michswiss

nologic, I'm not here for pleasure

I'll be traveling to China regularly as a part of a new role in my organisation. There are very few SPG corporate-approved properties in the region, much less in China. The St Regis and The Westin aren't one of them.

ps. I've already been to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. I'm saving the Great Wall itself for another visit, probably next April.

nologic

Silly me.

Anyway, I liked the St. Regis, especially for the price. How about the Grand Hyatt? Great location. The Grand Club is terrific. The rooms are very nice. I also like that hotel very much.

stimpy

Um, you know the Westin is about a block away from the Intercontinental. And it's pretty much the same hotel. Same owner.

nologic

Why don't you see if you can negotiate a special rate with the Westin or the St. Regis, based on your planned stays, and then see if you can get either on the approved list?

michswiss

I've definitely been past the Westin and it's interesting to know they share a common owner. I'm guessing they are managing the brands driving Westin upscale and reserving Intercontinental for corporate agreements.

I work for one of those three letter companies. I'm not sure I'll be able to affect corporate agreements at that level. And to be honest, it isn't worth the hassle of pushing through every expense report unless there is an exceptionally reasonable reason to do so.

But then again, it never hurts to give it a go.

In any case, I enjoyed all the years that I was treated fantastically by SPG as Platinum. Any status I had expired something over a year ago, so I shouldn't have any expectations. I'm just disappointed in the quality of the property having to deal with it as a run-of-the-mill business traveler.

nologic

I can see that affecting corporate travel policy may be a challenge...but if you plan to a significant number of nights, it can't hurt to call up the group sales manager at the hotel (such as the Westin), and say you are with XYZ company, and you plan on staying a certain high number of nights, and if they could accommodate you at the rate of RMB X (equal to the Sheraton rate), and treat you as a platinum, you would be very happy to see if you could get their hotel added to the "approved" list for your these purposes.

BTW, I met a banker from Barclays who lives in HK and works out of Beijing, and this is what he did at the St. Regis, and they store his clothes for him, and treat him wonderfully, and make his commuting life very easy.

stimpy

Actually the owner owns all 3 hotels there and the mall I'm told. The other hotel is the Ritz. I think they are trying to cover all their bases. I actually prefer the Ritz if you book through Amex Centurion. You get a better overall deal than you do as a RA at the IC or Platinum at the Westin.

michswiss

The Westin is now on my company list. I was there last month and vastly prefer the property over the Intercontinental. I'll be there again in two weeks after a trip to Shanghai.

kokonutz

I just booked the Great Wall Sheraton for a weekend in March.

Question: a lowly SPG Gold, I booked an "Executive Deluxe" room with 'Exec Fl benefits' (it cost about 500 CNY more a night than the cheaper "Deluxe" room).

I presume this means lounge access for breakfast and cocktails. Can anyone confirm this?

CaptainG

The executive floor is on the top two floors and includes coffee delivered to your room, plasma TV's and other perks. I am 90% sure it includes access to the club lounge as well. I have the list of all amenites stored at work, because I need to write them about their horrible service. The lounge is pretty good, if you don't have to pay to access it (they charged for one day of access as a platinum, but not the second day...). I would recommend the St. Regis over the Sheraton Great Wall. I found very poor treatment at the Sheraton Great Wall and will never return. It ranks dead last of my 250+ Starwood stays in terms of experience, value and service.

-- CaptainG

stimpy

While I have never had bad service there, I think I would save the 500 and just buy room service breakfast. For the evening cocktails, drinks are pretty cheap on bar street.

kokonutz

Easy for a Plat to say!

stimpy

Actually I have been staying at the Great Wall Sheraton since long before there was a Starwood. I might have been Sheraton Gold back in '96, but I don't recall. But I have never had a serious problem there.

kokonutz

Understood. But sometimes when you NEED a cup of coffee in the morning you need it right away...and when one doesn't have lounge or free mini-bar privileges, well, one can become cranky....@:-)

kluau88

kokonutz, don't know if you're there on pleasure or business but here's my take on the Beijing properties. I should note that I was there a few years ago before the Westin opened. I stayed at the St. Regis and was happy with the service and location. I remember passing the Sheraton along the freeway and if you're going to Beijing to be a tourist you probably would prefer the St. Regis and the Westin if it's close by. The St. Regis is rather central to the tourist stuff and while the Sheraton is called "The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel," it's not that close to the Great Wall nor was it central to the tourist areas IMO. The other FT'ers I was with were staying at the Grand Hyatt and I saw a glimpse of the hotel and it was impressive.