nacho

We stayed there for 10 nights back in Feb. 2014, and here's the review of the hotel:

Getting to the hotel:
Airport bus A41p will bring you very close to the hotel - you need to get off at Ravana Garden and the hotel is right across the street. If you havev bags, use the side entrance located right next to 'Wellcome' Supermarket (it's for goods loading and unloading and unfortunately this is the place to get to the lobby if you have suitcases - checked with the staffs and they confirmed it). You have to walk through a car park and you'll find a life to the hotel. You don't need a keycard to get to the lobby area.

Check-in:
If you are elite, ask to be checked in at the lounge. We didn't know so our check-in experience wasn't that good (this hotel is very much cater to tourists - Chinese, Korean, Japanese......). If you are staying for less than 3 nights, as Plat you'll have a great chance of getting a either studio or suite. Since our stay was over that, we got our usual 1 cat upgrade. At check-in we were offered 'welcome drink' and it was 2 cup of Ribena I'd prefer a cup of tea since I don't really need the extra sugar.

The room(s):

We booked the cheapest room so we got an 'upgrade' to a riverview room. The rooms are new (hotel opened in March 2013), very spacious if you are compared to CY Hong Kong. Most rooms don't have bathtubs despite the size, only the suites/studios and 1 room per floor has it.

There is no jack pack in the rooms, but you can borrow hdmi cable from the FD and you can watch your own programmes.

At check-in we mentioned the bad experience with cigarette smell at CY Hong Kong during our last visit, so they gave us a room which has been sprayed with air freshener. I got a headache 5 minutes after getting into the room, then I called AYS to change room.

The second room was better, but there wasn't heat in the room (most rooms in the hotel do not have heat), it was freezing cold when we were there (12 degrees) - with the paper thin wall in Hong Kong it's cold (we live in Sweden). Slept poorly, talked to the lounge attendant at brekkie next morning and got another room.

This room has factory and hill view, we actually like it better because I grew up in Sha Tin and the view wasn't anything special to me. Mr likes to see hills because where we live is flat. There is also a bathtub and heat

2 nights before our check-out date at 11pm while we were about to go to bed, the toilet was bombarded with cigaratte smell. It was so strong that we couldn't stand. Called AYS again and they changed our room to their suite.

The one bedroom suite was nice, with 2 sliding doors so that it can turn into a separate living room and bedroom. It was very spcious and nice, and this room has heat

The lounge:

Elites get brekkie in the lounge. Selection is not that good and quality is the usual Hong Kong style - look good but doesn't taste good. You can order fried eggs.

Througout the day you can get free non-alcoholic drinks - soda, water, tea and coffee, with biscuits and sometimes mashmellows.

Happy hour is ok, the food is nothing special. It can fill you up but I would rather stay out and eat dinner somewhere else.

Children under 12 are welcome in the lounge but they have to be kept under control (very fair enough).

Check-out:
By default the staffs can grant late checkout up to 4pm, later check-out needs approval from managers. I asked for 6pm and I told the lounge attendant that they definitely owed me that because I had to change room 3 times, and I got my late check-out. Paid with GC, no problem.

Location of the hotel:
The hotel is located close to Shek Mum MTR station (5 mins walk). There is a bus stop close to the hotel and there are buses going to Kwun Tong, Sheung Sha Wan, TST, Admiralty, Sha Tin, Sai Kung......

There is a Wellcome supermarket under the hotel (it closes at 9pm or something like that), there is a Circle K across the back of the hotel. The closest eateries are factory canteens during working days and there is a Pizza Hut Delivery close to Shek Mum station. At the station there are 2 shops - 759 (sells snacks and drinks) and a A1 Bakery (good quality bread).

The hotel provides shuttles to Sha Tin Station (New Town Plaza) where you will find tons of shops and places to eat. The shuttle also stops at City One (big housing estate close to the hotel) before Sha Tin station, but if you want to go back from there you can either take a shuttle that will first go to Sha Tin station and then back to the hotel. Note: the shuttle is not a circular line and it doesn't seem they expect people to use it on return journeys. So if you are expecting to go back using the shuttle, get there 10 mins before (in case they arrive early and more than once they did and they left before the scheduled arrival).

