Sheraton Lido Chengdu, China [Master Thread]
Sep 2, 2014, 11:49 pm
#31
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: Marriott LT Tit; Hyatt Explorist; Hilton CC Gold; IHG CC Plt; Hertz (MR) 5 star
Posts: 5,536
The lounge food was terrible; I recommend eating buffet breakfast in the restaurant on the 2nd floor instead of in the lounge. Dinner foods were worse than I've seen in most US lounges. Alcohol was free but not self serve.
IMHO, the property was simply average.
Sep 5, 2014, 4:47 am
#32
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: IAD
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,937
What kind of food were they serving in the lounge? I can't seem to decide between the St. Regis or Sheraton. I have a C&P booking at the St. Regis, but the cash portion ($126 with tax) is almost equivalent to the nightly rate at the Sheraton.
Nov 1, 2014, 2:38 pm
#36
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 6,978
Nov 1, 2014, 10:05 pm
#37
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Nov 19, 2014, 8:49 pm
#38
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: West Coast, U.S.A.
Programs: Bonvoy LT Titanium; UA Silver
Posts: 75
Nice stay at Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel
We stayed eight nights. Hotel seemed to be in good shape and to us did not have a run-down look. We were upgraded to a corner suite that overlooked the stadium, however it was on a smoking floor and the closet was poorly designed and poorly built, leaving little room to actually hang clothes. And the closet doors did not clear the drawers in the closet so you could not use the drawers. The guest services manager on duty, Jesse, worked with us to compare our suite with the other suite layout, the non-corner suite, on non-smoking floors, and we eventually found a comparable corner suite on a non-smoking floor with a closet that worked in terms of space and the closet doors clearing the closet drawers. She was great!
Yes, you will hear traffic noise even in the corner suite, but we found it tolerable. We were high up. There was even a pop/rock concert in the stadium on Friday night, and it ended at 10:00 pm, so it was not a problem. The clanging of assembling and disassembling the stage went on through the night but was not much of a problem noise-wise.
The breakfast buffet was awesome. Loved the noodle station - just remember to remind the noodle chef that you want your noodles "not spicy". The Club Lounge had enough food laid out, about five hot dishes, that there seemed to always be enough to choose from to eat. You have to remember that Chengdu is in Western China so the food is going to be different than what you get in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
The Club Lounge staff were great. The front desk staff were helpful. Martin at the Concierge station was very helpful. He gets an A+ from us for his assistance. You have to remember that again, you are in Western China where there are not many tourists and English speakers, so you have to work with what English the staff has - some are great, some are not so good - however, regardless, their English is better than my Mandarin.
We traveled around without tours and it was not a problem, though we are very experienced travelers at taking local transportation in other countries. Took the local city bus to close-by Wenshu Monastery. Took the Metro to/from the "Wide and Narrow Alleys". Took Metro/High Speed train/bus to/from Dujiangyan Irrigation System about 30 miles from Sheraton Chengdu. We walked to Changxi shopping area for the experience there on a Sunday afternoon - check out the Kowloon Plaza building for incredible crowds shopping in an eight story building!
Concierge will help you get a taxi and tell the taxi where you are going - we took taxi to/from Wu Hou Temple & Jin Li Street for 15 RMB, and took taxi to/from Panda Breeding & Research Center (highly recommend) for 44 RMB. Taxis are relatively inexpensive by just using the meter. Even to/from the airport (50 RMB into Chengdu at 9:00 pm, 60 RMB to airport at 7:30 am). Avoid rush hour if you can.
So, all in all, the Sheraton Chengdu worked well for us. Platinum benefits were recognized. Breakfast buffet was great. Club Lounge was good. Exercise room was good. English not a stro
ng point. Overall service was good and staff friendly. Only downside was the slow wireless internet and that China blocks Google products as well as Facebook and Twitter. Computer in Club Lounge had fast internet access however you often had to start out on the Chinese page and switch over to English.
Yes, you will hear traffic noise even in the corner suite, but we found it tolerable. We were high up. There was even a pop/rock concert in the stadium on Friday night, and it ended at 10:00 pm, so it was not a problem. The clanging of assembling and disassembling the stage went on through the night but was not much of a problem noise-wise.
The breakfast buffet was awesome. Loved the noodle station - just remember to remind the noodle chef that you want your noodles "not spicy". The Club Lounge had enough food laid out, about five hot dishes, that there seemed to always be enough to choose from to eat. You have to remember that Chengdu is in Western China so the food is going to be different than what you get in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
The Club Lounge staff were great. The front desk staff were helpful. Martin at the Concierge station was very helpful. He gets an A+ from us for his assistance. You have to remember that again, you are in Western China where there are not many tourists and English speakers, so you have to work with what English the staff has - some are great, some are not so good - however, regardless, their English is better than my Mandarin.
