Hotele niedaleko Baoding Garden, Zhaoqing

Lika Wang did a good job at helping me check in and picking up my Taobao packages. Room was clean, robes and towels fluffy, bed and pillows soft and clean, balcony rail was wiped (saw them sipping it). Room has nice art work based on local geography, floor lag does not get soaked because there’s a lip beneath shower door, there’s a scale and a hair dryer, coffee pods (no creamer) and basic tea. Pool gym are both clean with towels. Lounge is ok, but refreshments and drinks very limited, didn’t have time to try their actual tea time. Breakfast has EXCELLENT EGG CHOICES (well labelled as over easy etc) with omelettes, sausages were good quality, bacon was ok, Chinese rice noodles were dried out but congee selection was good. But breakfast areas were crowded but they did try to put extra seating outside the restaurant. Cleaning staff consistently remembered to greet guests. Chinese restaurant had good roast duck, fresh shrimps but service was slow and lacked eloquence. Overall pretty well designed hotel, with staff that have good attitude. But like many hotels, it’s the training that may need improvement. Areas for improvement: 1. air conditioning insufficient in lobby and hallways,(avoid automatic doors and add curtains to save ac if needed ) 2. Fitness centre desk staff a bit slow and lacks training, more water machines needed, 3. Doorman didn’t always help with luggage and didn’t consistently open doors, (but they were often outside in the heat, tried to help and were ready to help) 4. Restaurant staff put in good effort, but you need more staff or faster staff. 5. Breakfast wasn’t replenished fast enough, salad bar could be improved with more choices, (Japanese dressing was always low) hash browns could be added and the coffee beans weren’t that good but the machine was good. 6. Management staff need to be on site more supervising and greeting. 7. Concierge staff could be more active at greeting and directing. 8. Some live piano music or some more music to enhance lobby would be better. Nonetheless all of the staff overall are better than average, and show good attitude and willingness. The most impressive was the attention to detail with shower door lip, local art work, breakfast egg selection, very comfortable bed, and good congee selection.

Went to the ”wrong” Vienna Hotel after arriving by train. There are a few ”Vienna Hotels” in Zhaoqing. Unfortunately the street address for ”my” Vienna Hotel did not appear in the drop down menu of all the Vienna Hotels in the Didi App. Even the receptionists at the ”wrong” hotel were not able to help me order a Didi on my English version of WeChat. They had to order a Didi using their Chinese version of WeChat. The train trip from Guangxi Province took 90 minutes but finding the right hotel after arriving in Zhaoqinh took longer, 120 minutes. Not having a smiling enthusiastic welcome after arriving at the ”right” Vienna hotel didn't help my mood. This was made worse when I hopped into bed and smelt cigarette smoke. The bathroom is tiny and dated. The breakfast variety was great though! Checked out and moved to another newer hotel after 2 nights.

To put my comments into context: I initially booked rooms by 'walking off the street” before using Trip.com to book additional nights. The hotel is indeed new and has modern amenities. Firstly, I will explain the low score for ”cleanliness”. The physical cleaning was excellent, but my first room had an overbearing ”chemical” odour. I was given an air- purifier and told to leave that on and to leave the windows open. I was only given another room much later, but I had to ask for a room change. It was not offered. The second room had 2 air-purifiers and the ”chemical odour” was bearable. I was told the odour was because the rooms had not being used for a while and the hotel was new. To me, it smelt of chemical fumes, the sort one has after fumigation, or after carpet cleaning with chemicals. There needs to be more transparency. The fact that there were so may air-purifiers available suggests to me that management was aware of the problem. With regards to the low score for facilities: I tried to use the gym twice. The first time, I didn't understand what the gentleman said because I didn't understand Chinese and he didn't speak English. On the second attempt, I was more insistent and with the aid of translation software, I was told by the lady that I needed to produce a medical certificate because I looked over 60. I had never encountered this before, in any hotel in the world, or in other hotel in China. As for ”service”, the housekeeping and restaurant staff were great- effective, efficient, friendly and helpful. However, the male reception staff had the knack of making me feel ”guilty” for disturbing them each time I had to interact with them. It was not just the lack of a smile or the lack of greetings; it was also in the manner and tone. I do understand that having to use translation software with a foreigner could be wearisome, but, better-trained staff would not make it so obvious, especially for a hotel that uses ”James Joyce” in its branding to make itself more ”International” and ”sophisticated”. Another noteworthy episode that I am still confused about was when I first walked in off the street and enquired about rooms for myself. I was told that it was the weekend of the city marathon and that the only rooms available on the Friday and Saturday were big ”family” rooms (at higher prices). It was only later that I checked Trip.com and found that only the Saturday night was the hotel fully booked. I could have been offered a ”single” room for the Friday night and moved to the family room for the Saturday night. This offer was never presented to me. I hope management will read this, because this hotel has the potential to be a great hotel. It has obviously invested heavily in the facilities, amenities and into creating a unique ”ambience' or ”vibe”. It just needs to invest more time and effort into transparency, and staff-training, to ensure that the needs of the guests are paramount.