My thoughts:
I like the space, and it's a lot nicer than CY Hong Kong (CYHK suffers seriously from wear and tear). I really hate that the hotel is not a non-smoking hotel - I know that they can't because of their cliental. No heat is really sub-standard IMO.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the review. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

anchor79

Excellent review. How long will the bus take from HKG into the hotel?

nacho

With traffic, we got to the bus stop across the hotel roughly 1 hour. There was a bit of traffic (our flight arrived at around 16:30). On the way to HKG I think took 45 mins or so.

allset2travel

I've stayed at CY ST for quite a few times, including summer and winter. Fortunately I did not experience room temperature problems because the in-room air-con control was fully functional.

Smoking in public area is mostly influenced by people from mainland China. Quite annoying. So far, my rooms were smoke free (knock on wood).

Check in at the lounge is always offered as soon as I mentioned "platinum member" to the bell boy carrying my luggage.

Thanks for your detailed review. Many FTers will benefit from it. For those who are interested in seeing some pics of CY, go here, scroll midway down to post #24:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-pixels-2.html

anbhc

Where is the check in lounge located? What are their hours? Arriving into HKG late at 10:30pm

nacho

The lounge is located on the top floor, as previous poster said you can ask the bellboy to take you there. However the lounge closes at midnight, so if you arrived later than that you might just use the 'normal' counter.

cysnows

Thanks for the review! Will be staying 7 nights in a few months.

htb

Thanks for the great review.

This will be my first time at a Courtyard in many years (mostly staying with IHG in China). I've recently become Gold through the UA partner program and will stay 8 nights in this Courtyard next week.

Can you confirm that Gold members will be able to check in in the lounge as well?

How likely do you think is it that I will be allowed to use the lounge and thereby get free breakfast when booking the standard non-breakfast rate or the AAA rate (also non-breakfast)?

Thanks for your input.

HTB.

SkiAdcock

If you're Gold & there's an exec lounge you automatically get access to it, re: of whether rate includes breakfast.

Cheers.

htb

Thanks for the encouraging reply. However, the T&Cs don't seem to say so:

Courtyard Marriots don't seem to be listed. Or is "Marriott Hotels" to be read as "all hotels with a red "Marriott" in the name? After all, "JW Marriott" with a black "Marriott" is listed separately.

Cheers,

HTB.

P.S.: "Courtyard" seems to be listed by name for other benefits, but not for lounge access.

SkiAdcock

Asia is different. CYs in US and most of world do not have exec lounges (and don't offer free brekkie). A lot of the Asian CY properties do have exec lounges and thus they honor the Gold/Plat access to the lounges.

Btw - there's a sticky in this forums which lists exec lounge access/brekkie policy for properties worldwide. You might want to check that.

're your question of being able to check into the lounge I have no idea, but that's never been a big deal for me anyway.

Cheers.

nacho

Yes you can check in at the lounge - just tell the bell boy when you are there, telling them that you are a Gold member and like to check-in at the lounge.

If you are Gold you get lounge access regardless of what rate you are paying. Of course you'll get breakfast there - you can even order 'made to order' egg (not omelette), but you have to ask the lounge attendant for it.

They will take care of you - don't worry. Marriott hotels are better than IHG IMO (especially regarding the lounge perks). If you are only there for 1 night I think there is a good chance that you get a studio or suite.

htb

Thanks for all the feedback. I've booked the AAA rate without breakfast. Hopefully they will accept the paper AAA certificate that states that AAA is a partner of ADAC and the AAA benefits should apply.

I shall look into moving some more business from IHG towards Marriott. It won't be easy, though since the Marriott properties tend to be more expensive than what I (or my company) would usually be comfortable with spending.

I'll report back after I've checked in for my 8 night stay.

HTB.

djohannw

Never had any problem just showing the actual ADAC-card when I was asked on occasion (not at this hotel, though) - it has the same "Show your card and save" logo on the back as the AAA-cards.

[@uote]I shall look into moving some more business from IHG towards Marriott. It won't be easy, though since the Marriott properties tend to be more expensive than what I (or my company) would usually be comfortable with spending.[/QUOTE]

If you consider this you should look into the look-no-further guarantee - this way you certainly can drop rates to level more in line with travel-regulations in Germany. You need to be able to book directly with Marriott to be able to do this, though - no idea if your company's travel-policy allows this.

Greetings - Dirk