We traveled around without tours and it was not a problem, though we are very experienced travelers at taking local transportation in other countries. Took the local city bus to close-by Wenshu Monastery. Took the Metro to/from the "Wide and Narrow Alleys". Took Metro/High Speed train/bus to/from Dujiangyan Irrigation System about 30 miles from Sheraton Chengdu. We walked to Changxi shopping area for the experience there on a Sunday afternoon - check out the Kowloon Plaza building for incredible crowds shopping in an eight story building!
Concierge will help you get a taxi and tell the taxi where you are going - we took taxi to/from Wu Hou Temple & Jin Li Street for 15 RMB, and took taxi to/from Panda Breeding & Research Center (highly recommend) for 44 RMB. Taxis are relatively inexpensive by just using the meter. Even to/from the airport (50 RMB into Chengdu at 9:00 pm, 60 RMB to airport at 7:30 am). Avoid rush hour if you can.
So, all in all, the Sheraton Chengdu worked well for us. Platinum benefits were recognized. Breakfast buffet was great. Club Lounge was good. Exercise room was good. English not a stro
ng point. Overall service was good and staff friendly. Only downside was the slow wireless internet and that China blocks Google products as well as Facebook and Twitter. Computer in Club Lounge had fast internet access however you often had to start out on the Chinese page and switch over to English.
Nov 19, 2014, 9:22 pm
#39
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 6,978
I also had an eight-day stay there. I think the previous poster was too kind. I got a corner suite on the high floors and it's very old. It has a small prison-like window in the bedroom, and a slightly larger window in the living room. The noise from the stadium is a problem if you don't like noise.
Yes, everyone is very friendly but friendliness do not make a hotel. The club lounge don't have enough food! Seriously, there was a big crowd and the food quickly runs out and when I asked for more the attendant's answer is: "sorry, no more"?!?!?!
As for taxi, once I was told to "get it yourself", and it's not till I complain to a supervisor that why do they have no problem running out to the streets and get taxi for foreigners, and yet for me I am told to "get it myself"? Then they start to help me get taxi, not too happily I might add and they show it too.
Overall, I guess this will be a great hotel if you don't look Asian.
Yes, everyone is very friendly but friendliness do not make a hotel. The club lounge don't have enough food! Seriously, there was a big crowd and the food quickly runs out and when I asked for more the attendant's answer is: "sorry, no more"?!?!?!
As for taxi, once I was told to "get it yourself", and it's not till I complain to a supervisor that why do they have no problem running out to the streets and get taxi for foreigners, and yet for me I am told to "get it myself"? Then they start to help me get taxi, not too happily I might add and they show it too.
Overall, I guess this will be a great hotel if you don't look Asian.
Nov 19, 2014, 11:07 pm
#40
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: West Coast, U.S.A.
Programs: Bonvoy LT Titanium; UA Silver
Posts: 75
Guess we had different experiences at Sheraton Chengdu
Hi Cathay Boy and thanks for your post. When we were there in early November, Club Lounge was lightly attended so we had no problems with food running out. And the hotel staff always found a taxi for us (I am not Asian), and made sure the taxi understood where we were going. From what we gathered, stadium side had best view and the concert was not an issue as it ended at 10:00 pm.
Nov 19, 2014, 11:44 pm
#41
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 6,978
Hi Cathay Boy and thanks for your post. When we were there in early November, Club Lounge was lightly attended so we had no problems with food running out. And the hotel staff always found a taxi for us (I am not Asian), and made sure the taxi understood where we were going. From what we gathered, stadium side had best view and the concert was not an issue as it ended at 10:00 pm.
Also, the hotel has been built for almost 20 years, seems like the rooms are renovated but walls, windows, and some furniture are still that, 20 years old.
Just wanted future would-be Sheraton Chengdu guests to realize that. There is a new option 0.5 km away, St. Regis. It's double the price of Sheraton, but I guess you get what you pay for....
Jan 8, 2017, 7:55 pm
#42
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 337
I recently completed a stay at the end of December as a Plat.
- Local amenity was unavailable at checkin (they had run out of the amenity, which from what I gathered was some a soft panda toy).
- Upgraded to a deluxe corner suite, which was showing its age and dimly lit.
- Executive lounge afternoon tea had very limited options; didn't hang around for happy hour unfortunately.
- Breakfast spread is larger than the STR Chengdu with a lot of local options (and a selection of ice cream).
- Was given a little gift set of teas at check out at the club lounge from the 35th floor.
- Local amenity was unavailable at checkin (they had run out of the amenity, which from what I gathered was some a soft panda toy).
- Upgraded to a deluxe corner suite, which was showing its age and dimly lit.
- Executive lounge afternoon tea had very limited options; didn't hang around for happy hour unfortunately.
- Breakfast spread is larger than the STR Chengdu with a lot of local options (and a selection of ice cream).
- Was given a little gift set of teas at check out at the club lounge from the 35th floor.