I want to start off by confirming that 95% of guests who stayed here gave it an outstanding review, they certainly earned it. The check-in was fast and efficient, Guest Services staff were friendly, and courteous, we felt welcomed and our business is appreciated. The room is spotless, housekeeping staff did an excellent job. It is well appointed, and the decor is modern and elegant. We had the cozy 2-bed room and the beds are a good size, much bigger than a standard twin bed, and were comfortable. The TV has a lot of channels to choose from, but most of them are in the Mandarin language, surprisingly they had the NHL playoffs live showing on one of the channels. I want to give special thanks to the Guest Services Supervisor Qiuyan Mo，ZhaoQing is experiencing a heat wave the past few days, and apparently because of a installation miscalculation, the hot weather turned the cold water taps in the hotel hot, in all my years of traveling, I have definitely experienced not having enough hot water in my room, but never no cold water… Qiuyan Mo did everything possible to try to alleviate the problem. It was surely not her fault, and there really is nothing she could do, but she immediately took the responsibility, and was very apologetic, she offered to upgrade us to a more superior room, but since that would not solve the problem, we declined. She also personally delivered a complimentary fruit plate to our room, and left instructions for her staff to make sure we’re comfortable and to satisfy all our needs. Even though it was not ideal to shower and brush teeth in what seemed like 36°C water, but because of the way Qiuyan Mo handled the situation, made it a little more bearable. I would definitely recommend this hotel because the staff are all well trained, professional, and hospitable. I would certainly be booking this hotel again the next time I am in ZhaoQing.

The hotel location is terrific, very clean, perfect facility with great services. We have a great greeting from Lisa who provided us all the information, accommodated us, surprised us by upgrading us with lake view room. Letting us to experience what the lake view is and how great is the hotel located. We have a great time with an enjoyable stay. Will come again, thanks

We stayed in a family room made up of two connected rooms, which was spacious enough for our needs, though it only had one toilet. The hotel is centrally located with plenty of eateries nearby, making it very convenient for meals. However, on the third day of our stay, the toilet bowl became badly clogged and could not be flushed after use. The hotel did send staff up to clear the blockage, but it was still quite inconvenient, especially for a family room with only one bathroom.

The staff was friendly and helpful. After we checked in, we went out for the whole afternoon and evening. When we came back to the room at night, the electricity of the room was down. The hotel upgraded us to another room. The breakfast was good with many choices. Location was super convenient.

Very near Zhaoqing Railway station but very far from restaurants or any shopping place. The check in was fast and we were able to get to our room early. I've read many reviews saying how the sound proofing of the room was horrible, and yes.. they are true. I can even feel the vibrations from the bigger vehicles resonating throughout the room at night. However, they have a massage chair so that's a plus. Breakfast was mediocre. Not much options, very limiting but it gets the job done. Baidu smart speaker enhances user experience as well.

Location: Best location ever in Zhaoqing. Right opposite the 7-star lake central facade. Below the mixed-use building is a small mall with ample food and grocery choices. Service: Best avoided if you do not speak Chinese. Keep advising me to take a taxi from GZ which would be extremely expensive when cheaper alternatives are available. Did not provide check-in prior yet operated like Airbnb with check-in lobby and rooms on different levels of the building. Door lock PW changes daily but did not pre-advise leading to being locked-out. Located in a mix-use building and so hard to find if you were not advised beforehand what and where to go. Cleanliness: Messy check-in lobby. Rooms cleanliness so-so with hair and roaches found in sink. (See pix) Room: Booking title says facing Lakeview but small print says city-view. Wasted on upgrading. Duplex room with narrow stairs making it challenging for elderly. Facilities: Washing machine located in room. Value: Will not come back. There are better alternatives. Key considerations: (Wifi, hot shower, air-con, hygiene and service). Wifi and hot shower are okay. Air-con, hygiene and service are below par. Comments: This is not a hotel. Neither is it managed like Airbnb where host will do their best to communicate with guest. Hygiene and service not up to standard. Mix-use building seems to have a number of Airbnb-type operations, delivery personnel, retail, F&B shops and offices so people are in and out of building at all times yet there is no security personnel at lift lobby.

There was a bit of messing around with the rooms when we arrived, but in the end we stayed in the room we originally booked. The room was like a full apartment with its own conservatory area, which we thought lovely. The highlight though was the location and view just outside though, the ginormous city park right across the street. It was all beautiful, we had a lovely coffee next to the water in the sun in the morning and the owner then took us in by car to discover the city center. At the end the owner again drove us with our suitcases to the train station. We absolutely loved our stay here. Only downside I would say were the single use towels, which first of all were not very effective, secondly a horrible waste for the environment. (On an additional small note regarding rooms, if you fear that guests would not like the cheapest room and insist they upgrade, you’re making the impression of having misled the guest during booking. We personally would have loved it, but we’re quite surprised to have it downplayed for us on arrival that it is too small and too loud. It was not too loud and size was good, perhaps a small cleaning to the windows and an upgrade in interior design could do the place good).