff were screaming at each other in a way that could only be construed as anger rather than just yelling loud over the several vacuums going in order to clean the water up. It sounded as though some other guests got into the mix as well, since they were closer to the flood than I was.. FWIW, I did capture come of the calamity on video. I taped only a short amount, as I didn't feel great about it as I truly wanted to pitch in. As I write this, there are definitely some angry words being thrown about.

Is it wrong of me to expect more from a stay at the RItz? I'm still awake due to the noise, but I didn't call down since I have at least a little empathy that they are going through some stuff. That said, I definitely feel like I 'm taking one for team by not complaining.

I was at the Rosewood before this stay and regret leaving already.

moondog

I actually lived in the Jingguang 20 years ago, and don't feel Rosewood improved it a great deal.

I agree that the RC sucks.

The Westin and the St Regis are my two top picks. I also like the Cap Ren because I'm fond of the area, but most of you guys probably are not.

Cerenity

hi moondog

Is the Westin/St Regis still favorable if travelling with a toddler?

Mainly considering
- wouldnt be doing much past 7:30pm, thus the location's nightlife is not too important vs other location benefits like subway or proximity to family things
- size of standard room, bigger obv a bit better so it can fit a crib & let a toddler run around a bit without being too cramped
- we're planning to use 2x certs (up to 35k) and some points so cost is not a big deal

It appeared to me the Westin and JW standard rooms were a bit bigger vs Ren Wangfujing or StR.

thanks and appreciate it!

moondog

I vote for the Westin because it's 20 mins closer to the airport.

Cerenity

thanks for the feedback!

carrotjuice

Muerz

SkiAdcock

You might want to read the property thread, as some of that info might be covered there.

Cheers.

wcj1

We were at the JW Central last month and were upgraded to a suite on 16 (Titanium, although I emailed about an upgrade well before arrival). The lounge was on 15. Our first night when we stepped off the elevator on 15, we were glad we were not on that floor as there was a lot of noise coming from the lounge, however we didn't experience that again over the next 6 days. Side note: definitely do breakfast in the restaurant.

I think our room was 1616 and it faced the south, so just some buildings across the street for a view. My sister was in a regular room on 8, but facing west and experienced some traffic noise from the main street in front of the hotel. I think she is a light sleeper though.

fangtl

As a lowly Gold, which property in PEK is most likely to upgrade to a legitimate enhanced room?

moondog

What's your location preference? Beijing is 5 times the size of Rhode Island.

FlightNurse

There are many factors here that will determine what kind of upgrade you get, However, just being gold, you should get a high floor room, but do not expect a suite.