Feb 8, 2017, 10:07 pm
#43
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YYZ, PVG
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Ex-UA-1K
Posts: 430
Hotel is old-school hard product though I didn't find that bothersome. We stayed on one of the upper floors which, while still nothing to shout at, are apparently more recently renovated/up-to-date than the lower floor rooms. Had about a dozen interactions with front desk staff and while they were largely exceedingly pleasant and hard-working, either the training or internal systems are not up to snuff (not loafing but still quite slow, did not know how to combine or cancel reservations, needed to escalate to a manager to get my suite, English was worse than anticipated, needed three visits to address wifi login issues). Good experience with restaurant, (temporary) lounge, and front door staff though.
Lounge was closed for part of the visit and coincided roughly with the Spring Festival holiday period. Not a big deal. Temporary lounge was set up on 2nd floor cafe area with afternoon tea and then evening happy hour with a pretty decent spread. Breakfast was the main buffet on 2nd floor.
Suite was fine, you enter into a living room area with a large sectional couch with dining table to the side. Bedroom was separate room, room and bathroom both large, bathroom with mini-whirlpool sized bathtub.
Pool area was decent and the gym area was sufficient with both free weights and machines. There was actually a setup to do squats! Change area was quite good with working whirlpools and sauna.
I would return despite the unevenness of the staff and at their normal winter rates (~450-550RMB), the positives outweighed the negatives.
Lounge was closed for part of the visit and coincided roughly with the Spring Festival holiday period. Not a big deal. Temporary lounge was set up on 2nd floor cafe area with afternoon tea and then evening happy hour with a pretty decent spread. Breakfast was the main buffet on 2nd floor.
Suite was fine, you enter into a living room area with a large sectional couch with dining table to the side. Bedroom was separate room, room and bathroom both large, bathroom with mini-whirlpool sized bathtub.
Pool area was decent and the gym area was sufficient with both free weights and machines. There was actually a setup to do squats! Change area was quite good with working whirlpools and sauna.
I would return despite the unevenness of the staff and at their normal winter rates (~450-550RMB), the positives outweighed the negatives.
Dec 5, 2018, 9:31 am
#44
Join Date: Jun 2016
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Explorist, Marco Polo Gold
Posts: 1,084
Wow, no review on this hotel for ages. I'll write one. Stayed there in Nov. 2018, here is the experience:
1) Check-in. Their English is very limited, so switched to my "broken Chinese". Professional, courteous, and says I'm upgraded (which I assumed was a suite).
2) Room - was given a very small room. Went downstairs and asked and was told all of their suites were fully booked. But she will remark in the computer that if there's a suite that opened up, I will be notified.
3) Lounge - again do not expect English proficiency, so if you know some Chinese better use it. Selection are very limited and very Chinese, so if you wanted Western variety you won't get it The lounge attendant just stood there and stared at me for a sec and then wonder elsewhere. I would asked her if she would be kind enough to help with get a cup of Cappuccino, because I tried to use the machine but it didn't work, and got a cold replied: "Why don't you try it again and see if it works?" Wow, just wow.
4) Bumped into someone I know from years past (he was just a bell boy) but now he is the manager of Concierge! We chatted a bit and I asked him about the suite and he said no problem. 20 minutes later got a knock on the door, it was him, walked me to my new suite with 3 room keys (one for the wall). Now that's service.
Overall,
Staff tries to be friendly and genuinely works hard, except that lounge staff (which is surprising).
Room and hardware very dated. Definitely expect the low end of Sheraton brand instead of the high end.
The only thing going for this place is price, if price is a concern, go for it.
Location - very close to a subway station that serves 2 lines, which gets you to most of the fun places in Chengdu.
1) Check-in. Their English is very limited, so switched to my "broken Chinese". Professional, courteous, and says I'm upgraded (which I assumed was a suite).
2) Room - was given a very small room. Went downstairs and asked and was told all of their suites were fully booked. But she will remark in the computer that if there's a suite that opened up, I will be notified.
3) Lounge - again do not expect English proficiency, so if you know some Chinese better use it. Selection are very limited and very Chinese, so if you wanted Western variety you won't get it The lounge attendant just stood there and stared at me for a sec and then wonder elsewhere. I would asked her if she would be kind enough to help with get a cup of Cappuccino, because I tried to use the machine but it didn't work, and got a cold replied: "Why don't you try it again and see if it works?" Wow, just wow.
4) Bumped into someone I know from years past (he was just a bell boy) but now he is the manager of Concierge! We chatted a bit and I asked him about the suite and he said no problem. 20 minutes later got a knock on the door, it was him, walked me to my new suite with 3 room keys (one for the wall). Now that's service.
Overall,
Staff tries to be friendly and genuinely works hard, except that lounge staff (which is surprising).
Room and hardware very dated. Definitely expect the low end of Sheraton brand instead of the high end.
The only thing going for this place is price, if price is a concern, go for it.
Location - very close to a subway station that serves 2 lines, which gets you to most of the fun places in Chengdu.